Kalaburagi (formerly Gulbarga), KARNATAKA :
From coins to paper currency, books, radio, telephone, gramophone and old cameras, one can find a wide variety of antiquities at Ayaz Art Gallery in Kalaburagi. Detailed information about each item exhibited here makes this collection a heritage enthusiasts’ favourite. The credit for developing this intriguing collection goes to Mohammed Ayazuddin Patel, who is a photographer by profession.
After the completion of his education, Patel worked abroad for six years. In the meantime, he developed an interest in Deccan’s heritage. As a professional photographer, he has extensively documented the region’s ruined monuments.
Patel has collected the antiquities from various places, urban and rural. There are instances of him finding value in an item that others would discard as scrap. Apart from objects, he also has a good collection of rare books published during the British and Nizam rule. Some of them are printed at Oxford Press.
Coins and currency form a major part of the collection. The coins from Satavahana, Rashtrakuta, Chalukya, Hoysala, Nagas, Gandhara, Khilji, Lodhi, Tughluq, Mughals, Bahmani, Wadiyar, Kalachuri, Tipu, Qutb Shahi, Nizam Shahi, Adil Shahi, Barid Shahi, Imad Shahi, Malwa, Kashmiri, British, and present coins and notes of Indian government are available with him.
Being an artist, he has exhibited the collection aesthetically, with all the details like the currency name, country, capital of country and country’s population on display. Presently, he is having about 275 countries currency notes in his collection which can be treated as the largest collection in Karnataka.
Many research scholars visit his art gallery to get information about the region’s history and heritage.
He has travelled to 26 countries to present the cultural beauty of the Hyderabad Karnataka region. While returning, he picks each country’s flag. Such flags are displayed neatly at the gallery.
Apart from this, he has exhibited his work of digital art, attended seminars, art camps and got honours for the same. Some of the unique pieces found in the gallery include an old lantern used in the ship; an ink bottle of 1855 AD used for fountain pens ; metal locks from Bahmani to Nizam period and terracotta plates and bowls of Nizam period.
Property and other agreement bonds written in Arabic, Parsi, Halegannada, Sanskrit and other languages find a place in his collection. The stamp papers of Jodhpur State and Bikaner State, Jaora State under the of Iftikhar Ali Khan Bahadur, Bhopal and Burma Government both, British India, Travancore and Dewas State, Rajgarh State, Government of Madras, Government of Mysore and Indian non judicial paper are in his collection.
After practicing photography for many years, he started digital art using his photos that portray the heritage of Hyderabad Karnataka.
He acknowledges the support extended by his parents. His mother used to collect coins and antiquities as a hobby. And his father, Mohammed Khaja Naveed Patel, was a Munsi and was an expert of history. “Kalaburagi has a rich history and heritage. It is everyone’s responsibility to collect and preserve these objects,” Ayazuddin says.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Spectrum> Spectrum Statescan / by Rehaman Patel / August 17th, 2019