Historic Landmarks of the Deccan/Chapter 3
CHAPTER III.
AMONG THE TOMBS.
I. — RAUZA.
THE small town of Khuldabad, better known as Rauza or "the garden," is situated about seven miles from the old fort of Daulatabad, in the Nizam's dominions, on an undulating plateau overtopped again by higher hills, and is probably best known to Europeon travellers as the halting place whence the caves of Ellora may most conveniently be visited. The tombs of saints sent forth as missionaries in the days when the Deccan was a land little known by the followers of Islam, earned for the town its original name of Rauza which has special reference to the garden of Paradise, and its selection as
the last resting place of the greatest save one of the Mughal emperors of Hindustan, known after his death by the title of khuld makan ("he whose abode is heaven") gained for it the title of Khuldabad, or the heavenly abode. Most visitors, probably, include in their round of sight-seeing the tomb of the great emperor, though not a few perhaps, omit it, as being destitute of architectural grandeur or beauty. It is, indeed, mean in the extreme as compared with the tombs of his predecessors or with those of the kings of Bijapur and Golconda, but its very meanness and obscurity invest it with a melancholy interest. The great conqueror would have no splendid mausoleum. "The rich," he said "build lofty domes to cover their remains, for the poor the blue vault of heaven, suffices." A sneer at "the pride which apes humility" may be allowed, but if Aurangzib was a hypocrite he was at least a consistent hypocrite, and purchased by a long life of unremitting labour and austerity the power which he loved to acquire and to wield. His reign of fifty years was one long period of warfare, principally in the Deccan. He left his capital in 1679, never to return, and died at Ahmadnagar at the age of ninety. From Ahmadnagar his body was carried, in accordance with his will, to Rauza, there to be buried in a humble grave on which the grass should always grow, surrounded by the tombs of saints of whose company he professed to be unworthy, and whose holiness is now over-shadowed by his greatness.
The first of the missionaries of Islam to be buried at Rauza was the
saint Muntajab-ud-din, known as Zar Bakhsh or •* thebestower of gold, in consequence of a supposed miraculous gift which enabled him to supply
from day to day, the wants of his seven hundred followers. He was
sent from Delhi in 1309 by the famous saint Nizam-ud-din Auliya, but
did not long survive his journey to the Deccan. He was succeeded by his
younger brother Burhan-ud-din Auliya, who died in 1343 and was buried
near the spot afterwards selected as the site of Aurangzib's tomb. He
was succeeded by his disciple Zain-ud-din, who also has a fine tomb, at
Rauza. With this saint the succession of authorized leaders of missionary
enterprise in the Deccan, which was one of the imm.ediate consequences
of the southern conquests of Ala-ud-din Khalji, came lo an end.
A later sojourner at Rauza was the saint known as Sayyid Raju Qattal, (" the slayer "), so called from the gift of the evil eye, which he is said to have possessed to such a remarkable degree that he could kill by a glance. His powers have not, it is said, died with him. The inhabitants believe that no bird can settle on the dome of his tomb without bursting asunder. Near this saint's tomb is a small mosque known as the mosque of the fourteen hundred saints, who are supposed to have accompanied Muntajab-ud-din to the Deccan. The number of these worthies seems to have doubled by some mysterious process, for the most authentic information which we have is that Muntajab-ud-din was accompanied by seven hundred disciples. The tombs of the saints who have been mentioned are still objects of veneration, and Burhan-ud-din Auliya is further commemorated by a cenotaph in the fort of Narnala, in Berar, a visit to which is said to be a prophylactic against hydrophobia.
Near the tomb of Sayyid Raju Qattal is a large empty tomb, now used as a rest-house, which formerly held the remains of Ahmad Shah, who died in i 508, and Burhan Shah, who died in 1554, the two first kings of the Nizam Shahi dynasty of Ahmadnagar. Their bones, after resting here for some time, were removed and taken to the shrine of Karbala where they were re-interred. In an enclosure near this tomb stands the fine tomb of Malik Ambar the African, the able solder and administrator who long stemmed the tide of Mughal conquest in the Deccan and fitly finds a resting place near the tomb of the earlier kings of the dynasty which he served so well in the years of its decay. He died in 626, in the eightieth year of his age, and the emperor Jahangir, who during the African's life could not mention his name without vituperation, recorded after his death, that he had no equal in his time, either in the art of war or in administrative ability.
