Qutb Shahi dynasty

History

The dynasty's founder, Sultan Quli Qutb-ul-Mulk, migrated to Delhi with his uncle, Allah-Quli, some of his relatives and friends in the beginning of the 16th century. Later he migrated south, to the Deccan and served the Bahmani sultan, Mohammad Shah. He conquered Golconda, after the disintegration of the Bahmani Kingdom into the five Deccan sultanates. Soon after, he declared independence from the Bahmani Sultanate, took the title Qutub Shah, and established the Qutb Shahi dynasty of Golconda. He was later assassinated in 1543 by his son, Jamsheed, who assumed the sultanate. He later died in 1550 from cancer. Jamsheed's young son reigned for a year, at which time the nobility brought back and installed Ibrahim Quli as sultan. During the reign of Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, relations between Hindus and Muslims were strengthened, even to the point of Hindus resuming their religious festivals like Diwali and Holi. Some Hindus rose to prominence in the Qutb Shahi state, the most important example being the ministers Madanna and Akkanna.

Golconda, and with the construction of the Char Minar, later Hyderabad served as capitals of the sultanate, and both cities were embellished by the Qutb Shahi sultans. The dynasty ruled Golconda for 171 years, until the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb conquered the Deccan in 1687.

Culture

The Qutub Shahi rulers were great builders, whose structures included the Char Minar, as well as patrons of learning. Quli Qutb Mulk's court became a haven for Persian culture and literature. Sultan Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah(1580–1612) wrote poems in Dakhini Urdu, Persian and Telugu and left a huge poetry collection. Subsequent poets and writers, however wrote in Urdu, while using vocabulary from Persian, Hindi and Telugu languages. By 1535, the Qutub Shahis were using Telugu for their revenue and judicial areas within the sultanate.

Initially, the Qutub Shahi rulers patronized Persianate culture, but eventually adopted the regional culture of the Deccan, symbolized by the Telugu language and the newly developed Deccani idiom of Urdu became prominent. Although Telugu was not their mother tongue, the Golconda rulers spoke and wrote Telugu, and patronized Telugu so exclusively they were termed the "Telugu Sultans". In 1543, fearing for his life, Prince Ibrahim Quli fled to the Vijayanagaran court, which lavishly patronized the Telugu language. Upon his enthronement as sultan in 1550, Ibrahim Quli was thoroughly acquainted with Telugu aesthetics.

The Qutb Shahi architecture was Indo-Persian, a culmination of Hindu, Moorish, Mughal and Persian architectural styles. Some examples of Golcondan Indo-Persian architecture are the Golconda Fort, tombs of the Qutb Shahis, Char Minar and the Char Kaman, Mecca Masjid and the Toli mosque.

Religion

The Qutb Shahi dynasty has been considered a "composite" of Hindu-Muslim religio-social culture.

Rulers

The eight sultans in the dynasty were:

1. Sultan Quli Qutb-ul-Mulk (1512–1543)
2. Jamsheed Quli Qutb Shah (1543–1550)
3. Subhan Quli Qutb Shah (1550)
4. Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah (1550–1580)
5. Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah (1580–1612)
6. Sultan Muhammad Qutb Shah (1612–1626)
7. Abdullah Qutb Shah (1626–1672)
8. Abul Hasan Qutb Shah (1672–1689)

Tombs

The tombs of the Qutb Shahi sultans lie about one kilometer north of Golkonda's outer wall. These structures are made of beautifully carved stonework, and surrounded by landscaped gardens. They are open to the public and receive many visitors.