Mohammed Quli Qutb Shah Revisits Hyderabad
- Sibghat Khan
- 4 hours ago
- 10 min read
It is the morning of 4 April 2026, Mohammed Quli returns to his city after 35 years, a visit which was chronicled by Mujtaba Hussain in his Quli Qutb Shah ka Safarnama. His last visit to Hyderabad in 1991, the city’s 400th anniversary, was full of surprises. A frail yet jolly autowala Jahangir took him around the length and breadth of the city for an entire day as they toured in the noisy autorickshaw. This time, Quli comes back to visit his very own Hyderabad on his birthday, to experience Hyderabad as a solo traveller. Unlike the 1990s, Mohammed Quli does not arrive at the Hyderabad Deccan Railway Station at Nampally, but at the swanky international airport at Shamshabad—once a stony wasteland where his uncle Khudabandah was held captive by uncle Jamshed in the tiny Narkhuda fort.
Puzzled by the lack of autorickshaws at the arrivals gate, Mohammed Quli has to find his way around, asking people for help. It takes him a while to find someone who could guide him to the Charminar, codeswitching between Dakhni and Accha Telugu. The security guards point him to the airport taxi stands, which he approaches with great confusion. He sees a young lady waiting in line for app-based taxis and initiates a conversation.
Quli: ‘Minje Charminar jaana hiN’
‘Uber book nai hora to Rapido try karo aajata’, she replies, confusing poor Mohammed Quli even further. The only signs he could read are in the Telugu script, which he can read but struggles to understand. This was the first time he saw a smartphone, like an obsidian mirror that brings forth divine revelations. He repeats:
Quli: ‘Merku Charminar jaana haiN, zar.Ra pohoNcha do’
Pitying his plight, the lady is convinced to help this nicely dressed in a white angrakha, polite, middle-aged man with a straight-kept moustache, assuming he is new to the city.
Lady: ‘Main Uppal jaariun, beech raste tak aapku chHod detiyu uncle’
Quli: ‘Uppal Kalan?’
Lady: ‘Wo kya rehta?’
An onlooker keenly observing this conversation interrupts gleefully
Onlooker: ‘Hao Uppal ku ich pehle Uppal Kalan bolte the, aaj kal ke bachon ku kya malum ye sab naam’an saAb.’
Quli gleefully smiles.
Onlooker: ‘Mad’am inku purane shehr me chHod do, waha se koi bhi Charminar bata dete.’
As the lady’s cab arrives, the cab driver gets down to greet both of them and hauls the lady’s luggage in the trunk. Mohammed Quli had seen cars on his last visit but they seemed very different now. He follows the young lady’s lead and gets in the rear of the taxi. As the ride begins, the young lady introduces herself.
Lady: ‘Mera naam Tara hai, aapka naam kya hai?’
Quli: ‘Tara, bhot roshan naam hai. Mera naam Mohammed Quli hai’
Tara: ‘Quli bolto railway station pe bojh uTha.te so loga rehte na? Aap kya kaam karte? Mai toh software me kaam kartiyuN.’
Quli: ‘Bibi, Quli ke maaNe ghula.am ke haiN, Mohammed Quli yaane Mohammed-ur-Rasulullah ka ghulaam. Mera kaam shayari karna hai.’
Tara: ‘Arey Uncle meku itti urdu ka.aN aati? Aaj kal kisku bhi nai aati. Waise aapki shayari kahiN sunne ku milti kya? YouTube pe hai? Koi mashHoor sher-o-shayri?’
Quli: ‘Meri pasandeeda ghazal hai ‘Piya Baj Pyala’ jo mai ne apne naye shehr me likhi thi’
Tara: ‘Accha! New City ke hai aap! Mai dhundtiyu aapki ghazal. Aakhri baar kab gaye Charminar ku? Kya kaam hai’
Quli: ‘Aaj se taqreeban 35 baras pehle, Jahangir leke gaye the. Bas dekhne jaana hai Charminar aur shehr Hyderabad’
Tara: ‘35 saal me Hyderabad bhot badal gaya uncle, aapku pehchanne ich nai aata ab toh. Mai boltiu akele nakko jao aap, ek acha walking tour lelo, sab dekhle sakte - Charminar, Chowmahalla, Golconda, Qutb Shahi Tombs ek din me.’
Quli: ‘Ye walking tour kya hai?’
Tara: ‘Arey uncle tension nakko lo, apan pahunche jab tak aapke waste mai bandobas kardetiyu. Mere pehchanat me hai Deccan Archives wale, zabardast tours karate.’
The city zooms past as the duo is immersed in conversation, approaching the historic centre of the city at Madina Circle.