To the east of these tombs and nearer to the town of Rauza are a few smaller and less pretentious domes. These are the tombs of the later kings of the Ahmadnagar dynasty, but the several tombs cannot be identified, as they bear no inscriptions Nearly all are ruinous Only one building in this neighbourhood bears an inscription. This is the tomb of Khundamir Ankas Khan Sakhi, son of Ankas Khan. This amir was the brother of Tahir Khan and foster brother of Miran Husain Shah, the fifth king of the Nizam Shahi dynasty, notorious on account of his having suffocated his father, Murtaza Shah, in a hot bath. The date of the death of Ankas Khan is not given, but he was much concern- ed in Ahmadnagar politics in 1588. He was probably the son of that Ankas Khan of Bijapur who quarrelled with the Portuguese commandant of Goa in 15 16,
Asaf Jah, Nizam-ul-Mulk, the founder of the line of the present ruler of Haidarabad, lies buried near the tomb of Burhan-ud-din Auliya, and near him lies his son Nasir Jung. Here also is buried the poet Azad of Bilgram, that nursery of learned men, the secretary of Asaf Jah and the tutor of his son. The fame of the poet's learning is such that parents lake their children to his shrine in order that they may, by picking up with their lips a piece of sugar from the tomb, obtain both a taste for knowledge and the ability to acquire it.
The most pathetic of all the monuments at Khuldabad is a simple stone taviz or tumulus in the enclosure of Sayyid Raju Qaltal's tomb. Here lie the remains of Abul Hasan Qutb Shah, commonly known as Tana Shah — *' the dainty king," — the last independent king of Golconda, and a victim to Aurangzib's lust of conquest. His fortress capital was wrested from him by treachery in 1687 after a gallant defence of eight months' duration, and he was sent by his conqueror to end his days in captivity at Daulatabad, where he lingered for twelve years, and was buried, in accordance with his last wishes, at Rauza. The environs of the small town contain the tombs of greater men, but of npne more unfortunate.
II.—GOLCONDA.
To the north of the old fort of Golconda stands a large group of domed buildings, some large and imposing and others of meaner design, interspersed with many mosques of various sizes, some of which are very ornate. These are the tombs of the kings of the Qutb Shahi dynasty, who ruled Telingana from 1512 to 1687, and of their depen- dants. Of these tombs the historian of architecture* says : — '* The tombs of the kings of this dynasty and of their nobles and families do form as extensive and as picturesque a group as is to be found anywhere, but individually they are in singularly bad taste. Their bases are poor and weak, their domes tall and exaggerated, showing all the faults of the age in which they were executed, but still not unworthy of a place in history if the materials existed for illustrating them properly."
These remarks, if it be not presumptuous to differ from so great an authority on architecture, do the tombs scant justice. Their domes are large but not unduly tall, and though the bases of some of the smaller tombs may be poor those of the larger tombs are not overpowered by the domes which they carry. Each of the three latest of the larger tombs is surrounded by a massive arcade, forming a verandah which gives an appearance of bulk to the base of the building. The mosques, which are not mentioned by Mr. Fergusson, are far more open to criticism than the tombs. The profusion of ornament in stucco is not always in the best taste, and the characteristic galleries round the minarets, not perhaps out of place in large buildings like the Char Minar in Haidarabad, become ridiculous when in a small mosque they are necessarily so much reduced in size as to be palpable imitations, added for no purpose other than ornament. It may also be remarked that materials for illustrating these buildings in the light of history do exist, though they have unfortunately not been extensively utilized as yet.
The Qutb Shahi dynasty, to which these tombs belong, was founded by Sultan Quli Qutb-ul-Mulk, governor of Telingana, in 15 12, Sultan Quli reigned at Golconda for thirty-one years after 15 12, during which period he expelled Qivam-ul-Mulk the Turk, who had been appointed by the Bahmani king governor of eastern Telingana, and was engaged in almost ceaseless warfare against the Hindus of Telingana, in the
- Fergusson, History of Indian and Eastern Architecture, 1899, p. 567. course of which he overcame and expelled a renegade Musalman named
Shitab Khan, who had made common cause with the infidels. He also engaged in a campaign against Ismail Adil Shah of Bijapur. He was murdered on September 3, 1543, in the ninety-eighth year of his age, at the instigation of his second surviving son Jamshid.
