Mir Momin's tomb looks quite impressive as it stands out in the midst of lakhs of graves, green and large, and is a place where many people come to pray. DMM also hosts the graves of many prominent members of Hyderabad, from the Qutb Shah era onwards.
Sibgat led the walk and we started at the outer entrance which was apparently built by Chandu Lal who was the Prime Minister during the times of the second Nizam, and a rather mercurial character who played the Nizam and the British. The inner gateway which is green in colour was apparently built by Aurangzeb.
Soon as we step in we see the tomb of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan who passed away in Hyderabad in 1968. To the right is a Turkish hammam which is not functional anymore.
To the right again, is a small tomb, rather nondescript, which is the tomb of Mir Alam who was the Prime Minister and was then imprisoned for embezzling funds. Apparently he had been buried elsewhere but the Nizam has his body exhumed and buried here.
An impressive structure to our right (we are stepping over tombs but Sibgat sayad it's ok), was an interesting over - it was the tomb of the Dabba bardar (carrier of the royal paan spittoon) of Sultan Abdullah, the seventh Qutb Shahi Sultan. We stopped the the dargah or tomb of Mir Momin and admired the well designed skylight and interiors. Interestingly there are many cats around (no dogs) and Sibgat said that the cats were considered restless souls or spirits. But then he added - they are just cats
Further down we walked into the enclosure where the Salar Jungs I, II, III are buried and members of the Salar Jung family. Prince Moazzam Jah, the second son of the 7th Nizam Osman Ali Khan is also buried here. An old Ashoorkhana, probably the first in the city, lies there. Behind the enclosure is the burial place of the zenana said Sibgat. Interestingly the harems were also passed on from King to King.
We then walked to another impressive tomb or dargah of Hazrat Shah Chirag, a saint, who came to the city before Mir Momin, from Iran. Inside that tomb was three grave of Ali Raza, father of Mir Alam. Onwards to Noor Ul Huda, the tomb of 112 year old theologian, writer.
An interesting tomb is one shaped like an octagon, which apparently, comes from the tomb of Mary Magdalene in Israel which is also octagonal shaped. But this one has poor upkeep.
A large tomb of unknown origin, and then we passed the tomb of Zain Yar Jung who designed much of modern Hyderabad - Osmania University and the likes.
We passed the tomb of the Dabba bardar of Aurangzeb, which is quite impressive as well. Then there is the tomb of the Nawab of Ousa, which is famous for its mangoes.
To one corner was the tomb of the nanny of Mahboob Ali Khan, the 6th Nizam, Mama Halima or some such name. A mosque built for the untouchable class of those who was the bodies before burial. And then the Masjid e Zehra which was built by some famous personality.
We walked out of the Daira (apparently it means a circle) and walked along the road to see the dilapidated tombs of the Nawabs of Basavakalyan. Beautifu structures falling apart. They had a mosque and a deodi around it, but now it's all sold off except for the tombs.
That was it. A first for me, walking a cemetery like this. I met Mukhtyar, and another history buff Syed, who works in HSBC. Syed was a good natured gent who. told me he reads my blog. And then there was Raghu, who is a techie turned food traveller. Another unique experience thanks to the Deccan Archives. I am looking for them to start a podcast soon so I can listen to all their gyan at my time.
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