Tara: ‘Uncle apan Madina pahunch gaye, idhar aapku ek banda milta, une aapka guide hai, une leke ghoomta din bhar, usku aap kuch dene ki zorrat nai hai mai sab arrange kardi. Bye!’
Quli: ‘Zahe-naseeb, Khuda Hafiz’
As Tara drops Quli off at the Madina Circle, the tour lead from Deccan Archives is already at the site.
Tour Lead: ‘Salaam! Aap ich hai Mohammed saab?’
Quli nods.
Tour Lead: ‘Zabardast, mera naam Sibghatullah hai, mai ek mi’maar aur mu’arriq hun aur aaj mai aapku Hyderabad ki sair karatau.’
Quli: ‘Bohot khuub.’
Sibghat: ‘Apan sabse pehle shuru karinge Baadshahi Ashurkhane se’
Quli’s eyes lit up. He had not seen the Baadshahi Ashurkhana in 400 years! As they walk into the courtyard of the complex, Quli appears to be disoriented with what he sees.
Quli: ‘Sab kuch badal gaya’
Sibghat: ‘Ji, bohot kuch, lekin sabse behtareen hissa toh abhi bhi jaisa ka waisa hai’
After leaving their footwear out and walking into the innermost part of the Baadshahi Ashurkhana, Mohammed Quli looks at the many carpets and many coloured tiles on the western wall.
Sibghat, pointing at a calligraphic panel: ‘Is diwar par is shehr ke baNi Sultan Mohammed Quli Qutb Shah ka zikr hai, jinhone Charminar banwaya 1000 hijri me, aur Baadshahi Ashurkhana banwaya 1001 hijri me.’
He continues: ‘aur yaha beech me, Nasrumina-’
Quli completes: ‘min.allahi wa fathuN Qareeb’
Both smile as they walk around the complex.
Sibghat: ‘TarikhdaaN ye likhte hai ke yaha par Badshah Muharram ke pehle das din 10,000 charagh jalate the’
Quli: ‘Ghalat. Aapki malumat durust nahin hai’
Taken aback, Sibghat assumes his client to be the ‘know-it-all’ boomer, throwing all of his enthusiasm and excitement into the Musi.
Sibghat: ‘Khair, dhuup badhne se pehle apan Charminar ku chale jayinge.’
As they walk along the Pathergatti, Mohammed Quli quietly observes broken pieces of his original city remaining on the street—the Naal e Mubarak Ashurkhana originally the Qutb Shahi Ilahi Mahal on the principal street, the Machli Kaman and the Gulzar Houz. Meanwhile, three auto rickshaws and five two wheelers bump into him, while dozens of people try selling him pearls, perfumes, sunglasses and boiled sweet corn.
Sibghat: Ye jo nazar aara aapku samne, ye chaar kamanon me se ek kamaan hai shumaal ki taraf, Machli Kaman bolte isku – Navroz ke din yaha par se ek baaNs aur kaGaz ki machli latakti thi, naye saal ki khushi manaaNe.
Mohammed Quli smiles as they walk upto the Gulzar Houz.
Quli: ‘Ye kya hai? YahaN par toh Houz-i-Char-Su tha’
Sibghat: ‘Saheb, Houz-i-Char-Su ku Gulzar Houz banadiye, aur ab barbaad kardiye.’
Mohammed Quli freezes in the middle of the Gulzar Houz roundabout, looking at the abomination that was the Charkaman square, once the glittering gem of his ensemble of palaces—the Jilaukhana i Aali was now fuel for nightmares. Sibghat drags him to the side of the road to considerable safety, where Quli regains his composure and looks towards the Charminar, tearing up at the visual.
Sibghat: ‘Ye hai dekhiye saab, Charminar Jannat Nishaan!’
Quli: ‘Aaj bhi wohi aali-shaan manzar. Lekin ye iski marammat 35 saal se chal rahi hai?’, he asks, pointing at the scaffolding on the Charminar.
Sibghat laughs, ‘Humloga ye maante ke 400 saal se marammat ich chalri’, wiping the smile off Mohammed Quli’s face, sulking over the outrageous comments over his beloved monument.
Quli: ‘Amin Khan ki Jami kidhar hai?’
Sibghat: ‘Pehli baar koi puche bhi ke Jama Masjid kidhar hai, wo jo dukaan’on ke beech me buland minaar’aN dikhre aapku? Wo hai Amin Khan ki Jama Masjid, jiske daaman me firdaus jhoomti hai’
Mohammed Quli stares blankly at the disaster, turning towards the entrance to the Charminar on the eastern front. As they walk in, Mohammed Quli wonders that he had his architects omit the staircase on this specific side to prevent the entrance to the Charminar from the direction of Bandar-i-Mubarak, yet now he enters his grand building from this very side—an outrage! At the booking counter, Sibghat gets into an argument with the ASI officers on duty that his guest must pay the entry ticket for foreigners because he appears ‘Turkish’.