Sultan Quli is buried in a small and unpretentious tomb near the south-western corner of the whole group of buildings, and beyond the garden in which the later tombs now stand. He is described in his epitaph as *' the prince who has received pardon for his sins, the fortu- nate, the martyr, the warrior for the sake of God, the striver in the way of God, Malik Sultan Quli, entitled Qutb-ul-Mulk, known as Bare Malik," the last being evidently a familiar Indian nickname. The absence of the royal title distinguishes his epitaph from those of his successors, for the word Sultan is not here part of the royal title as some English historians have erroneously taken it to be. Quli is a Turki word meaning "servant" or "slave," and Sultan Quli ("servant of the king ") was the personal name of the founder of the Qutb Shahi dynasty. 1 hose who regard the word Sultan in this case as a royal title and call him as one historian does King Quli, do but call him King "Coolie."
Jamshid Qutb Shah, who ascended the throne on his father's death, was a warlike ruler who interfered far more than was the custom of the Qutb Shahi kings in the quarrels between the other independent Sultans of the Deccan. He was also a poet of respectable ability. Towards the end of his reign he sank into debauchery, possibly with the object of deadening the severe pain caused by a cancer from which he suffered, and which so inflamed a temper naturally fierce that he became a terror to all about him.
Jamshid Qutb Shah died early in 1550 and was buried in a high and narrow tomb, of no architectural meiit near that of his father.
On the death of Jamshid his son, a boy of seven years of age, was raised to the throne as Subhan Quli Qutb Shah, but was not permitted to enjoy his kingdom long in peace. At the time of Jamshid Qutb Shah's accession his younger brother Ibrahim, alarmed for his safety, fled to Vijayanagar, where he hved for seven years under the protection of Sadashivaraya, the ruler of that kingdom. After Jamshid's death Saif Klian Ain-ul-Mulk, the prime minister of the kingdom, formed the design of seizing the royal power for himself, and in his capacity as regent carried himself so haughtily towards the nobles of the kingdom that a large number of them sent a message to Ibrahim in Vijayanagar^ imploring him to come to Golconda and seize the crown and promising him their assistance. Ibrahim left Vijayanagar, declining assistance from Sadashivaraya, and invaded his nephew's dominions, where he was joined by many of the discontented nobles. Ain-ul-Mulk marched to meet him but had no sooner left the capital than his principal supporters were overthrown and imprisoned by Ibrahim's party, who had been encouraged b}^ letters and message from Ibrahim. Ain-ul- Mulk, finding himself helpless before the invader, feigned submission to him in the hope of getting him into his power once the capital should be reached, but Ibrahim saw through the artifice and refused to receive the regent. Ain-ul-Mulk then fled from the kingdom by way of Kaulas and took refuge in Bidar, and Ibrahim, finding the way clear before him, marched to Golconda and ascended the throne on October 28, 15 50.
Ibrahim Qutb Shah reigned for nearly thirty years, taking his part in the troubled politics of tiie Deccan during that period. The most notable event of his reign was his participation in the confederacy of the Sultans of the Deccan, which on January 24, 1565, destroyed the Hindu empire of V'ijayanagar on the field of Talikota.
Ibrahim died on June 6, 1580, and lies buried in a fine and lofty domed tomb, surrounded by the graves of his dependants. On the south- eastern corner of the plinth of the tomb is a small building containing the tomb of his sixth son Mirza Muhammad Amin, who was nine years of age at the time of his father's death and died a natural death at the age of Lwenty-five on April 25, 1596, leaving a son, Muhammad, who eventually came to the throne.
In an enclosure on the north-east corner of the plinth of Ibrahim's tomb stands the grave of Niknam Khan, who died on March 30, 1673. At the head of this grave is a stone bearing an inscription of an unusual character. It is a grant in perpetuity of the revenues of the village of Mangalwaram, twelve miles to the west of Golconda, for the distribution of alms and the maintenance of lights at the grave, and for the support of attendants and reciters of the Quran. The grant, according to the inscription, is to last until the coming of the Mahdi. Ibrahim Quth Shah was succeeded by his third son, Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah. This king was the founder of Haidarabad. In 1591 he found that the air of Golconda, which was now very densely popu- lated, did not agree with him, and therefore founded, on the banks of the Musi, his new city which he first named Bhagnagar, changing its name later to Haidarabad.
Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah died on January 24, 161 2, and was buried in the large domed tomb without but nearest to the wall of the garden in which stand the tombs of his son-in-law and daughter and those of numerous members of the royal family and of their dependants. Muhammad Quli's grave is in the crypt of this tomb and is covered by a plain tumulus of black stone. In the chamber above the crypt and immediately over the grave, is another tumulus of black stone, bearing an elaborately carved epitaph.
