Discovering Hyderabad’s Halcyon Days

 It all started with a spittoon that caught my eye in the Salar Jung museum and so here we were in a narrow lane in the labyrinth around Charminar in a junk shop, between a poultry shop (with quails, pigeons, rabbits and… crows ?!) and a grocery shop, (where I had just been educated in the difference between Sulaimani and Irani tea) getting a gorgeous paandan wrapped up in a newspaper. (The spittoon will follow another day.) It will be a decoration piece, the shopkeeper surmised. ‘No, now I will use it.’ I replied. ‘You haven’t used one till now and now you will?’ the shopkeeper said with a hint of a smile and shake of his head. I reiterated the claim, now with lesser surety. A Ganapati whizzed past, in a rickshaw seated on a man’s lap. A teaseller pouring a cup of cutting chai for the shopkeeper offered us a cup too. The half-hearted pitter-patter made the offer enticing….but there were other gems waiting.

Landing in Hyderabad and heading from the airport on an elevated road gave the most expansive view of an undulating urban sprawl interspersed with rocky outcrops. Modernity’s towering edifices dwarf the Bala Hissar on top of Golconda Fort. We speed down the flyover, to land in the tight embrace of traffic, that is also the hallmark of the tri-city. Whether it is main Hyderabad, alternating between bustling markets or the more open area near the Hussain Sagar Lake, green and spacious Secunderabad or space age Cyberabad aka Hi-Tech City’s (still don’t know for sure its name) high-rises soaring on the fast-disappearing hillocks, maddening traffic is a thread that runs through them all. For once I had left the planning to the man since he had stayed there earlier, albeit ages back. Charminar was the only definite on my itinerary. We end up going there many times! The historical part of Hyderabad is all truly its own.

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 Passion Project

Hyderabad tends to be hyperbolic! The massive secretariat building overlooks the Husain Sagar Lake and a gigantic metallic lamp that reflects the traffic faithfully. The world’s largest monolithic Buddha stands serenely in the lake, oblivious to the chaos swirling around him. Repurposed old palaces with delicate onion domes peek over rows of palms to look at the Musi River.

The Salar Jung museum is a revelation! I was under the misconception it housed the Nizam’s belongings, but the Salar Jung family were the diwans or prime ministers for three generations to the Nizams and the museum holds their personal collection. The last one resigned from his post to pursue his passion project- collecting art from across the world. He died without an heir and his collection, one of the largest private ones ever, was given to the government. Sadly, his palace, the Diwan Devdi, which originally housed the museum, was parcelled off piecemeal.

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From Chinese ceramics and enamelware, exquisite tapestry from Japan, European furniture, bric-a brac, the treasure trove throws up gems but the piece de resistance is the Veiled Rebecca. It lives up to the hype even under the most abysmal lighting. Nothing dims the beauty of the sublime marble sculpture. The jade and ivory collections, including a mat woven from strands of ivory (How??) and a stunning collection of bejewelled daggers with finely carved jade hilts (my favourites) fare better. There are personal items of Aurangzeb, Tipu Sultan, Noor Jehan and Jahangir. Another attraction, a functional clock acquired from Cooke and Kelvey Co reminds me of Prague’s astronomical clock.

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In the Bazaars of Hyderabad

Our first visit to Charminar is early by local standard I suppose. The wares of Laad bazaar, glittering bangles and rolls of beautiful borders, are still being put out. “Madam, madam” the shopkeepers call out. Madam is not a bangle person. My arms do not appreciate the delicate fetters that demand graceful caution. The life expectancy of a bangle is not more than a few hours on my wrists!

Charminar at the end of the lane looks bigger and prettier in person. It is getting a facelift and it’s stucco work, while not very detailed, is being scrubbed. We climb up a narrow winding staircase in one of the minars. The stone work Makkah Masjid and the haveli-like Nizamia General hospital with onion dome minarets, adjoining Charminar, are the only worthwhile view.

