HYDERABAD: Courtesans or wives? Dancers or esteemed members of court? As historians still try to trace back the real identities of Taramati and Premamati, their resting places stand in restored glory today after a year of conservation work. The restored tombs of these women who lived during the Qutb Shahi Dynasty were inaugurated by the US Ambassador to India, Kenneth I. Juster, in Hyderabad on Tuesday. The project was completed by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC).
Talking about the background of the women, Prashant Banerjee, Conservation Programme Officer of AKTC, said: “Taramati and Premamati are believed to have been singers and dancers in the court of Abdullah Qutb Shah, the seventh ruler of the kingdom of Golconda. But since these women have been given space in the royal necropolis, it is believed that they enjoyed a higher status. Renowned historian HK Sherwani has opined that they might have been the legally wedded wives of king Abdullah.
These two tombs are located in close proximity to the grand mausoleum of Muhammad Qutb Shah. Premamati’s tomb, which lies on the right side, is slightly bigger. The tomb of Taramati has a square plan, whereas it is octagonal in case of Premamati.” Speaking about their status in the king’s court, Dr Mohammed Safiullah, a historian, said: “It is believed that the king gave Taramati and Premamati an elevated status and gave them jagirs.
Premamati had converted to Islam, and there is a a Premamati Masjid opposite the Taramati Baradari. In fact, there is another mosque by her name inside the Golconda Fort too. This shows that they occupied an important position in the court. Premamati’s tomb is the only one in the Qutb Shahi Tomb Complex which has inscriptions laid in stone above the door. Translated from Persian, the couplet on the door translates to: Dove from the Heaven.”
Restoration process
Giving details about the restoration work, Prashant said: “These mausoleums were built around the same time, somewhere in mid 17th century. The plinth, which has been rebuilt with solid blocks of stone, was missing. A lot of plaster work on the ornamental facades has been restored. In the 20th century, cement-based restoration work had been carried out on the domes, which later turned out to be detrimental for the monuments. So we had to remove those too.
The walls have been restored with boulders of granite and lime plaster. The copper finial at the top of Taramati’s tomb was in a state of disrepair, and had to be fixed. We also conserved lattice work, ceiling medallions and merlons. Craftsmen who work with stucco are not found in Hyderabad anymore. So we brought them from Bihar, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. We have also installed doors which were not there before.”In February 2019, Ambassador Juster announced a `76 lakh grant through the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation, partnering with the Aga Khan Foundation to restore and conserve the tombs.— Kakoli Mukherjee kakoli_mukherjee@newindianexpress.com @KakoliMukherje2
Tomb Inscrptions
Gravestone of Premamati is inscribed with verses of Quran, which reads “From all eternity Pemmati was a flower of Paradise”, and a chronogram indicating 1073/ 1662 AD as the year of her demise. As translated by historian HK Sherwani