The Good Life With IQ
If you want tips, tricks and insights on travelling, being vegetarian, sustainability and India, and from someone who’s been there and done that, then The Good Life With IQ is a good place to be! The inspiration for this blog was a trip to the Lakshadweep islands in early 2017. We had a really tough time trying to figure out how to plan our trip, and the fact that there wasn’t really much useful information on the net was really frustrating. When we got back, I decided to write a post on how we planned our Lakshadweep trip, so that other travellers could be spared our frustration. But once I got started, it was difficult to stop. And that's how The Good Life With IQ got where it is today.
Go back in time to Hyderabad’s glorious past with a visit to the Paigah Tomb complex, the last resting place of five generations of the foremost noble family of Hyderabad.
Most residents of Hyderabad haven’t even heard of the Paigah Tombs, let alone seen them, tucked away as they are in the by-lanes of Santoshnagar in the Old City. But they’re still some of the most stunning remnants of the city’s past that you can find. Visit these small but beautiful tombs, and you’re transported back to a time to when Hyderabad was the center of a powerful kingdom that held its own against the British Empire.
Aside: The Paigah Tombs are very different from the much older and more popular Qutb Shahi Tombs—the tombs of the founding kings of Hyderabad. The Qutb Shahi Tombs are much bigger, but the Paigah Tombs are more intricately decorated.
An enclosure with multiple graves shows rain damage, being open to the sky
Also read: Things to do on the weekend in Hyderabad: The ancient rockscape of Fakhruddingutta
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The Paigahs: Among the most powerful of India’s noble families
Supposedly descended from the second Caliph of Islam, the Paigahs were among the most powerful Indian noble families of the time, and often intermarried with Hyderabad’s ruling family, the Nizams. In fact, the Paigahs were said to be richer than most Mahrajas in India at the time. The Paigah dynasty was founded in the late 1700s by Abul Fateh Khan (also called ‘Shams ul Umra’); his son Fakhruddin Khan’s tomb is one of the most ornate ones you’ll see in their necropolis.
Aside: This Fakhruddin is very different from the Islamic saint Hazrat Baba Fakhruddin Aulia who lived 300 years earlier, and whose tomb is located on the magnificent granite hilltop of Fakhruddingutta.
Incredible architecture and intricate decorations
When you enter the crumbling gateway, you quickly leave the bustle and crowds of the city behind. The peaceful landscaped grounds shut out the noise and the dust. Isolated, they invite you to think about the past instead of the present. The short stone-paved pathway leads you through the landscaped grounds, past separate tombs and structures, to the main mausoleum. There, you finally see the tombs of the most prominent members of the Paigah family.
Once you’re there, sit down on one of the intricate vintage wrought-iron benches. From there, admire the architecture for a few minutes before doing anything else. Because it brings together so many styles – Persian, Rajasthani, Mughal, local Deccani and even Greek—you’ll probably not see something like this again, so enjoy the view. As you relax, take in the rows of scalloped arches, the branching minarets, and the little mosque with its now-defunct fountain surrounded by wrought-iron chairs.
The crumbling entrance gate, seen from inside
An open gallery
The stone-paved walkway
Branching minarets
The mosque, with the fountain in front
Leaky tap at the mosque’s fountain
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Memorials fit for kings
When you’ve seen your fill, move on to the tombs themselves—rows of separate enclosures with one or more graves, decorated with beautiful stucco plaster work, marble inlay and lattices, and open to the sky. You’ll notice that none of them are the same. The patterns on the lattices are different, and the graves are different from each other, too. The most impressive ones are those of Fakhruddin Khan, the son of the Paigah dynasty’s founder; and that of Hussain Unnissa, daughter of the fifth Nizam and wife of Khursheed Jah. They say that Hussain Unnissa’s grave is a replica of Empress Mumtaz Mahal’s in the famous Taj Mahal, made of the same marble and with the same inlay of semi-precious stones. You also can’t miss all the incredibly carved stone and wooden screens, and the complex plaster work that decorate their enclosures.
Each tomb is more impressive than the last, but you can decide for yourself which tomb you like best. Wander along the tombs as long as you like while you make up your mind, and soak in the peace and quiet. If you feel like, you can even do what the locals do and leave flowers in respect.
The arched corridor that runs alongside the tombs
A closer view of the unique branched minarets
Carved screen doors between enclosures
Another carved screen door
An eye-wateringly intricate lattice decorates one of the enclosures
The enclosures are open to the sky
The canopied grave of Fakhruddin Khan
A rose left on Hussain Unnissa’s grave
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How to get there
Getting to the Paigah Tombs is a little difficult if you don’t know the way. Using GPS navigation might be your best bet. If you’re feeling adventurous, here are directions from Hyderabad’s iconic Charminar. This route is about four kilometers long.
- If you’re approaching Charminar from Gulzar Houz, turn left onto Rathkhana street; if you’re approaching from Mecca Masjid, turn right.
- At the T-junction, turn right onto Kotla Alijah Road
- At Bibi Bazar Crossing, turn left onto Talabkatta Road
- About two kilometers later, turn left opposite Suffah Masjid street
- Turn left after Rosiyana Masjid, and you’re there; if you hit what looks like a main road, you’ve gone too far.
You can visit the Paigah Tombs every day of the week, from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. But getting there early, when the light is best, is a good idea. That’s when you’ll see them in all their glory. Entry is free, too, and you don’t need to worry about crowds (except maybe on Fridays, when a few locals come to pray at the mosque at noon).
A pariah kite enjoys the morning sun, perched on a minaret
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A crumbling reminder of the past
In return for a tip, Rahmatullah the caretaker will give you a guided tour in his less-than-perfect English. His family has been looking after the tombs and their grounds for a few generations. And you can be sure he will have some stories to tell. You’ll notice, though, that the tombs haven’t been maintained as well as they could be. Because there’s no entrance fee, Rahmatullah does his best with whatever funds he gets from the government. There’s also pressure from the densely populated areas around. But the government tourism department has apparently decided to renovate the entire complex, so hopefully it’ll be in a better state when you visit.
And when you finally leave the Paigah Tombs, you’ll leave with memories of a piece of Hyderabad’s past, a time when the kingdom’s influence reached far past India’s borders, and when its rulers were some of the richest and most powerful families in the world.
Also read: Eight great reasons why you should visit the ‘land of kings’
The iron core shows through the crumbling plaster of these columns
Also read: Things to do on the weekend in Hyderabad: The vast Qutb Shahi necropolis
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