Serish Nanisetti is an author and journalist. He has done extensive research on the Qutb Shahi kingdom that ruled from Golconda fort and later from Hyderabad for over 150 years. This was the time when a small fort transformed into a bustling township that drew merchants from across the world. The trade links and culture that facilitated it continued even during the Asaf Jah rulers who supplanted the Qutb Shahis. The story fleshes out aspects of this globalised empire which are there in plain sight.