History of Hyderabad

Before 1947, Hyderabad was under the suzeraintyof 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 the strategic perspective. 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 made the state of Hyderabad to sign a Standstill Agreement with it. Nizam's intransigence compelled Indian Union to use 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 Chowmahalla Palace was the seat of the Asaf Jahi dynasty and was the official residence of the Nizam.

Before 1947, Hyderabad was under the suzeraintyof 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 the strategic perspective. 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 made the state of Hyderabad to sign a Standstill Agreement with it. Nizam's intransigence compelled Indian Union to use 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.

Tomb of Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah in Hyderabad, India.

In 1955, Ambedkar was so impressed with amenities of Hyderabad that, he argued to make Hyderabad 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."

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, Mumbai state (laterMaharashtra), and Karnataka. The Telugu speaking area of Hyderabad state, also known asTelangana, was merged with the Telugu speaking state of Andhra state to create Andhra Pradesh. Thus, Hyderabad became the capital city of the new state of Andhra Pradesh.

Since liberalisation in the 1990s, Hyderabad 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 from other economic sectors like real estate in the 2000s. However, the Global financial crisis of 2008–2009 has had a significant impact on construction activity.