A kilometre away from Kalaburagi railway station is Aiwan-e-Shahi, a magnificent stone structure built in early 19th Century. For political leaders and bureaucrats visiting the city, it’s the most preferred accommodation.

Kalaburagi has several such architectural remnants of the times of the Nizam rule, uniquely Indo-Islamic in style, and still in use. Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan Bahadur, the last monarch, who ruled the province between 1911 and 1948, stayed in Aiwan-e-Shahi when he visited the city and is today a government guest house. The Nizam used to travel in his own train from Hyderabad to reach the palace in Kalaburagi and a special railway track was laid up to the entrance of the complex for the purpose.

Like most buildings constructed during the Nizam’s rule, the Aiwan-e-Shahi portrays a rich and imposing architecture synthesising medieval and modern styles. It is constructed using local white stones, popularly known as Shahabad stones, abundantly available in the surrounding area. The front view of the palace was greatly inspired by Gothic style architecture.

Kalaburagi-based heritage collector and artiste Mohammed Ayazuddin Patel has copies of some rare photograph of Nizam. In one of them, he is the Nizam is seen playing tennis outside the Aiwan-e-Shahi palace complex. His train is also visible in the background. The picture was said to have been taken by Raja Deen Dayal, the official photographer at the Nizam’s court.

The Nizam, known as the architect of modern Hyderabad, left an impression on Kalaburagi too. The building now houses the tahsildar office, zilla panchayat and central library. The entrance arch gate of Vikas Bhavan, the mini Vidhana Soudha that has the district administrative complex and one of the entrances of Mahbub Gushan Garden in the heart of the city were built during his time. There are several private houses across the city that were built for the families of Deshpande, Deshmukh, Mali Patil, Police Patil, Jamadar, Mansafdar, Pattedar, Inamdar, Jagirdar, Kulkarni, Hawaldar – the official and administrative titles given by the Nizam.

“At least, the Aiwan-e-Shahi should be included in the protected monuments and converted into a museum to showcase the region’s cultural past,” says Rehaman Patel, Kalaburagi-based researcher and artiste. According to him, the Nizam had expanded public spaces such as parks, lakes, town hall, and gardens in the city engaging several engineers. Mahbub Sagar (now called Sharnbasweshwar lake) and Mahbub Gulshan Garden continued to be used by the public. The town hall is used by the Kalaburagi City Municipal Corporation as a conference hall.

The Filter Bed built for providing pure water to the residents continues to supply drinking water to parts of the city. The Mahbub Shahi Kapda Mill that produced high-quality cloth and supplied it not just to various cities across India, but to other countries as well, was in operation till the 1980s. The Nizam had also established Asif Gunj School and MPHS school, the oldest educational institutions of the city.

“In the early 1930s, he formed the Hyderabad Aero Club and built Begumpet Airport for his Deccan Airways, one of the earliest airlines in British India. He had the distinction of employing, perhaps, the world’s first woman commercial pilot, Captain Prema Mathur, during the late 1940s. The other airport built in Bidar in 1942 is now used by the Indian Air Force to train its pilots. The Nizam was also credited for renovating several monuments belong to Buddhists, Jains, Chalukyas, and Bahmanis. The renovation and excavation of the caves of Ajanta and Ellora was undertaken with the funds of the Nizam government and supervised by then archaeology director Ghulam Yazdani,” Mr. Rehaman said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Kumar Buradikatti / Kalaburagi – September 16th, 2019