Hyderabad is the shared capital of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, a sprawling city of nearly ten million built around the twin centres of the old Qutb Shahi city and the newer British cantonment of Secunderabad. Founded in 1591 by Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, it is one of the great Indo-Islamic cities of the subcontinent — a place where the Deccan's Persianate courtly culture met Hindu traditions and produced something distinctive: the cuisine, the Dakhni Urdu, the architecture, and the ruling Nizams who were, until 1948, among the richest men in the world.
The emotional centre is still the Charminar, the four-minaret arch that Quli Qutb Shah built at the heart of his new city. Around it sprawls the Old City — Laad Bazaar for bangles and pearls, Mecca Masjid just south, the Chowmahalla Palace to the west — all best explored on foot in the early morning before the crowds. Ten kilometres west, the ruined fortress of Golconda rises on its granite outcrop, the sound of a handclap at the entrance still carrying to the summit. The nearby Qutb Shahi Tombs are worth the walk in the cooler hours.
North of the Musi river the city is modern and messier. Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills are where wealthy Hyderabad lives, eats, and shops; HITEC City further west is the glass-and-steel tech hub that has reshaped the city's economy since the 1990s. In between sits the artificial Hussain Sagar lake with its Buddha statue on an island, the green calm of the Salar Jung Museum (one of the best one-family art collections in the world), and the Nehru Zoological Park.
The food alone justifies a visit. Hyderabadi biryani — slow-cooked with basmati, meat, saffron, and yoghurt — is rightly famous, but pair it with haleem (especially during Ramzan, when stalls appear across the old city), Irani chai and osmania biscuits at Nimrah Cafe opposite Charminar, and double ka meetha for dessert. Winter (November to February) is the obvious time to visit; summer is punishing and the monsoon floods the old streets.