We walk towards Gulzar Houz through a massive gate. This lane is lined with pearl shops. Like the pearl craftsmen who came to Hyderabad and were patronized by the Nizams, the only organic gem comes here not only from freshwater ponds but from seas across the world – naturally black ones from Tahiti, Akoya’s from Japan, luminescent golden baubles from South Sea or the priceless Basra ones. Like their gems, the Mangatrais came two hundred years back from Haryana and have been here for 5 generations in this business. As we are leaving their shop the octogenarian head of the family graciously offers lunch and gifts me a small Ganesha. Our appetites just need a cup of tea and we head for the famous Nimrah Bakery for Irani chai and bun maska. The soft bun slathered with mildly sweetened cream in between, melts in the mouth and the milky tea is a perfect perk me up.  

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Sultan’s Seat

Chowmahalla Palace, close to Charminar, was the seat of the Asaf Jahi dynasty. It is an oasis of peace with a slightly neglected air, like an old dowager wrapped up in nostalgia, harking to heydays. It too is getting a makeover. Inside the main gate a rectangular pond stretches towards the Khilwat Mubarak or the Darbar Hall. A quadrangle with scalloped arches and rooms surrounds the pond. The Darbar hall is behind purdah. It hides beautiful stucco work, low chandeliers, and a marble throne.

The side rooms with massive arched wooden windows give a brief history of the Nizam’s family tree, starting from Asaf Jah I who was given the title of Nizam-ul-Mulk, as the viceroy of the Deccan sultanate by the Mughals. The viewing rooms upstairs now display crockery and clothes. Further inside, behind an arched gate, lie four older palaces around a fountained pond, which give the palace it’s name. Aftab Mahal has wide steps leading up to a tiled platform and inside, an elegant parlour room is on display….waiting for guests who can never come. The garages at the back hold a parade of stately vehicles and buggies led by an eye-catching canary yellow Rolls Royce.

Rich Man’s World

 The Purani Haveli was the official residence of the Nizams. The estate has been parcelled between different schools. The entrance is through a narrow lane adjoining the Princess Durru Shehvar hospital, named after the regal looking princess of the Ottoman empire who married the last Nizam, Asaf Jah VII’s, elder son. One portion of the rather decrepit haveli with an European façade houses the Nizam’s Museum, dedicated mostly to the Silver Jubilee of the last Nizam’s coronation.

There is a gilded chair under a brocaded canopy, gifts, souvenirs, silver replicas of Hyderabad’s landmarks, silver plates and trowels from foundation ceremonies. In another room the history of Hyderabad is catalogued briefly and the last hall, and it is a long hall, is the Nizam’s walk-in closet. With teakwood almirahs and small changing cubicles lining the wall, and on top, rows of glass cupboards displaying footwear, it is any fashionista’s closet dream. It is said that he never repeated his clothes. Well, the last Nizam was the richest man on earth in his time. Rich enough to gift fourteen thousand acres of land to the Bhoodan movement and pledge five tonnes of gold to the Defence Fund during the China conflict. (Do the math!)

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Diamonds and Dynasties

The narrative changes across the Musi River. We attend the sound and light show at the Golconda Fort. The script is bland and the colours loud, although the perspective is interesting. The Nizam’s are portrayed as the interlopers here, having being installed by the Mughals who defeated Golconda’s ruling Qutb Shahi dynasty. After the show, lights illuminate the massive boulders and tiered granite fortifications of the fort, once home to the Koh-i-Noor.

The dynasties might be dust now but a crescent moon, pearl white between the silver-lined clouds seems to harks back to the halcyon history of Hyderabad.

Fact File-

Entry fee–

Salar Jung Museum-Rs 50.

Charminar- Rs 25 by cash and Rs 20 by UPI.

Chowmahalla Palace- Rs 100. Tickets sales shuts at 4:30 pm and monument closes at 5 pm.

Old Haveli- RS 80.

Golconda Fort Sound and Light Show- Rs 80 – Rs 140. Timings-7 & 8.15 pm (March – Oct) & 6.30 & 7.45 pm (Nov – Feb). The first show is usually in English and the second in Hindi / regional language.

Photography– All places charge extra for mobile photography.