As the great Mughals ruled and shaped north India, there arose and fell in the region centred around Hyderabad the Qutb Shahi dynasty (1512-1687). Patrons of the arts and learning, the nucleus of their power was the Golconda Fort, and scattered around it they constructed, through patient accretion, one of the most remarkable set of buildings in the entire medieval world. Spread over 100 acres, the successive line of rulers shaped a complex of 40 mausoleums, 23 mosques, five baolis (stepwells) a hammam (bath), ornate pavilions and other garden structures. Once renowned for their sombre splendour, the garden necropolis had fallen upon hard times in recent decades—its lush vegetation stripped away by unbridled urbanisation, its magnificent structures robbed of granite blocks, the baolis a repository of rubble, the domes blackened by neglect, intricate masonry in a dilapidated state. That was the situation when, in 2013, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) along with the Telangana government resolved to both restore the structures and revitalise the ecology of the landscape it is nestled in. They called it the Qutb Shahi Heritage Park. Thus started an intensive, decade-long conservation process involving hundreds of restorers and craftsmen that also sought to establish the area as a cultural space. Finally, Rahim Aga Khan, the second son of Karim Aga Khan, the head of the Nizari Ismaili Shia sect, formally handed over the refurbished Qutb Shahi Heritage Park (QSHP) to Telangana chief minister A. Revanth Reddy on July 28. The AKTC was established by Karim Aga Khan to promote and preserve the diverse cultural heritage of Muslim societies.
At a glance, the glistening, globular domes of the QSHP mausoleums are testament to the outstanding work of the AKTC—the legacy of the founders of Hyderabad, the Quli Qutb Shah line of kings are now restored to their pristine glory. Interspersed among the majestic royal mausoleums and gardens such as those of Sultan Quli Qutb Shah and Mohammad Quli Qutb Shah are traces of old settlements, aquaducts and about 200 gravestones, many of them intricately ornamented. Coupled with this is the creation of ecological buffer zones planted with over 12,000 native trees in an area known for rampant encroachments that have already marred the precincts of the Golconda Fort.
Several entities, including the Union and state governments, have co-funded the unique public-private conservation and restoration project executed by the AKTC. With around 100 monuments and structures painstakingly restored and 106 acres carefully landscaped, QSHP is the largest conservation project India has ever seen.
“The intricate conservation process is based on documentation, archival research, defining statement of significance, a crafts-led approach through the use of traditional materials and building techniques, high level of supervision and peer review of conservation plan and efforts,” says AKTC CEO Ratish Nanda.
Conserving the heritage park threw up unique tasks. The first was to conduct a global archival research programme that has so far uncovered over 500 images of the complex from the 1850s onwards. Another task was to carry out an architectural documentation and assessing conditions, including through ground-penetrating radar surveys. Drawing from the AKTC’s experience with the Humayun’s Tomb heritage site in Delhi, a similar craft-based approach was executed at QSHP. Since 2013, stone-carvers, masons, glazed tile-makers, coppersmiths and gardeners—their skills handed down the generations—have matched the craftsmanship of their forefathers.
The conservation effort showed that the Qutb Shahis had independently evolved the formal funerary gardens, without Mughal influence. Major conservation works included removal of the 20th century cement plaster, restoration of missing and damaged stucco patterns, replacement of missing stone elements and removal of tonnes of concrete from the domes of monuments. A significant discovery was of the remnants of green glazed tiles on the dome of the mausoleum of Mohammad Qutb Shah (ruled 1612-26). It was restored with tiles produced by craftsmen at the Humayun’s Tomb site, who had earlier been trained by ceramics experts from Uzbekistan.
“It required over a decade to meticulously conserve, restore, even reconstruct each of the monuments–small or grand–with craftsmen clocking over a million days of work,” says Nanda. He is confident this will serve as a showcase model for an integrated landscape restoration and a craft-based building conservation effort by uniting public and private agencies, including those promoting tourism, to secure threatened heritage.
While AKTC remained the mainstay, others, including diplomatic missions, funded portions of the massive conservation process. Tata Trusts provided funding for nine major monuments, and the US Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation extended grants for archaeological excavations for the conservation of the Taramati and Premamati tombs and the five stepwells. The German embassy funded work on three monuments and the Indigo Reach and Inter Globe Foundation supported the conservation of Muhammad Qutb Shah’s tomb. “QSHP has shown how conservation can be done with the same genre of material used originally and with similar craftsmanship,” says Sajjad Shahid, a civil engineer and convenor, Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH).
There were challenges, too, other than those of pure restoration. Administrative issues slowed the pace of restoration, while lands belonging to two different government agencies—the Deccan Park with the Quli Qutb Shah Urban Development Authority and the core archaeological zone with the state archaeology department—posed challenges. Interventions by the Telangana government helped remove roadblocks. The sustained interest of the AKTC and its chairman, the Aga Khan, who called for quarterly reports and visited the site thrice, ensured its steady progress.
“AKTC will continue to assist the department of Heritage of the Telangana government to manage the site at least till December 2025—though we are in discussion to establish a management system for 10 years—as with the Sunder Nursery Management Trust in Delhi,” says Nanda. It is committed to helping complete the site museum at the QSHP where construction has been stalled due to litigation.
Vying for a UNESCO world heritage site status for the QSHP is on the cards. But that will not be enough. “The public private partnership that brought about this massive project should ensure its sustainability through the park’s future management. The goal has to be to draw visitors by providing high quality services,” says AKTC general manager Luis Monreal. Else, it may be reduced to what it was—a pit stop for visiting foreign dignitaries that began with the Shah of Iran in 1978. The untarnished magnificence of the heritage park is for common citizens to visit and take pride in.
