Unlike the Congress functionaries who did not fail to spew venom against the last Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan whenever they got an opportunity, Telangana CM, K Chandrasekhar Rao, has been underscoring the developmental work done by the late Nizam. At the inauguration of Numaish on January 1, the CM once again highlighted the ways in which the Nizam tried to make Hyderabad a modern city. Among other things, he also spoke about the farsightedness of the Nizam in leasing out land for the Exhibition Society some 75 years ago. One of the things that KCR can do on a priority basis to restore the glorious heritage of the formerly Hyderabad state is to bring back the marvellous jewellery of the Nizams that is locked up in the RBI vaults for several years. This can be done amicably with little bit of cooperation between the Centre and Telangana governments.

Australian writer John Zubrzycki who has written two books on the Nizams, said sometime ago that Hyderabad was the natural choice for keeping the jewellery, and not the vaults of RBI.

Mir Osman Ali Khan after merging his state with the Indian Union in 1948, created over 50 trusts in 1951 to safeguard his own interest and that of his progeny. One of the most reputed among these trusts was the one that dealt with the jewellery. HEH the Nizam’s Jewellery Trust became the proud owner of 173 pieces of jewellery, 22 pieces of unset emeralds and the famous 184.5 carat Jacob diamond. According to observers of the Royal dealings, what became part of the trust was only a fraction of the wealth of the Nizam who was declared the richest man in the world in 1937. At the time of the formation of the trust there were 42 beneficiaries with Nawab Mukarram Jah holding the largest share. After the Nizam’s death in 1967 the trustees wanted to sell the jewellery as they felt that the family of the Nizam had fallen on bad times. Following enquiries, the trustees felt that the jewellery would fetch about Rs 10,000 crore if it was sold in the international market. But the Government of India (GoI) did not like the ideas as it felt that the jewellery was part of the national heritage. A long legal battle ensued between the government and the trustees. Finally, accepting the arbitration of A K Sen the trustees agreed to sell the jewellery to the government for Rs 206.49 crore. After tax deduction, the trustees were given Rs 165.5 crore in 1995.

The GoI organised a successful exhibition of the fabulous jewellery in Delhi followed by one at Salar Jung Museum in Hyderabad in 2001-2002 which drew about 2 lakh visitors including a large number of foreigners. The show was put up again in 2005 and 2007 when the number of visitors touched nearly 3 lakh. The government of united AP during the times of N Chandrababu Naidu as well as Y S Rajasekhara Reddy wrote many letters to the Centre to shift the jewellery to Hyderabad. They said that the GoI could retain the ownership but should allow the state government to put the jewels on display, since they formed part of the heritage of Hyderabad. A list of possible locations was drawn up subsequently that included Chowmahalla Palace, State Museum in Public Gardens, Jawahar Bal Bhavan in Public Gardens, Kela Bazaar land adjacent to SJM and the SJM itself. None of these locations were acceptable for some reason or the other.

Finally in 2009 the state government agreed to hand over the old municipal corporation headquarters where the Quli Qutb Shah Urban Development Authority is located to the tourism department for the construction of a new building to host the Nizams’ Jewellery gallery. The state government also agreed to bear the cost of construction as well as the recurring cost of maintaining security at the jewellery exhibition. Though all disagreements between the two governments were resolved the project did not move forward. No explanation has ever been offered on why it was stalled though.

This matter should be raked up by KCR now, given that he already has a well prepared plan (drawn up in the past). All he has to do is exercise his authority to ask the tourism department to begin construction of the gallery and ask the Centre to fulfil its promise of shifting the jewellery.

The Hyderabadis hope that KCR will prove his sincerity towards the city he always praises by expediting the return of the Nizams’ jewellery.

source:  http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home>  City> Hyderabad / by Mir Ayoob Ali Khan / January 25th, 2015

If I say the idli was brought to southern India by Arab settlers, it could raise hackles, especially among South Indians. But the truth cannot be suppressed. References to the modern way of making the idli appear in Indian works only after 1250 CE.

K.T. Acharya, the food historian, speculates that the modern idli might have originated in the region that is now Indonesia, which has had a long tradition of fermented food. According to him, cooks employed by the Hindu kings of the local kingdom may have invented the steamed idli there, and brought the recipe to India during the period 800-1200 CE. But this theory is being questioned by modern food historians such as Lizzie Collingham, Kristen Gremillion, Raymond Grew, Makhdoom Al-Salaqi (Syria), Zahiruddin Afiyaab (Lebanon). References available at the Al-Azhar University Library in Cairo also suggest that Arab traders in the southern belt brought in the idli when they married and settled down in those parts. Now the question is: how did that happen? It is known that Arab traders used to come to the southern coast for trade, and that pre-dated even the advent of Islam. The first mosque outside the Arab peninsula was erected by Arab settlers who came here as traders.

The Arab settlers were strict in their dietary preferences; many of them came here when Mohammed was still alive and they were neo-converts to Islam from Paganism. They insisted on halaal food, and Indian food was quite alien to their palate. To avoid all such confusion regarding what is halaal orharaam in food, they began to make rice balls as it was easy to make and was the safest option available. After making the rice balls, they would slightly flatten them and eat with bland coconut paste (Encyclopaedia of Food History, edited by Collingham and Gordon Ramsay of Britain, Oxford University Press, and Seed to Civilisation, The Story of Food, by Heiser Charles B, Harvard University Press, 1990). Later it was improved upon, and from the 8th century onwards, the idli in its modernavatar came into existence.

sumitmaclean@hotmail.com

source: http://www.thehindu.com  / The Hindu / Home> Opinion> Open Page / by Sumit Paul / February 01st, 2015