Encroachments eating into Hyderabad’s medical legacy
Syed Akbar | TNN | Jan 4, 2019, 13:12 IST
Completion ceremony for Hakim’s tomb works will be held on Friday.The restored tombs of two Hakims in the Qutb Shahi necropolis in Hyderabad are now ready for public viewing. Even as officials organise a ‘restoration ceremony’ on January 4 to celebrate one of the most scientifically-restored monuments of yore in the city, the medical legacy and rich herbal heritage created by these two royal Hakims, Nizamuddin Ahmad Gilani and Abdul Jabbar Gilani, have fallen prey to unchecked encroachments in the last two decades.
Only a small arched hall of the once full-fledged hospital established by Hakim Nizamuddin remains today. The rest of the structure has given way to encroachments. Constant blasting of rocks for construction near Hakim’s Hospital in Jubilee Hills has taken a toll on one of the magnificent in-patient medical centres of the Qutb Shahi era. Further, the tomb and the hospital were presented the INTACH award.
The vast herbal gardens created particularly by Hakim Nizamuddin Ahmad Gilani too have disappeared. Only a couple of their medical research works remain now and there are no scientific attempts to preserve them for posterity. Hakim Nizamuddin was the chief royal physician to king Abdullah, Qutb Shah VII, and his annual remuneration was 6,000 Qutb Shahi Huns or 206 kg gold coins. This is worth about Rs 62 crore per annum today. “At least two localities in Hyderabad were named after Hakim Nizamuddin – Hakimpet near Shamirpet and Hakimpet in Jubilee Hills. The one in Jubilee Hills has the special medical garden spread across hundreds of acres,” said INTACH city convener P Anuradha Reddy.
She said the herbs grown in this park were used in Dar-ul-Shifa, a multi-storeyed and multispecialty hospital.
A tomb located in Jubilee Hills is attributed to Hakim Nizamuddin. But records from 1920s at Hyderabad archaeology department reveal that the name of the person buried in the tomb is not known. Syed Asgar Ali Bilgrami, who served as director of state archaeology in the early 1920s, attributes one of the twin tombs in Qutb Shahi necropolis to Hakim Nizamuddin.
Hakim Nizamuddin is often described as the Vatsayana of Qutb Shahi dynasty as he specialised in sexual and family health. The Hakim was born in 1585 CE and settled in Golconda during the regime of Abdullah Qutb Shah about 400 years ago.
Only three of his medical treatises survive today, the magnum opus being Majmooa-e-Hakimul Mulk Nizamuddin Ahmed.
Nawab Najaf Ali Khan, conservationist and grandson of Nizam VII Mir Osman Ali Khan, told TOI that the restoration of the Qutb Shahi complex as also the tombs of the Hakims is a tribute to Golconda which completed 500 years last week. “The existing hospital structure near the Hakim’s tomb in Jubilee hills should be conserved and restored to its previous glory,” he said.
Only a small arched hall of the once full-fledged hospital established by Hakim Nizamuddin remains today. The rest of the structure has given way to encroachments. Constant blasting of rocks for construction near Hakim’s Hospital in Jubilee Hills has taken a toll on one of the magnificent in-patient medical centres of the Qutb Shahi era. Further, the tomb and the hospital were presented the INTACH award.
The vast herbal gardens created particularly by Hakim Nizamuddin Ahmad Gilani too have disappeared. Only a couple of their medical research works remain now and there are no scientific attempts to preserve them for posterity. Hakim Nizamuddin was the chief royal physician to king Abdullah, Qutb Shah VII, and his annual remuneration was 6,000 Qutb Shahi Huns or 206 kg gold coins. This is worth about Rs 62 crore per annum today. “At least two localities in Hyderabad were named after Hakim Nizamuddin – Hakimpet near Shamirpet and Hakimpet in Jubilee Hills. The one in Jubilee Hills has the special medical garden spread across hundreds of acres,” said INTACH city convener P Anuradha Reddy.
She said the herbs grown in this park were used in Dar-ul-Shifa, a multi-storeyed and multispecialty hospital.
A tomb located in Jubilee Hills is attributed to Hakim Nizamuddin. But records from 1920s at Hyderabad archaeology department reveal that the name of the person buried in the tomb is not known. Syed Asgar Ali Bilgrami, who served as director of state archaeology in the early 1920s, attributes one of the twin tombs in Qutb Shahi necropolis to Hakim Nizamuddin.
Hakim Nizamuddin is often described as the Vatsayana of Qutb Shahi dynasty as he specialised in sexual and family health. The Hakim was born in 1585 CE and settled in Golconda during the regime of Abdullah Qutb Shah about 400 years ago.
Only three of his medical treatises survive today, the magnum opus being Majmooa-e-Hakimul Mulk Nizamuddin Ahmed.
Nawab Najaf Ali Khan, conservationist and grandson of Nizam VII Mir Osman Ali Khan, told TOI that the restoration of the Qutb Shahi complex as also the tombs of the Hakims is a tribute to Golconda which completed 500 years last week. “The existing hospital structure near the Hakim’s tomb in Jubilee hills should be conserved and restored to its previous glory,” he said.
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