Category Archives: Travel & Tourism

Bengaluru had its first date with air show a century ago

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Bengaluru, KARNATAKA :

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Bengaluru had its first date with an air show 106 years ago
  • In 1911, Jules Wyck and Belgian adventurer Baron Pierre De Caters were the two pilots who brought their aircraft to Bengaluru

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Bengaluru :

As the curtains were drawn on the 11th edition of Aero India on Saturday, thousands who thronged the Yelahanka Air Force Station need to know that they are not the first patrons of such a show. In fact, they are not even the first generation.

Bengaluru, India’s aviation capital, had its first date with an air show 106 years ago. February 3, 1911. Cricket hadn’t become the religion it is today in India. The Chinnaswamy Stadium was a barren land, and parts of Bengaluru were still a functional cantonment.

While people from districts neighbouring Bengaluru had made their way back then to catch what the organizers had called a “miracle in the skies,” Bengaluru’s quest for the flying machines remained intact in 2017 with at least three lakh people reported to have visited the aero show.

In 1911, Jules Wyck and Belgian adventurer Baron Pierre De Caters were the two pilots who brought their aircraft to Bengaluru, for a show that garnered a huge response. “But police had been prepared to handle the crowd here, after things had gotten slightly out of hand in Kolkata,” historian Vemagal Somashekar said.

If the elaborate preparations of the organizers a century ago are any indication then it only shows that a lacklustre event, like the 2017 edition of Aero India — just 53 aircraft on display and four aerobatic display teams — may fail to garner similar response in the coming years.

(The poster in Urdu, issued by merchants and businessmen from the Baidwadi (present day Shivajinagar) area. Photo Credit: fly.historicwings.com)
(The poster in Urdu, issued by merchants and businessmen from the Baidwadi (present day Shivajinagar) area. Photo Credit: fly.historicwings.com)

The fact that organizers did not reveal the right number of aircraft at Aero India 2017 is an indication that even they know it. When TOI enquired about the details of the show and the preparations in the run-up to the show, Mayaskar Deo Singh, director, Defence Exhibition Organisation, the nodal government agency organizing the show said: “An official release with final numbers on participation and other details will be issued so that there is no confusion.”

The official release days before the show had claimed that the number of aircraft participating would be 72, as many as the 2015 show, rated much better, had seen. Answering a specific question, defence minister Manohar Parrikar, however, had said on February 14: “There are 53 aircraft participating…”

Also, there are ways to watch the show for free, hundreds of citizens who stood with their cameras on terraces, the highway, some even got hospitality at villages around the air base.

But organizers in 1911 had figured out a plan for such free viewers. A poster in Urdu, issued by merchants and businessmen from the Baidwadi (present day Shivajinagar) area, reveals that the organizers, who had learnt that people would not buy tickets as they thought planes could be spotted even otherwise, had organized the show in such a way that only those with tickets (worth 25 paise each) had a one-hour exclusive.

“…Between 3.30pm and 4.30pm the planes will fly at a height of just 30 metre which only the ticket holders can see. For a few minutes after 4.30pm, the planes will fly a little higher,” reads a translation of the poster documented by the state archives department.

Mustafa Khan (mandi merchants, Ibrahim Sahib Street); Abdul Razak (businessman, Modi Road); Ibrahim Sahib (Meenakshi Kovil Street), Abdul Razak Sahib (steel merchant, Narayan Pillai Street) and Mastan Khan from Baidwadi (present day Shivajinagar) were the men who had signed off on the poster —they are an indication of how Bengaluru had a good trade set-up.
While TOI got a look at the poster, permission to take a photograph was denied. The poster, which has been sourced from fly.historicwings.com, further reveals as Somashekar had pointed out.

Police had been ordered to patrol major roads leading to the venue such as South Parade Road (now MG Road), Brigade Road and Church Street and even in Cubbon Park.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Bangalore News / Chethan Kumar, TNN / February 20th, 2017

History repeats itself

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Chennai, TAMIL NADU :

Kaman Darwaza in Chennai | Photo Credit: Kombai Anwar
Kaman Darwaza in Chennai | Photo Credit: Kombai Anwar

Madras was in the eye of a power storm, 200 years ago

An ailing or aged ruler triggering a political crisis is not something new in Indian history, but what is interesting about the recent drama that unfolded in Chennai has its parallels to a power struggle that Madras was witness to a little more than 200 years ago. The drama then too had an ailing ruler, various aspirants including a ‘sister’ scheming to take over power upon his death, and a Governor keenly assessing the situation.

