Hyderabad: A Biography

In this book, the romantic story of the city of Hyderabad evolves into the history of a former princely state, and later, of Andhra Pradesh. Starting with the period prior to the birth of the city in 1591, Hyderabad: A Biography presents an unbroken and colourful chronicle of one of India’s most legendary cities. Envisioned by its founder, Mohammad Quli Qutb Shah as a ‘replica of heaven on earth’, Hyderabad was razed to the ground by Aurangzeb after the longest siege of his life. Rising from its ruins, it became the capital of the Deccan–the largest province of the Mughals. In the eighteenth century, it superceded Delhi as the epicentre of Indian politics. Two centuries later, it emerges dramatically from its feudal position to become the capital of the first linguistic state of India. In its fascinating march from Bhagnagar to Hyderabad to ‘Cyberabad’, the story is replete with diverse engaging, eccentric, and often daring characters, some of whose lives are stranger than fiction. Narendra Luther describes the origin and evolution of Hyderabad’s unique composite culture, which has continued to attract people since its founding by its poet-builder. The reader is swept along the highway of history, through many bylanes that give insights into seemingly trivial incidents that shaped the course of history. Engagingly written, the book will interest general readers, scholars, and researchers, including journalists, urbanists, and historians. With its tremendous nostalgic appeal, it will also enthuse Indians settled abroad.