If you are in Hyderabad, Sindh, and venture on the Pakka Qila road near Homestead Hall, you will find a building called Mukhi House, a ‘colonial style’ heritage gem that was diligently restored, converted into a museum and opened for the public in 2021.

The house once belonged to a prominent, wealthy and well-respected Hindu family of Hyderabad that led an opulent life in the Mukhi Mahal or palace. The family of the Mukhis and their influence on pre-Partition Hyderabad was unprecedented, as is reflected in the house they built for themselves in the year 1920.

In the early 19th century, the province of Sindh and, subsequently, the city of Hyderabad had changed hands from Talpur Mirs to the British and, after 1857, it became part of the British Empire. However, the influence of the Mukhi family did not diminish due to this change, as their family business flourished under the Talpurs and the British alike. The family simply ended up adapting to the ways of the colonial rulers. They came from old money; and their status is attested by the fact that Jawaharlal Nehru — post-Partition India’s first prime minister — once visited and stayed in the house as a guest of the Mukhi family.

Unfortunately, after Partition and amidst tension and riots, the Mukhi family decided to move to the other side of the border and had to abandon their home. Today, after almost eight decades, the palace stands as a proud museum, adding to the historic value of Hyderabad that hosts many heritage buildings and precincts.

Once the lavish residence of a prominent Hindu family, the Mukhi House in Hyderabad has been meticulously restored and transformed into a public museum, with its Italianate façade and art deco interior telling the story of the city’s past and enduring heritage…

PLURALITY OF ARCHITECTURAL STYLES

The architecture built in South Asia during colonial times had multiple ‘style’ trajectories, such as neoclassical, gothic revival and Indo-Saracenic. This meant that, at one point in time, multiple styles of architecture were practised in South Asia and style plurality existed.

Hyderabad was no exception. The Mukhi Mahal was built in the neoclassical style, which means it heavily relied on ancient Greek and Roman architecture for inspiration. It also took aesthetic and ornamental references from Italian renaissance architecture of the 14th to 16th centuries.

The construction of the house was done using load-bearing stone masonry, with a combination of round Roman arches and straight flat arches that are both structural as well as ornamental.

The building has two floors, with a basement in the front and a summer house on the roof under the dome. The main entrance is from the front court, followed by a veranda having wooden shutters with louvred openings.

The Mukhi House also has a back court that is accessed through the back veranda, providing ventilation and much-needed service areas for the house. On the second floor of this more private back court is a balcony and a covered wooden terrace.

From the front court, one enters the house through an arched entrance portal, flanked by coupled composite columns and a projecting balcony on the top. The two-floor façade has a tripartite division, with the central part culminating in a dome and lantern on top, making the summer house.

The lanterned domes are a typical feature of classical architecture, so are projecting balconies having purpose-designed metal railings with floral motifs embellished with golden colour. The arches, both round and flat, crowned with high moulded keystones at the centre and series of coupled composite columns at regular intervals, dominate the architectural scheme of the entire building.

KEEN EYE FOR DETAIL

Symmetry, one of the important features of classical architecture, is maintained by the architect, who is a mysterious figure. Some credit an unknown Italian architect, while others claim a local designer was involved.

Archaeologist and historian Dr Kaleemullah Lashari, who spent years restoring the building with his team, did not find the name of an architect during his research, although an English architect working with a local mason to bring to reality the vision of Jethanand Mukhi, the patron, is plausible for the time period it was built in. The in-charge at the museum, Mr Naeem Ahmed, insists on an Italian architect as the designer.

Whoever designed the building had a keen eye for detailing, as we witness in the many beautiful ornamental features on the facades. There are garlands or festoons, broken pediments, mouldings of all kinds, carved brackets supporting the projected balconies, cartouches with scrolls on the parapet, and dentil details on projections and stone balustrades.

These features on the facades are from Italian architecture — both classical and renaissance. But the interior of the house is understated in comparison, but with beautiful art deco painted glass work and grill work. The restrained walls are complemented by colourful geometric flooring patterns, done in marble at most places inside.

The ceiling, on the other hand, is kept white with cornice mouldings at the corner and pigmented fresco work of vegetal scroll design. The displays are stacked in wooden and glass shelves covering most of the interior space, showing Sindhi crafts and the history of the city.

There are also Mukhi family photos and other belongings, such as furniture, as part of the exhibit. It is remarkable that the family who had to leave the city gave not only their belongings for the museum but also pushed for the restoration of this wonderful building, insisting that the government open it as a museum for the public.

They left the marvellous Mukhi Mahal for the city of Hyderabad as their legacy, since they themselves could not stay.

The writer is a researcher on the architectural history of Sindh and an academic.
She can be contacted at rabelajunejo@gmail.com

Published in Dawn, EOS, April 13th, 2025