The sky and stars have always been the most fascinating things to explore for mankind. In its quest to understand the unknown, we have seen some incredible minds. India, for its part, gave birth to astronomers like Lagadha, Aryabhata and Bhaskara, astute mathematicians who postulated theories that paved the way forward for our curious minds. A product of that were three state-of-the-art observatories that were founded across India, one of which was the Nizamia Observatory set up right here in Hyderabad, which was located at Begumpet for the longest time.
The Observatory
Nizamia Observatory is a space observatory which was started in the year 1907 by Nawab Zafar Yar Jung Bahadur, the minister of defence during the sixth Nizam, Mir Mahboob Ali Khan’s reign. Educated in England, he was exposed to many new fields of study, harbouring a keen interest in exploring all things new. On his return to the country, he brought along with him a small telescope, a Grubb refracting telescope with a 15-inch diameter and an eight-inch Cooke astrographic camera, with the idea of starting an observatory in Hyderabad. And that was how the foundation for the country’s second oldest observatory was laid.
Nawab Jung expressed his interest in a letter to the Nizam, stating: “When this observatory building is constructed, it will be one of the greatest observatories in India. If your Highness approves, I will designate it the ‘Nizamia’ or ‘H.H. the Nizam’s Observatory.”
The Nizam approved and so the foundation was set at the Nawab’s estate at Phisalbanda in Hyderabad. However, with the sudden demise of Khan, the Nizam government took over in 1908 and Arthur B Chatwood was the first director.
Scientific contributions With the course of time, the observatory was shifted from Philasbanda to Begumpet and new additions like the installation of an astrograph were commissioned. These additions became an added advantage to the observatory, giving it a chance to be a part of Astrographic Catalogue (mapping of stars), a project that was conducted by the International Congress in 1909. The Nizamia Observatory successfully completed the photographing and measuring of stellar bands by 1920, giving them scope to explore further. The project was completed in 1928 and the stellar region that was studied (declination -17 to -23 degrees South) was named the Hyderabad South zone. In its work from 1909 to 1928, the Nizamia observatory catalogued a total of 1,260 plates and 293,000 stars.
The Nizamia also observed a section of the sky in the Northern hemisphere which was originally assigned to the Postdam observatory in Germany. Sanctioned by the International Astronomical Congress, the proposed transfer seem to be due to the proximity of the observatory to the equator, giving it the advantage to cover both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. And thus, the zone between the declination of +36 and +39 degrees North gained the name Hyderabad North zone. The Nizamia worked this project from 1928 to 1937, measuring 592 plates and cataloging 149,000 stars.
However, its most prestigious project was the Carte du Ciel, an ambitious project to map the sky that was initiated by the Paris Observatory in 1887. Working in tandem with 20 other observatories, the project was never completed by any observatory and was discontinued due to lack of equipment.
In the present
Despite its progressive work, the Nizamia Observatory soon fell to abandon due to lack of funds. It set the precedent for the Japal Rangapur observatory that is located about 60 kms away from the city.
These two observatories are currently under the purview of Centre for Economic and Social Studies. Prof Vivekanand Rao, the current director of the Nizamia and Rangapur Observatories, is quite despondent regarding the condition of the shambled condition of the once grand Nizamia, ruing that is has been “robbed of its glory”. An expert in stellar and cluster photometry, he comments, “The Nizamia observatory was one of the observatories that played a major role in the first ever cataloging and mapping of stars. It played a very crucial role in the Astrographic project and those catalogues are being used to determine the precise motion of stars for other cataloging projects like Tycho-2 and UCAC. Holding such a great and glorious past, Nizamia Observatory is very little known to the present generation.”
Pointing out that nobody from the present generation really know of its value and are hence not bothered to restore it, he lamented, “The present youth who are pursuing astronomy will not even have a clue that the city, a patron of education and arts, has also contributed to the first ever cataloging or mapping of stars. It is due to lack of funds that the Nizamia is not being maintained. Leaving such a great monument is ruins is equal to leaving the great past in ruins.”
The ruins of the Nizamia are located close to the Japal Rangapur Observatory at Balapur.