Pictures of the Charminar — Charminar as seen from Macca Masjid: Courtesy Dr Muhammad Safiullah

The historic Hyderabad city, built by Muhammad Quli Qutb, fifth ruler of the Qutb Shahi dynasty, turns 425 on Sunday. The picturesque city, a successor to overcrowded Golconda fort, grew in the last four centuries from a city of minarets, pearls, diamonds, lakes, architectural beauty, art and culture into a vibrant metropolis and international I-T hub.

It hasn’t lost its cosmopolitan ‘Ganga Jamuna tehzeeb’, the taste of the famed biryani, spicy slang or tasty Gandipet ka paani (sweet water of Osmansagar), though ‘adaab’ has paved the way for ‘Hi!’.

While the Telangana state government doesn’t find it fit to celebrate the occasion for reasons unknown, the Deccan Heritage Trust is organising an exhibition of vintage photographs of Charminar and Mahaboob Ali Pasha, the sixth Nizam, at Urdu Hall in Himayatnagar on Sunday.

Falaknuma Palace, Falaknuma Palace of yore: Courtesy M.A. Faiz Khan

Paigah family scion M.A. Faiz Khan summed up Hyderabad on its 425th birth anniversary: “From a very quiet, peaceful city with culture and tradition, Hyderabad has grown into a vibrant metro. In the process it lost a bit of tradition and culture. Heritage has taken a beating. Yet it is the most successful city where people love to live.”

Quli Qutb Shah (1580-1612) laid the foundation for Hyderabad with Charminar (1591/1592) followed by the Badshahi Ashoorkhana in 1593-1594 to house the Alam or replicas of the banner carried by Imam Hussain at Karbala and Darulshifa, Asia’s first Unani and Ayurveda hospital in 1595; all in the walled city of Hyderabad.

There was no looking back. The city grew and grew over the last four centuries especially during the rule of Mir Osman Ali Khan, Nizam VII and thereafter.

“It’s a great city to live. It has unparalleled culture that bonds people irrespective of caste, creed and colour,” says Muhammad Safiullah, honorary managing trustee of the Deccan Heritage Trust.

Hyderabad is situated on a hilly terrain around artificial lakes, including the Hussainsagar.

In 1724, Mughal viceroy Asif Jah I declared sovereignty and set up his own Nizam dynasty. Nizam’s dominion became a princely state during British Raj, and remained so for 150 years, with the city serving as its capital. Relics of Qutb Shahi and Nizam rule are visible even today.

Hyderabad city was the capital of Hyderabad State. It was the capital of Andhra Pradesh after joining Indian Union in 1948 and is now joint capital for 10 years for Telangana and AP.

City grew in 6 phases

How did Hyderabad and Secunderabad grow into a burgeoning metropolis? Historian D.M. Wagh, writing on “Towns and Cities of the Deccan” and quoting Shah Manzur Alam’s “Hyderabad and Secunderabad (twin cities) 1965,” says the development of Hyderabad-Secunderabad took place in six historical stages.

First, the twin city stage (1591-1687) when the city was planned in a grid pattern and became a commercial metropolis of the Golconda kingdom. Second, the transitional stage (1591-1687) when the seat of authority was shifted to Hyderabad from Aurangabad. The city wall was completed in 1740.

Moazzamjahi Market

Third, early Asaf Jahi phase (1725-1799) when there was great economic stress and strain on Hyderabad as Aurangabad was still the capital and many wealthy land holders migrated. The city began growing in 1763 when the Nizam shifted to the city.

Fourth, the subsidiary alliance with British was made in 1798. British cantonment was formed in the north (Secunderabad). Golconda, the twin city of Hyderabad, was replaced with Secunderabad.

Fifth, the railway stage (1875-1908) which helped cement twin cities further, new industries cropped up and became nuclei of new settlement. Sixth, the modern stage (from 1908), following the catastrophic floods which led to internal reorganisation.

Since then, a new city has come up in the form of Cyberabad which is located cheek by jowl with Hyderabad.

In a lifespan of 357 years from 1591 to 1948, Hyderabad has undergone extensive metamorphosis owing to changing historical, political, economic forces. Its population varied from 150,000 (a rough estimate by the British Resident) in 1839 to 860,000 in 1951.

Since 1901, the population of the city increased more through influx of immigrants than by any other cause — 200,000 immigrants during 1901 to 1931 and from 64,000 in 1941 to 200,000 in 1951.