# Historic Landmarks of the Deccan/Chapter 12

CHAPTER XII.
THE CAPITAL OF THE DECCAN.
The city of Haidarabad lies among the trees on the south bank of the Musi river, a city, "the like of which for beauty and cleanliness, is not to be found in the whole of Hindustan, east, west, south or north. Its compass is near five leagues, and its bazars, unlike those of other cities of India, are laid out on a fixed plan and are spacious and clean, and through them run water channels beside which grow shady trees."
Firishta's description of Haidarabad is somewhat highly coloured, but the situation of the city is undeniably beautiful. Of its aspect from the hill on which the Falaknuma Palace now stands, the Kuh-i-Tur, or Mount Sinai, of Qutb Shahi days, Colonel Meadows Taylor writes : "From one favourite point of view of mine the city lies stretched before you, the graceful Char Minar or gate* of the four minarets in its centre; the gigantic Mecca mosque standing out nobly; while the large tank Hes at your feet, and the bold rock of the fort of Golconda rises in the distance. From hence, a rising sun gradually lighting up every object in the clear morning air, and the glowing, glittering landscape terminating in the tender blue of the distance, (the scene) is inexpressibly beautiful."
The city owes none of its interest to antiquity, for it is little more than three centuries old. In 1591 Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, the fifth king of the Qutb Shahi dynasty of Golconda, grew weary of his fortress capital, which was then so overcrowded with habitations as to be both unhealthy and unpleasant as a place of residence. While hunting one day on the south bank of the river Musi he was attracted by the fresh and green appearance of the site on which the city of Haidarabad now stands, about six miles from the fortress of Golconda, and selected it as the cite of his new capital. He called his city at first Bhagnagar, after a favourite Hindu mistress, Bhag Mati, to whom he was much devoted, but, in later years, after her death, he grew ashamed of the infatuation which had led him to name his capital after a light o'love, and in an access of piety re-named it Haidarabad, or the city of Ali, the Lion of God; but the name of Bhagnagar is not yet forgotten. ​ The first work taken in hand was the laying out of four bazars, at the entrance of each of which a great arch was erected on the principal road, the space within the arches being designated the Charkaman, or "four arches," which name it still retains. The arches are large, plain Pathan arches covered with stucco, possessing neither beauty or interest.
To the south of this space was erected the Char Minar, already mentioned, which is to this day the most conspicuous object in the city of Haidarabad, and is represented as such on the obverse of the modern Haidarabad rupee. The Char Minar is a large building, square in plan, having an arch in each of its faces and a lofty decagonal minaret at each of its angles. The minarets are surmounted by small domes with gilt terminals, and each is surrounded by three galleries, two single and one double, of the typical Qutb Shahi pattern. The parapet of the building is adorned with panels of lattice work, in great variety of design, and below it runs a small arcade. Next comes an ornamental cornice, and below this again a larger arcade, and another ornamental cornice. The Char Minar was originally designed as a college, or the central hall of a college, but now does duty as a central police station for the city.
One of the earliest buildings to be taken in hand by a devout Muhammadan sovereign founding a new city in the j'amt masjiii, or principal mosque, where all the inhabitants may meet for the general Friday prayers. This was founded in A. H. 1006 (A.D. 1597-98) as a Persian inscription over the gateway informs us. Most visitors to Haidarabad, misled by inaccurate guides and guide-books, consider the huge mosque now known as the Mecca masjid, undoubtedly the finest mosque in the city, to be the jami masjid, but this is not so. The far less pretentious building, with a somewhat mean entrance opening on the eastern side of the main street of the city, a short distance to the north of the Char Minar, was built as the jami masjid, and has remained so since it was founded, in spite of the superior size and magnificence of the Mecca masjid.
