Hyderabad Municipal Maps, Khairiatabad Area, Sheet No - 32 Front
Leonard Munn, A.F Chinoy, and A.T Mackenzie
Kalakriti Archives
Hyderabad, India
The Imperial Lancers Road and at the north of it, situates the Squadrons A. C Guards, the cavalry regiment, while at the south of the road, the Parade Ground which includes even a Gymnasium is well portrayed on the map. Around the Squadrons A. C Guards, the Veterinary Hospital, Riding School, Stables, Bell of Arms, Saddle Rooms and Quarter Guard are identifiable on the map. The imperial Lancer was part of Nizam's Regular Forces, brought under organized discipline with equipment in the modern pattern and would be capable to take to the field at any moment. The Imperial Lancer was the outcome of Nizam's offer of 60 lakhs to the British in defence of the frontier due to fear of Russian invasion in 1886. Other Indian princes also followed the Nizam, then India Govt decided that princes should be allowed to raise a proper disciplined army with modern equipment to take to the field at any moment along with the British army instead of accepting monetary assistance. The Hyderabad imperial Lancer was consist of two regiments of cavalry, styled 1st and 2nd Lancers, each includes 400 troops and Nawab Afsar-ud-Daula was the chief commander of all the Regular Troops. A.C was also part of Imperial Lancer of Nizam. The name stand for African Cavalry Guards was part of Nizam's bodyguards, of which recruitment started during the 6th Asaf Jah Mir Mahbub Ali Khan. Initially, these Africans were recruited by the Raja of Wunparti, from whom Nizam got interested, recruited due to the physic and trained to be the bodyguards of Nizam. These African were either Siddi or Habshi and provided free housing. Afterward, these Africans were trained in martial arts, made a unit in Nizam's army, then renamed as African Cavalry Guards. Physical strength was the priority for the recruitment, even provided 6-month training and with a fixed number of 300, no more no less. Although the exact date of the construction of the Barracks is unknown, is believed to have been 100 years old. And, around the Barracks, quarters of the veterinary surgeon and Jamadars (military officer) are identifiable on the map.
- Title: Hyderabad Municipal Maps, Khairiatabad Area, Sheet No - 32 Front
- Creator: Leonard Munn, A.F Chinoy, A.T Mackenzie
- Date Created: March, 1913
- Provenance: These sets of maps were created by the Hyderabad Municipal Survey during 1912-1915. he devastation caused by the flood of 1908 in the river Musi, prompted the Nizam’s administration to devise a plan for urban Hyderabad. This was led by an engineer Leonard Munn (1878-1935). The other people, who were part of the survey under Munn, was A.F. Chinoy as the assistant and A.T. Mackenzie as chief engineer from the P.W.D. What makes these maps much more precious is that each and every thing are depicted in it. The names of streets, landmarks, and even residents appeared prominently on the map. The dominant opinion on the creation of the municipal maps is the 1908 flood, which took over many lives as well as even merged some areas into one. After the flood, Nizam decided to change the future of the Hyderabad city, who could realize the pitfalls of unplanned growth, resulted in the formation of a planning body called city improvement Board (CIB) in 1912 under the able guidance of M.Vishveshwarya from Mysore. The following years marked by the development activities by the CIB such as improvement of the Musi river banks, slum clearance, construction of houses, construction of bridges and lakes, road and sewerage, and stormwater drainage etc. Also, M. Vishveshwarya submitted a comprehensive planning and some recommendation for the future modification of the city in 1930. The net result also included the idea of Municipal Survey, because without survey modification of the city would be impossible. Thus, survey became inevitable and became the base for everything. The original survey which was started in 1912, done using trigonometric methods with reference to Global Telecommunication System (GTS) points, took over three years to complete it. The origin of the survey was the S.E minaret of Afzal Ganj Masjid. The survey divided the city into 848 parts, which were grouped into 16 sets and each map showing 1000 feet