The only visible token of the dramatic events that unfolded in 1801 when Umdatu’l-Umara, the Nawab of Arcot, died, is a nondescript arch with the name ‘Azeempet’ chiselled on it, that still stands on Chennai’s Triplicane High Road, a few yards away from the Walajah Mosque. It is a reminder of sibling love that turned bitter and ultimately led to the dramatic fall of the House of Arcot, paving the way for the East India Company to establish itself firmly in the saddle and change the course of Indian history. Old timers remember this arch as the gateway, ‘Kaman-Darwaza,’ to the palace of Sultanu’n-nisa Begam, the daughter of Nawab Muhammad Ali Walajah and sister to Nawab Umdatu’l-Umara.

Nawab Umdatu’l-Umara, who succeeded Muhammad Ali Walajah upon the latter’s death in 1795, was very fond of his sisters, especially his senior sister (meaning the eldest of his younger sisters) Sultanun’n-nisa, also known as Buddi Begum. Sultanu’n-nisa was equally fond of her brother so much so that, out of concern for his safety, and to ward off evil, she used to send everyday a rupee coin to the Nawab, which he would dutifully tie it on his upper arm.The Nawab very often spent his evenings at the palace of his senior sister, listening to musicians, watching a dance recital or just having dinner. He had a room in her house, where the Nawab met with his officers and others. It was widely believed that Sultanu’n-nisa was the actual power behind the throne. Somewhere down the line, Sultanu’n-nisa had assumed that her son Raisul Umara would succeed her brother to the throne. But she was not the only one eyeing the throne, as the Nawab himself would lament – “I intend my son for the throne; Sayful Mulk (the Nawab’s younger brother) intends that the throne is for him; my senior sister has in mind that her son is meant for the throne after me; and the firangs (foreigners – the East India Company) are waiting for their opportunity. But it shall be as the Supreme Ruler wills.” The Nawab wrote a will on his deathbed, making his son Tajul Umara his successor, a move that enraged his sister, who felt betrayed. It was an opportunity too good to miss for the firangs, who were looking for an excuse to take over the Carnatic entirely.The English used the simmering anger of Sultanu’n-nisa and spread the rumour that a coup against the Nawab was in the offing. With the connivance of Nawab’s Diwan, Col. Barret, they surrounded the ailing Nawab with the Company’s troops.

When Nawab Umdatu’l-Umara died in 1801, a bitter Sultanu’n-nisa would not forgive her brother. She refused to let the coffin pass through the Kaman-Darwaza. It had to be left the whole night with guards in a hall opposite the arch. After failing to persuade his aunt to let the coffin through, Tajul Umara, son of the deceased Nawab, decided to break the wall behind Nusrat-mahall and send the coffin to Trichy, to be buried next to the tomb of his grandfather Nawab Walajah.

This power struggle enabled Governor Edward Clive to make a man of Company’s choice as the next Nawab, a man who was willing to sign away the Kingdom, which the young Tajul Umara, the rightful successor, refused to do. Umara’s cousin Azim-Ud-Daula was anointed as the next Nawab. Tajul Umara died within a few months. Sultanu’n-nisa and her son left for a Hajj pilgrimage and chose to settle down in the holy city of Karbala in Iraq, where she eventually died.

Two hundred years later, the arch still stands, a mute witness to the bitter power struggle that not just led to the tragic fall of the House of Arcot .

Kombai Anwar is a writer, photographer and film maker.

source: http://www.thehindu.com // Th Hindu / Home> Society> History & Culture / by Kombai S. Anwar / February 17th, 2017

Dance ballet to help Lucknow find connect with Wajid Ali Shah

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Lucknow, UTTAR PRADESH :

Lucknow :

A tribute to Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, a patron of classical dance and music, is set to come in the form of a dance ballet with the city witnessing its first Kathak on sufi qawwali. ‘Rang’, the hour-long dance ballet is directed by Muzaffar Ali and would feature at the fourth edition of the Annual Nawab Wajid Ali Shah Festival to be performed at Dilkusha Garden on February 14.

