Hyderabad

Hyderabad or Haidarabad, capital of the above state, is situated on the right bank of the river Musi, a tributary of the Kistna, with Golconda to the west, and the residency and its bazaars and the British cantonment of Secunderabad to the north-east. It is the fourth largest city in India; pop. (1901) 448,466, including suburbs and cantonment. The city itself is in shape a parallelogram, with an area of more than 2 sq. m. It was founded in 1589 by Mahommed Kuli, fifth of the Kutb Shahi kings, of whose period several important buildings remain as monuments. The principal of these is the Char Minar or Four Minarets (1591). The minarets rise from arches facing the cardinal points, and stand in the centre of the city, with four roads radiating from their base. The Ashur Khana (1594), a ceremonial building, the hospital, the Gosha Mahal palace and the Mecca mosque, a sombre building designed after a mosque at Mecca, surrounding a paved quadrangle 360 ft. square, were the other principal buildings of the Kutb Shahi period, though the mosque was only completed in the time of Aurangzeb. The city proper is surrounded by a stone wall with thirteen gates, completed in the time of the first nizam, who made Hyderabad his capital. The suburbs, of which the most important is Chadarghat, extend over an additional area of 9 sq. m. There are several fine palaces built by various nizams, and the British residency is an imposing building in a large park on the left bank of the Musi, N.E. of the city. The bazaars surrounding it, and under its jurisdiction, are extremely picturesque and are thronged with natives from all parts of India. Four bridges crossed the Musi, the most notable of which was the Purana Pul, of 23 arches, built in 1593. On the 27th and 28th of September 1908, however, the Musi, swollen by torrential rainfall (during which 15 in. fell in 36 hours), rose in flood to a height of 12 ft. above the bridges and swept them away. The damage done was widespread; several important buildings were involved, including the palace of Salar Jang and the Victoria zenana hospital, while the beautiful grounds of the residency were destroyed. A large and densely populated part of the city was wrecked, and thousands of lives were lost. The principal educational establishments are the Nizam college (first grade), engineering, law, medical, normal, industrial and Sanskrit schools, and a number of schools for Europeans and Eurasians. Hyderabad is an important centre of general trade, and there is a cotton mill in its vicinity. The city is supplied with water from two notable works, the Husain Sagar and the Mir Alam, both large lakes retained by great dams. Secunderabad, the British military cantonment, is situated 51⁄2 m. N. of the residency; it includes Bolaram, the former headquarters of the Hyderabad contingent.