Classicism in the Deccan

The restoration of the former British Residency in Hyderabad has helped encourage local craftsmanship, as the architect involved

- Anuradha S.Naik

HYDERABAD is a city in the heart of the Indian peninsula. Today, it is known as the country’s IT capital, covering an area of 250 square miles with a population of 11 million. In 2022, the city’s first women’s university, the Telangana Mahila Vishwavidyalayam, was established inside a building that was also a first of its kind: the erstwhile British Residency. This deserves to be much better known.

In its present form, the Residency was created under the terms of the Subsidiary Alliance Treaty signed in 1798 between the East India Company and the Nizam of Hyderabad, the ruler of the Deccan region. This treaty, a hugely important milestone in establishing the company’s control over various Indian princely states, formalized an existing arrangement whereby an envoy or Resident should be permanently attached to the Nizam’s court. Accordingly, the Nizam allocated a large house on a 63-acre site just north of the walled capital city of Hyderabad and across the River Musi for the purpose.

In the first decade of the 19th century, this building metamorphosed under the direction of the flamboyant James Achilles Kirkpatrick, who was the East India Company Resident from 1798–1805. Kirkpatrick was beguiled by India and not only had two children by Khair-un-Nissa, a granddaughter of the Nizam’s prime minister, but adopted local dress. He was responsible for the Nizam signing the Subsidiary Alliance Treaty and also convinced him to pay for the grandiose adaptation of his official residence.