Mahboob Chowk
Clock Tower
Location
The Mahbub Chowk Clock Tower is located in the Shah Gunj area of Old City of Hyderabad, northwards of the Mahbub Chowk Market and eastwards of the Chowk ki Masjid.
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Description
The Mahbub Chowk Clock Tower was constructed in the middle of an garden at the end of Lad Bazar in the year 1892 by the then Prime Minister of Hyderabad Nawab Sir Asman Jah, a Paigah Noble serving Nizam VI Mahbub Ali Pasha. Sir Asman Jah constructed the clock tower in the name of his sovereign at a time when the Industrial Revolution was slowly creeping into the Nizam State.
It is built in the early Victorian style with exposed granite stone as the dominant material.
The clock tower is one of the oldest clock towers in Hyderabad city, especially south of the Musi. The construction of clock towers indicates the shift of the time from a pehr system to a 24 hour clock.
Existing Condition
The clock tower, which was restored in 2020, stands in the middle of a manicured lawns with pathways surrounded by hedges. The boundary of the garden has small tin shops all around them running various small businesses.
Archive
References
Omar Khalidi, Guide to Architecture in Hyderabad, 2008
Claude Campbell, Glimpses of the Nizam’s Dominions, 1898
Contributors
NIUM