Hyderabad is a South Asian city with about ten million residents. Its name means “Lion City”, named for caliph Ali, one of the prophet Muhammad’s successors: Ali gained the epithet “Lion” after his lion-like valor in battle. Hyderabad was founded by the sultan Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah in 1591 to serve as his capital. It was previously known as “Baghnagar”.

Hyderabad is a South Asian city with about two million residents. Its name means “Lion City”, named for caliph Ali, one of the prophet Muhammad’s successors: Ali gained the epithet “Lion” after his lion-like valor in battle. Hyderabad was founded by the nawab Muhammad Ghulam Shah Kalhoro in 1768 to serve as his capital. It was previously known as “Neroonkot”.

Hyderabad first came under the rule of the Mughal emperors after a year long siege in 1687, but re-established its autonomy in 1724 as the power of the Mughal empire waned. As the British were conquering the subcontinent at the end of the 18^th century, Hyderabad was under threat by a neighboring king – coincidentally named Hyder Ali. The rulers of Hyderabad decided to seek help by becoming a tributary of the British East India Company in 1798. This let Hyderabad retain limited autonomy under British protection throughout the era of British rule.

Hyderabad wasn’t around for the height of the Mughal Empire. Hyderabad started to fall under British pressure in the early 1800s, and its leaders were forced to sign a series of unequal treaties. This all came to a head in 1843, in the Battle of Hyderabad. Though Hyderabad’s defenders outnumbered the British, the British cavalry and artillery were able to break through and take the city, the last major stronghold in the region.

As the British ruled India, first via the East India Company and then more directly via the British Raj, Hyderabad prospered as the capital of a princely state, and gradually modernized. Hyderabad, as a trade and transport hub, slowly modernized and saw its economy transformed.

Upon independence, India and Pakistan separated. The Nizam of Hyderabad wanted his princely state to stay independent from both new countries, but the Indian army soon intervened and invaded Hyderabad. The invasion took only five days.

When India and Pakistan split, Hyderabad found itself as a majority-Hindu city in a majority-Muslim Pakistan. Most of the city’s Hindu population fled across the border while their homes were later taken by those fleeing the other direction. The broader population transfer between India and Pakistan after independence and partition involved 14.5 million people – the largest mass migration in human history – and saw roughly equal numbers moving in both directions.

Today, Hyderabad, India is the largest city in Telangana and the 4^th largest in India. In the past few decades, it’s become a hub of IT services and pharmaceuticals, replacing its traditional role as a hub in the trade of diamonds and pearls. About 65% of the city’s population is Hindu, and 30% is Muslim. The main languages of the city are Telugu and Urdu.

Hyderabad, Pakistan is the second-largest city in Sindh and the 7^th largest in Pakistan. It’s an industrial center, and retains a reasonable Hindu minority of about 5% of the population – over 100,000 residents. The main languages are Urdu and Sindhi.

Hyderabad and Hyderabad form the only pair of cities with the same name in which both have over 1 million residents in the city proper.¹ They’re especially intriguing as they neither was named after the other – unlike say, London, England and London Ontario, or Cordoba, Spain and Cordoba, Argentina. Their stories have plenty of parallels and plenty of contrasts, and they both have something to teach us about the history of the region – even though they now find themselves over 800 miles apart and on opposite sides of an often-hostile border.

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