This year’s edition of the festival that is organised by the Rumi Foundation and supported by UP tourism department happens to fall on UP Tourism Day too. The ballet would be performed by Anuj Mishra of the Lucknow gharaana. It would depict the Nawab’s emotional conflict while he left his motherland for Matiaburj along with ten thousand followers.

The dance ballet is inspired by the compositions of the nawab. Other attractions of the evening would be Kathak performances from the Lucknow and Delhi gharanaas and Oddissi on sufi qawwali.

Speaking about the event, Ali said, “Wajid Ali Shah was perhaps the only Avadh ruler who promoted Lakhnawi culture. He was a learned man himself and was well versed in dance and poetry. Thus, this event is a tribute to the Nawab. It’s just a small effort to showcase the talent of the person. And also to make people aware of their rich heritage and carry the legacy forward through the festival.

“The youth today believes in taking life easy. They believe in instant gratification. Unko azaadi ki pehli jung aur Wajid Ali Shah ki baatein kahaaniyan lagti hain. So, the focus of the youth has to be put in the right place first,” said a member of the Young Rumi Forum.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Lucknow News / TNN / February 12th, 2017

Mahboob Ali Pasha: Legend with a lavish lifestyle

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Hyderabad . ANDHRA PRADESH :

Mahboob Ali Pasha
Mahboob Ali Pasha

The sixth Nizam Mahboob Ali Pasha is remembered for combining tradition with modernity

Among the rulers of all the native states in British India, Mahboob Ali Pasha, the sixth Nizam of Hyderabad is reputed to have had the most lavish court. Born in August, 1866, Mahboob came to the throne at the age of three after the death of his father, Afzal ud Daulah. Mahboob Ali, thus knew no day when he was not the King.

A Regency under Sir Salar Jung I was set up for the young Nizam till he came of age. The Viceroy, Lord Ripon came to Hyderabad for the investiture ceremony held on February 5, 1884 and presented the Nizam a diamond-studded gold sword on the occasion.

Mahboob Ali was a perfect example of a Victorian Prince. He had a great taste for western culture and modern ways of life.

His English tutor, Major John Clark (who had earlier tutored the Duke of Edinburgh) had instilled in young Mahboob the customs and manners of high English society. As a result he imbibed great taste for all that was western. His western etiquette was so perfect that there was a rumour among the courtiers that the Nizam visited European countries incognito without the knowledge of any one!

His obsession for clothes and cars was legendary. His collection of garments was one of the most extensive in the world of his time.

The best English tailors were brought to Hyderabad to stitch the Royal robes combining tradition with modernity. There was a new dress for every day and he never wore the same dress for the second time.

It is no wonder that Mahboob Ali had a huge wardrobe in his palace that ran for more than hundred feet in length, considered to be the longest in the world. As his wardrobe was on the first floor of the palace, a lift was fitted for the Nizam to access his wardrobe every day with ease.

It is interesting to note that this hand-operated wooden lift at the Purani Haveli palace, in its shining best is still in perfect working condition.

His passion for cars was unparalleled and owned a good fleet of them. A Rolls Royce Silver Ghost that was made to order but delivered after he died in 1911, is now on display in the Chowmahalla palace fully restored, due to the efforts of Princess Esra Jah wife of the present Mukharam Jah.

The resources of the Nizam as well as the spirit of the times to which he belonged never discouraged lavish spending of money. Hyderabad came to be known for Mahboob Ali’s extravagant entertainments and lavish hunting expeditions.

Interest in medicine

It was under Mahboob Ali’s patronage, that Hyderabad Chloroform Commission was set up in 1889 and Chloroform as a safe anesthesia agent in surgeries was proved by Dr. Edward Lawrie, Principal of Hyderabad Medical School. The Nizam was personally interested in the work of the Commission. Two Hyderabadi doctors, Dr. M.G. Naidu (husband of Sarojini Naidu) and Dr. S. Mallanna (father of the future Gen. S.M. Srinagesh) were sent to England with funds provided by the Nizam to prove the efficacy of Chloroform in surgeries.

The British Medical Association journal, Lancet, hailed the work of this Commission. Mahaboob Ali, personally being interested in healing was famously known to administer a herb-based medicine to cure snake bite. During his reign, the first Hyderabad- Nagpur Railway line was laid in 1874. The advent of telegraph, telephone and electricity opened up Hyderabad towards economic growth.

