Hyderabad is a city built on three hillocks cascading over each other. Mian Ghulam Shah Kalhoro of the Kalhora Dynasty founded the city in 1768 over the ruins of Neroon Kot (meaning the place of Neroon) , a small fishing village on the banks of River Indus named after its ruler Neroon. A formal concept of the city was laid out by his son, Sarfraz Khan in 1782. When the foundations were laid, the city obtained the nickname Heart of the Mehran as the ruler Mian Ghulam Shah himself fell in love with the city. So strong was his adoration for the city that in 1768, he ordered a fort to be built on one of the three hills of Hyderabad to house and defend his people. The fort was built using fire-baked bricks giving it the name Pacco Qillo meaning the strong fort.
After the death of the great Kalhoro, started the Talpur Rule. Mir Fateh Ali Khan Talpur left his capital Khudabad, the Land of God and made Hyderabad his capital in 1789. He made the Pacco Qillo his residence and also held his courts there. Mir Fateh Ali Khan Talpur along with his three other brothers were responsible for the affairs that persisted in the city of Hyderabad in the years of their rule. The four were called char yar, Sindhi for the four friends.
The Talpur rule lasted almost over 50 years and in 1843, Talpurs faced a greater thre
at. The British came face-to-face with the Talpurs at the Battle of Miani on 17 February 1843. The emirs were valiant and held their swords high fighting the British but in vain. The battle ended on 24 March 1843 where the Talpur emirs lost and the city came into the hands of the British.
The British demolished most of the buildings around to accommodate their troops and their military stores. Hyderabad lost its glory and no longer were the roads covered with perfume. In 1857, when the First War of Indian Independence raged across the sub-continent, the British held most of their regiments and ammunition in this city.
At the time of partition in 1947, Hyderabad had a large community of Sindhi Hindus who were involved in trade and commerce. They contributed significantly to the economy of Sindh, in particular selling locally made goods overseas. More than 25 percent of Sindh’s population was Hindus[citation needed]. Hindus tended live in the cities. Sindhi hindus were supported by British and many were money lenders who were slowlly taking over all trade and lands of Sindhi wadaraes through usry. The Sindhi Muslims of prepartition days were becoming poor and poor. The locality of Hirabad was an exculisive Hindu community from which Muslims were not even allowed to pass through after 4 pm. The Muslims of Hyderabad were being kept educationally backward as there was no school at which Muslim kids could study except Noor Mohammad High School. All other schools of Hyderabad only admitted Hindu students.
Unlike Punjab and Bengal which were split. All of Sindh was alloted to Pakistan. When the partition occurred, Sindhi Hindus expected to remain in Sindh. However the influx of Muslim refugees from outside of Sindh caused communal violence. The homes and businesses of Sindhi Hindus were looted by the Muhajirs. The women were told to take their own lives, should Muhajirs forcibly enter the home. The Sindhi Hindus were forced to flee, leaving behind everything. Sindhi Hindus had expected to return to their motherland, once the violence settled but it was not possible. Popati Hiranandani,born 1924, a writer native to Hyderabad tells of this ordeal in her autobiography and describes that the police were merely onlookers when the violence erupted and failed to protect the Hindu community.
Since then there has been ethinic tensions between native Sindhis and Urdu-speaking migrants (or Muhajirs).
