Etymology
Theories explaining the origins and etymology behind Hyderabad's name differ. There is myth that after founding the city, Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah fell in love with and married a local nautch girl known as Bhagmathi or Bhagyavathi, and named the cityBhagyanagaram. As per other legends, the city is named after the son in law of theIslamic Prophet Muhammad, Ali Ibn Abi Talib, whose other name was Hyder.[8][9]
[edit]History
Main article: History of Hyderabad (India)
confirmation. Although Hyderabad was founded less than 500 years ago, archaeologistshave unearthed Iron Age sites near the city that could date back to 500 BC.[10]Approximately over 1000 years ago this region was ruled by Kakatiyas. Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, a ruler of the Qutb Shahi dynasty (the ruling family of the Golconda Sultanate, previously a feudatory of Bahmani sultanate that declared independence in 1512) founded the city of Hyderabad on the banks of the Musi River in 1591[11] to relieve a water shortage the dynasty had experienced at its old headquarters at Golcondacity(11 kilometers west of Hyderabad city on the other side of Musi).[12] He also ordered the construction of the Charminar.[13]
The Mughal emperor Aurangzeb captured kingdom of Golconda including the city of Hyderabad in 1687[14] and, during this short Mughal rule, Mughal-appointed governors of the city soon gained autonomy. In 1724, Asaf Jah I, who was granted the title Nizam-ul-Mulk ("Governor of the country") by the Mughal emperor, defeated a rival official to establish control over kingdom of Golconda renamed it as Hyderabad state.[14][15] Thus began the Asaf Jahi dynasty that ruled Hyderabad State until a year after India's independence from Britain. Asaf Jah's successors ruled as the Nizams of Hyderabad. The rule of the seven Nizams saw the growth of Hyderabad city both culturally and economically. Hyderabad city became the formal capital of the kingdom (Hyderabad state) and Golkonda city was almost abandoned. Huge reservoirs, like the Nizam Sagar,Tungabhadra, Osman Sagar, and Himayat Sagar, were built. Survey work on Nagarjuna Sagar had also begun during this time; the actual work was completed by the Government of India in 1969. The wealth and grandeur of the Nizams is demonstrated by the fabled Jewels of The Nizams, which is a tourist attraction. The state was the richest and the largest among the princely states of India. The land area of the state was 90,543 mi²; its population in 1901 was 50,073,759. It enjoyed an estimated revenue of £90,029,000.[16]
In 1937, Time magazine said Hyderabad state was richest native state in India.[17]
Before 1947, Hyderabad state was under the suzerainty of the British Crown but was not part of British India. In 1947, at the time of the independence of British India and its Partition into the Union of India and the new state of Pakistan, the British abandoned their claim to suzerainty over the Princely states and left them to decide their own future. The Nizam, because of Islamic leanings, wished either to remain independent or to accede to Pakistan. However, for the Indian Union, this was unacceptable from a strategic perspective. The Nizam's efforts also triggered the largest agrarian armed rebellion in modern Indian history. To deter the Nizam, Indian union chose to implement an economic blockade, which forced the state of Hyderabad to sign a Standstill Agreement with it. Eventually the Indian Union used military force against the landlocked princely state of Hyderabad. This operation, termedOperation Polo, was successful and on 17 September 1948, the Nizam signed an Instrument of Accession to the Union of India. The Constitution of India, which went into effect on 26 January 1950, made Hyderabad state one of the part B states of India and Hyderabad city continued to be its capital.