The next work to be undertaken was the throwing of a bridge over the river Musi, to connect the new city on its south bank with the old fortress capital of Golconda. This bridge still exists, and is known as ​the old bridge. It is the westernmost of the four bridges which now span the river between Haidarabad and its northern suburbs, and is carried on twenty-three pointed arches. Over it runs the old high road from the north-western gate of the city, through the suburb of Karwan to the principal gate of Golconda. The building of the bridge was followed by the building of a hospital and public baths, and the king's architects then set to work to design the royal palace, which was built on some open ground to the east of the Char Minar, probably the site now occupied by the Nizam's palace known as the Piirani Haveli, though the present palace, despite its name, is not that built by Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah. An ornamental cistern called the Gulzar Hauz , or "cistern of the rose garden," was constructed at the same time. This cistern still exists in the centre of the Char kamati, but there is little in its surroundings that recalls a rose garden. The Dad Mahall, or hall of justice, a building which was unfortunately destroyed by fire early in the eighteenth century, when Ibrahim Khan was subahdar of the Deccan, was also built at the same time. Another building of the same date which cannot now be traced was the Nadi Mahall, or river palace. From the description given of it it probably occupied part of the ground on which the palace of the Nawab Salar Jang now stands. Gardens were laid out, other public buildings were constructed, and the nobles of the kingdom were encouraged to build palaces for themselves in the new city, which, however, remained destitute of one of the most important features of an eastern capital of those days, for it was not enclosed by walls, the present walls not having been built until after the kingdom of Golconda had fallen into the hands of the Mughals. It was for this reason that the later Qutb Shahi kings, while preferring Muhammad Quli's city as a place of residence, invariably took refuge in Sultan Quli's old fortress on the slightest indication of trouble.
Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah died in 1612, immediately after his new city had been further adorned by a large tank on its eastern side. This was the work of his prime minister, Mir Jumla, after whom it is named. It is now much silted up, and adds nothing either to the beauty or the salubrity of Haidarabad.
Muhammad QuU left no son, and was succeeded by his nephew Muhammad Quth Shah, who had married Muhammad Quli' s daughter, ​Hayai Bakhsh Begani. Muhammad still further beautified the city by laying out gardens, but his principal work was the foundation of the magnificent Mecca masjid, one of the finest mosques in India. An interesting legend is connected with its foundation. Muhammad Qutb Shah resolved that the foundation stone of the mosque which he intended to build to the honour of God should be laid by none but a person of the highest sanctity, and the test which he proposed was sufficiently severe. He called upon all the doctors of religion at his court to select one of their number, or any other person, who, since coming to years of discretion, had never omitted the recital of the midnight prayers, one of the most wearisome of the observances of Islam, and an exercise which is not enjoined as a duty, but is regarded rather as a work of supererogation. Nobody who fulfilled this test could be found, and at length the king came forward and swore that he had never omitted the observance of this office. He then raised a selected stone, shouldered it, and laid it in its place. His example was followed by the nobles and learned men of his court, and the building of the Mecca masjid proceeded, but only for a short time. A soothsayer predicted that the completion of the mosque would be the signal for the downfall of the Qutb Shahi dynasty, and the work which had been undertaken under such auspicious conditions languished and finally ceased. The prediction, as will be seen, was falsified, for, so far from the completion of the mosque being the signal for the downfall of the dynasty, the downfall of the dynasty was the signal for the completion of the mosque.
Muhammad Qutb Shah had some idea of rivalling his predecessor as the founder of a city, as is indicated by a mosque and some inchoate buildings about four miles to the east of Haidarabad. The projected city was surrounded by a parapet and a ditch, of which traces still exist, and one historian tells us that Sultannagar, as the new city was called, was intended to rival Golconda. This can hardly have been the case, for its site possesses no natural advantages. It is far inferior to that of Golconda as a military position, and in no way superior to that of Haidarabad in respect of salubrity, beauty, or convenience. Muhammad Qutb Shah either repented of his project or died before his city could be completed, for it was never inhabited, and its very name is now forgotten. The passer-by who inquires what the buildings are is ​informed that they are "an old fort," and if he should be sufficiently curious to seek for more definite information the answer will be repeated. It is probable that the nobles who had been induced or compelled by Muhammad Quli to build for themselves palaces in Haidarabad set their faces against his successor's attempt to provide a third capital for his kingdom.