Chirag Ali, a well known educationalist from Aligarh was invited by Mahboob Ali to spread English education in the Nizam’s dominions. Mahboob College in Secunderabad and Nizam College in Hyderabad stand testimony to the development of higher education initiated by Mahaboob Ali Khan. Aghornath Chattoadhyay, the father of Sarojini Naidu, the first Indian to have obtained Ph.D in Biology from Edinburgh University, was the first principal of the Nizam College.

Mahboob Ali Khan was a good polo player and an excellent marksman. He was probably the first Indian prince to have a court photographer, Deen Dayal. With his wonderful skills in photography, Deen Dayal, on whom the Nizam conferred the title, Raja, immortalised the Nizam and his times. Raja Deen Dayal employed in his studio an English lady to help him in taking the photos of the women members in the Nizam’s Palace.

Mahaboob Ali passed away on August 29, 1911 when he was hardly 45 years and was succeeded by his son, Mir Osman Ali Khan, regarded as the world’s richest man but the most frugal of all the Nizams, an antithesis to his flamboyant father.

Among the numerous expensive jewels that Mahboob possessed during his reign was the famous Jacob Diamond weighing 162 Carats, bought from the reputed London jeweller, Jacob.

Years later, Osman Ali Khan used this fabulous diamond, said to be next only to Kohinoor, as paper weight, the purpose for which Mahaboob Ali bought it.

Mahboob Ali also ever lives in the minds of the gastronomists, be the natives or visitors to this city for the aroma and the taste of the distinct Hyderabadi dhum biryani, the perfection for which the Nizam, Mahboob Ali Pasha justifiably took pride.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Society> History & Culture / by K.S.S.Seshan / February 02nd, 2017

Mobile museum of rocks, minerals

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Pune, MAHARASHTRA :

RockMPOs30jan2017

 Makki has rare collection of stones: Makki owns over 1,000 exhibits worth several crores

Huge claws of a T-Rex dinosaur that would take you to the world of Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park, massive amethyst crystals and a meteorite that fell in Siberia in Russia that remind of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos are part of his collection. Besides them, he owns hundreds of small precious stones, which would hold visitors in awe and expose them to a new world of stones.

Interestingly, all these are held by one man and he answers to the name of Makki. He is virtually a mobile museum. Whether it is something extra-terrestrial or buried in mounds or deep inside the earth, he has almost everything. He has ruby, agate, amethyst and many more.

“You need to touch them, feel them and experience them,” says 68-year-old Muhammad Fasihuddin Makki about his exhibits. He is not touchy about anyone touching specimens and insists that students need to be brought closer to them to change their perspective about stones.

Collecting and selling stones are his hobby as well as profession. “It’s my passion and I love it… my bread and butter are minerals,” he said. “I am taking stones to the doorstep of people for them to develop love for them,” said Makki, who has no formal training in geology. In fact, Makki is a Master’s in English and calls himself a “pujari of Laxmi and Saraswati”.

The Pune-based Makki is the founder of Matrix India and also runs a touring museum. His personal collection is displayed in exhibitions across India. He has participated in several exhibitions, conferences and auctions abroad. He has been supplying rocks and minerals to schools and colleges. He also runs one of the biggest agencies in the world involved in exporting and importing rocks and minerals.

“We offer a variety of minerals from spectacular specimens for collectors to large stock of supplies to wholesale buyers. We have a ready stock of different rough materials from India and we regularly add to our inventory freshly mined new specimens from the Deccan Traps,” said Makki. They also supply boulders and large colourful rocks for landscaping and interior decoration.

Makki is a member of various associations, including Minerological Society of India, Minerological Society of America, Collectors Society of India, Volcanological Society of India, Euromineral France and Mineralientage Germany.

The family of Makki hails from Karnataka and his father was into collecting minerals. “I picked it up from him,” he said. It has been close to five decades into this profession and hobby. “I love this and it keeps me going,” he said. He takes over 1,000 specimens for exhibitions and their value will be several crores.

“I do not charge any money or take remuneration.The institutions where I arrange these mineral and fossil exhibitions arrange for my accommodation and for my two or three assistants. The organisers bear the cost of transporting exhibits like stones from Pune. Some of the exhibits are quite heavy and many of them weigh more than 100 kg,” he said.

