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A large number of visitors, including tourists made a beeline for Hyderabad’s 18th century Chowmahalla Palace, situated near the Mecca Masjid, to have a glimpse of the armoury that once belonged to the Nizam. Inaugurated recently by Princess Isra, the first divorced wife of present Nizam Mukkaram Jah, the exhibition showcased arms and armoury of the 17th century ruler, Nizam, Asaf Jahi. Apart from some 700 varieties of swords, the exhibition also had hilts embellished with gold and silver inlay, well crafted daggers and shields decorated with leatherwork.
“It is a unique exhibition and you do not find so many types of weapons anywhere in the country. “It is the crafting and the styles in which they are made which is very unique. People in this field are of the opinion that they have never seen such a variety of weapons,” said G. Kishan Rao, the creative director of the Chowmahalla Palace where the exhibition was organised. The Nizams ruled over Hyderabad in the 17th and 18th century. The seventh Nizam, Mir Osman Ali, ruled the princely State of Hyderabad until it became part of independent India in 1948.
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