Mohammed Saleem, a coppersmith, works out of a small workshop in the rear portion of the Jama Masjid near Chauk in Hyderabad.
In 2017, he was drafted by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture to create the copper finial for one of the tombs at the 17th-century Qutb Shahi Tombs Complex. He set about the task in his workshop with a small piece of the finial of Hakim’s Tomb that was recovered during an excavation in the crypt of Mohammed Quli Qutb Shah.
By February 2018, Mohammed Saleem stood atop the tomb to hammer and fit in the 14th piece of the finial, which shimmered like it did when the tomb was first built in the late 17th century. Mr. Saleem is just one of the craftsmen who have contributed to the transformation of Qutb Shah Tombs Complex over the past decade in Hyderabad.
“Craftsmen’s wages form 70-80% of the conservation budget. In the process, the Aga Khan Trust is improving the quality of life of the community. We have a crafts-based approach to conservation. In Hyderabad, we have created a million man hours of work in this public-private-partnership effort,” says Ratish Nanda, Chief Executive Officer of Aga Khan Trust for Culture as he and his team prepare to celebrate 10 years of work.
“I first saw the site sometime in the summer of 2010 and we carried out an intense study documenting everything for 18 months before the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by the State government on January 9, 2013,” says Mr. Nanda. On Sunday, July 28, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy is scheduled to grace the ‘completion ceremony’ as is Prince Rahim of the Aga Khan family. The participation of the Chief Minister will signify continued political backing for the conservation effort which began before the formation of a separate State of Telangana, and continued under the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) regime and is now backed by the Congress government.
Instead of a common entrance with a tin-shack ticket counter and a pathway that gets muddy during the monsoon, the Chief Minister and the guests will enter through a new stone pathway that matches the grandeur of the funerary park. It is a graduated entry, with the tour beginning with the Badi Baoli or the large stepwell on one side, and the green-domed Sultan Mohammed’s tomb on the other side.
For the occasional Hyderabad visitor, it is quite a change. From a rundown heritage site frequented by lovers and others wanting some serenity to a restored funerary park and carefully conserved monuments that are drawing attention of heritage experts, it has been quite a journey. The conservation effort also showed that formal funerary gardens were not a creation of Mughals, and that the Qutb Shahis had evolved them independently. This discovery was made during an archaeological dig of the enclosing garden wall of the first ruler Sultan Quli who reigned between 1518 and 1543. While the tombs get a pride of place and are talked about, the restoration effort has created a green buffer of 40 acres with over 12,000 trees and has led to deepening and use of six wells, making the site self-reliant in terms of water usage.
When Mr. Nanda is asked why the Aga Khan Trust for Culture is involved with heritage, he replies: “Heritage has as much impact on the community as health and education. Heritage has a multiplier effect on the community and the economy, and this was a factor behind the involvement of the Aga Khan Development Network. Heritage brings in more guides, hotel bookings, ticket sales, transport gets a boost and the local community gets a sense of pride. Of ownership,” says Mr. Nanda who has seen the change in the Nizamuddin basti where the AKTC has carried out a similar effort.
“The conservation effort at the Qutb Shahi Heritage Park has shown that it can be done with the same material used at the time with similar craftsmanship. There has been a trickledown of the knowledge created here, a transfer of knowhow — how it has been done, and how it can be done,” says Sajjad Shahid, a civil engineer and convener of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH).
Besides conserving the site and restoring the landscape garden, the AKTC effort has shown how it can be done within a limited budget. “I came to realise that conservation is not as expensive as it has been made out to be in Hyderabad. If this cost was the benchmark, many more buildings and sites would have been restored in Hyderabad and Telangana by now,” says Mr. Shahid. This trust in conservation and its cost effectiveness has brought in droves of donors including the Tata Trusts, InterGlobe Foundation, and U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation among others who have been associated with the project.
“The Humayun Tomb and Sunder Nursery have seen a multiplier effect in terms of footfalls. I expect the same to happen in Hyderabad with this,” says Mr. Nanda.
Part of the change has been heritage walks conducted by different city-based groups. One of the walks is led by architect Sibghat Khan. “I am delighted that it has finally received the world-class tourist facilities it deserves. Although a UNESCO Heritage tag would mean so much more, I am happy with the current state of preservation. Apart from renewing the lease of life of the monuments, the landscaping of the park is a cherry on top. I hope the tombs are illuminated at night and visitors are allowed in limited areas like in the Bibi ka Maqbara,” says Mr. Khan who shares lesser known tidbits about the funerary park, its architecture, and the history of Hyderabad.
The World Heritage Site tag for the tombs complex has been eyed from the time litterateur C. Narayana Reddy lobbied with UNESCO and raised the issue in the Rajya Sabha in 2002, but to no avail. A dossier for the site was finally submitted in 2010, helping the monument make it to the tentative list. But India has pursued other cases and the case of the ‘Qutb Shahi Monuments of Hyderabad Golconda Fort, Qutb Shahi Tombs, Charminar’ has not received its due.
One of the key requirements for a monument to be declared a World Heritage Site is an interpretation centre. However, an interpretation centre designed and built partially with Swadesh Darshan funds has become tangled in litigation.
But the multiplier effect that the monument has hade on the community is visible. From a lone coconut water-seller a decade earlier to nearly a dozen shops hawking edibles, scarves and other knick-knacks for tourists now, a lot has changed for the better.
“The tombs are surrounded by lush greenery and the drizzle over the past few days has added to the charm of the place. It is very peaceful and serene, and I enjoyed exploring the history and architecture of the tombs. The place is well-maintained. It is a good place to relax in the evenings. I would recommend this place to anyone who is interested in history and nature,” wrote a visitor about the site, encapsulating the thoughts of most tourists who visit the Qutb Shahi Heritage Park.
Will this conservation effort put Hyderabad on the world tourism map? That’s the big question.