His son Sami has started helping him in the business and in arranging these educational earth science exhibitions.

The most precious among the specimens in his collection is a meteorite. It looks small but it is over 8 kg, he smiles. “It fell in 1947 in Sikhote-Alin in Siberia. In 1994, I visited an exhibition in the United States, where this was auctioned…. I did not hesitate, bid for it and bought it… it was quite a sum, but it is a rare collection,” he says.

He recently held “Exhibition of Rocks, Minerals & Archaeological Antiques” and it was hosted by the Centre for Extra-Mural Studies (CEMS) of the University of Mumbai in collaboration with the INSTUCEN (India Study Centre) Trust, and the Deccan College of Pune. “I want people to touch them, photograph them… it is a kind of a bond…it is a rock. Minerals do not have life, but once you touch and feel it, you are in a totally different world,” he says passionately.

He said, “The trilobites are over 400 million years old. These are the oldest fossils with me. Dinosaurs became extinct 60 million years ago. I have dinosaur fossils with me and in fact children love to see them. They often want to touch and see and I do not object. Today one can see dinosaurs in films or on television. When children see a live claw or egg or remains they get excited,” points out Makki.

Explaining how he goes about his collection, he said: “I do mining and collection from all parts of India. I have set aside a lot of large exotic colourful mineral specimens as my personal collection and in addition to that I also acquire many different kinds of colourful and interesting mineral specimens found in other countries. I buy from other dealers or exchange with my specimens and in this way over the years I have accumulated a huge collection of colourful crystalline mineral specimens from all over the world.”

India, he says, is a treasure house of minerals and the Geological Society of India and Geological Survey of India have been doing a great job. “Collection and exhibition of rocks and minerals offer good careers,” he claims.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Special Features / by Mrityunjay Bose  in Mumbai / DHNS – January 29th, 2017

Nawab who misses the royal culture

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Hyderabad, TELANGANA :

At 92, Shah Alam Khan visits his office daily and tries his best to preserve Hyderabad’s culture.

Shah Alam Khan, one of Hyderabad’s royals who is still referred to as ‘Nawab’.
Shah Alam Khan, one of Hyderabad’s royals who is still referred to as ‘Nawab’.

At 92, Shah Alam Khan, one of Hyderabad’s royals who is still referred to as ‘Nawab’, is gracious enough to stand up to welcome you into his study at the Hyderabad Deccan Cigarette Factory in Musheerabad. What’s more, he eloquently reminisces on the “good old days” when Hyderabad was still ruled by the Nizams.

“Life was not expensive at all. I once saw a goat being sold for four rupees… four rupees!” he says incredulously. With seven sons, Alam’s family has, over the years, expanded their businesses in various fields but one thing that they all take pride in is ensuring that the Nawabi and Hyderabadi culture isn’t forgotten.

Alam’s son Mehboob Alam Khan is a well-known food historian and connoisseur who has helped preserve the Hyderabadi Mughlai cuisine that the city is famous for. Working with various restaurants, Mehboob helps them maintain authenticity in their recipes.

“Hyderabad was known for two things — biryani and sherwani!” says Alam, and says that training today’s chefs is all that is required to bring back the lost culture. “The cooks in our city know only a little bit of this and that. But our womenfolk know a lot of recipes,” he says.

Sipping a typically Hyderabadi cup of chai, he talks about growing up in the Cantonment area in Secunderabad and moving on to study at the Jagirdar College — what’s now known as Hyderabad Public School. “We had the best of Continental as well as Mughlai food. Even the schools served amazing food, that we didn’t even get at home!” he remembers.

Alam then pursued a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Political Science from Osmania University, where he says his professors helped mould his life: “I can’t forget the way my English teacher, Prof Doraiswamy, taught us. When the results came out and I passed, I went to his house and fell at his feet.”

The lessons came in handy when he took over the reins of a cigarette factory from his wife Begum Abida Khader’s father in 1945. “When I used to hoist the flag during ceremonies, I’d tell them that this is the place where you as well as me fill our tummy. If there’s a quarrel in the house between the husband and the wife, then your house is not good. If there’s a quarrel in the factory, it’s not good for the industry,” Alam explains.

