Watch Hyderabad Video

Hyderabad is the capital city of the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Occupying 650 square kilometres on the banks of the Musi River, it is also the largest city in the state. As of 2011, the population of the city was 6.8 million with a metropolitan population of 7.75 million, making it India's fourth most populous city and sixth most populous urban agglomeration. Hyderabad was...  MORE

Hyderabad is the capital city of the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Occupying 650 square kilometres on the banks of the Musi River, it is also the largest city in the state. As of 2011, the population of the city was 6.8 million with a metropolitan population of 7.75 million, making it India's fourth most populous city and sixth most populous urban agglomeration. Hyderabad was established in 1591 CE by Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, fifth sultan of the Qutb Shahi dynasty of Golkonda. It remained under the rule of the Qutb Shahi dynasty until 1687, when Mughal emperor Aurangzeb conquered the region and the city became part of the Mughal empire. In 1724, Asif Jah I, a Mughal viceroy, declared his sovereignty and formed the Asif Jahi dynasty, also known as the Nizams of Hyderabad. The Nizams ruled the princely state of Hyderabad in a subsidiary alliance with the British Raj for more than two centuries. The city remained the capital from 1769 to 1948, when the Nizam signed an Instrument of Accession with the Indian Union as a result of Operation Polo. Between 1948 and 1956 Hyderabad city was the capital of the Hyderabad State. In 1956, the States Reorganisation Act merged Hyderabad State with the Andhra State to form the modern state of Andhra Pradesh, with Hyderabad city as its capital. LESS