Lashkar: The Story of Secunderabad

Narendra Luther is an eminent authority on the history and culture of Hyderabad. In his latest book Lashkar: The Story of Secunderabad, he writes about the 200-year history of Secunderabad, from a cantonment to an English town. Secunderabad has completed 200 years of existence in 2006, having started as a British cantonment town. Named after Sikandar Jah, the third Nizam, Secunderabad was founded in the early 18th century as a British cantonment. Though geographically separated from Hyderabad by the Hussain Sagar, today Secunderabad has become part of Hyderabad. Though they are called twin cities, the cities have both different histories and cultures, with Secunderabad having developed directly under British rule until 1948 and Hyderabad as the capital of the Nizams' princely state. Unlike Hyderabad, the official language of Secunderabad was English. Secunderabad was historically a liberal city compared to Hyderabad due the presence of the English. Due to the presence of various communities such as Parsis, Anglo-Indians alongside British & native inhabitants, Secunderabad was historically a cosmopolitan city. The culture of Secunderabad is therefore distinctly different from that of Hyderabad's Indo-Islamic culture. And its story needs to be told.