Alam still goes to office every day but has one regret: Not doing enough to preserve Hyderabad’s culture — “I once had the opportunity to address the old boys’ association of Osmania University in Karachi. And I told them with tears rolling down my cheeks that I can’t believe that the association is here… it should have been in Hyderabad. And with it, you have also taken away our culture.”

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Lifestyle> Viral and Trending / Deccan Chronicle – by Christopher Isaac / March 18th, 2016

Discoverers worry for the ‘ World’s Longest Cannon ’

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KARNATAKA :

Researchers hope the government will act to protect the cannon at Gulbarga Fort

Mohammed Ayazuddin Patel, Dr Rehaman Patel and Mohammed Ismail measuring the Bara Gazi Toph
Mohammed Ayazuddin Patel, Dr Rehaman Patel and Mohammed Ismail measuring the Bara Gazi Toph

The three researchers, Mohammed Ayazuddin Patel, the national award winner, artist and photographer, Dr Rehaman Patel, artist and researcher at Indo-Islamic Art, Kalaburagi, and Mohammed Ismail, Bahmani researcher and coin collector who recently discovered a cannon in a fort in Kalaburagi, which they say is the longest in the world, are worried over its preservation.

It was their visit to Gulbarga Fort in search of the name of the first Bahmani sultan, Alauddin Hasan Bahaman Shah among the Persian inscriptions on the Jama Masjid that led to its discovery. Speaking of the cannon to Bangalore Mirror, Mohammed Ayazuddin Patel said, “Since 2010, I have been researching on the subject. The existing world record is in the name of Tsar Cannon that is 17.5 feet long and was built in the 15th century in Russia. The cannon has been named in Guinness Book of World Records, when the fact remains that the top three longest cannons exist in India. It is a matter of pride for the people of Kalaburagi and the Hyderabad-Karnataka region that the longest cannon in the world is located in Bahmani Fort and was manufactured during the reign of Bahmani Empire in the 14th century. It is made of the alloy Panch dhatu.”

The cannon is known as Bara Gazi Toph and measures about 29 feet in length. Its circumference is 7.6 feet and diameter 2 feet. The barrel is 7-inch thick. In India, the largest recorded cannon is about 23 feet long and is located in Koulas Fort in Nizamabad district of Andhra Pradesh. Asaf Jah-1 (first Nizam) granted the Koulas Fort to the Rajput king Raja Kunwar Gopal Singh Gaur in 1724 AD for his bravery in the battle of Balapur and Shakkar Keda. The biggest cannon on wheels, built by Raja Mansingh, is in Jaipur and measures 20.6 feet in length.

“The Jaipur cannon weighs about 50 tonnes. We assume that the weight of the Kalaburagi cannon could be around 70-75 tonnes. While, the firing range of the Jaipur cannon is about 35 kilometres, that of Bara Gazi Toph could be 50-55 kilometres,” Ayazuddin Patel said.

The Bahmani monarchs, who ruled from the present Kalaburagi (Ahasnabad), stand out among other rulers for their contribution to the city. The founder Alauddin Hasan Bahaman Shah (1347-1422) made Gulbarga the capital and before his death he became the master of a vast empire. Even as they extended their territory, the rulers made significant contribution to the fields of art, architecture and literature.

The Bahmani sultanate was the first independent Islamic state of the Deccan in South India and one of the larger medieval Indian kingdoms. They ruled for 191 years (1347-1538 AD). Their other capital was Bidar.

The Gulbarga Fort was significantly expanded in 1347 by Alauddin Hasan Bahmani after he cut off ties with the Delhi sultanate. Islamic monuments such as mosques,
palaces, tombs, and other structures were also built later within the refurbished fort. The Jama Masjid built within the fort in 1367, is a unique structure of Persian architectural. It is fully enclosed, and has elegant domes and arched columns, which is unlike any other mosque in India.

The biggest challenge about historic monuments in the state is their protection, a fact not going to be any easy with the region being a backward area. “The Archaeologi-cal Survey of India and state archaeology department should take steps to protect the cannon at the Bahmani Fort and it should be included in the world record list. It should be fenced. The cannon is filled with sand and pebbles, so should be properly cleaned. Also, a signboard stating its details as the longest cannon in the world is a must. The fort and Jama Masjid must be declared heritage centres,” added Ayazuddin.

The team submitted a memorandum with their pleas to the district in-charge minister Sharan-prakash Patil, the deputy commissioner, regional commissioner, as well as the departments concerned.

