Hyderabad is known for its rich history, culture and architecture representing its unique character as a meeting point for North and South India, and also its multicultural nature, geographically, culturally and intellectually. Also known as The City of Nizams and The City of Pearls, Hyderabad is today one of the fast developing cities in the country and a modern hub of Information Technology, ITES and Biotechnology.

Hyderabad has become a preferred conference venue in India, with many conferences and meetings taking place in the city. The city is home to the world's largest film studio, the Ramoji Film City as well as the second largest film industry in the country, the Telugu Film Industry known popularly as Tollywood. The city is also known to be a sporting destination with many national and international games conducted here. The people here are called Hyderabadis. The city is regarded as a blend of traditionality with modernity.

Although Hyderabad was founded less than 500 years ago, archaeologists have unearthed Iron Age sites near the city that could date back to 500 BC.

Approximately, a 1000 years ago this region was ruled by Kakatiyas. Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, a ruler of the Qutb Shahi dynasty the ruling family of the Golconda, previously a feudatory of Bahmani sultanate that declared independence in 1512, founded the city of Hyderabad on the banks of the Musi River in 1591; to relieve water shortage the dynasty had experienced at their old headquarters at Golconda. He also ordered the construction of the Charminar, the iconic monument of the city, in 1591, reportedly in gratitude to the Almighty for arresting the plague epidemic before it did irreversible damage to his new city.

The Mughal emperor Aurangzeb captured Hyderabad in 1687 and during this short Mughal rule, Mughal-appointed governors of the city soon gained autonomy. In 1724, Asaf Jah I, who was granted the title Nizam-ul-Mulk ("Governor of the country") by the Mughal emperor, defeated a rival official to establish control over Hyderabad. Thus began the Asaf Jahi dynasty that ruled Hyderabad until a year after India's independence from Britain. Asaf Jah's successors ruled as the Nizams of Hyderabad. The rule of the seven Nizams saw the growth of Hyderabad both culturally and economically. Hyderabad became the formal capital of the kingdom and Golconda was almost abandoned. Huge reservoirs, like the Nizam Sagar, Tungabhadra, Osman Sagar, Himayat Sagar, and others were built. Survey work on Nagarjuna Sagar had also begun during this time; the actual work was completed by the Government of India in 1969. The wealth and grandeur of the Nizams is demonstrated by the fabled Jewels of The Nizams which is a tourist attraction.The state was richest and the largest among the princely states of India.The land area of the state was 90,543 mi² its population in 1901 was 50,073,759. It enjoyed an estimated revenue of £90,029,000.

Before 1947, Hyderabad was under the suzerainty of the British Crown but was not part of British India. In 1947, at the time of the independence of British India and its Partition into the Union of India and the new state of Pakistan, the British abandoned their claim to suzerainty over the Princely states and left them to decide their own future. The Nizam, because of Islamic leanings, wished either to remain independent or to accede to Pakistan. However, for the Indian Union, this was unacceptable from the strategic perspective. Nizam's efforts also triggered the largest agrarian armed rebellion in modern Indian history, the Telangana Rebellion. To deter the Nizam, Indian union chose to implement an economic blockade which made the state of Hyderabad to sign a Standstill Agreement with it. Nizam's intransigence compelled Indian Union to use military force against the landlocked princely state of Hyderabad. This operation, termed Operation Polo, was successful and on 17 September 1948 the Nizam signed an Instrument of Accession to the Union of India.

On November 1, 1956, the states of India were reorganized on linguistic grounds. The territories of the State of Hyderabad were divided between newly created Andhra Pradesh, Mumbai state (later Maharashtra), and Karnataka. Hyderabad and the surrounding areas were added to Andhra Pradesh, based on the Telugu speaking community. Thus, Hyderabad became the capital city of the new state of Andhra Pradesh.

Since '90s owing to liberalisation, the city has become a major hub of the IT industry which in turn brought changes in lifestyle and culture. The growth in IT sector and construction of International Airport witnessed rise in various other fields like real estate in 2000s although the Global financial crisis of 2008–2009 has had a significant impact on construction activity.