Secunderabad is on the north of the city of Hyderabad. Both the cities are collectively known just as Hyderabad outside the state and together they form the fifth largest metropolis in India. Even, officially, the capital city of the state of Andhra Pradesh is referred to just as Hyderabad. Within the state, though, the two cities are popularly called as 'Twin Cities'. In common parlance, however, Secunderabad is seldom used outside the state. Though they are called twins, the cities have a different history and present fusion of different cultures, with Secunderabad having developed under direct British rule until 1948 and Hyderabad as the capital of Nizam's princely state.