Muhammad Qutb Shah died in 1626 and was succeeded by his son Abdullah Qutb Shah, during whose reign the hand of the Mughal began to fall heavily on the kingdom of Golconda. Mir Muhammad Said, entitled Mir Jumla, was prime minister during the early years of Abdullah's reign, and it was rumoured that he was on terms of intimacy with the queen mother, Hayat Bakhsh Begam, a masterful lady who managed both her young son and his kingdom, and never forgot that she was the daughter of a king, the wife of a king, and the mother of a king. Mir Jumla was appointed to the command in the Karnatak, and there won much credit for himself and much territory for his master, but his success was his undoing in Golconda, for Abdullah Qutb Shah feared that the conqueror of so much territory might aspire to the throne, and Mir Jumla's reputed liaison with Abdullah's mother, who had a hereditary claim to the throne, only served to intensify the king's apprehension. Abdullah began to betray his suspicions in his treatment of his minister and Mir Jumla wrote secretly to Aurangzib, who at that time dwelt in Aurangabad as his father's viceroy for the Mughal provinces in the. Deccan, offering him his services. The offer was accepted and Mir Jumla was privately informed that he had been made a commander of 5,000 horse, and his son, Muhammad Amir, a commander of 2,000 horse in the imperial service. At the proper time Aurangzib summoned his two new officers to his presence, and sent orders to Abdullah Qutb Shah to place no obstacles in the way of their joining him. It is doubtful whether these orders ever reached Abdullah Qutb Shah, but, however this may have been, he received information of the communications between his officers and Aurangzib, and confiscated Mir Jumla's property and confined Muhammad Amir in Golconda. This was regarded by Aurangzib as an act of defiance, and in 1656 he set forth for Haidarabad to punish Abdullah. Abdullah, in order to appease his powerful enemy, sent Muhammad Amir and his mother to Aurangzib's camp, but, in order ​to retain his hold over Mir Jumla's family, still refused to deliver their property to them. Aurangzib accordingly pressed on, and, as he neared Haidarabad, Abdullah fled to Golconda with his ladies, leaving five or six thousand horse and twelve thousand foot to defend the capital, whence he had been unable to remove the valuable furniture of his palace. The next morning he sent an envoy, Muhammad Nasir, to Aurangzib with a box of jewels, in the hope that this offering would induce the invader to retire, but before Muhammad Nasir could reach Aurangzib, the Mughal troops had encountered the force left in Haidarabad by Abdullah, had compelled it to flee for refuge to Golconda, and had plundered the city of Haidarabad. Hakim Nizam-ud-din was then sent by Abdullah to Aurangzib with two chests of jewels, two elephants with trappings of silver, and four horses with trappings of gold. These were shortly followed by eleven elephants, sixty horses, and the rest of Muhammad Amin's property, but Aurangzib had not come to Haidarabad with the sole object of recovering his new servant's property, and he now advanced to Golconda and, after examining the fortifications, opened a regular siege. Some fighting took place in which Abdullahl3 troops were worsted and the siege was pressed on more vigorously. Abdullah now became seriously alarmed, and sent his mother, Hayat Bakhsh Begam, to intercede with Aurangzib. The royal lady fell at the prince's feet and covered them with her hair, besought him to pardon the offences of her son, offered him a crore of rupees as an indemnity, and also promised Abdullah Qutb Shah's second daughter in marriage to Muhammad Sultan, Aurangzib's eldest son, who was in his father's camp. Peace was now concluded on these conditions, coupled with the proviso that Muhammad Sultan, who was married at once to Abdullah's daughter, should be formally recognized as heir to the kingdom of Golconda, and Aurangzib left for Bijapur, capturing on his way the fortresses of Kaliani and Bidar. The Deccan was now unexpectedly reUeved of the disturbing presence of Aurangzib, who hastened back to Hindustan on receiving the news of the emperor's illness in order that he might take his part in the contest for the throne. The temporary respite afforded by Aurangzib's return to Hindustan did not deceive Abdullah Qutb Shah, who perceived that his dynasty was tottering to its fall and that when ​his determined enemy was seated on the throne of Delhi he would again turn his attention to the two remaining kingdoms of the Deccan. Abdullah placed upon his seal and his coinage the pathetic legend:—
ختم بالخير والسعادة،‎
"It has come to a good and auspicious conclusion."
