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Muhammad Quli Qutub Shah (1580-1612) was the fifth sultan of the Qutb Shahi Dynasty of Golconda (1512-1687). He was the founder of the city of Hyderabad and the builder of its architectural centre piece, the Charminar. He was very able administrator and his reign became the best period of the Qutb Shahis.
In his passion for buildings, Muhammad Quli can be compared to the Mughal emperor Shahjahan. When he decided to build a city on the southern bank of Musi river, he sent for architects from Iran and they planned the city. It has a grid plan of two broad intersecting streets with the Charminar as a kind of triumphal arch at the center. In 1652 the French traveler Jean-Baptiste Tavernier compared Hyderabad to Orleans, "well built and opened out," and in 1672, Abbe Carr was much impressed by the city as the center of all trade in the East.
The City of Hyderabad, or Bhagyanagar, was named after a local 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 her, and rode out from the Golconda Fort to meet his beloved, braving the flood waters of the River Musi. He then re-christened her Hyder Mahal, and thus the name Hyderabad came into being.
He constructed Charminar in 1591 to commemorate the end of plague epidemic. Legends tell that he prayed for the end of plague in his city and took vow to build a mosque on the very place where he prayed. God answered his prayers and the epidemic came to an end, soon after. Keeping his vow, he ordered for the construction of the mosque which became popular as Charminar because of its four huge and towering minarets.
Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah was a great poet, too. He not only had the distinction of being the first Saheb-e-dewan Urdu poet, but also of being one who gave new dimensions to various genres of Urdu poetry.
References
- Prince, Poet, Lover, Builder: Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah ,The Founder of Hyderabad; Author: Narender Luther
- Medieval History (http://www.aponline.gov.in/Quick%20links/HIST-CULT/history_medieval.html)
- Golkonda (http://www215.pair.com/sacoins/public_html/golkonda/golkonda_main.htm)
- Vedambooks (https://www.vedamsbooks.com/no27456.htm)
- Andhra Vision (http://www.andhravision.com/hyderabad/history.htm)
- Explore Hyderabad (http://www.explohyd.com/h.html)
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