Salar Jung’s efforts for Charminar

hyderabad: the present day charminar as it stands today is because of the extensive repairs taken up by the then prime minister, sir salar jung i during the years 1853 to 1883. the repair costed about rs 2 lakh. though salar jung was interested in the monuments and heritage and wanted to make hyderabad one of the best princely states of india he was aware that the state was reeling under extreme financial crisis as a result of the treaty of 1853 where a large territory of the nizam was transferred to the british resulting in a loss of revenue to the tune of rs 40 lakh per annum.a number of deposed jagirdars too were giving trouble. in spite of all this salar jung reformed the state finances and laid the foundation of a sound administrative system. in 1857 he abolished all the private mints and introduced a new coinage for hyderabad known as 'hali sicca'. various departments such as forest, revenue, customs, postal administration and mint were reorganised. as a result of these measures and salar jung's management the state was not only successful in clearing off the debts but also put the economy on sound footing.and this helped him to mobilise funds for the repair of charminar. he ordered the installation of railings near the gate on the northern side to make charminar a recreation point. salar jung also ordered for the recruitment of an afghan guard to protect the monument from being defaced by the visitors. but he did not live to see the guard posted at the monument. incidentally it was salar jung who got clocks installed in the charminar. the swiss designed clocks were locally ordered and made, though salar jung did not live to see the installation of the clocks. the clocks were installed a year after his death. it is said that salar jung was poisoned to death. he died on february 8, 1883.