north to south and 1400 feet east to west. Since the maps are at a scale of 50 feet to 1 inch, showing each and every building that existed then. The survey divided the city into 848 parts, which were grouped into 16 sets (area). These 16 areas were Chadarghat & Residency; Mir Alam & Bahdurpura; Asaf Nagar; Falak Numa; Khariatabad, Karwan; Golconda; Chilkalgura; Lingampalli; Malakpet & Chanchalgura; North Hussain Sagar Tank; Begampet; Saifabad & South Hussain Sagar Tank; Hughes Town & Mushirabad; Phisal Banda, and City area. The number of sheets from each of these areas were more in number. Since the maps are at a scale of 50 feet to 1 inch, showing each and every building that existed then. The main roads along with streets and branch roads; building footprints like whether the building has one or more than one stories; bungalows, and gardens whether it is major or tiny like laid out along with homes or with graves, and finally even minute details. The minute details are interesting because it did not leave even to mark fire plugs, dust bins, letter box pillars, urinal, latrines, baoli, water trough, well, hills, cart tracks, drain channels, hedge, ponds, and lakes etc. The landmarks like the Temple, Mosque, Church, Dargah, Police Station, Dhobi Ghat, Brick Kiln, Tanneries, etc are also well depicted. The residents of prominent people in the form of vestibules along with stables always attached to it are also noted. Also, the graveyards are well marked based on the names given like cemetery, kabristan, masan, and samadh, which makes one easily understandable to which community it belongs. The nature of the soil is also marked well by indicating whether the land was wasteland or else hilly, marshy, and cultivable land etc. Another interesting thing is that the flood level of 1908 also marked by highlighting high and low water marks areas. The general index to the areas, those were the core places of the survey, are given on the back of the map. The index to the sheet numbers from the particular area is also given back of the map. And, it is even mentioned that some sheets have not been printed, because those were blank sheets and showing only water surfaces. Also, 60 symbols and abbreviations are listed on the back indicating whatever things and places come under the survey. Apart from these, the methods used to conduct the survey, Hyderabad Municipal Survey office seal along with reproduced sheet numbers, and even marked whether it is the special edition or not, are also showed clearly on the back of the map.
- Subject Keywords: Imperial Lancers Road, Veterinary Hospital, Riding School, Stables, Squadrons A. C. Guards, Bell of Arms, Saddle Room, Quarter Guard, Baoli, Hospital, Md Ali Khan, Tennis Court, Second Infantry Bazar Street, Gymnasium, Parade Ground.
- Type: Map
- Medium: Paper
- Survey: 1912/1915
- Publishing House: Hyderabad Minicipal Survey
- Map Size: 69 x 102
- Image Size: 55.5 x 77
- Creator's Lifetime: 1878/1935
- Creator's Bio: Leonard Munn, an engineer, who was the chief inspector of the mines under the Nizam rule. Munn was born in Madresfield village in Worcestershire in England on May 31, 1878. He graduated as a mining engineer and had worked in the mines in Australia and Africa well in the 1890s. Munn arrived in India in 1902, worked first for a private firm as a gold prospector and then became the chief inspector of mines under the Nizam's government. He worked as a mining engineer with Municipal Survey Department during 1909-1919. Then he became the special officer in charge of Well-Sinking and Geological Department and even served as the Director of the Geological Survey in 1928. In 1929, Munn shifted his residence to the Lingsugur, a place in the northern Karnataka, was part of Nizam's dominion in those time. Munn died at Lingsugur on October 21, 1935, and buried in an old British cemetery. An inscription found from his gravestone about his achievement especially on supervising the construction of 1200 wells in the famine zone of Raichur district.
- Commissioned by: 7th Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan
- Collection: Prshant Lahoti, Kalakriti Archives
Additional Items
Get the app
Explore museums and play with Art Transfer, Pocket Galleries, Art Selfie, and more
You are all set!
Your first Culture Weekly will arrive this week.