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 Secunderabad Telugu: sikənd̪əɾaːbaːd̪, formerly Ulwul, is a twin city of Hyderabad and one of the six zones of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation GHMC in the Indian state of Telangana. It is the headquarters of the South Central Railway zone. Named after the Mir Akbar Ali Khan Sikander Jah, Asaf Jah III, Nizam of the Asaf Jahi dynasty, Secunderabad was established in 1806 as a British cantonment. Although both the cities are together referred to as the twin cities, Hyderabad and Secunderabad have different histories and cultures, with Secunderabad having developed directly under British rule until 1948, and Hyderabad as the capital of the Nizams' princely state of Hyderabad. Since 1956, the city has housed the Rashtrapati Nilayam, the winter office of the president of India. It is also the headquarters of the 54th Infantry Division of the Indian Army. There are also many residential areas and apartments, particularly in the small neighbourhood of Yapral, with many Indian Armed Forces officials living here.

Geographically divided from Hyderabad by the Hussain Sagar lake, Secunderabad is no longer a separate municipal unit and has become part of Hyderabad's Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation. Both cities are collectively known as Hyderabad and together form the sixth-largest metropolis in India. Being one of the largest cantonments in India, Secunderabad has a large presence of army and air force personnel. Secunderabad also has a large number of lakes, with the northern part of the Hussain Sagar Lake being a part of the city and Fox Sagar Lake being the largest lake in Secunderabad. The city also houses the famous Ramoji Film City.

History

See also: History of Hyderabad

James Street circa 1880, an important shopping district in Secunderabad

Following the dissolution of the Chalukya empire into four parts in the 11th century, the areas around the present-day Hyderabad and Secunderabad came under the control of the Kakatiya dynasty 1158–1310, whose seat of power was at Warangal, 148 k 92 mi northeast of modern Hyderabad.

In 1310, the area of present-day Hyderabad and Secunderabad came under the rule of the Delhi Sultanate after the capture of Warangal, the Kakatiya capital. The modern city of Hyderabad was built and founded in 1592 by the Golconda Sultanate under Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah. The modern Secunderabad is also the site where the then Mughal emperor Ahmad Shah Bahadur was defeated in the year 1754 by the Maratha Empire; the emperor arrived after the death of Nawab Anwaruddin Khan nearby at the Battle of Ambur in 1749. Anwaruddin Khan was the Nawab of Arcot.

Banner celebrating 200 years of Secunderabad

The area around Secunderabad changed hands among various rulers, and the area was part of Nizam's Hyderabad by the 18th century.

Modern Secunderabad was founded as a British cantonment after Nizam Asaf Jah II was defeated by the British East India Company. He was then forced to sign the 1798 Treaty of Subsidiary Alliance to get the favour of British troops camped in the village of Ulwul, north-east of Hussain Sagar, the lake that separates Secunderabad from its twin city Hyderabad. In 1803, Nizam Sikandar Jah, the third Nizam of Hyderabad, changed Ulwul's name to Secunderabad after himself. The city was formed in 1806, after the order was signed by the Nizam allotting the land north of Hussain Sagar to set up the British Cantonment.