HYDRAA saves one of the last megalithic burial sites in Hyderabad

The Saturday morning demolition drive by the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA) in Hasmatpet area on the eastern part of the city may have saved one of the last Megalithic Cairns of Hyderabad.

Surrounded by large rocks, pulverisied fencing and wrecked buildings, a 45-feet tin gazebo is the only sign of the megalithic site. Erected under the direction of the former director of Nizam’s Archaeology department, the 45-ft radius tin gazebo covers the ‘Cist burial site’ dating to Iron age.

Even as earthmovers levelled the surrounding land, the ancient cist burial pit lay neglected, partially covered with garbage, including a discarded bed. Revenue Department officials present at the site claimed ignorance of the protected megalithic monument which is marked by large stones arranged in a pattern.

The 1953 ‘Antiquarian Remains in Hyderabad State’ described the location as: “This is a very extensive field. Some specimens of the prehistoric graves: Cairns, have been dug out and protected by means of zinc sheets, for the benefit of scholars and the public.”

Nine years ago, the 2017 Telangana Heritage (protection) Preservation, Conservation and Maintenance Act listed the Hashmathpet Cairns without creating a wherewithal for protection of the site.

“The Hashmatpet Cairns date between 2000 and 1000 BCE. A cist burial is like a pit covered with unusually large stones. Here, pottery, iron tools, weapons, and writing samples have been found over multiple excavations. The contents are very well preserved unlike in the pit burials of the same period,” informed K.P. Rao, honorary professor of the University of Hyderabad.

“Amongst the findings from Cairn-1, those that claim special attention are a brass lid and a broken ferrule. the latter has also a small nail attached to it. The rareness of brass article has led archaeologists to presume that brass was a precious metal like gold in early times,” says annual report of the Archaeology department prepared under Gulam Yazdani.

For years, the Archaeology Department and Revenue Department have been unable to gain control of the site till HYDRAA stepped in.