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. Mausoleum of Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah in Hyderabad.

Birth, early life and personal life

Muhammad Quli Qutub Shah was the third son of Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah Wali and Bhagirathi. He was an accomplished poet and wrote his poetry in Persian, Telugu and Urdu. As the first author in the Urdu language, he composed his verses in the Persian diwan style, and his poems consisted of verses relating to a single topic, gazal-i musalsal. Muhammad Quli's Kulliyat comprised 1800 pages, over half were gazals, qasidas on one hundred pages, while the rest contained over 300 pages of matnawi and marsiyas. Charminar in Hyderabad was built by Quli Qutub Shah

City of Hyderabad

Muhammad Quli built the city of Hyderabad on the southern bank of the Musi River in 1591. He called architects from all around the world to lay out the city, which was built on a grid plan. The city was named in the remembrance of 4th Caliph of Islam or 1st Imam of Shia Muslim Ali Ibne Abi Talib. He constructed Char Minar and Makkah Masjid. He was the one who laid foundation stone of Makkah Masjid after checking that there was no one in the crowd who never skipped a single prayer except him.

Patronage of literature

Quli Qutb Shah was a scholar of Arabic, Persian and Telugu languages. He wrote poetry in Urdu, Persian, and Telugu. His poetry has been compiled into a volume entitled "Kulliyat-e-Quli Qutub Shah." He had the distinction of being the first Saheb-e-dewan Urdu poet and is credited with introducing a new sensibility into prevailing genres of Persian/Urdu poetry.