Sibghat: ‘Sab samajhrau, turkollu kisku bolra? Ino idhar ich paida hue, inki zabaan suno. Baat karke dekho’
Quli: ‘Meri paidaish Qila Mohammed Nagar me hui, Dakhnich hun mai’
After convincing the ticket officers, Sibghat and Mohammed Quli walk up the stairs to the fountain plaza on Indian tickets. The first thing Mohammed Quli notices is the weird fountain in the centre.
Quli: ‘Yeh fawwara kisne badla? Yaha ek kale pathar ka buland fawwara tha jis par sher aur hathi the’
Sibghat is impressed with the knowledge of this man. Not a lot of people knew about the original fountain, especially in such detail. He assumes this man is a scholar of the Deccan.
Sibghat: ‘Log kehte hai wo Dehli chala gaya, jab Mughalon ke Golconda ko fateh karliya tha 1098 hijri me, Hyderabad Farkhunda Buniyaad ko tabaah or barbaad kardiya tha’
Quli: ‘Sirf 98 baras me? Hamari fauj aur sipahsalar kya kar rahe the?’
Sibghat: ‘Kya karte? Hyderabadiyan hai, aiyyashi karre the hunge Mughal’an darwaze pe aaye tak’
Quli scoffs and walks off towards the southern end, noticing the Makkah Masjid.
Sibghat: ‘Ye hai Makkah Masjid, jisku Bayt-al-Ateeq bulaya jaata tha. Sabse buland Qutb Shahi Masjid hai. Aapku malum iski tameer me kitte saal lage?’
Quli: ‘3-4 saal? Charminar toh ek saal me taiyyar hogaya tha’
Sibghat: ‘77 saal, aur iske minaron ko Mughal gumbazon se badal diya gaya tha.’
Mohammed Quli lets out a sigh, expressing great disappointment in his successors, who he saw as inferior builders.
Sibghat: ‘Aur wo taraf jo pahad nazar aara aapku, woh hai Falaknuma Palace, jo Qutb Shahi daur me Koh-e-Tur Mahal tha.’
Quli: ‘Koh-e-Tur abhi bhi maujood hai?’
Sibghat: ‘Kya bachta saab, Hyderabad hai ye. aaj rehi so chiz kal nai rehti. Khair. Charminar banane ki wajeh kuch log ye bolte ki yaha par Sultan ku unki ek mashooqa Bhagmati mili thi, aur us maqam pe unho Charminar banaye.’
Quli: ‘Kon?’
Sibghat: ‘Ghair zaruri hai wo sab, aap chai peete?’
The duo walk out of the Charminar without climbing it and walk towards Cafe Farasha, to sit and reflect for a bit on the plight of the city.
Quli: ‘Ye bolo, aapku Qutb Shahi tarz o tameer kaisi dikhi?’
Sibghat: ‘Sahi bole toh, behtareen proportions aur materials ki samajh thi, do-teen alag alag tehzeebon ku ek tehzeeb banane me mahir the Qutb Shahi. Aaj bhi Hyderabad me Qutb Shahi tarz o tameer dekhne ke liye log duniya bhar se aate. Aap bolo agar Charminar nai rehta toh kya dikhate the logon ku? Waise chai mangau ya coffee?’
Quli: ‘Wo konsi sharaab hai?’
Sibghat: ‘Bhot masqarey hai aap!’
They now head towards the fort of Golconda through the Puranapul in an auto, which Mohammed Quli immediately recognises. Sibghat meanwhile asks his colleague and friend Safwan to arrange for tickets at Golconda to avoid creating a scene like at Charminar. Mohammed Quli can identify some of the ruins of Karwaan enroute the fort as they enter the Fateh Darwaza.
Sibghat: ‘Yeh hai Fateh Darwaza’
Quli: ‘Konsi Fateh, iska naam Baghnagar Darwaza hai.’
Sibghat’s amusement turns into suspicion. He begins to doubt who this man really is. He has never come across any academic work on Hyderabad or Qutb Shahi history by this gentleman.
Sibghat: ‘1098 Hijri me jab Aurangzeb Alamgir ki fauj aayi thi, tab Bijapur aur Golconda ek saal me hi fateh karliya tha, Fateh ke baad is darwaze se dakhil hue the.’
Quli: ‘Alamgir? Aalam-giir?’
