Fwd: Endangered sites on the Hyderabad-Vijayawada Highway

[Guest guest]

Indo-Eurasian_research , Robert Simpkins

<bobsahib wrote:

 

Dear List Members,

 

This message is directed toward readers in India or with a general

interest

in India's cultural heritage and preservation.

 

Below you will find two links to a report I have prepared in response to

recent news articles appearing in the Indian newspaper The Hindu about

plans

to widen the highway (National Highway 9) that connects Andhra Pradesh's

capital Hyderabad with the city of Vijayawada to the east, from two to six

lanes.

 

In the course of conducting my dissertation research in India through the

University of Wisconsin - Madison, I studied a number of structures along

this highway that I believe may be endangered due to this highway widening

and improvement because of their proximity to the current two-lane road.

Although I certainly support efforts to improve safety and facilitate

traffic along this road, many of these structures are unique and important

for understanding the history of Andhra Pradesh, and their loss would be

tragic. As this work has not yet begun (in my understanding), it may be

possible to develop highway improvement plans that avoid and preserve

these

structures, and it may even be possible to incorporate them into

Tourism, as

they are currently quite overlooked and underappreciated.

 

Most important among these are monuments associated with the Qutb Shahi

Dynasty of Golconda and Hyderabad (AD 1518-1687), especially very rare

milestones of the early 17th century that are comparable to the kos minar

found on Mughal roads in North India. There are also mosques and temples,

wells, and general sites that appear to have been part of the trade route

that connected Hyderabad to the coast in the 17th century, and on which

famous travelers like Jean-Baptiste Tavernier and Jean Thevenot

traveled and

wrote about their journeys.

 

For your convenience and depending on your internet connection, I have

prepared two versions of this report, the first of which is larger, with

photos and a map, and the second of which is only the text portion;

both are

in PDF format, and may be downloaded from the links prepared by Steve

Farmer

(please contact him regarding issues with download from these links,

although I can send files directly as well):

 

http://www.safarmer.com/Indo-Eurasian/NH9.Simpkins.bigfile.pdf (3.8

Megs)

 

http://www.safarmer.com/Indo-Eurasian/NH9.Simpkins.smallfile.pdf (64 K)

 

Please share these reports and the information with anyone interested in

this region, and especially anyone who might be in a position to help

raise

awareness of the importance of these structures and protect them.

 

Those with questions or wanting additional information are encouraged to

contact me on or off-list.

 

Bob Simpkins

 

--

Robert Simpkins

Department of Anthropology

San Jose State University

Clark Hall 404G

1 Washington Square

San Jose, CA 95192

(408) 924-5712

http://www.sjsu.edu/depts/anthropology/People/teaching_faculty.html

http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty_and_staff/faculty_detail.jsp?id=2330

 

--- End forwarded message ---