Bhagmati : the Sultan's beloved

        Did Bhagmati really exist or she is a figment of a romantic imagination ?  Most people would like to believe that she did. Historians will agree and disagree and the debate will continue for ever. However there has been found enough evidence including a tomb in the old city of Hyderabad which is supposedly hers, to indicate her existence during the time of the founder of Hyderabad, Sultan Mohammad Quli  of the Qutub Shahi dynasty of Deccan history of India. She was an important presence after whom not only poetry was composed, but a new city was named, Bhagnagar. It was later changed to Hyderabad after her marriage to the Sultan(after she embraced Islam)and her name was changed to Hyder Mahal.

          It all started on a fateful day  in late 16th century, when a beautiful village belle who was also a dancer, was going to a temple in Chichlam (an area close to the Charminar built later). The sound of horse-hooves startled the young girl who stopped in the middle of her tracks, on way to a temple nearby. The person on the horse looked sharp at her. His friends seem to vanish a little into the background. Who could this be, she wondered. He seemed royal and in the prime of his youth with a very handsome face. He could not take his eyes of her and seemed smitten by her beauty. She went in to the temple and came out after her prayer. He began to converse with her. She too spoke back and a tender friendship  took birth.  More meetings followed and continued for 11 years. 

   

      She became his favourite and once when the river Musi was flooded he came searching for her fearing for her life, crossing it in full fury. Seeing his passion his father the Sultan of Golconda, constructed a bridge, the Purana Pul, as it is known now, so that he would not have to risk his life again to meet his beloved. Mohammad Quli became the king after his father Sultan Ibrahim Qutub Shah died in 1580. This bridge also served to connect the old city with the newer extension of Hyderabad city across the Musi in order to help spread out the over populated fort-city of Golconda.



Purana pul,photograph,Hyderabad,1892.

Lala Deen Dayal [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

  

Artist representation of the meeting between Bhagmati and Mohammad Quli.

Source : http://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/110916

    Bhagmati was given special honours by the new king. Every time she came to visit him, 1000 horses would accompany her Though there was strong opposition as Bhagmati was a Hindu woman, Mohammad Quli married her. After converting to Islam she bcame Hyder Mahal. His Peshwa Mir Momin had an important role in the same. 

Sultan Mohammad Quli bringing his bride Bhagmati, painting.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/Wedding_procession_of_Muhammad_Quli_Qutub_Shah.jpg See page for author [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Bhagmati in a miniature painting, Deccan school.

Source : Nathan Hughes Hamilton on Flickr via Creative Commons from his album 'Samples of Indian Art'.

Bhagmati has been mentioned directly or indirectly in many historical accounts. Ferishta mentions that the Sulltan was fascinated by her. He mentions Bhagnagar whose name was later changed to Hyderabad. Faizi, Emperor Akbar's resident in Ahmadnagar a kingdom in the Deccan, mentions Bhagnagar as being built after Bhagmati. Tavernier (1648 and 1652) Thevenot(1665-66), Bernier(1667) all refer to Bhagnagar in their travel accounts. Bhagnagar is referred to in Tareekh-e-Qutub Shah by Qader Khan Munshi (1888) and Gulzar-e-Asafi (1844).

References :

• wikipedia.org
• Luther, Narendra/Prince,poet,lover,builder : the founder of Hyderabad, New Delhi : Publications Division, 1991.
• Rao, Bhoopala K.V/ The Qutub Shahi Prime Ministers. Hyderabad : Mahamantri Madanna Trust, 1992.

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Soma Ghosh

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