Hyderabad, once the capital of Sindh and now the third largest city of Pakistan, is one of the oldest cities of South Asia. Its history dates back to pre-Islamic times, when Ganjo Takan (barren Hill), a nearby hill-tract, was used as a place of worship. The city traces its early history to Neroon, a Hindu ruler of the area from whom the city derived its previous name, “Nerron Kot” (Fort of Neroon). The next important phase of its history began when the Indus changed its course from Khudabad, the then capital of Sindh, to its present position. As a result, the Kalhora rulers (1700-1782) decided to shift the capital to the present location, then a small settlement on the left bank of the Indus. The construction of a fort was then also undertaken, which dominated the skyline of the old city, but of which little is intact.

The monuments of Kalhora and Talpur rulers and the bazaars of the city are worth visiting. Stretching from Hyderabad Fort to the Market Tower, is Shahi Bazaar, where well-stocked shops are housed on both sides of a winding street and alongside a maze of tiny lanes that run off it. Good buys are calico, embroidery, bracelets, glass bangles, lacquered wood furniture, hand-loom cloth, “sousi” and “ajrak”, “rilli”, block printed colorful “chadars” (shawls), shoes and glazed tiles.

Hyderabad is famous for its glass bangles. Visitors have the chance to see glass bangles being made and to make bangles themselves as well.