Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah

Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah (1565 – 11 January 1612) was the fifth sultan of the Qutb Shahi dynasty of Golkonda and founded the city of Hyderabad, in South-central India and built its architectural centerpiece, the Charminar and Mecca Masjid. He was an able administrator and his reign is considered one of the high points of the Qutb Shahi dynasty. He ascended to the throne in 1580 at the age of 15 and ruled for 31 years.

Quotes

Poetry

• Without my love, I have no taste for wine.
  Without my love, what use this life of mine?
  • Urdu And South Muslim Asia, p. 41
• The spot on your forehead is a sign of great good fortune.
  The pearl in your ear is the light of Venus and Jupiter.
  • Urdu And South Muslim Asia, p. 45
• I am drunk in your love, Lala;
  give me the cup to drink from your lips.
  I am drunk with your love,
  and that love gives me excitement.
  • Urdu And South Muslim Asia, p. 46

Quotes about Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah

• “The sudden swelling of the rivers, and the absence of the King with his army, gave Venkutputty leisure to muster the whole of his forces, which amounted to one hundred thousand men. The leaders were Yeltumraj, Goolrung Setty, and Munoopraj, who marched to recover Gundicota from the hands of Sunjur Khan. Here the enemy were daily opposed by sallies from the garrison, but they perservered in the siege; when they heard that Moortuza Khan, with the main army of the Mahomedans, had pentrated as far as the city of Krupa, the most famous city of that country, wherein was a large temple. This edifice the Mahomedans destroyed as far as practicable, broke the idol, and sacked the city…”
  • Sultãn Muhammad Qulî Qutb Shãh of Golconda (AD 1580-1612) Cuddapah (Andhra Pradesh)Tãrîkh-i-Firishta, translated by John Briggs under the title History of the Rise of the Mahomedan Power in India, first published in 1829, New Delhi Reprint 1981, Vol. III, pp. 274-77

• “The King determined to spare neither men nor money to carry on the war against the Hindoos: he accordingly directed Etibar Khan Yezdy, the Hawaldar of Condbeer (henceforth called Moortuza Nuggur), to collect all the troops under his command, with orders to march towards Beejanuggur, and to lay in ashes all the enemy’s towns in his route… Etibar Khan now proceeded to the town of Calistry, which he reached after a month’s march from Golconda. Here he destroyed the Hindoo idols, and ordered prayers to be read in the temples. These edifices may well he compared in magnificence with the buildings and paintings of China, with which they vie in beauty and workmanship. Having given a signal example of the Mahomedan power in that distant country, the Hindoos did not dare to interrupt his return…”
  • Sultãn Muhammad Qulî Qutb Shãh of Golconda (AD 1580-1612) Kalahasti (Tamil Nadu)Tãrîkh-i-Firishta, translated by John Briggs under the title History of the Rise of the Mahomedan Power in India, first published in 1829, New Delhi Reprint 1981, Vol. III, pp. 274-77

External links

• Christopher Shackle: Urdu And South Muslim Asia, Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1991 [1]