Mohammed Quli sighs again. He had only heard of Jahangir, the Mughal Emperor, not the autowala. As they reach the Bala Hisar gate, they are greeted by Safwan who arranged tickets for everyone.
As they walk through the many terraces of the ruined Rani Mahal, Sibghat points at a decorated wall with dozens of intricately carved niches.
Sibghat: ‘Ye jo khuubsurat aiwan dekhre na aap, isme kya rakhte the ki aaj tak nai malum hua’
Quli: ‘Chini.’
Mohammed Quli walks around sulking at the state of his former capital, the magnificent fortress of Mohammed Nagar, now popularized as Golconda. As the sun starts going over the hill of Golconda, the trio climb all the way to the Baradari.
Quli: ‘35 saal pehle toh purey jungalaat the, sab pahaad aur talaab aur jungle kahan gaye?’
Sibghat: ‘Ji, ye sab piche 10-15 saal me hua so hai. Wo dekhiye Naubat Pahad, jispe Bagh-i-Muhammad Shahi hua karta tha’
Quli: ‘Aur ab? Aur uske bagal me wo safed mahal konsa hai?’
Safwan: ‘Ab toh Naubat Pahad pe Birla Mandir hai, aur wo mahal nai hai hamara sarkari daftar hai Secretariat’
Looking northwards, Sibghat points out to the Qutb Shahi Necropolis.
Sibghat: ‘Ab ham Saat Gumbaz jayinge yaha se, doobte suraj ka nazara behtareen rehta.’
As they walk through the Qutb Shahi Necropolis, Mohammed Quli is teary eyed looking at each passing tomb. His ancestors and progeny all buried in the same grounds. Stopping at the unfinished tomb, Mohammed Quli asks:
‘Kya ye bhi Mughalon ne barbaad kiya?’
Sibghat: ‘Nai saab, jab tak sultanat khatam hogayi thi’
As they walk towards a pomegranate orchard, Sibghat points to the colossal tomb of Hayat Baksh Begum.
‘Ye maqbara Qutb Shahi mallika Hayat Baksh Begum ki hai, inke walid, shohar aur beta teeno sultan the. Hyderabad ke bani ki jaanasheen hai ye’, he says.
Quli: ‘Hanifa?’ his eyes wander.
Sibghat: ‘Ji, Hanifa Sultan tha unka naam. Chaliye badi gumbad ki taraf jayinge’
The three of them climb the plinth of Mohammed Quli’s tomb, Safwan says ‘Aaj inki paidaish hui thi, har saal log aake yaha waqt guzaar ke jaate’
Quli: ‘Aaj 14 Ramzan-ul-Mubarak hai?’
Sibghat, dumbfounded: ‘Nahi saheb, ye Eesvi tareekh hai, 4 April.’
Quli: ‘Bohot khuubsurat bageeche hai, lekin angur ke bagh nazar nahi aarahe.’ Mohammed Quli walks slowly around his very own tomb, touching the huge granite pillars.
Sibghat: ‘Inki paidaish Vijaynagar ki Fateh ke fauran baad hui thi’
Quli: ‘Nai, uske ek saal 3 mahine baad hui thi.’
Stunned with this detail, Sibghat asks ‘Kya aap history ke professor hai? Ya scholar hai?’
Mohammed Quli smiles as he walks towards the inner sanctum of the tomb, while Sibghat and Safwan exchange confused glances about this man’s profession. Two eagles circle over the tomb, drawing everyone’s attention towards them. Mohammed Quli remembers his father’s emblem. Smiling, he knows it's time to go. His tour of the city is now complete. He knows he shall be back again in the future at a landmark date, exploring the city with someone new. Absorbing the moment, he turns around and says his final words to his day’s companions ‘Shukriya, mera shehr ka deedar karane ke liye’ as he steps inside the tomb.
Sibghat and Safwan exchange a confused glance, expecting Quli to re-emerge. As they follow Mohammed Quli to the interior, he is nowhere to be seen. Poof, vanished into thin air.
Sibghat: ‘Arey Safwan wo aadmi kidhar gaya dekho zara! Loga kya bolinge, Deccan Archives wale tour pe leke jaake gumaa diye’
Panic sets in first, and then the epiphany. The day flashes before their eyes: all the things and historical details the man spoke about suddenly made a lot more sense. This was what Mujtaba Hussain wrote, happening all over again! They had just spent half a day touring the city with the man who built it! As they are set to leave the premises, Safwan feels something under his shoe. He picks it up and finds a ring made of gold. It is a signet ring, the Sultan had left them a gift of gratitude: his own personal floral teardrop shaped signet ring which he would mark all the books in his library with!
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