The walk to learn about Hyderabad is the Old City-Charminar one that I have been doing for a while now. As much as I love other parts of the city that I have grown up in and identify with, the Old City area which also houses other major monuments besides the Charminar is, in fact, the best introduction for first timers to understand the foundations of Hyderabad, the city that now has a global identity.
Hyderabad’s Old City falls under the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation’s (GHMC) south zone and is quite spread out in terms of habitation and houses. However, within the radius of two kilometres lie a handful of monuments, both touristy and lesser-known ones. These are the Charminar, Badshahi Ashoorkhana, Salar Jung Museum, Nizams Museum, High Court, City College, Chowmahalla Palace and the British Residency.
Illustration : Nikeita Saraf
The Old City is the core of the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat with around 20 lakh voters. Of these, 65 percent are Muslims and roughly 35 percent non-Muslims. In the Old City area that we walk in, the Charminar and Char kaman area, besides the Hindus, Jains and Marwaris reside too. But the communities live in their silos with sections of the area being Muslim-dominated and parts of it Hindu, with little inter-mingling. This area houses many old businesses like old attar shops are a shopper’s paradise. Many jewellery shops, some over a hundred years old, in Pathergatti area are owned by Marwaris who were invited from Rajasthan by the last Nizam. All the cloth stores in this area are Muslim-owned. The sweet shops are owned by both Hindus and Muslims.
However, this is the nub, most people who live in old Hyderabad do not visit the monuments, as far as I know. Maybe some of the Muslims have been inside the structures and many don’t personally care about the monuments, but everyone is happy that tourists come here in droves. Lately, there is a creeping sense of ‘Hindu’ monuments and ‘Muslim’ monuments. For example, Hindus here seem to be increasingly agitated about the Bhagyalakshmi temple that’s beside the Charminar, a Muslim monument.
Honestly though, not many here are attached to the structures from the heritage point of view; few see the structures as a legacy that they are custodians of. The communities here, siloed or collectively together, have not paid attention to the history that they live with, breathe in and do business amidst. Even if I grant that the way I see them is different because my work is in the domain of history and heritage, there are few justifications for people turning their back on the spaces they live in and interact with every day. What is clear to me is that the cultural fabric of the Old City is slowly changing.
The Old City-Charminar walk, curated carefully to include layers of the history and heritage with occasional other angles such as food, is done a little differently. The focus is not on the monuments, alone which is what the conventional tourist walks do, but to imbue the experience with local and global contexts, a clear timeline of events, anecdotes and more that can deepen both the understanding and experience of those who walk through them.
Photo: Zubair Lasania
The route
This walk in the Old City usually starts early in the morning, around 7.15 am, from the Badshahi Ashoorkhana which is the second oldest monument built in Hyderabad. It was founded in 1591. I would have loved to start from the Charminar, of course, given that it is the foundation of Hyderabad but it does not open before 9 am. So, I make it the last stop of the walk in which I explain its design and significance.
The shops are mostly closed in the mornings and do not open until 11.30am. That’s why the early morning start to the walk gives us space to move around, the quiet that we need, and the time to loiter around the areas. Small shops and food outlets are open – which are welcome. The Nayab Hotel, for instance, is famous for its paya and devouring it adds flavour to the walk. There’s also Munshi Naan, open from 6am, and promising a warm local-flavour breakfast. For vegetarians, there’s Govind Dosa.
On the walk, the Badshahi Ashoorkhana is an important stop. It’s calm and empty space offers us a chance to talk about the Old City, trade stories, and learn a bit. It is essentially a Shia Muslim site to remember Imam Hussain, the son of Imam Ali (Prophet Muhammad’s son-in-law), who was killed in the war in 680 CE. The Golconda kings, who founded Hyderabad, and the Qutb Shahi Kingdom (1518-1687) were also Shia Muslims.
The structure featured mosaic tiles fewer than half of which are left today; the rest destroyed by both the ravages of time and wilful neglect of agencies. Here, I talk not only the history of Hyderabad but the history of India since the 11th century too which gives participants a contextualised sense of the Deccan region and kingdoms. I explain how the conquests of the Delhi Sultanate through Alauddin Khilji and later by Mohammed Bin Tughlaq in the 14th century led to the creation of the Vijayanagar and Bahamani empires.
Essentially, the idea is to create a mental map for participants of how Hyderabad/Golconda was created after its founder broke away from the Bahamani kingdom in 1518 along with other sultanates in the Deccan. The rounded rather than linear understanding of history, I believe, is important to understand the development of cities which run parallel to it.
From the Ashoorkhana, we walk across the Pathergatti Market built in the 1920s, exploring its Indo-Saracenic architecture and reach the Char kaman (four arches), one of Hyderabad’s original monuments. What we see are remnants because people forget that Hyderabad was destroyed by the Mughals and the original city was lost in that conquest. Here’s why the layers of history become important and participants learn to differentiate between the Golconda kings and the later Nizams appointed by the Mughals after they conquered south India.
The group then pauses at the Gulzar Houz, the central square before the Charminar. Houz in Persian stands for foundation. Gulzar Houz, constructed in 1591 as a drinking water fountain, even in its current changed form now, is worth our time. The, we head to Nimrah Café where participants learn about Irani chai, and along with chai and biscuits, learn the story of Iranian migration here.