Within the garden already mentioned are two large and numerous smaller tombs. Of the two large tombs that to the south-west is the tomb of Muhammad Qutb Shah, the nephew and son-in-law of Muham- mad Quli Qutb Shah, who left no male issue. Muhammad Qutb Shah was, as has been said, the son of Mirza Muhammad Amin, already men- tioned as having died in 1596.
Another error into which English historians have fallen calls for notice here. Confused by the similarity between the titles of the uncle and nephew they have regarded them as the same person, styled in- differently Muhammad Quli or simply Muhammad.* One writer makes Muhammad the elder brother of Muhammad Quli.f The epitaphs of Golconda and the Persian histories of the Qutb Shahi dynasty which have come down to us clear up this matter Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah reigned, as has been said, from 1580 to 161 2, and was succeeded by his nephew and son-in-law, Muhammad Qutb Shah, who reigned from 1612 to 1626.
In the north-eastern corner of the garden is a large tomb very similar to that of Muhammad Qutb Shah. This is the tomb of his queen, Hayat Bakhsh Begam, daughter of Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah. Its peculiarity is that it is equal in size and grandeur to the tombs of
- Vide Chronology of fndiff, by C. Mabel Duff, p. ^18.
t Mr. J. D. B. (iribble, on p. 285 of Vol. I of A History 0/ the Deccan, an extremely inaccurate work. any of the kings of the dynasty who actually reigned, Hayat Bakhsh Begam being the only lady so honoured. The explanation of this is that Hayat Bakhsh was something more than an oriental queen-consort. She v/as the daughter of a king, the wife of a king, and the mother of a king, and seems to have been a lady of strong character who held the view that Muhammad Qutb Shah owed his elevation to the throne to his alliance with the daughter of Muhammad Quli rather than to his own descent from Ibrahim. She certainly had great influence over her husband during his comparatively short reign, and after his death practically governed the kingdom till her death, which occurred on February 24, 1667, as appears from her epitaph.
Muhammad Qutb Shah died on February 11, 1626, and was succeeded by his son Abdullah Qutb Shah, then a boy of eleven. Ab- dullah had a long and eventful reign of forty-six years, during which period his chief anxiety was to hold the Mughals, now advanced well into the Deccan, at bay. In 1656 Aurangzib, tiien viceroy of the Dec- can, advanced to Haidarabad and besieged Abdullah in Golconda. He was bought off by a heavy subsidy and promise of future tribute, but the principal condition of the treaty was the marriage of the second daughter of Abdullah, who had no son, to Muhammad Sultan, the eldest son of Aurangzib, and the formal recognition of Muhammad Sultan as heir apparent to the throne of Golconda. The marriage was duly celebrated but the prince predeceased Abdullah Qutb Shah, and the question of his ascending the throne thus never arose.
Abdullah Qutb Shah died on May i, 1672, and was buried in the large tomb beyond the garden to the north-east, which is almost a replica of his mother's tomb. Food is still distributed once a year at his tomb on the anniversary of his death, according to the lunar reckoning.
Abdullah left no son, and his son-in-law Muhammad Sultan, the formally recognized heir apparent, had predeceased him. He was suc- ceeded by another son-in-law, Abul Hasan, who had miarried his third daughter. Abul Hasan Qutb Shah commonly known as Tana Shah, besides being married to the daughter of Abdullah, was descended, either in the male or the female line, from the Qutb Shahi family, and it was this descent that ensured his elevation to the throne. The story of Abul Hasan is told elsewhere. Notwithstanding the premature death of Muhammad Sultan Aurangzib affected to regard the succession of Abul Hasan as an act of usurpation, the absurdity of this pretension is manifest, seeing that it was only in his wife's right that Muhammad had been recognized as heir apparent, but any excuse was sufficient for Aurangzib, and Abul Hasan, throughout his short reign, lived in constant dread of the emperor's aggressive ambition.
The blow fell at last in 1686, when Aurangzib, having taken Bija- pur and sent its young kins into captivity, marched on Golconda, which fell in October 1687, after a siege of eight months. Abul Hasan was sent into captivity at Daulatabad where he died some twelve years later and was buried in a humbl egrave at Rauza, in the hills above his prison house.
By the gate of the garden already mentioned stands an unfinished tomb with rough-cast walls and an incomplete dome, considerubly meaner in design than the tombs of the more fortunate kings of the dynasty. This building, though it is now occupied by other graves, is believed to be the tomb which Abul Hasan was building for himself when he was so rudely interrupted by Aurangzib's invasion.