Cultural growth in the Nizam era

During his reign, Mir Osman Ali Khan supported religious practices of all kinds of people equally in the Hyderabad State

This article is in continuation to the last article focusing on the Nizams and the modernisation of Hyderabad State.

Mir Osman Ali Khan also maintained religious tolerance towards the non-Muslims that was unique and unparalleled. He provided grants for the conservation of mosques, churches, temples, gurudwaras, ashurkhanas, mausoleums and shrines. He supported the Ulema, successors of saints, pundits and priests. Besides the protection of temples, Mir Osman Ali Khan offered funds for regular and occasional pujas and ceremonies of Hindus.

Annual grants were sanctioned for the temples at Gowlipura, Madannapet, Yadagirigutta and Golnaka. Annual funds were also fixed for Bhadrachalam and Tirpupati’s Balaji temples. For the protection of Seetharambagh temple, a committee was constituted.

During Mir Osman Ali Khan’s regime, financial support of Rs 97,000 and more than two lakh acres of land were donated for Hindu temples. Hindu temple histories in Hyderabad, both oral and written, feature close interaction with the Nizam’s court and administration. Some religious or charitable institutions, such as ashurkhanas (shrines for Shia relics), serais (travellers’ inns) and dharamshalas (pilgrims’ inns), had government support and supervision, but most were supported by wealthy men.

Leading nobles and officials of Hyderabad State became, in the course of the nineteenth century, the major patrons of temples and other religious institutions and events.

The rule of the Nizam transformed society, economy and brought cultural accomplishments. There was remarkable growth in industry, modernisation, and educational prosperity. Undoubtedly, all this made Mir Osman Ali Khan one of the world’s richest men in 1937.

According to Forbes All-time wealthiest list of 2008, Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan was the 5th richest man ever with an estimated worth of US $210.8 billion. The Nizams awarded jagirs to support the mosque and well adjoining the ashurkhana in which the alam was kept, and Raja Chandu Lal, a Hindu serving as Deewan under the third and fourth Nizams in the early nineteenth century, gave a clock and a naubat (drum) to the Husaini Alam complex. Thus, a shrine founded by the Shia Muslim Qutb Shahis was patronised by the Sunni Muslim Nizams and by a Hindu State official, and the annual Langar procession continued to symbolise a shared history and identity for people in the city and the State.
The Aurobindo Ashram was given a large donation and numerous grants were made to temples, mosques, churches and the gurdwara at Bidar. In the list of persons whom Mir Osman Ali Khan endowed with honours, titles and monetary grants on the occasion of his coronation, the names of Pandit Jagat Pershad, Maruti Rao Pandit and Ramvilas, an astrologer, stand out. A prominent religious leader, Guruswamy Danamamal visited Hyderabad along with some of his followers, a little after the accession of seventh Nizam. Elaborate arrangements were made to receive the swamiji and to felicitate him.

The government of Hyderabad, besides releasing the prescribed grant to Hindu temples, was also taking care of priests by making regular payments to them. The temples which received monetary grants were — Yadagirigutta temple, Mahetta Balekdas, Sikhar temple, Seetharambagh temple, Jamsingh temple, Bhadrachalam temple, Sri Balaji Tirupati temple.
The Nizam also helped to institute a Gokhale Memorial scholarship which shows his zeal in helping the cause of education. The Department of Archaeology was setup and experts from Italy were brought to restore and clear the rediscovered Ajanta and Ellora caves.
The rule of the Nizam transformed society, economy and brought cultural accomplishments.
There was remarkable growth in industry, modernisation

 

Prof. Adapa Satyanarayana
Retired Professor,
Department of History, OU
Ph. 9573405551