At best, one can describe it as a monumental neglect.
It’s not just the splendid British Residency that is in a shambles. The Residency has a brick-and-mortar miniature on its premises and the miniature is in a pathetic condition too. Apparently, if there are no efforts made to immediately protect the miniature, it would crumble in no time.
The Residency miniature located about 100 yards away from the main building was covered in thick shrubs and none noticed its pathetic condition till recently. Though the existence of the miniature is well chronicled, most of the students of the University College of Women and its staff members too were unaware of its existence till recently.
It was only when the college authorities cleared the shrubs to organise an alumni meeting that they found the crumbling miniature. Quite inexplicably, there have been no attempts made to protect it by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) which is responsible for its maintenance.
History has it that J.A. Kirkpatrick, the British Resident who built the Residency had the miniature constructed in the compound to fulfil the wishes of his wife, Khair Unnisa, who wanted to see the entire scale of the mansion. The construction of the ‘British Residency’ or ‘Hyderabad Residency’ began in 1803.
The miniature roughly measures 6 feet by 6 feet and has all the minute details of the Residency. The workmanship is so perfect that the intricate designs on all its sides can be seen on the miniature too. More than the vagaries of nature, the miniature as well as the Residency appear to suffer from the utter neglect of agencies that are meant to protect these structures.
