City (pop., 2001 prelim.: 3,449,878), capital of Andhra Pradesh state, southern India.
Founded by the sultans of Golconda in the 16th century, the town was plundered and destroyed following the Mughal occupation in 1685. In 1724 it became the capital of the independent kingdom of Hyderabad . A walled city, it has many buildings in a blend of Hindu and Muslim styles. Adjacent Secunderabad grew as a British cantonment, connected to Hyderabad by an embankment 1 mi (1.6 km) long. It is the site of Osmania University (1918) and the University of Hyderabad (1974).