 

GIGANTIC CANNONS OF THE WORLD

Jagadamba Bhavani Tope: Located at the historic Koulas Fort in Andhra Pradesh is believed to be the largest cannon in the world. The cannon (left), which is 23 feet in length and weighs 70 tonnes, is predominantly made of iron. It has a 16-inch calibre with an explosive head of 150 kg.

cannon02mpos28dec2016
Jaivana: Recorded as the world’s largest cannon on wheels, Jaivana was manufactured during the reign of Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II (1699–1743) at a foundry in Jaipur, Rajasthan. Jaivana’s barrel measures 20.19 feet in length and 11 inches in diameter. The 50-tonne cannon is mounted on four wheels. The rear wheels are mounted on roller pin bearings, to turn it 360° and fire in any direction. It was designed to fire a 50 kg cannon ball to a distance of 35 km. This cannon was never used in any battle as the Rajput rulers of Amber had friendly relations with the Mughals.

source: http://www.bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com / Bangalore Mirror / Home> News> State / by Deepthi Sanjiv, Bangalore Mirror Bureau / December 28th, 2016

Majlis to remember city’s noted nawabs

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Lucknow , UTTAR PRADESH :

Friday's majlis in progress
Friday’s majlis in progress

 

Lucknow :

In a unique step, from now on Lucknow will pay obeisance to its nawabs who played an important role in starting and continuing with the Muharram rituals that took the city’s name to the world.

Paying tribute to their souls, every Friday after Jumah prayers, a majlis (religious sermon remembering the martyrdom of Imam Hussain  and the tragedy of Karbala) will be organised at the Bara Imambara.

 Earlier,majlis for a few nawabs were organised by their descendants or caretakers of the respective Imambaras set up by them. This is the first time that tribute will be paid in a systematic manner. A list with 25 names has already been drawn which will further be expanded to include descendants who, even in poverty, continued Muharram rituals, and clerics on whose advice the nawabs ruled Avadh.

On Friday, Maulana Kalbe Jawad presided over the majlis in memory of Nawab Ghasiud-din Haider while also talking about the latter’s and his role in Lucknow’s Muharram.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Lucknow News / TNN / December 24th, 2016

The generous Sultan

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NEW DELHI :

A GEOGRAPHICAL LANDMARK - A part of Delhi ridge along which Buddha Jayanti Park has come up | / Photo Credit: HINDU PHOTO ARCHIVES
A GEOGRAPHICAL LANDMARK – A part of Delhi ridge along which Buddha Jayanti Park has come up | / Photo Credit: HINDU PHOTO ARCHIVES

The news of a maulvi living in an alcove of the Ridge area makes one reflect on the legacy of Feroz Shah Tughlaq who respected men of divinity

Police accosting a maulvi in a forest bordering the Bodyguard Lines of the President’s Estate recently should cause little wonder. Ghazi Norool Hassan, say reports, was found living in an alcove of the Ridge area along with his son, claiming to be the caretaker of a mazar. This shrine is supposed to be very old and in keeping with the legacy of the reign of Feroz Shah Tughlaq. A large part of Delhi was forest area in the 14th Century and this helped the Emperor to indulge in his favourite past-time of hunting. Right from Mehrauli to North Delhi there is evidence of the Sultan’s hunting lodges where he sometimes rested at night too.

While in North Delhi he built an observatory, besides a hunting lodge, a Pir of his time also set up abode in the area and, after drawing a lot of devotees, disappeared one fine day, leaving his admirers shocked. The place has come to be known as Pir Ghaib. On the Ridge near Karol Bagh is the ruined gate of Bhuli Bhatiyari-ka-Mahal. Though Sir Syed Ahmad Khan thought it was a distortion of the name of a nobleman, Bhu Ali Bhatti, there are not many takers for this assertion.

If oral history is to be believed, Bhuli Bhatiyari was the comely daughter of a dhaba owner (Bhaitiyara) with whom the Sultan fell in love while passing that way. There is incidentally a Bhuri Bhatiyari-ki-Masjid (dedicated to a fair innkeeper) opposite the Khooni Darwaza. Another story says Feroz Shah actually fell in love with a gypsy girl for whom he built a palace as she had stolen his heart after offering him a drink of water on a hot summer day while the Sultan was out hunting.

