If you are traveling to Hyderabad on business — as is increasingly the case now — it is easy to miss the 400-year-old Hyderabad. The city that immediately hits the eye is a sprawling metropolis of shopping malls and office buildings with glass facades. The whole of the city seems to be under construction or renovation and the roads are jammed because flyovers are being constructed. The "old city" that was once the seat of the Nizam, the ruler of the largest and the most opulent "princely state", and the twin city of Secunderabad where the British maintained a cantonment to keep the army within striking distance of the Nizam can be seen only if you take the time out to see them. Hyderabad's many epithets include the '''City of Pearls''', the '''City of Nawabs''', the '''Biryani City''' and, because of its high-tech draw, '''Cyberabad'''.Hyderabad's history dates back to 1463, when '''Quli Qutb-ul-Mulk''' established the fortress of Golconda around 8 km to the west of the present day old city. He had quelled rebellion in the Telangana region and had was appointed the ''subedar'', or administrator of the region as a result. By 1518, he had become independent from the Bahmani sultan and declared himself the Sultan, under the name of '''Quli Qutb Shah''' and established the '''Qutb Shahi dynasty'''. In 1589, '''Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah''', a grandson of Quli Qutb Shah, took the decision to move his capital from the Golconda fort to the present day location of Hyderabad to alleviate water shortages at the old location. In 1591, he ordered the construction of the Charminar, reportedly in gratitude to Allah for cutting short a plague epidemic before it could do too much damage. The name "Hyderabad" reportedly had its origins in an affair between Mohammad Quli Qutb Shah and a local Telugu courtesan named Bhagmati. He named the city '''Bhagyanagar''' after her, and after she converted to Islam and took on the name of "Hyder Mahal", he named the city Hyderabad to keep pace. Hyderabad was built on a '''grid plan''' with help from Iranian architects. French traveller Jean-Baptiste Tavernier favorably compared Hyderabad to Orleans. The Qutb Shahi dynasty lasted till 1687, when the Mughal emperor '''Aurangzeb''' defeated the sultanate and took over Hyderabad. He appointed his governor over the region and granted him the title of Nizam-ul-Mulk. Mughal rule was shortlived, however, as in 1724, the Nizam '''Asaf Jah I''' gained independence from a declining Mughal empire. Legend has it that while on a hunting expedition, he met a holy man who offered him some ''kulchas'' and asked him to eat as much as he could. Asaf Jah ate only seven, and the holy man prophesied that his dynasty would last for seven generations. Sure enough, the seventh ruler in the dynasty was the last. In honour of the legend, the flag of the Nizams featured a ''kulcha''. image:golkondafort.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Golconda FortAround 1763 Asif Jah II, defeated by the Marathas and threatened by Tipu Sultan of Mysore, entered into a '''subsidiary alliance''' with a British. Hyderabad ended up as the capital of the largest princely state in British India, the Hyderabad state. This state was the richest in the country and in the 1930s Time magazine rated the Nizam the richest man in the world. In 1947, with India's independence, the seventh Nizam was reluctant to cede his prinicipality to the newly independent India, prefering Pakistan instead. India sent in its troops and the 200 year old prophesy was fulfilled. Hyderabad became the capital of the newly formed state of Andhra Pradesh in 1956 and steadily grew in size. The next major events in Hyderabad's history took place when Chandrababu Naidu became the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh in 1995. Among his key policies was a major initiative to turn the city into an IT hub. He cleaned up the streets, laid out IT parks and did much to attract technology companies into the city. A major achievement for him was when Microsoft chose Hyderabad as its India headquarters over rival Bangalore. Today, as Bangalore chokes over its infrastructure, Hyderabad's well-laid out streets are proving to be a major attraction for software and IT-enabled companies. Hyderabad takes its brand as an IT destination ''very'' seriously. '''Cyberabad''' is not just a nickname. The technology enclave of Madhapur has actually been officially named '''Hi tec''' city, and Cyberabad too is commonly used in official documents.Hyderabad is now renamed as Greater Hyderabad. http://wikitravel.org/en/Hyderabad