HYDERABAD: Was it the sneer of an imperial resident at Burhanpur and Ahmadnagar, in his petition to the Mughal emperor between 1590 and 1594, which had led to the greatest controversy over the nomenclature of Hyderabad? Historians say it certainly was. At a press conference titled ‘Hyderabad Forever — Truth vs Myth’ on Tuesday, members of the Deccan Heritage Trust attempted to solve the great mystery surrounding the name ‘Bhagyanagar’.
According to Captain L Panduranga Reddy, a well-known historian and a decorated ex-serviceman, the romanticism attached to Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah’s concubine and dancer -- Bhagyamati or Bhagamati -- was never the reason behind the naming of the city. Legend has it that Quli Qutb Shah, when he was a prince, was madly in love with a rural belle, so much that he would risk his life to cross the Musi river to meet her. Coming to know of the young prince’s adventures, Sultan Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah, the then ruler of Golconda, built a bridge (Puranapul) across the Musi. After ascending the throne, the young prince married his lady love and named the city after her.
But, Reddy observes, “Quli Qutb Shah was either 12 or 14 when he had ascended the throne in 1580 and Puranapul was built in 1578, after taking 18 months to build it. This means, when his father had come to know about his love, the prince was eight-10 years old!”
He goes on to add that it was Faizi, a Sunni and hater of Shiaism practised by Qutb Shahis, who had sneeringly written to the then Mughal emperor that ‘Qutb Ul Mulk,’ was ‘steeped in Shiaism’ and that ‘Ahmad Quli’ had built a city and had named it after Fahisha-i-Kuhna, an ‘old prostitute’ who was his mistress.
Nizamuddin and Ferishta, who had documented the events at the time, had referred to Bhagmati or Bhagmasi as a ‘prostitute or whore,’ and had not mentioned about the city being named after her. Reddy says that when the rulers of Golconda, along with the people, had moved out of the fort to stay in temporary shelters at Chichulam (today’s Shalibanda near Charminar) during an epidemic, the rulers had created many gardens (Baghs). They developed Baghlingampally, Naseer Bagh, Pool Bagh and so on to stay cool while they lived downtown.
Consequently, there were instances of French traveller Ternier, who had visited Golconda, being so impressed that he had exclaimed about the new township looking like one big garden -- and so the name ‘Bagh Nagar’. “€ Bernier, another European traveller, had referred to the city as both ‘Bagh Nagar’ and Hydarabad,” Reddy points out. He says that even in the ‘Kulliyat’ poems written by Quli Qutb Shah, he had dedicated pieces to 17 of his women, including his wives, but had not mentioned Bhagamati or Bhagnagar.
Even as per the numismatic evidence, Reddy says that in the coins issued in 1584 at Golconda and in 1603 at the Daru’s-Sultanate Haidarabad, there was no mention of Bhagnagar. “Not even poets and writers like Sarangu Tammayya, Raja of Domnakonda Malla Reddy or Bhakta Ramdas had ever mentioned anything about Bhagmati.”
Reddy says the book, ‘History of Medieval Deccan’ (1295-1724) published under the authority of the Government of Andhra Pradesh in 1973, is evidence enough to debunk the myth around Bhagamati and Bhagyanagar.
In view of the growing chorus from certain political parties to change the name of Hyderabad to Bhagyanagar, Reddy only hopes that people would use their wisdom and maturity to live and let live, and not distort history for political gain.
‘Bhagyalaxmi temple has no legal sanctity’
The Archaeological Survey of India, which is the official custodian of Charminar, went on record to say that the temple on the south-east corner of the Charminar, called as ‘Bhagyalaxmi’, has no legal sanctity, according to the Deccan Heritage Trust. The first building that came up in the city of Hyderabad was the iconic Charminar. Other buildings such as the Badshahi Ashoor Khana, Chaar Kamaans, Jama Masjid and Khudadad Mahal, among others, followed.
Documents available in Telangana archives, coins and photographs all bear witness to the fact that Hyderabad became the capital first in 1603 AD. The name Hyderabad has continuously been used by Qutb Shahi, Mughal and Asif Jahi dynasties. There is no empirical evidence of ‘Bhagmati’ as a favourite queen or the one bestowed with the title of Hyder Mahal, the Trust members say