Historian Ishwari Prasad says that Feroz Shah was a pious man, despite being an orthodox Sunni who ill-treated the Shias and non-Muslims. But at the same time he was generous and not fond of shedding blood, like his cousin and mentor Mohammed Bin Tughlaq, whom he had succeeded. Feroz was a great devotee of dervishes, many of whom flourished in his empire. One of them probably was the Pir Sahib of the place where the maulvi was found living secretly for 40 years. The forest area of which the shrine is a part, had many other dargahs which were demolished when New Delhi was built. Raisina Hill was also covered with a forest where wolves, leopards and hyenas were found. So a Forest Ranger’s bungalow was set up there. In later times, this bungalow became part of the Sacred Heart Cathedral and now after renovation, is known as Maria Bhawan.

Some old mosques still exist in nearby areas which may be dating back to Tughlaq times, for that matter the place where now stands Gurdwara Rakabganj was also a jungle once in which during Aurangzeb’s time lived a contractor, Lakhi Singh of the Mughal court. When Guru Tegh Bahadur was beheaded on the orders of Aurangzeb, there was a violent storm, taking advantage of which Lakhi Singh and his eight sons (who had come on horses and bullocks) took the body away, while the Guru’s head was taken away by a man named Jatha. Lakhi Singh drove all the way from Chandni Chowk to the forest where he lived and putting the body in his house set it on fire to avoid suspicion. Later Gurdwara Rakabganj came up there.

But to come back to Feroz Shah, the number of mosques and dargahs that were set up in his reign rivalled the inns, gardens and hospitals. He is said to have laid 1,200 gardens around Delhi and nearby areas in each of which a Sufi found refuge. The Sultan lived up to the age of 90, the longest living ruler of Delhi after Aurangzeb. He was so generous at heart that even while laying siege to a city he would often turn back on hearing the cries of women in distress and suffering from the pangs of hunger, along with their children. Even while on shikar, Feroz Shah would pay obeisance to saints who had set up abode in his empire. Many of them were helped by him to set up khankahs or hospices, and when they died the Sultan was always ready to build a mazar for them.

Once while visiting a dervish he was puzzled on seeing a goat and a tendua (panther) lying in the courtyard of the jungle abode. Seeing his amazement at the sight the dervish told him that in the royal darbar this may not be possible but in his khankah the goat and the panther could lie side by side, forgetting their enmity. When the British built what is now President’s Estate, they reclaimed a lot of forest land in which wild animals roamed. But still a lot of the area acquired by Lutyens and Baker was left as forest land. The mazar of which Noorol Hassan claims to be caretaker is only one among many hidden away from the public eye. Don’t be surprised if in course of time the mazar becomes a regular shrine with an annual Urs. But for this the history of the mazar and of the saint buried there would first have to be determined. Until then Ghazi Noorol Hassan can continue to be caretaker of the legacy bequeathed to him by Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed. The late President himself preferred to be buried outside the New Delhi Jama Masjid, opposite Parliament House, where once the heart-broken poet Hasrat Mohani of “Chupke, chupke aansoon bahana” fame had made his bachelor’s quarters.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Society> History & Culture / December 25th, 2016

Revisiting the life and times of Hayat Bakshi Begum

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Hyderabad, TELANGANA :

A day after staging the internationally-feted heritage play, Quli: Dilon ka Shahzaada , actor-director-playwrighter Mohammad Ali Baig staged its sequel, Saavan-e-Hayat in Golconda Fort this Sunday celebrating the splendour of the Qutub Shahs.

A biographical play on the life of Golconda’s de facto empress, Hayat Bakshi, the only child of Mohammad Quli Qutb Shah and perhaps the most powerful lady of medieval Deccan.

A magnificent blend of great writing and commendable acting ensured the 65 minute play in Hindustani kept the audience glued to their seats.

The play featuring Mohammad Ali Baig in triple roles as Hayat’s father, husband and son, Rashmi Seth as old Hayat, Noor Baig as young Hayat and Ayushi Gupta as adolscent Hayat also featured Vijay Prasad, Kavita Golechha and SA Majeed in prominent roles.

It was well-attended and generously applauded by the theatre lovers and the locals alike who thronged the fort to watch the historic play.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Hyderabad News / December 20th, 2016