Mian Ghulam Shah Kalhoro decided to shift the capital away from Khudabad, and founded Hyderabad in 1768 over a limestone ridge on the eastern bank of the Indus River known as Ganjo Takkar, or "Bald Hill."

The small hill is traditionally believed to have been the location of the ancient settlement of Neroon Kot, a town which had fallen to the armies of Muhammad Bin Qasim in 711 CE.

[9] In 1768, Mian Ghulam Shah Kalhoro ordered a fort to be built on one of the three hills of Hyderabad to house and defend his people.

[9] The city's textile industry boomed with the arrival of Susi and Khes cotton cloth and handicrafts from towns in rural Sindh.

[9] Hyderabad's goods were mostly exported to markets in Khorasan, India, Turkestan, and Kashmir - though some Hyderabadi wares were displayed at The Great Exhibition of 1851 in London.

[12] The British also signed a treaty of "eternal friendship" with the Talpur rulers of Hyderabad in the early 19th century, who promised not to allow the French to set up residency in Sindh.

Their bodies were eventually brought back to Hyderabad, and were buried in the Tombs of the Talpur Mirs located at the northern edge of the Ganjo Hill.

Merchants there forged links with the commercial community in Hyderabad, and began exporting Hyderabadi wares to distant markets.

[14] Sindwork handicrafts thus placed Hyderabad at the center of a new trading network that was almost entirely dominated by Hindus from the city's mercantile Bhaiband segment of the Lohana caste,[14] although the artisans themselves were primarily Muslim.

Though the city did not witness major fighting, the British demolished the large round tower that once stood outside of Pacco Qillo, deeming it a potential risk to their rule were it to fall into the hands of rebels.

The British built a rail network throughout the western part of South Asia in the 1880s, and purchased the private Scinde Railway to connect the province to Kabul trade routes.

The Partition of India resulted in the large-scale exodus of much of the city's Hindu population, though like much of Sindh, Hyderabad did not experience the widespread rioting that occurred in Punjab and Bengal.

[14] The vacuum left by the departure of much of the city's Hindu population was quickly filled by newly arrived refugees from India, known as Muhajirs.

[21] Animosity between Urdu and Sindhi speakers first arose in 1967,[9] it intensified under the Pakistan People's Party government in the 1970s, which were widely perceived by Muhajirs to be a pro-Sindhi administration.

[25] On 30 September 1988, militants from the Sindh Progressive Party drove into Muhajir dominated areas in the city, and opened indiscriminate fire in busy crossroads.

[25][26] The city began to divide itself ethnically, and the Muhajir population migrated en masse from Qasimabad and the interior of Sindh into Latifabad.

[25][27][28] Further ethnic disturbances occurred in May 1990, including a police-led siege of the Pacco Qillo fortress in the center of Hyderabad,[23] in which Muhajir activists claim 150 were killed.

[42] As a result, Hyderabadi homes traditionally feature "wind-catching" towers that funnel breezes down into living quarters in order to alleviate heat.

During this time, winds that blow usually bring along clouds of dust, and people prefer staying indoors in the daytime, while the breeze that flows at night is more pleasant.

The city was initially founded on a limestone ridge on the eastern bank of the Indus River known as Ganjo Takkar, or "Bald Hill."

Much of the city's industrial base was weakened by ethnic violence in urban Sindh in the 1980s, although poor infrastructure and supply of electricity has also hampered growth.

[48] Hyderabad is an important commercial centre where industries includes: textiles, sugar, cement, manufacturing of mirror, soap, ice, paper, pottery, plastics, tanneries, hosiery mills and film.

Handicraft industries, including silver and gold work, lacquer ware, ornamented silks, and embroidered leather saddles, are also well established.

Walls of most traditional-style buildings were made of mud bricks, which helped keep the structure cool in summer and warm in winter.

[42] Homes built during the British colonial period contain introduced architectural elements like balconies and decorative columns as part of an elaborate outward-facing façade.

Of the few, Mirza Kalich Beg received education from the Government High School, Hyderabad and carried the banner of Sindhi literature across borders.

[56] Modern novelists, writers, columnists and researchers like Musharraf Ali Farooqi, Ghulam Mustafa Khan and Qabil Ajmeri also hail from Hyderabad.

Hyderabad has served many Sindhi literary campaigns throughout the history of Pakistan as is evident from the daily newspapers and periodicals that are published in the city.

While the year 2005 saw new FM regular stations set up at Gawadar, Mianwali, Sargodha, Kohat, Bannu and Mithi, private radio channels began airing in and around Hyderabad.

But the unavailability of an up-to-date news and current affairs platform renders the services of such stations of not much value to the masses but nonetheless appealing to youngsters.