The motto is usually referred to his prescience of the fall of Golconda, but it appears probable that he was comforting himself with the idea that the kingdom would fall into the hands of the Mughals by peaceful succession, and not by conquest. This hope was not destined to be fulfilled, for Muhammad Sultan predeceased Abdullah.
When Abdullah Qutb Shah died in 1672 without a male heir the competitors for the kingdom were his two surviving sons-in-law, Sayyid Mir Ahmad and Abul Hasan. The choice fell on the latter, who, besides being Abdullah's son-in-law, was descended from the royal family, and Sayyid Mir Ahmad was imprisoned and put to death.
Nothing noteworthy occurred during Abul Hasan's reign until near its conclusion. The king, who had been a darvish, now gave himself up to sensual pleasures, and left the affairs of the kingdom in the hands of two Brahmans, Madanna and Venkanna, who governed the country in accordance with Hindu principles and went so far as to insult the religion of Islam and its professors. Reports of the manner in which the administration of Golconda was conducted reached the ears of Aurangzib and confirmed him in his intention of extinguishing the Qutb Shahi dynasty. How this was effected is described elsewhere. Golconda fell in 1687, Abul Hasan was taken and sent to Daulatabad, where he ended his days in captivity twelve years later, and Haidarabad became the headquarters of a province of the empire of Delhi.
Aurangzib, as we have seen, found the great mosque of Haidarabad incomplete when he captured Golconda, and one of his first acts was to complete it. It was finished in A.H. 1104 (A.D. 1692) as is recorded over its principal gateway. The mosque is a huge rectangular building of stone, standing in a spacious courtyard. Its façade is composed of five simple Pathan arches, the central arch being slightly larger than the rest, and above the arches runs a deep cornice, above which the building is completed by a range of ornamental kanguras or crenellations. At either end of the façade and adjoining the building stands a squat minaret, surrounded at the level of the parapet of the mosque by a gallery, ​immediately above which each minaret terminates in a dome. This mosque, though its minarets have the galleries which are characteristic of Qutb Shahi architecture,, is distinguished from most other buildings in that style by being of stone undisfigured by stucco or by any of the tawdry and paltry decoration to which stucco so readily lends itself. Next to the Char Minar it is the most conspicuous object in Haidarabad. In the courtyard before the mosque are the tombs of the later Nizams of Haidarabad. It is commonly believed that this mosque is called the Mecca masjid owing to its design having been copied from that of a mosque at Mecca, but this is not. the case. It has been called the Mecca masjid because, like the holy places of Mecca, it is said to never to be empty of worshippers.
