A little away from
Golconda fort are a cluster
of tombs, the most authentic evidence of the Qutub Shahi
 architectural traditions.
Ensconced amidst picturesque and landscaped gardens, known as Ibrahim bagh, is the
grandeur of these tombs dedicated to the memory of the seven Qutub Shahi kings who ruled Golconda for nearly 170 years. These constitute the most eloquent specimens
of Indo-Persian architecture influenced by Deccani structural perceptions. The total
impact of this fusion is the emergence of a distinct Qutub Shahi school marked by
ostentation of arches, domes, minarets and columns. These architectural tendencies
began surfacing in the time of Ibrahim Qutub Shah and reached their climax in the
reign of Muhammed Quli Qutub Shah. The tombs are also an unequivocal manifestation
of the structural engineering talent of the Qutub Shahi period.
The tombs still retain their original glory despite the combined assault of time,
weather and man. The mausoleums of the rulers of Golconda and the founder of Hyderabad
city are a standing tribute to their artistic fervour and constitute a storehouse
of history. In the complex known as the Qutub Shahi tombs are buried others too
who were either the close relatives of the rulers or nobles who served them faithfully.
Prominent among these other tombs is the one erected in the memory of Hayath Bakshi
Begum, daughter of the illustrious Muhammed Quli Qutub Shah, founder of Hyderabad
city and the man who built the masonry colossus Charminar.
Most of the larger tombs are double storeyed while the smaller ones have single
storeys. This large and close group of royal sepulchres stands on a raised plateau,
each one of them erected on a wide quadrangular terrace reached from all sides by
flights of steps. From the plinth to the peak, the mausoleums are marked by symmetry
in arches and arcades. At the centre of each tomb is a sarcophagus crowning the
burial vault and the crypt below. Several of the green and blue tiles adorning the
many domes are missing now, a sad commentary on our sense of history. |
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Almost all the tombs are quadrangular
and rise from nine to 15 metres above the terrace, surrounded by balustrades with
beautiful minarets at the corners. The complex has around 30 tombs while a few can
be found outside its compound. Salar Jung I undertook restoration of these tombs,
which were in a state of disrepair and ensured that a protective wall was built
to ward off vandals. The tombs are in two large quadrangular enclosures, the first
of which houses the mausoleums of Muhammed Quli Qutub Shah, Ibrahim Quli, Jamsheed
Quli, Sultan Quli and Kulsoom begum, daughter of Muhammed Qutub Shah. In another
quadrangle are the tombs of Muhammed Qutub Shah, Hayath Bakshi Begum, Taramathi
and Premamathi, the last two being the favourite courtesans of Abdullah Qutub Shah
whose tomb is outside of the quadrangles.
Though people try to grade the beauty
of these tombs, each of them is a match to the other in architectural grandeur,
though not in size. The modest among them are the tombs of Sultan Quli Qutub-ul-Mulk,
founder of the Qutub Shahi dynasty and his son Jamsheed Quli Qutub Shah. The tomb
of the founder, who built it himself during his lifetime, is marked by simplicity
and symmetry in design and stands on a platform of 30 metres on each side. Its walls
and dome measure 12 metres from the plinth while its ramparts have Bahmani style
bouquets, four on each side of the tomb. Its inside is octagonal, each side as wide
as 10 metres. An inscription outside the tomb says that people always referred to
Sultan Quli Qutub Shah as Bada Saheb.
Although small in size, the tomb of
Jamsheed is octagonal and extremely well proportioned and imposing, standing as
it does on a high quadrangular platform. It is the only tomb where black basalt
has not been used in its construction. It also does not have any inscription. Jamsheed’s
son Subhan Quli ruled only for seven months and there is no separate tomb for him.
One of the biggest tombs
belongs to Ibrahim Quli Qutub Shah, who started the tradition of erecting magnificent
structures in the city. His tomb, like others in the complex, is quadrangular with
two rows of five arches on each side crating the illusion of a double storeyed building.
Above each arch is a balustrade of small arches at the four corners. One can find
vestiges of the enamelled glory of these tombs on the upper arches of this tomb.
Ibrahim’s tomb has two graves in the main chamber and 16 on the terrace. On all
the sides of the sarcophagus are inscriptions in Tulth. It may be mentioned that
the most celebrated calligraphers Isphalan, Ismail and Taqiuddin, whose contribution
to the wealth of inscriptions on Qutubshahi edifices is legendary, were all contemporaries
of Ibrahim Shah.
The tomb of founder of Hyderabad Muhammed
Quli Qutub Shah is easily the most impressive, rising to a height of 42.5 meters
with a large dome and 28 open arches on each side. The tomb is built on a two-tiered
terrace designed to look like a captivating gallery with false openings and with
two central pillars. One finds also a feature so conventional to Islamic sepulchural
architecture, that is, rich ornamental parapets with minarets at the corners. The
founder’s grave is in the vault in the middle of the plinth at the lower level of
the terrace, reached by a flight of steps. Another impressive mausoleum is that
of Mohammed Qutub Shah, son-in-law of Muhammed Quli. The last of the royal tombs
belongs to Abdullah Qutub Shah.
There are several other tombs which
belong to non-ruling members of the royal families. At the entrance of the first
enclosure is that of Fatima Sultan, sister of Muhammed Qutub Shah. Between Muhammed
Quli’s and Jamsheed’s tomb in the second enclosure is the mausoleum of Kulsoom Begum,
Mohammed Qutub’s grand daughter. Other tombs belong to Taramathi and Premamathi,
Muhammed Neknam Khan, who served Abdullah’s army, Fatima Khanum, one of Abdullah’s
daughters. The latter’s tomb like that of her father is outside the two enclosures
and the only one which has no dome. There is also the tomb of the great sufi saint
Husain Wali, the man who built Husain Sagar, bridging Hyderabad and Secunderabad.
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