Despite its rich history and layered cultural identity, Hyderabad’s literary landscape is often overlooked by its own people. While the city is frequently celebrated for its food, heritage and charm, the books that document its past, politics and everyday life rarely find a place on our to-read lists.
For bookworms who are curious to understand Hyderabad beyond its popular image, Siasat.com has curated a list of books on the city that you can add to your 2026 reading lists. Written by Hyderabadis, these books span history, cultural studies, and fiction that capture the many layers of the city.
Bes-selling books on Hyderabad to read
1. Golconda Bagnagar Hyderabad by Serish Nanisetti
Written by senior journalist Serish Nanisetti, the book focuses on the key period in the history of the city during the Qutb Shahi rule between 1518 and 1687. Using archival research and maps, Nanisetti brings the city’s early centuries to life, challenging common assumptions and showing how global trade, wealth and culture flourished in medieval Hyderabad.
2. The Hyderabadis by Daneesh Majid
A modern social history of Hyderabad from 1947 to the present, this book foregrounds 10 people’s experiences rather than textbook timelines. Drawing on oral histories, interviews, literature and some personal experiences, Daneesh Majid explores how diverse communities navigated political upheaval. It covers the annexation of the princely state in 1948, the formation of Andhra Pradesh in 1956 and the eventual creation of Telangana in 2014, offering a nuanced portrait of the city’s evolving identities.
3. Hyderabad Deccan: Illustrated by Mehdi Saajid and Md Sibghatullah Khan (Deccan Archive)
A visually rich celebration of Hyderabad’s built heritage, this book combines illustrations by Mehdi Saajid and research by Md Sibghatullah Khan to document the city’s architectural legacy. It includes monuments now neglected or vanishing. Designed to educate and rekindle appreciation for Hyderabad’s urban history, it takes readers through both iconic and lesser-known structures that have shaped the city’s character over centuries.
4. The Sirens of September by Zeenath Khan
Set against the turbulent backdrop of Hyderabad’s annexation in 1948, this historical fiction follows the life of Farishteh Ali Khan, an aristocratic teenager whose world shifts with the city’s political fall. Blending espionage, romance and personal upheaval, the novel captures both the emotional and historical currents of a defining moment in the city’s modern history. It is also one of the very few fictional works that came out of Hyderabad recently.
5. Zohra by Zeenuth Futehally
A classic of Indian English literature, Zohra (first published in 1951) tells the story of an upper-class Muslim woman in early-20th-century Hyderabad, navigating societal expectations, forced marriage and her own creative aspirations. Written by one of Hyderabad’s early female novelists, this fiction offers a rare literary window into gender, class and culture in the city’s past.
6. Beyond Biryani: The Making of a Globalised Hyderabad by Dinesh C Sharma
Far from being just about food, this comprehensive narrative explores Hyderabad’s transformation from a princely state to a globalised metropolis. Senior journalist Dinesh C Sharma charts economic, scientific and institutional developments, from colonial influences to the rise of IT and technological industries, showing how Hyderabad’s identity expanded beyond its famed cuisine into a city plugged into the global economy.
Which of these books have you read? Comment below.
