Hyderabad Municipal Maps, City Area, Sheet No - 37 Front
Leonard Munn, A.F Chinoy, and A.t Mackenzie
Kalakriti Archives
Hyderabad, India
The Char Minar main road and to the left side of it, the Kaman Mukram-ud-Daula along with Stables Nawab Mukram-ud-Daula Bahadur well depicted on the map. Nawab Mukram-ud-Daula Bahadur was one of the Azim-ul-Umras of the state and son-in-law of Nawab Salar Jang I. At the right side of Char Minar main road, the picturesque palatial house of Nawab Salar Jang Bahadur are highlighted. The Salar Jang was famous aristocratic family, one amongst Umra-e-Uzzam group, well known as the prime ministers of the Nizams of Hyderabad. Three generations were given the post of prime minister and were mainly known by the title Salar Jang 1, 2, and 3 respectively. The Nawab Mir Yusuf Ali Khan, who popularly known as Salar Jang III was responsible for the foundation of famous Salar Jang Museum itself. Here, the vestibule belonged to the Salar Jang I. At the center, the garden namely Nizam Bagh having fountains and cisterns, surrounded by many flower gardens along with lawns, and at the south of Nizam Bagh within the boundary, situates the private house of Nawab and Kacheri Nizamat next it is visible. At the south of Nizam Bagh beyond the compound, quarter guard, Bawarchi Khana, registrar office, and residence of Nawab Bahram Jang Bahadur are also visible on the map. Again, the right side of the Nizam Bagh, the office of the police commissioner and residence of Nawab Nizam Yar Jang Bahadur, and at the north, the Chini Khana can also be seen on the map. The Chini Khana was then known as China house filled with Chinese utensils and it even says that the house was covered with Chinese utensils of various designs cemented to the walls.To the northwest of Nizam, the office of account general and Aina Khana next to it is evident. Aina Khana was a glass house then, built in the form of a large courtyard with apartments on three sides, and the fourth side a verandah leading to the reception rooms and private apartments. The wall and ceiling of the courtyard on the east-west sides were covered with glass and mirrors hence known as the glass house.
Moreover, the area in between, to the right side of Charminar road and Nizam Bagh are completely occupied by many small places with distinct names are evident the map. Also, City High School and a number of Ashur Khanas are visible. In short, the area right side of Char Minar road is completely occupied by the residences of ministers and other nobles of the state
- Title: Hyderabad Municipal Maps, City Area, Sheet No - 37 Front
- Creator: Leonard Munn, A.F Chinoy, A.t Mackenzie
- Date Created: January, 1913
- Provenance: These sets of maps were created by the Hyderabad Municipal Survey during 1912-1915. The 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: Char Minar Road, Dargah Sayad Salar Hussaini, Stables Nawab Mukra-ud-Daula Bahadur, Mirdaha Maunawar, Kaman Mukram-ud-Daula, Urdu Street, Post Office, City High School Lane, Ashur Khana, Bhoi Khana, Boche Khana, City High School, Library, Moti Mahal, Jam Mahal, Deorhi Nawab Mikram-ud-Daula Br, Chhota Mahal, Dispensary, Nur Mahal, Khazana, Khas Mahal, Ashur Khana Nul Sahib, Basanti Mahal, Chau Mahallah, Bhendi Khana, Ashur Khana Hazrat Abbas, Aina Khana, Accountant General's Office; Exchange & Deposit Branch, Chini Khana, Stables Nawab Salar Jang Bahadur, Khana Bagh, Masjid, Deorhi Nawab Salar Jang Bahadur, Motor House, Tennis Court, Nizam Bagh, Baoli, Private Office Nawab Salar Jang Br, Kacheri Nizamat, Quarter Guard, Bawarchi Khana, Registrar's Office, Deorhi Nawab Bahram Jang Br, Deorhi Nawab Nizam Yar Jang Br, Office of the Police Commissioner.
- Type: Map
- Rights: Karen Leonard
- Medium: Paper
- Survey: 1912/1915
- Publishing House: Hyderabad Minicipal Survey
- Map Size: 69 x 102 cm
- 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: Kalakriti Archives_Karen Leonard's collction
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