Hyderabad: the city that built itself wind towers

A short history

The city was founded in 1768 by Mian Ghulam Shah Kalhoro, on a limestone ridge above the Indus called Ganjo Takkar. It was the Kalhora capital, and then the Talpur capital from 1775.

The British defeated the Talpurs at the Battle of Hyderabad on 24 March 1843, and the provincial administration was subsequently attached to the Bombay Presidency. That ended Hyderabad's run as the capital of Sindh.

What survives is the fabric: mud brick, carved jharoka balconies, and the badgirs on the roofs.

Places worth your time

The wind catchers of the old city

Best seen from any rooftop in the late afternoon, when they are actually doing their job.

Pacco Qillo

The Talpur fort, much decayed, and still the largest structure in the old town.

The Talpur tombs

Tiled and domed, on the edge of the city, and usually empty.

Shahi Bazaar

A market that runs for kilometres in a more or less straight line. It is the longest bazaar of its kind in the region.

The bangle workshops

Hyderabad makes almost all of Pakistan's ornamental glass bangles — an industry employing something in the order of 300,000 people.

Before you go

November to February. Two hours from Karachi on the M-9. Half a day for the old city, and pair it with Thatta on the way back.