Hyderabad - part of history

The following article was published in THE TIMES OF INDIA, Hyderabad edition on 22 Mar 2010 Mon

For Hyderabadis, Bhagmati is vital part of history

Mir Ayoob Ali Khan | TNN

Hyderabad: When international scholar of Urdu and Deccani David Mathews expressed doubts over the veracity of the story that Sultan Mohammed Quli named Hyderabad after his beloved Bhagmati, local experts including writers, historians and academics joined issue with him. Mathews had said, “I am not saying there was no Bhagmati. What I am saying is that more research is required to establish her existence in history.”

Narendra Luther who has written extensively on the history and culture of Hyderabad firmly believes that the debate over the love story of Quli Qutb Shah and Bhagmati, a Hindu peasant girl, was settled long ago. He is firm that Bhagmati did exist, Mohammed Quli did marry her and when he built Hyderabad around the village of her birth Chechlam, he named it Bhagnagar. After he bestowed on her the title of Hyder Mahal, Bhagnagar was renamed as Hyderabad.

In an article published in the biannual journal of Salar Jung Museum in 1996 Luther cited several travellers and historians to debunk the writings of historian Haroon Khan Sherwani denying the existence of Bhagmati. However, Syeda Jafar who has edited the collection of poetry of Mohammed Quli and written the history of Urdu literature supports Sherwani’s opinion.

“North Indian historians such as Faizi, Khafi Khan, Nizamuddin and Abdul Baqui looked down upon the sultanates of the Deccan, some called the Sultanate a mere ‘jagir’ and others even misspelt the name of Mohammed Quli,” she avers. Contemporary historians of the Deccan like Ali Bin Aziz Taba Taba or the writer of Tareekh-e-Qutb Shah do not mention Bhagmati, she points out. Two important poets of the time, Mohammed Quli and Ghawasi, also did not mention Bhagnagar; they had referred to the new capital of Golconda as Hyderabad, she adds.

But K Chandraiah, a civil servant, preferred the Luther line. In an article, The Legend of Bhagmati, in the book Hyderabad: 400 Glorious Years, Chandraiah wrote, “The romance of young Mohammed Quli and the pretty charming lady (Bhagmati) has firm roots in history. The writings of Abul Faizi, Nizamuddin Baksh, Abdul Baqi Nihawandi and Khafi Khan cannot be brushed aside on flimsy grounds that some of them never visited the place and their accounts were based on hearsay.”

Ziauddin Ahmed Shakeb, an expert on Islamic and Indian art, said while contemporary Moghul sources such as Abul Fazal, Firishta, and Badayuni discuss Bhagmati, the character is hardly cited by Deccani sources. “There is a grain of truth in the character of Bhagmati. Mohammed Quli was in love with her, he named Chechlam as Bhagnagar which is around today’s Yakutpura. The name of Bhagnagar village can be found in archival records. But the Sultan did not change Bhagnagar to Hyderabad or name Hyderabad after Bhagmati,” he said.

Shakeb made another startling observation: “Mir Momin, the Peshwa (prime minister) of Mohammed Quli did not appreciate the closeness between the Sultan and Bhagmati. Therefore, he decided to ensure that Bhagmati’s character is driven out of contemporary history. So much so that she did not even have a tomb built over her last remains.” He added, “I agree with Mathews that there should be more research on Bhagmati.”

Historian Salma Ahmed Farooqui insists that accounts of foreign travellers should not be dismissed as they are one of the main sources of social, economic and administrative conditions of those times and bring to focus aspects of life that were ignored by local historians. Bhagmati finds mention in the travel accounts of Bernier, Tavernier, Thevenot and Careri, who visited Hyderabad, though it was some 60 to 80 years after the rule of Mohammed Quli ended. All of them refer to Bhagmati as the mistress of Mohammed Quli. “The presence of Bhagmati can be accepted as four travellers have referred to her romantic tale,” she said.

M Abdul Qaiyoom, former deputy director of the department of Archeology and Museum, provides artistic evidence of Bhagmati’s existence. The State Museum in Public Gardens has a portrait of Bhagmati done around 1750 CE. A copy of this portrait can be found at the Salar Jung Museum.

Another portrait was published in the Journal of J J School of Arts, Mumbai, in 1942, but its authenticity is doubtful. “I have come across a Sotheby catalogue which carries a portrait of a Deccani damsel seated on a terrace. It’s by the artist Mohammed Reza-i-Hindi and dated 1760 CE. Though she has not been identified as Bhagmati, her features are strikingly similar to those of ladies in the portraits at the State and Salar Jung museums. I demand that a search for the character of Bhagmati be undertaken afresh in Hyderabad and Europe,” he said.

Conservationist Sajjad Shahed would like to close the debate thus: “All people and places have their own myths, legends and love stories. Hyderabadis have their own love-story, one based on the long poem ‘Qutb-Mushtari’ written by Wajhi and presented to Sultan Mohammed Quli on his coronation. Qutb here is Mohammed Quli and Mushtari is his beloved Bhagmati. Forget about digging up the past; let’s continue to believe in the legend”.

RUINS OF GOLCONDA FORT