Photo: Yunus Lasania
The food culture
Food defines the character of the Old City. If the food changes, then the place stands to lose its value. Besides the famous biryani, Hyderabadi culture revolves around food like khichdi khatta, which is khichdi with meat cooked with spices in a gravy of sesame and tamarind, bhaji gurda which incorporates leafy vegetables into a meat preparation, bheja fry or goat brain fry, mutton kheema, and of course the paya or trotters. In a true nose-to-tail sustainability approach, much before it became a food trend, Hyderabad’s meat market, which remains a mix of Telugu Hindu and Muslim influences, was following it.
Most Irani cafes in the city sell only kheema but Nayab is famous for its range of Muslim cuisine including the slow-cooked and delectable nihari and paya. The dominant food of Hyderabad, especially Old City, is meat-based. Almost no one visits here for vegetarian fare; Govind Dosa is an exception, though.
After years of doing walks, the locals and store owners have become friends, or friendly. They know me and offer support which adds to the experience for the participants. For example, at Nimrah Café, I have access to the kitchen and can show my group how Irani chai is made and how the biscuits are baked. In the past, I have had access to the second floor of the Charminar which is usually closed for the public. A decade of meandering through the area makes it almost home for me.
The final stop of the walk is the Charminar, the foundation of Hyderabad. Take it away or alter it, and the image of Hyderabad is gone. There can be no Hyderabad without Charminar. It has an undoubted touristy feel but the edifice, an important landmark, is a great example of Indo-Persian architecture. Designed with floral, pineapple and other motifs, it is where tales of Hyderabad can be brought alive.
Showing the pineapple motifs is a highlight for me. Not only are people surprised but many go around looking for the motifs in other monuments. Pineapples were brought to the Deccan by the Portuguese from Brazil but the fruit was expensive and, therefore, unaffordable for the common people. Charminar is a stand-alone monument but, to experience it fully, one needs the cultural, political, and religious contexts.
For the last ten years, political parties have made it a point to go to the Bhagyalakshmi temple for Dussehra and Diwali. Leaders from the BJP go there for darshan as a political statement. The popularity of the temple has soared in recent years.The prominence of the temple only seems to grow creating new tensions in the Old City.
Photo: Yunus Lasania
Walks as active engagement
Our walk groups usually comprise people between 18-50 years of age. There are senior citizens too but not too many. Heritage enthusiasts sign up but it’s good to see young students of history and architecture turn up. The number of younger participants has increased over the last few years which, I believe, is the point of such exercises. The walks are a medium for people to connect to their own city and its culture.
Once they do, there’s a chance that they will become involved in claiming the legacy and maintaining the monuments. It’s finally about reconnecting people to places. The walks have led to the creation of a community that’s curious about the city’s history. A few, especially architecture students, have done their projects around it. Hopefully, if there are protests tomorrow to preserve any of these monuments, more people will turn up because they feel connected.
The Charminar precinct is protected as a historical monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) but encroachments and illegal constructions around it do not help. The condition of the lesser-known monuments is abysmal. In fact, one of the kamans of the Charminar has been encroached upon while the Badshahi Ashoorkhana needs immediate repair or restoration. The Gulzar Houz was restored last year but there is no clarity on how it will be maintained.
The most disheartening development here is the Charminar Pedestrian Project (CPP), which was supposed to help visitors to the area navigate the precinct on foot without vehicular interference. The pedestrianisation happened about 5-6 years ago. Initially, the carts and hawkers were on the sides allowing people to walk on a clear pathway. However, the area is now choc-a-bloc with hawkers who have completely taken over the space. The area can be comfortably negotiated on foot till about 11:30am after which it’s a chaos of hawkers, wares and the trash they throw.
Photo: Zubair Lasania
The hawkers can be allotted their space which is strictly regulated, and keep dedicated spaces for pedestrians too. Also, cleanliness needs to be urgently enforced here. It’s appreciated that hawkers need to make a living but regulating them and cleaning the area can bring in more people. I may sound pessimistic but, having seen this continue over the past decade, I doubt the authorities will wake up and do anything.
The Charminar deserves to be on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list. It’s the centre and soul of Hyderabad. Even if that does not come to pass, no one can take away its significance and centrality to Hyderabad. But it’s not only the Charminar; the entire Old City needs to be protected, restored and made relevant. In fact, because it’s not changing, not as much as other newer parts of Hyderabad, some of the residents and shop-owners are leaving.
For me, there couldn’t have been a bigger irony – I have been trying to get people interested in the Old City and the Charminar while locals, who should have been invested in the space, seem to not care much. The walks then explore the Nizam’s Museum, the Salar Jung museum, and the British Residency, but the irony does not leave me.
Yunus Lasania is a Hyderabad-based journalist with a decade of experience in reporting issues in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. His deep love for Hyderabad and its history is showcased in his Instagram page, The Hyderabad History Project. He also hosts Beyond Charminar, a podcast series on the history of Hyderabad, focussing on the lesser-known aspects of the city.
Cover photo: Jashvitha Dhagey