After the annexation of the kingdom of Golconda by Aurangzib succeeding subahdars attempted to administer the new province of Haidarabad, but were unable to keep in check the plunderers who wasted the country and devoured the substance of its people. The first was Jan Sipar Khan, and the next his son Rustam Dil Khan, who was followed by Muzaffar Khan. Then came Yusuf Khan, more successful than the others, who died and was succeeded by Ibrahim Khan, during whose term of office the Dad MahaU,oe of the finest buildings of the Qutb Shahi kings, was burnt down without an effort being made to save it. Mubariz Khan, who was appointed in the place of Ibrahim Khan, was originally on friendly terms with the great Asaf Jah Nizam-ul-Mulk, one of the most powerful nobles of the empire, who, in 1723, held the governorship of the province of Malwa; but when the amirs in power at Delhi intrigued to overthrow Asaf Jah they succeeded in detaching Mubariz Khan from his interest by promising to him, in the event of his overthrowing their enemy, the viceroyalty of the Deccan, which was well known to be the object of Asaf Jah's ambition. Mubariz Khan accordingly marched northwards from Haidarabad to meet Asaf Jah, who endeavoured to dissuade him from an appeal to arms, but failing in his negotiations met him at Shakarkhelda in Berar, where he defeated and slew him in October 1724. By this victory Asaf Jah became ruler of the Deccan, and scarcely acknowledged even a nominal dependence on Delhi. His descendants succeeded him and the present ruler of Haidarabad, Mir Sir Mahbub Ali khan Bahidur, is the ninth of his line to occupy the masnad of Haidarabad. ​ The most remarkable work in the neighbourhood of Haidarabad is the Husain Sagar, an artificial lake with a circumference of nearly eleven miles, which lies immediately to the south of the British cantonment of Secunderabad and between it and the city. This lake is older than Haidarabad, having been constructed by Ibrahim Qutb Shah, who died in 1580, the father of Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, who founded Haidarabad. The Mir Jumla tank which lies under the western wall of Haidarabad, has already been mentioned. This tank, which was probably at one time an imposing sheet of water and by the margin of which Kam Bakhsh, the youngest son of Aurangzib, encamped when he was attempting to assert in the Deccan his independence of his brother Bahadur Shah, who had succeeded to the imperial throne, is now silted up and is little more than an expanse of malodorous mud.
Yet a third artificial lake calls for notice. This is the Mir Alam lake, the surroundings of which are even more picturesque than those of the Husain Sagar. This lake was formed about a hundred years ago under the orders of Abul Qasim Mir Alam, minister of the State foi English affairs, and founder of the fortunes of the Salar Jang family in Haidarabad, by closing with a dam a valley to the west of the city which runs down in a north-westerly direction towards the river Musi. This dam, which is the work of French engineers, is a wonderful piece of masonry. Its outline follows the arc of a circle with the convex side towards the water, and the dam is composed of a series of horizontal arches the extrados of each of which resists the pressure of the water. What would be the feet of the arches, were they upright, form buttresses which strengthen the whole structure. The branches of the lake run up into the small valleys of the hills which enclose its catchment area, and the scenery is picturesque in the extreme.
On a hill to the east of the city stands the tomb of the Nizam's famous French officer Raymond, whose corps was disbanded in 1798 at the instance of Lord Wellesley. The tomb is a simple and massive obelisk without any inscription other than the monogram J. R. and stands on a high plinth on the summit of the hill. Immediately to the west of it and on the same plinth is a shrine which contains the adventurer's viscera. Monsieur Raymond is developing by degrees into a saint under the title of Musa Rahmu, and his memory is honoured by an annual ​urus or festival at his tomb, on the occasion of which a bottle of French brandy and a cock are presented as acceptable offerings to his manes. His profession of the Christian religion is nevertheless indicated by a series of large crosses, painted in red around the plinth. The festival of Musa Rahmu is an interesting study in hero-worship and the development of popular religion.
To the south of Haidarabad stands a high hill already mentioned as that from which Colonel Meadows Taylor obtained his favourite view of the city and the surrounding country. This is now occupied by Falaknuma Castle, a modern palace built by the late Sir Vikar-ul-Umara, formerly the Nizam's minister, from whom it was purchased some twelve years ago by the present Nizam. The exterior of the building possesses no architectural merit, but it is beautifully situated and its marble entrance hall and staircase are extremely handsome. The Nizam does not occupy this, the finest of his palaces, but places it at the disposal of guests whom he desires to honour. Its most distinguished occupants have been the present Prince and Princess of Wales.