In 1955, Ambedkar was so impressed with amenities of Hyderabad city that he argued to make Hyderabad city as second capital of India. He said, "Hyderabad has all the amenities which Delhi has and it is a far better city than Delhi. It has all the grandeur which Delhi has. Buildings are going cheap and they are really beautiful buildings, far superior to those in Delhi. The only thing that is wanting is a Parliament House which the Government of India can easily build."[18]
On 1 November 1956, the states of India were reorganized on linguistic grounds. The territories of the State of Hyderabad were divided between newly created Andhra Pradesh, Bombay state (later Maharashtra), and Karnataka. The Telugu speaking area of Hyderabad state, also known as Telangana, was merged with the Telugu speaking state of Andhra stateto create Andhra Pradesh. Thus, Hyderabad city became the capital city of the new state of Andhra Pradesh.[19]
Since liberalisation in the 1990s, Hyderabad city has become one of the major hubs of the IT industry. The growth in the IT sector and opening of Rajiv Gandhi International Airport attracted activity in other economic sectors like real estate in the 2000s. However, theGlobal financial crisis of 2008–2009 has had a significant impact on construction activity.[16]
[edit]Geography
Main article: Geography of Hyderabad
Situated on the Deccan Plateau, Hyderabad has an average elevation of about 536 metresabove sea level (1,607 ft). Most of the area has a rocky terrain and some areas are hilly. Crops are commonly grown in the surrounding paddy fields.[20]
The original city of Hyderabad was founded on the banks of river Musi.[21] Now known as the historic Old City, home to the Charminar and Mecca Masjid, it lies on the southern bank of the river. The heart of the city saw a shift to the north of the river, with the construction of many government buildings and landmarks there, especially south of the Hussain Sagar lake. The rapid growth of the city, along with the merging of Hyderabad, 12 municipal circles and the Cantonment has resulted in a large, united and populous area.
[edit]Climate
Hyderabad has a unique combination of a tropical wet and dry climate (Köppen Aw) that borders on a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen BSh), with hot summers from late February to early June, the monsoon season from late June to early October and a pleasant winter from late October to early February. Temperatures in the evenings and mornings are generally sharply cooler because of the city's moderate elevation. Hyderabad receives around 810 millimetres (32 in) of rain every year, almost all of it concentrated in the monsoon months. The highest maximum (day) temperature ever recorded was 45.5 °C (114 °F) on 2 June 1966, while the lowest minimum (night) recorded temperature was 6.1 °C (43 °F) on 8 January 1946.[22]
| [hide]Climate data for Hyderabad | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 28.6 (83.5) | 31.8 (89.2) | 35.2 (95.4) | 37.6 (99.7) | 38.8 (101.8) | 34.4 (93.9) | 30.5 (86.9) | 29.6 (85.3) | 30.1 (86.2) | 30.4 (86.7) | 28.8 (83.8) | 27.8 (82) | 32.0 (89.6) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 14.7 (58.5) | 17.0 (62.6) | 20.3 (68.5) | 24.1 (75.4) | 26.0 (78.8) | 23.9 (75) | 22.5 (72.5) | 22.0 (71.6) | 21.7 (71.1) | 20.0 (68) | 16.4 (61.5) | 14.1 (57.4) | 20.2 (68.4) |
| Rainfall mm (inches) | 3.2 (0.126) | 5.2 (0.205) | 12.0 (0.472) | 21.0 (0.827) | 37.3 (1.469) | 96.1 (3.783) | 163.9 (6.453) | 171.1 (6.736) | 181.5 (7.146) | 90.9 (3.579) | 16.2 (0.638) | 6.1 (0.24) | 804.5 (31.673) |
| Avg. rainy days | .3 | .4 | .9 | 1.8 | 2.7 | 7.6 | 10.6 | 10.1 | 8.9 | 5.7 | 1.6 | .4 | 51.0 |
| Sunshine hours | 279.0 | 271.2 | 263.5 | 273.0 | 282.1 | 180.0 | 142.6 | 136.4 | 168.0 | 226.3 | 246.0 | 263.5 | 2,731.6 |
| Source no. 1: Indian Meteorological Department (1951–1980) [23] | |||||||||||||
| Source no. 2: Hong Kong Observatory (sun only, 1971–1990) [24] | |||||||||||||
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