ROBBERS' CAVE, Hyderabad: Begampet

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 06/01/2018

The apparently natural Robber's Cave at Karwan is rather the product of the wild civilized imagination (note 1) created by Philip Meadows TAYLOR (1839 chapter 14, edited 1988: 135) than a real cave. SITUATION: In the vicinity of the city of Hyderabad (17°22'31”N: 78°28'28”E) and somewhere between Karwan (note 2) and the Begum Bazaar (note 3). CAVE DESCRIPTION: A cave between two enormous rocks … up the narrow track to the mouth of the cave … [nearby] a hole between two rocks … dark within, and a man could but just enter by crawling upon his hands and knees. … the space within … was so low that I could scarcely stand upright … (TAYLOR, P M 1839 edited 1988: 126). CULTURAL HISTORY - entertainment: The cave stages one act in the so-called Confessions of a Thug, a novel (more likely: imperialistic propaganda disguised as an enlighted report), which claims the cave had been used as a troglodyte hide-out for robbers and fakirs (TAYLOR, P M 1839 chapter 14; edited 1988: 128-134).The apparently natural Robber's Cave at Karwan is rather the product of the wild civilized imagination (note 1) created by Philip Meadows TAYLOR (1839 chapter 14, edited 1988: 135) than a real cave. SITUATION: In the vicinity of the city of Hyderabad (17°22'31”N: 78°28'28”E) and somewhere between Karwan (note 2) and the Begum Bazaar (note 3). CAVE DESCRIPTION: A cave between two enormous rocks … up the narrow track to the mouth of the cave … [nearby] a hole between two rocks … dark within, and a man could but just enter by crawling upon his hands and knees. … the space within … was so low that I could scarcely stand upright … (TAYLOR, P M 1839 edited 1988: 126). CULTURAL HISTORY - entertainment: The cave stages one act in the so-called Confessions of a Thug, a novel (more likely: imperialistic propaganda disguised as an enlighted report), which claims the cave had been used as a troglodyte hide-out for robbers and fakirs (TAYLOR, P M 1839 chapter 14; edited 1988: 128-134).