One of the most strikingly noticeable things in Hyderabad’s Old City is its beautiful skyline, adorned by historical monuments. The regularly used route to the Charminar—the city’s focal point—is marked by stunning domes of the High Court and Osmania General Hospital, which are early 20th-century structures built by the last Nizam, Osman Ali Khan.
The Western approach is just as rich in heritage. The Aza Khana-e-Zehra, a Shia Muslim religious site, the Darul Shifa, Hyderabad’s first hospital, built in the 1590s by Mohd Quli Qutb Shah, and the first municipal corporation office of Hyderabad built in the 1930s, also shape the city’s skyline.
The western route, passing via Darul Shifa and the Purani Haveli, is the best path to explore the city for anyone interested in looking beyond the touristy monuments. For me, it is a combination of historical sites and what I call ‘functional history’—places still in use rather than frozen as monuments—that really helps us learn about Hyderabad with deeper context.
Alas, the entire Western approach is now going to change fundamentally, with the Hyderabad metro rail finally expanding into the Old City to connect the transportation service to the jam-packed Charminar area. A proposed new line from the Darul Shifa area toward the Charminar is in the pipeline, and the state government has already marked the main road for expansion.
Cheques have already been handed over to some property owners, while others in the area are opposing the metro rail as it will disturb some of the historical buildings. Essentially, in the coming months, a handful of important heritage sites will either be razed down or be partially disturbed for the ‘development’ that we often use in the context of our urban landscapes in India.
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Erasing history for development
As a Hyderabadi, my heart aches to know that some of my favourite heritage buildings are going to be affected. While I understand the need to modernise the Old City, destroying significant monuments is not the right way to do it. Over the last decade or so since I’ve been a journalist, I’ve seen historical monuments being torn down one by one.
Cities, especially Hyderabad, are enchanting for those who value heritage, with layers of history reflected in their monuments. While it is just one aspect of what constitutes heritage, monuments define the skyline of Hyderabad and play an important role in preserving its past. The government is literally destroying history in a city known for its historical landmarks. I wish there was a plan to balance heritage with development projects.
Before I rant further, I’ll first list a handful of places to explain my indignation.
Munshi Naan: This naan shop has been around since 1851, making it one of the oldest establishments in the Old City. Bang on the main road of the Purani Haveli junction, its demolition for the metro seems inevitable—unlike some other larger establishments that have only had to sacrifice their front portions (about 30 feet from the main road), this small shop has no space to spare.
Munshi Naan is an institution. They still make naan in the traditional tandoor. It is named so as its founder worked as a Munshi during the reign of Hyderabad’s fourth Nizam Nasir-ud-Daula (1829-1857).
First Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad’s Office: This is one of those sites that many of us heritage lovers love to romanticise. Essentially a run-down building now taken over by squatters, it could have set a great example to restore this structure back to its glory. Built by the last Nizam in the 1930s, the main arch stands to this day. An architect friend of mine told me that the previous Telangana government had even accepted his proposal to restore this—but now, that is not going to happen.
Darul Shifa: While it won’t be fully demolished, the boundary wall of this historical site will be affected. Built in the 1590s, shortly after Hyderabad was founded in 1591, it was originally a hospital and medical college built by Mohd Quli Qutb Shah. Today, it functions as an Ashurkhana and is called Alawa-e-Sartouk. An Ashurkhana is where Shia Muslims observe the death anniversary of Imam Hussain during Muharram. Hussain, the son of Imam Ali—who was the cousin and son-in-law of Prophet Muhammad—-is revered by Shia Muslims and considered the successor to the Prophet.
Aza Khana-e-Zehra: An Ashurkhana built in 1941 by the last Nizam in memory of his mother Zehra Begum, this place has an interesting story behind it. According to legend, when the 1908 Musi floods destroyed Hyderabad, the site of the Aza Khana-e-Zehra was not affected. It is said that the Nizam then sought the place due to its holiness and hence built the Ashurkhana there. This is also believed to be the largest one in the city.
Clearly, some very important sites in the city will be either affected or demolished. The fact that an institution like Munshi Naan will be gone is quite unfortunate. Last I spoke to the owner, they were looking for a new place to relocate to. In fact, if you’re a tenant, you’re left in the lurch while only property owners receive compensation for the metro expansion. For now, all we can hope is that the metro authorities show a little kinder toward our heritage.
Yunus Lasania is a Hyderabad-based journalist whose work primarily focuses on politics, history and culture. Views are personal.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)
Only the Munshi Nann will be fully demolished, but its tandoor can be located to another location – so the heritage oven is going to survive, after all said and done. Rest of the heritage buildings will be partially and nominally effected – not a great loss as the main buildings are going to survive. and, by the way those buildings constructed only a 100 years ago cannot be considered to be of great historic importance – we have a thousands of years old history, so cheers, enjoy the development which is for public good.
why dont you commmute on your camel every day to eat rancid and putrid naan. every day ? Let othersuse metro for office commute. There is a limit to stupidity. You willl get such urine mixed naan all over hyderabad. But metro has to go only there
It never ceases to amaze how the privileged in this country care more about monuments in the name of heritage but never seem to care or interested in understanding the situation of underprivileged(homeless,rag pickers,orphans,beggars, transgenders,poor) who numbers are certainly in thousands
If not lakhs who inhabit the garbage and pot hole adorned roads of Hyderabad especially in Old city.When this is brought to their attention the so called heritage activists who seek the government to spends crores of rupees in repair and reconstruction of these old monuments they call these monuments as “intangible” “livin memory” I can’t help but feel whether they think these “intangible and living monuments” are more intangible than lives of thousands of people