Hyderabad once had beautiful gardens; now a concrete jungle
O Lord, bless my days and nights with contentment,
O Lord, make thou my country prosperous and populous,
O Lord, grant me a hundred years to live,
O Lord, among all the thrones, let my throne be like the gem that adorns a ring,
O Lord, fill this city with people as thou hast filled the ocean with fish.
This is the translation of the prayer (munajat) that Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, the fifth ruler of the Qutb Shahi dynasty, said after founding Hyderabad city with the magnificent Charminar.
Now a concrete jungle, Hyderabad city was once a ‘City of Gardens’ and was called ‘Bagnagar’ or ‘Baghnagar’.
Though some attribute the nickname to mystic queen Bhagmati, the beloved of Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, it is true that historians over the years were taken in by the gardens of the city that celebrates its 425th birthday on October 9.
Noted historian Dr M.A. Nayeem said Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah’s reign was marked not so much by fresh conquests, as it was by the blossoming of art, literature and architecture. His love for beauty had led to the planning and construction of a new capital, away from the overcrowded Golconda.
“The king ordered architects to prepare plans for a new city that would be a replica of paradise. He constructed several gardens in the new capital. This fascination for gardens continued with the Nizams, especially Nizam VII,” Dr Nayeem said.
He soon named the new capital Haiderabad (City of Haider) after the title of fourth Caliph, Hazrath Ali. Gardens dotted the four sides of Charminar. Bagh-i-Muhamad Shahi, along the eastern bank of Musi river, was full of gardens extending for several miles with date and coconut palms, jamun, champa, pomegranate and Indian almond trees.
Mughal historians and Europeans travellers like Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, a 17th-century French gem merchant, in their travelogues call Hyderabad ‘Bagh-nagar’ as it was full of gardens and groves. Rafiuddin Shirizi in Tadhkirat-ul-Mulk said: “The whole city is just one large garden.”
Another French traveller Francois Bernier in 1667, too, called it ‘Bagnagar’. Hakim Nizamuddin Gilani, a contemporary chronicler, in Hadiqat-as-Salatin called Hyderabad ‘qita of bihist (fragment of Paradise)’.
Haiderabad of yore
Courtesy: Daniel Ovelz Michael, Paigahs of the Deccan
The medieval streets lined with stores of silk and
spice led through the chaotic hustling through way of dust and din towards the
mesmerising Charminar fabled to be tunnelled with secret passage ways to
Golconda, Bidar, Aurangabad and Warangal.
Miralam Mandi stocked with piled up rows of vegetables
and greens led beyond the grain market. To the extreme side was the Purani
Haveli lined with nawabi deodis as neighbourhood. Large elephant doorways with
wooden gates marked the landscape of old city.
The side way right street of Charminar led to the
bangle street of Laad bazaar, where the women folk went forth in bustling amuck
strides with their veiled faces to buy sportively the zenana items of bridal
wear, to zardozi hand crafted embroidery clothing.
Gulzar house was where gold merchants sold the shahada
pearl Strings (seven lined) and the emerald crested chocker necklace with a
sarpesh head pendant a must for every wedding with the pearl drop Naath (nose
ring).
The lad bazaar led to the clock tower Kabuthar chowk (I
stand corrected - its Mehboob Chowk) which had all the birds to dine, sold there
and beyond was the metal street where all the Biryani cookware Dekshas and
lagaan and water storing Gangal were made and sold.
The imperial glittering Kilwat stood in all its splendour
with those filigree crested plaster work and dazzling chandeliers.
The road from Charminar culminated at the famed
Falaknuma with its gold furniture embossed with gems and pearls. The beauty of
the Falaknuma palace only added extra charm to the heightened good looks of Mir
Mehboob Ali Pasha who was noted for his generosity and regal spending abilities
which drained the coffers of the state. His graceful lifestyle led him to own
the longest walk-in wardrobe At Purani Haveli.
When the seventh Nizam ascended the throne at Kilwat
he decided to move out of the chaotic old city towards the north of Musi River
beyond the begum bazaar and Feelkhana (elephant stand) towards the Chaderghat
area up-to the Hussain Sagar Lake.
In straight imitation of the Secunderabad lashkar city
where the British dwellings and cantonment was located the wilderness zone of Chaderghat
was sprinkled with sporadic British elements ever since the British Resident's
Kothi was built.
The vast expanse of arid wilderness zone of Chaderghat
was marked with churches and cathedrals for the British officers serving the
Nizam's govt.
On a hill pedestal of Gunfoundry where the guns and
canons were manufactured the St. Joseph's cathedral was built clustered with a
Hamlet of native populace serving the British officers of the Nizams army.
The Wesley church on the way towards Kothi and the St.
George’s Church (Anglican Parish) and the Methodist Church (American Parish)
dotted the skyline.
The seventh Nizam moved to the Chaderghat area from the
old city and built his own Kothi and named it king Kothi (I stand corrected - the
palace was built by Kamal Khan and the Nizam acquired it handsomely) noble men
of the Nizam's establishment also moved to the new city and built their manors
and mansions.
The feudal lords of estate dominions of Gadwal,
Wanaparthy, etc built their castles in the new city. Every mansion was built on
a large piece of land measuring two to three acres.
Each nobleman had his own estate in the sylvan
districts of the dominion. The village connection enabled the noble men to
requisite a retinue of servants from the villages as cooks, as washermen, as
Gardner's, as drivers and as Hand men orderlies.
Each mansion dotting the streets of Hyderabad city was
crafted with an acre of garden in front of the mansion abutting the road. Each
garden with its exotic plants and native flower plants laced with marble
fountains and flower climbers gave a feeling of paradise on earth.
The Eden Bagh palace with its huge garden grounds gave
a resplendent image of dream moment. Every street and every road were marked
with double storied mansions and manicured lawns and ornament gardens.
The city of noblemen rivalled with Secunderabad in its
nightlife and the family parties and wedding celebrations went on all through
the night.
Hyderabad never woke up before noon. And never slept
before predawn.
Hussain Sagar was the focal point for many mansions
that had sprung up in its vantage environs. The Paigas had their innumerable
double storied palaces around the Begumpet area with a clear view of the Hussain
Sagar Lake.
The innumerable lakes were the setting points for many
elaborate shikaar parties. The noble men would camp on lake beds for days
together loathing lazily with loads of village money from vibrant agricultural
boom.
Quails and Partridges were caught around the lakes and
culinary delights were followed with intricate cooking patterns. The nawabs and
their matching friends with their retinue of servers had a rivalrous and
boisterous night parties with nautch girls on the lake bed camps.
When the Arch Duke of Austria toured India, he made it
a point to visit Hyderabad and in his honour the city was painted in Hapsburg
yellow.
The Austrian dignitary was awestruck at the garden
lined streets of Hyderabad and the yellow mansions reminded him of Vienna. The
eastern Hyderabad starting from Ramkote, Narayanguda, Rajmolla, Vittalwadi and
Kacheguda developed into Marathi district of the city. It's this Marathi
connection which led to the celebration of Vinayak chaturthi on a scale
parallel with Mumbai and Pune.
ASAF JAHI ARCHITECTURE OF HYDERABAD
No comments:
Post a Comment