A tale of Hyderabad: History, morphology and cultural chronologies of urban planning
Hyderabad is the fifth-largest metropolitan city of India and the capital of Telangana. The historic city is home to 10 million people expanding over an area of 650 square kilometers. (UN — World Population Prospects 2020). The city was established on the banks of the Musi river and has a rich legacy spanning over 500 years. Along with its glorious past and an evident influence of the Nizam’s rule, Hyderabad has observed a steady progression towards pharmaceutical and manufacturing industries and later into the service industry. The city’s inception in the late 16th century was in itself the beginning of urban sprawl from the fortified city of Golconda.
The Walled City Of Golconda
The popular heritage site of the Golconda fort, famous for its diamond and pearl markets was first built during the reign of the Kakatiya dynasty for defense. However, Golconda rose to its prominence during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries under the Bahmani Sultanate, when it observed major expansions. Sultan Quli Qutb-ul-Mulk was the appointed governor of the Bahmanis. He established Golconda as the seat of his government in 1501. As the Bahmani rule gradually lost its power, Sultan Quli announced himself as an independent ruler, forming the Qutb shahi dynasty in 1538. Golconda flourished under the Qutb Shahi dynasty for over half a century, until the formation of the new capital city of Hyderabad in 1591.
Inception of the City
Hyderabad was established on the banks of river Musi, eight kilometers away from the fortified city of Golconda. 7 generations of the Qutb Shahis ruled over the Deccan for over 171 years during which time, they patronised literature and public construction. The Iconic Husain Sagar, a man-made lake at the heart of the modern city of Hyderabad, was made during the time of Ibrahim Qutb Shah in the mid sixteenth century. This 2.6 sq.km lake was built on the tributary of Musi and functioned as a water reservoir and source for water supply to Hyderabad. A slow-sand filter was also set up to the reservoir for providing drinking water, which sufficed the city population.
The Glory of Qutb Shahi Kingdom ended when Aurangzeb, the last great Mughal ruler, captured Golconda succeeding to expand over the entire sub-continent. However after his death, the empire rapidly declined and disintegrated. At this time, the Mughal Governor of the Deccan declared independence, becoming the first Nizam and founder of the Asaf Jahi Dynasty. The Nizams shifted the capital back to Hyderabad and ruled the Deccan for over two centuries, right up to 1948 when the princely state was annexed by the Republic of India.
The Contractual Twin City
The Nizam and the East India Company signed a subsidiary alliance, a contract that allowed the native rulers to remain independent under the protection of the colonists. Under this contract, the military cantonment of Secunderabad was created on the north east of Hussain Sagar Lake and British Palaces on the north bank of Musi. The site was chosen together by the Nizam and the EIC, locating it in a way to give space to avoid threat and yet not too far for keeping an eye on each other. The twin cities of Golconda and Hyderabad transformed to the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. The Railway terminal built in Secunderabad connected Mumbai in the north and extended to Chennai in the south, propelling the growth of these twin cities. The rail line attracted northward expansion of Hyderabad.
The City’s Resilience
Until the 21st Century, the Musi river was infamous for flooding the city. The flood of 1908 was an exceptionally devastating calamity, destroying the city of Hyderabad in entirety. But it was not a mere event part of the city’s history, as it stood out to be a milestone in changing the course of the city’s urban landscape. This flood made the administration rethink its priorities. The legendary engineer M. Visweswaraya mentioned in his autobiography, 221 tanks out 788 in the basin of a Musi river were breached resulting in the massive destruction. Several water tanks on either banks of the river, around the old city, were neglected and infringed causing the floods to be catastrophic. Popular landmarks of Hyderabad like, Afsal Gunj bridge, British Residency, and the Afsal Gunj hospital were wrecked along with the homes of common people.
M. Visweswaraya was requested to work on restructuring the city. After carrying out extensive surveys, pointed out the breached water tanks and suggested storage reservoirs of adequate capacity to make Hyderabad immune from the River’s wrath. The two reservoirs were meant to store the excess water that the river channel could carry. These two reservoirs are the now popularly known Osman Sagar/ Gandipet lake and Himayat Sagar lake, that continue to be amongst the current day water supply sources to the city.
Hyderabad eventually developed to be flood proof, changing the city’s core public infrastructure and medical facilities, which were completely overhauled by the last Nizam, making the city into a modern metropolis. Then, in 1911 the plague hit the city. The Nizam’s government rose in these circumstances and built modern and iconic institutions like Osmania General Hospital and Unani Hospital. These remnants are not only of an architectural value but historical references to the city transforming from a provincial capital into a modern metropolis. Other Public projects included redevelopment plans to decongest slums and bringing Visweswaraya back to design a new, modern sewage system to prevent Musi from becoming a sewer. Unfortunately, a few decades down the line in the 20th century, Musi did become a perpetual sewer of Hyderabad.
I.T take over
The establishment of the “Hitech City” happened with the inauguration of the Cyber tower in 1998. The idea of the Hitech city was to attract foreign investments in the booming service sector. It became the core of a large IT special economic zone, eventually known as Cyberabad. The vision of the city as an IT hub conceived and began to have a visible impact on the urban morphology of Hyderabad. By 2009, the western periphery expanded rapidly exceeding the urban growth expected in the 2020 master plan. This resulted in an unplanned growth towards the fringes. Coping with this immense growth, the Outer Ring Road was completed by 2015 and the Elevated metro system opened in 2018.
Conclusion
Progressing with time, the nodal point of the city kept shifting with demand and each shift displays a unique identity. This multi-nodal system of the city comes together to form the diversified Hyderabad. For instance, the shift of the city center from Charminar to HITECH City over the years: Both, the old city and the flamboyant IT corridor of Hyderabad are starkly different yet constitute today’s idea of the city. The constant shift of the economic node is the reason for the large urban sprawl. However, the multi-nodal city has created itself a structure where various sectors carry, if not equal, a substantial economic load to build the city. Luring investments by cutting down the taxes and making the city more hospitable has been an age-old trick in Hyderabad. Be it the shift of the film industry in the late 70s, or the Head Quarters of leading IT Companies today in 2021. Hyderabad has seen huge foreign investments in the recent past with the establishment of major IT companies.
Hyderabad’s urban morphology is interesting to notice. It was founded in 1501 after the nearby Golconda Fort settlement became obsolete. During this period urban settlement expanded along an east-west axis. In 1806, the Secunderabad British military cantonment was founded, and urban settlement began expanding along a north-south axis. Since Hitech city was established, urban settlement has reverted to east-west urban settlement expansion.
References:
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6201&context=masters_theses
https://the-deccan.in/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Sardar_Golconda_through_time.pdf
https://medium.com/@hyderabadhistoryproject/yunus-y-lasania-320886c025a8
