Restoration of the Garden Model of the former British Residency, Hyderabad (Telangana)

According to popular legend, the architectural model of the former British Residency in Hyderabad (now the University College for Women, Osmania University) was built by James Achilles Kirkpatrick, the British Regent at the court of the Nizam of Hyderabad, for his wife, Begum Khair-un-Nissa, so that she could appreciate the nearby magnificent palace erected in 1803 by her husband, which was out of bounds for courtly women.

The model is fashioned of plaster and measures some 15 feet square, and 4 feet high. It stands in the garden to the rear of the Residency, originally surrounded by an ornamental metal barricade. In 1978 the model was badly damaged by a collapsing tree; it is now almost totally destroyed and overgrown.

The World Monuments Fund (WMF) in collaboration with Osmania University and Telangana State Archaeology has prepared a Conservation Management Plan for the restoration of Cultural Resources at the University College of Women in a phased manner as per priority.

The US Friends of the DHF funded the restoration of the Model and its protecting shell. The information provided by the model has contributed to our better understanding of the impressive Residency structure.

Estimated Cost: US$ 32,000.00 (already funded)