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Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah
The Fifth Sultan of Qutb Shahi dynasty
Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah’s portrait from the collection of the Smithsonian Institution
Reign	1580–1611
Predecessor	Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah
Successor	Sultan Muhammad Qutb Shah
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 Golkonda 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 high points of the Qutb Shahi dynasty.

He ascended to the throne in 1580 at the age of 15 and ruled for thirty-one years.

He modelled the well planned city of Hyderabad on the then legendary city of Esfahan of Persia, in his words unparalleled in the world and a replica of heaven itself.

History

Sultan Muhammad Quli Qutub Shah was the son of Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah. He founded the city of ] after shifting from his old capital, the fort of Golkonda. The city was built on the southern bank of the Musi River. Muhammad Quli Qutub Shah sent for architects from Iran to lay out the city, which was built on a grid plan.

Hyderabad was named as the City of Hyder after the title of the Fourth Caliph Ali. Many people though, commonly believe that the city of "Hyderabad" was named after the people as their residence as "City of the Brave" from the Persian words "Hyder/Haider" (Persian and Urdu meaning lion or brave and "Abad/Abaad" (Persian and Urdu meaning abode or populated) after surviving the plaque epidemic that ravaged Golkonda. There is another urban myth which may be an apocryphal that the Sultan named it after his wife Hyder Mahal(not likely he gave her a male name or title) who some say was initially named Bhagmati before becoming a Muslim hence the name Bhagyanagar. More likely the word Bhagyanagar is a derived from another alias the city was referred to as Bagh Nagar or City of Gardens.

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.

Muhammad Quli Qutub Shah constructed the Charminar, known as Masjid of Four Minarets and 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. This beautiful colossus in granite, lime, mortar and, some say, pulverised marble, was at one time the heart of the city. Initially the wonderful monument with its four arches was so proportionately planned that when the fort was opened one could catch a glimpse of the bustling Hyderabad city as these Charminar arches were facing the most active royal ancestral streets. 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 masjid at the very place where he was praying. The epidemic ended soon afterwards and Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah ordered the construction of the masjid which stands on the upper level of the Charminar. There is also a legend of an underground tunnel connecting the palace at Golkonda to Charminar, possibly intended as an escape route for the Qutub Shahi rulers in case of a seige, though the exact location of the tunnel is unknown.

Patronage of literature

Sultan 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 Qutub Shah." Muhammed Quli Qutub 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.

References

• Luther, Narendra. Prince, Poet, Lover, Builder: Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, The Founder of Hyderabad

External links

• A muti-faced prince By Narendra Luther
• 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.
• History of Hyderabad

Further reading

• Books on Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah

• 1565 births
• 1612 deaths
• Kings of Golconda
• Telugu people
• Qutb Shahi dynasty