Charminar and Nizams Museum

Charminar is most famous Historical place of Hyderabad in Telangana.  Charminar is included in top 10 historical places of India. It's English name is a translation of two words 'Char' and 'Minar' which is four towers. Now Let us talk about Some History of Charminar.

 The fifth ruler of the Qutb Shahi dynasty Sultan Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah built the Charminar in1591 century. After Shifting His capital from Golkunda to Hyderabad He built this awesome structure of Charminar. Because of Charminar this landmark became a global icon of Hyderabad.

 Charminar is constructed in Islamic architecture. We can say that it is a signature of Islamic architecture. Pulverised marble, limestone, mortar and granite are used in structure of Charminar. It has a square structure of 20 * 20 meter size.

 Charminar contains four arches each of them opens in four streets. And because of these four grand arches it is named Charminar. If you want to reach to upper floor then there are 149 winding steps for reach to upper floor.

 Nizam's Museum

 This museum showcases the gifts that the last Nizam of Hyderabad state, Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII received on his silver jubilee celebrations. The museum is a repository mainly of souvenirs, gifts and mementos presented by dignitaries to the last Nizam gifts and mementos presented to the last Nizam on the occasion of the silver jubilee celebrations in 1936. Models made of silver of all the landmark buildings in Hyderabad & citations in Urdu about Osman Ali Khan.

 There is a very lengthy two storied room which has a two-storied wardrobe or cupboard (on both sides).The first story contains clothes and the second storey contains perfumes, soaps and accessories like shoes etc. Now, as the steps have become weak, the visitors are not allowed to climb to the second storey of the cupboard, but as the doors are made of glass, one can see the contents from the floor. It seems the Nizam won't wear the dress he wore once again. There is a lift operated manually by pulling ropes in working condition. It is for the King to come from ground floor to first floor to his wardrobe room. After he gets dressed, he goes down by the same lift

 There is a marble bed, a marble writing table, and a marble cupboard which the Nizam used to take it along with him when he went on hunting. They are very heavy and I wondered how tedious a task it would have been to carry it. It seems the Nizam used to stay in hunting sites for months together and hence it was worth carrying. But one should see how the iron nuts and bolts are screwed in to marble stones without cracking it to make the furniture’s.

Collections of the last Nizam gifted to him in a single day (during Silver Jubilee Celebrations in 1937) are on display in this museum. The collection of his Prime minister is in Salar Jung Museum. The collections here range from Paan dhaan, Attar Dhaan, carpets, letters of appreciation and best wishes(Dua) written on a variety of things, bidri works, letter caskets, hukkas(the utensil used for smoking) ,perfume sprayers(not like what we have - they are so beautiful). They are made of gold, silver, gold plated silver, iron, mother of pearl. Even a vessel into which you spit chewed Paan is made of gold, Jade stone vessels (For testing liquids and solid food) to find if poison is present in the food items. It seems the colour of the vessel changes if the substance that is put in to it is toxic. The throne which was used by the Nizam during the silver jubilee celebrations is also kept for display. There are two types (classification based on blade shape) of swords on display - Abbasi(straight blade) and the other one having a curved shape. Actually there are many types of swords in the world. A golden, wooden throne used for the silver jubilee celebrations of the Last Nizam, a gold tiffin box inlaid with diamonds, miniature repilica of the Jubilee Hall, glass inlay painting of Mir Osman Ali Khan. Also, a wooden writing box studded with mother-of-pearl, diamond and gold-studded daggers, caskets, and silver ittardans (perfume containers) presented by the raja of palvancha. Silver coffee cups studded with diamonds and silver filigree elephant with mahout are on display.

There was one painting of the sixth Nizam with his crown. Not an ordinary one. They give you lens to look into it. If you see through the lens, a few spots which look like a mere design for normal eye are in reality the faces of the previous Nizams. That is, the Nizam's ancestors are painted so minutely (Like writing one's name on rice) on his crown. And the Nizam's two sons are painted in his eyes. The curators of the museum or the officials there take care of things very well. The number of visitors is less and they patiently guide you and give a description on all displays. One negative thing is there is no proper restroom in the museum. Princess Durru Shehvar Children's hospital that is in front of Purani Haveli was constructed in the memory of Princess Durru Shehvar who got married in to Nizam's family.