Hyderabad, Feb. 6 -- In the golden age of the Asaf Jahi dynasty, the weekends of the Hyderabadi royals weren't spent in city palaces, but in the dense teak forests of the Deccan.

While the world knew the 6th Nizam Mahboob Ali Khan, for his wardrobe and the Jacob Diamond, the local villagers knew him by a different name: Tees Maar Khan. This legendary title was earned after the Nizam successfully hunted 33 man-eating tigers in the rugged Shikargarhs (hunting preserves) that once surrounded the city.

Mahboob Ali Khan after a hunt (Image Source: Lala Deen Dayal)

Today, one such retreat, called Pocharam Wildlife Sanctuary, serves as a living time capsule of this royal era. From the skeletal ruins of an abandoned 1918 hunting lodge to a for...