Epitaph of Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, Golconda (1612)

Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, who founded Hyderabad, lies in one of the largest tombs of the Qutb Shahi necropolis (royal burial ground) at Golconda.¹ Syed Ali Asgar Bilgrami says the dome “was built during his lifetime”.¹ It stands on a double terrace, the upper one 200 feet each way.¹ The grave itself lies in a vault below, reached by a flight of steps.¹ See Qutb Shahi Tombs.

The inscriptions

The sarcophagus is of polished black basalt.² Bilgrami lists the religious texts on it:²

• the Shia creed²
• verses of the Quran, including the Throne Verse²
• the same Shia prayer of blessing that is carved on the tomb of Sultan Quli, “inscribed in best Tauqi’ style”²

The epitaph proper is in Persian, in Naskh script.³ In his translation:

“His Exalted Majesty, whose abode is Paradise and whose resting place is Heaven, Muhammad Quli Qutbshah son of Ibrahim Qutb Shah, May God illumine the arguments of both, was joined to God’s mercy on Saturday, the 17th of the sacred month of Zil-Qadah, in the year 1020 A.H. one thousand and twenty Hijri (January 11, 1612 A.D.). His age was forty nine years and the duration of his reign thirty one years; may the Supreme God have perfect mercy on him.”³

T. W. Haig had published the epitaph in Epigraphia Indo-Moslemica for 1907–08 with a nearly identical translation.⁴⁵ But he converted the same date to 24 January 1612.⁴⁵ The two conversions differ by thirteen days, but the Hijri (Islamic) date is the same in both. See also the epitaph of Sultan Quli.

The tomb

Bilgrami lists, from the manuscript Tarikh-i Zufra, the buildings of Muhammad Quli’s reign.³¹ Among them are the Charminar, the Char Kaman, the Jami Masjid, the Dar-ush-Shifa and the Ashur Khana.³¹ Some seventy lakhs of huns (gold coins) were spent on them.³¹

G. Yazdani described the tomb in the Hyderabad Archaeological Department’s report for 1918–19.⁶ He called it “the first attempt at the building of a tomb on a large scale, because the sepulchres of the previous monarchs of the dynasty are small structures”.⁶

Yazdani noted the double terrace rising 18 feet.⁶ He also noted the gallery of pillar-and-lintel openings round the hall.⁶ The architect built this gallery “in order to make the base symmetrical to its otherwise heavy dome”.⁶

Footnotes

1. Bilgrami, Landmarks of the Deccan (1927), p. 131 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

2. Syed Ali Asgar Bilgrami, Landmarks of the Deccan (1927), p. 129 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

3. Bilgrami, Landmarks of the Deccan (1927), p. 130 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

4. T. W. Haig, “Inscriptions in Hyderabad and Golconda”, Epigraphia Indo-Moslemica 1907–08 (1909), p. 25 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

5. Haig, Epigraphia Indo-Moslemica 1907–08 (1909), p. 26 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

6. Annual Report of the Archaeological Department of H.E.H. the Nizam’s Dominions, 1328 F. (1918–19) (1920), p. 5 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