Introduction
Hyderabad is the capital of the state Andhra Pradesh, India. It also goes by its sobriquet City of Pearls. As of 2010 it is the sixth most populous city and sixth-most populous urban agglomeration in India. Hyderabad was founded by Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah in 1591 on the banks of Musi. Today the city covers an area of approximately 650 km². The twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad come under the ambit of a single municipal unit, The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation.

Hyderabad has developed into one of the major hubs for the information technology industry in India which has earned it the additional sobriquet "Cyberabad". In addition to the IT industry, various biotechnology and pharmaceutics companies have set up their operations in Hyderabad owing to its established Public sector in Life Science Research and Genome Valley. The city houses the most expensive residential real estate in Andhra Pradesh in Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills. The city is home to the Telugu Film Industry, the third-largest in India, known popularly as Tollywood. Residents of Hyderabad are generally called Hyderabadis. Located at the crossroads of North and South India, Hyderabad has developed a unique culture that is reflected in its language and architecture.

History
Although Hyderabad was founded less than 500 years ago, archaeologists have unearthed Iron Age sites near the city that could date back to 500 BC. Approximately over 1000 years ago this region was ruled by Kakatiyas. Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, a ruler of the Qutb Shahi dynasty (the ruling family of the Golconda Sultanate, previously a feudatory of Bahmani sultanate that declared independence in 1512) founded the city of Hyderabad on the banks of the Musi River in 1591 to relieve a water shortage the dynasty had experienced at its old headquarters at Golconda city(11 kilometers west of Hyderabad city on the other side of Musi). He also ordered the construction of the Charminar.

The Mughal emperor Aurangzeb captured kingdom of Golconda including the city of Hyderabad in 1687 and, during this short Mughal rule, Mughal-appointed governors of the city soon gained autonomy. In 1724, Asaf Jah I, who was granted the title Nizam-ul-Mulk ("Governor of the country") by the Mughal emperor, defeated a rival official to establish control over kingdom of Golconda renamed it as Hyderabad state. Thus began the Asaf Jahi dynasty that ruled Hyderabad State until a year after India's independence from Britain. Asaf Jah's successors ruled as the Nizams of Hyderabad. The rule of the seven Nizams saw the growth of Hyderabad city both culturally and economically. Hyderabad city became the formal capital of the kingdom (Hyderabad state) and Golkonda city was almost abandoned. Huge reservoirs, like the Nizam Sagar, Tungabhadra, Osman Sagar, and Himayat Sagar, were built. Survey work on Nagarjuna Sagar had also begun during this time; the actual work was completed by the Government of India in 1969. The wealth and grandeur of the Nizams is demonstrated by the fabled Jewels of The Nizams, which is a tourist attraction. The state was the richest and the largest among the princely states of India. The land area of the state was 90,543 mi²; its population in 1901 was 50,073,759. It enjoyed an estimated revenue of £90,029,000.

Information technology industry
Hyderabad has established itself as the leading destination for IT and IT-enabled services, BPO and entertainment industries. Many computer software companies, software consulting firms, business process outsourcing (BPO) firms, dealing with IT and other technological services firms have established their offices and facilities in the city since the 1990s.

The development of a township with related technological infrastructure called HITEC City prompted several IT and ITES companies to set up operations in the city. An aggressive promotion of growth in this area has led civic boosters to call the city Cyberabad. There have been extensive investments in digital infrastructure within the city promoting the setting up of several campuses by a vast array of companies within the city. This list includes several multinational corporations having established their development centres in the city. Major areas where such campuses have been set up are Madhapur, Kondapur, Gachibowli and Uppal. Microsoft (with its largest R&D campus outside the US), Oracle Corporation etc. have set up operations in Hyderabad. For a more comprehensive list of IT companies in Hyderabad, refer to Software industry in Andhra Pradesh. TCS Deccan park is one of the active branches of TCS in hyderabad. The 20th International World Wide Web Conference took place in Hyderabad.

Roads
Hyderabad is connected to the rest of the country by National Highways—NH-7, NH-9 and NH-202. Hyderabad is also well connected to the remaining parts of the state. Like other cities, Hyderabad suffers from traffic congestion. Completion of the Inner Ring Road and construction of the Outer Ring Road encircling Hyderabad city is also underway and is touted to make travel in the city easier. Many flyovers and underpasses are also being constructed to ease traffic congestion in the city.

Rail
Railways were first introduced in the city in the year 1869 with the commencement of Secunderabad–Wadi line of Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway. Secunderabad Railway Station is the headquarters of the South Central Railway zone of the Indian Railways and is the largest railway station serving Hyderabad. The other major railway stations serving the city are Hyderabad Deccan Station (Nampally), Kachiguda Railway Station and Begumpet Railway Station. These stations provide connectivity within the city and the rest of the country.

Culture
Historically, Hyderabad has been the city where distinct cultural and linguistic traditions of North India and South India meet. Hyderabadis, as residents of the city are known, have developed a distinctive culture which is a mixture of Hindu and Muslim traditions. A typical Hyderabadi could be either a Telugu or a Urdu-speaking person that has decided to make Hyderabad his/her home.

Women of all cultures and faiths in Hyderabad typically wear either the traditional Indian dress, the sari, or, increasingly, the Salwar kameez especially among the younger population. The traditional Hyderabadi garb for females are the Khara Dupatta, the Salwar kameez and the Burqa (religious). For males the traditional garb is the Sherwani. This is one of the more visible cultural attributes of Hyderabad