| Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah | |
| The Fifth Sultan of Qutb Shahi dynasty | |
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| Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah’s portrait from the collection of the Smithsonian Institution | |
| Reign | 1580–1611 |
| Born | 1565 |
| Died | 1611 |
| Predecessor | Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah |
| Successor | Sultan Muhammad Qutb Shah |
| Royal House | Golconda fort |
| Father | Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah |
Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah (1580-1611 CE) (Urdu: محمد قلی قطب شاہ) was the fifth sultan of the Qutb Shahi dynasty of Golconda in south India. He founded the city of Hyderabad, India and built its architectural centerpiece, the Charminar. He was an able administrator and his reign is considered one of the better periods of Qutb Shahi rule.
He ascended to the throne in 1580 at the age of 15 and ruled for thirty-one years.
He modeled the most well planned city of Hyderabad on the then new city of Esfahan of Persia, in his words unparalleled in the world and a replica of heaven itself.
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History
Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah was the son of Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah. Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah founded the city of Hyderabad as an urban center in the vicinity of his capital, the fort of Golconda. The city was built on the southern bank of the Musi River. Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah sent for architects from Iran to lay out the city, which was built on a grid plan.
In 1652, a French traveler Jean-Baptiste Tavernier compared Hyderabad to Orleans, well built and opened out, and in 1672, Abbe Carre was much impressed by the city and termed it the center of all trade in the East.
The city of Hyderabad, or Bhagyanagar, was named after a local Telugu dancer named Bhagmati who lived in a cottage in the village of Chichlam, where the great edifice of Charminar stands. Legend has it that the young Sultan Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah loved Bhagmati dearly, and once rode out from the Golconda Fort to meet his beloved, braving the flood waters of the Musi River. He gave his paramour the name, Hyder Mahal, and named the city after her. This story may be apocryphal; however, Muhammed Quli Qutb Shah is recorded as having married a Telangana woman named Bhagmati.
Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah constructed the Charminar, literally four towers, in 1591. The structure comprises four tall and massive minarets connected to each other by four high arches and this resembles the archetypal triumphal arch. The Charminar stands at the crossroads of two broad intersecting streets; the location defined the center of the old city built by Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah. A mosque stands on the wide floor created above the arches. Legend has it that Muhammad built the Charminar to commemorate the end of a plague epidemic. He is said to have prayed for the end of a plague that was ravaging his city and vowed to build a mosque at the very place where he was praying. The epidemic ended soon after wards and Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah ordered the construction of the mosque which stands on the upper level of the Charminar.
Patronage of literature
Muhammed Quli Qutb Shah was a scholar of Arabic and Persian. He wrote poetry in Urdu and Persian. His poetry has been compiled into a dewan or volume entitled "Kulliyat-e-Quli Qutb Shah." Muhammed Quli Qutb Shah had the distinction of being the first Saheb-e-dewan Urdu poet and is credited with introducing a new sensibility into prevailing genres of Persian/Urdu poetry. It is said that the Urdu language acquired the status of a literary language due to his contributions.
Like his father, Muhammed Quli Qutb Shah also supported Sanskrit and Telugu literature. It is not a surprise that Mohammed Quli Qutb Shah was able to speak Telugu and write poetry in Telugu, being the son of Bhageeradhi and husband of Bhagmati, both Telugu women. Unfortunately, his Telugu writings have been lost.
| Preceded by Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah |
Qutb Shahi dynasty 1518–1687 |
Succeeded by Sultan Muhammad Qutb Shah |
References
- Luther, Narendra. Prince, Poet, Lover, Builder: Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, The Founder of Hyderabad
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah |
- A muti-faced prince By Narendra Luther
- Telugu Literature and Culture of Qutb Shahi Dynasty
- Medieval history of Andhra Pradesh
- Rulers of the sultanate of Golconda
- Review of the book "The Splendour of Hyderabad: The Last Phase of an Oriental Culture" by M.A. Nayeem.
- Bhagmati and Muhammad
- History of Hyderabad
Further reading
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