HYDERABAD INTRODUCTION

NAME OF THE CITY: HYDERABAD

NAME OF THE STATE: TELANGANA

AREA: 625KM² [241SQMI]

FOUNDED: 1591

FOUNDER: MUHAMMAD QULI QUTUB SHAH FIFTH QUTUB SHAHI RULER

COUNTRY CODE OF INDIA: 0091 OR +91

CITY CODE/STD CODE OF HYDERABAD: 040

LANGUAGES: URDU, TELUGU, HINDI AND ENGLISH

The Old City of Hyderabad is everything you might dream an Indian old city to be – narrow lanes thronged with markets, chai shops, wandering animals, autorickshaws, a whirl of noise, colour, languages and religions dotted with stately old architecture in varying states of repair. Two unbelievably wealthy Muslim royal houses, the Qutb Shahs and the Asaf Jahs, came and went from this city of pearls and diamonds, leaving a legacy of magnificent palaces, mosques and tombs and of course a majority population in poverty.

Between the old and the new lie, in both material and geographical terms, dense inner city areas like Abids, north of the Old City, and leafy middle-class areas like Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills. In the northeast, site of one of Hyderabad's three main train stations, is Secunderabad, the former British military cantonment still referred to as Hyderabad's 'twin city', though they are effectively one now.

Hyderabad's other pole is far younger – its Hi-Tech City, or 'Cyberabad', out west, which since the 1990s has propelled the city into the modern world with its accoutrements of glittery malls, multiplexes, clubs, pubs and sleek restaurants to sit alongside the traditional biryani joints and teahouses.

Hyderabad's Muslim population (Urdu-speaking) is concentrated mostly in the Old City and nearby areas north of the Musi River. The majority of the population are Telugu-speaking Hindus and there's also a growing number of migrants from other parts of India attracted by the IT boom.

One thing you have to accept wherever you are in Hyderabad: the traffic is appalling. Happily a new Metro Rail rapid transit system, coming on stream as we speak, should ease things.

LOACTION OF HYDERABAD