Secunderabad

Secunderabad, also spelled as Sikandarabad[note 1] (/sɪkəndərˈɑːbɑːd/, [sɪ.kən.d̪əɾ.ɑː.bɑːd̪] ⓘ), is a twin city of Hyderabad and one of the six zones of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) in the Indian state of Telangana. It is the headquarters of the South Central Railway zone. Named after the Mir Akbar Ali Khan Sikander Jah, Asaf Jah III, Nizam of the Asaf Jahi dynasty, Secunderabad was established in 1806 as a British cantonment. Although both the cities are together referred to as the twin cities, Hyderabad and Secunderabad have different histories and cultures, with Secunderabad having developed directly under British rule until 1948, and Hyderabad as the capital of the Nizams' princely state of Hyderabad.[3] Since 1956, the city has housed the Rashtrapati Nilayam, the winter office of the president of India. Geographically divided from Hyderabad by the Hussain Sagar lake, Secunderabad is no longer a separate municipal unit and has become part of Hyderabad's Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation. Both cities are collectively known as Hyderabad and together form the sixth-largest metropolis in India. Being one of the largest cantonments in India, Secunderabad has a large presence of army and air force personnel.[4][5]