For those yet unaware of the wonders of Hyderabadi cuisine, Haleem is a signature Iftar dish during the month of Ramadan. Haleem is a slow-cooked preparation, meticulously made with meat, lentils and pounded wheat. It is a divine concoction that instantly melts in the mouth and fills it with creamy richness and gentle spices. This very popular dish, upon closer scrutiny, reveals its connection with a similar dish Harees from the Arabian peninsula. Harees was introduced in Hyderabad by the Hadhrami Muslims, who served as mercenaries and nobles in Nizam’s court.
Initially, the Hadhrami Muslims were hired by the Marathas as mercenaries to counter the Naga Sadhu regiments of the Mughal Empire. After the defeat of the Marathas, the British tried to deport the Arabs back to Arabia, but on the intervention of the Nizam of Hyderabad, the soldiers were employed in the Nizam’s Army. However, one Arab jamadar of Nizam’s from the Al-Qu’aiti family went back to south Arabia and carved a kingdom on his own.
The British came up with an even more diplomatic idea regarding what to do. Hyderabad state was a princely state under the Raj, but now the Nizam’s subject governed a vassal state outside of Britain’s dominions. The Nizam of Hyderabad himself tried to use the situation to his advantage. He argued that his influence in the Al-Qu’aiti state was proof that Hyderabad was no ordinary princely state. Hyderabad should be treated as a British ally, not a British subject.
The British solution was as simple as it was bizarre: just claim South Arabia was a part of India too. The ‘Al-Qu’aiti state of Shihr and Mukalla’ was given a 12-gun salute, and administration was run from Bombay. Thus began a fascinating period of cultural fusion. That’s how Haleem reached the tables of the Nizam and back in Arabia, Biryani and Pilau reached the dinner tables of Yemen, while Hyderabadi fashion entered the wardrobes. New palaces erupted from the sands of southern Arabia, based on the Sultan’s residence in Hyderabad – Saif Gulshan.
The Al-Qu’aiti State would ironically outlive Hyderabad: In 1948 Hyderabad’s Arab Commander El-Edroos surrendered the State to the Indian Army. However, the Al-Qu’aiti state remained intact for another two decades until the state got merged into modern Yemen. Saif Gulshan, the Al-Qu’aiti family palace in Hyderabad still exists. It now lies at the heart of the Mehdipatnam military garrison and is an officer’s mess for the Basantar Brigade.
