HYDERABAD: Today is the birthday of Hyderabad. It was on October 9 in 1591 that the foundation stone was laid for the new city of Hyderabad after the then capital city of Golconda could not hold its ever-growing population and bear the burden of infectious diseases.
Exactly one year prior to the foundation of Hyderabad, Golconda city and villages around the site where the Charminar now stands, witnessed a major plague epidemic triggering a health emergency and playing havoc with human lives. The residents placed a tazia or tabut (representation of the tomb of Hazrat Imam Hussain) at a place about 10km away from Golconda Fort. It was right on this spot that the Charminar was built, heralding a world-class city.
According to Tuzuke Qutub Shahi, a historical account written during the Qutub Shahi dynasty, after the outbreak of an epidemic the people set up a huge Tazia during Muharram, 999 Hijri (corresponding to October 1590) as a charm against the outbreak of plague. After the epidemic disappeared the Charminar was built.
Though there are several theories on why the necessity of a new city arose when the fortified city of Golconda attracted the attention of the medieval world, the one on the plague epidemic gains more credence. The Charminar — built at the cardinal point of four highways, including the one leading to port city of Machilipatnam — has always stood as a charm against epidemics in Hyderabad if the minimal human loss in the last 430 years as compared to other cities, is any indication.
City historian and chronicler, Dr. Mohammad Safiullah, told TOI that the foundation of Hyderabad was laid during Muharram in 1,000 Hijri, which corresponds to October 9, 1591, of the Gregorian calendar. “The world was celebrating the first millennium of Islam and Mohammad Quli Qutub Shah built the new city to mark the grand event. Charminar was built to celebrate the 1,000 years of Islam. One can safely say October 9 is the birthday of Hyderabad,” he said, adding that Charminar was built at a cost of two lakh Huns (Qutub Shahi currency) equivalent to nine lakhs of Moghul Rupee.
Abdul Majeed Siddiqui, in his History of Golconda, writes that the Qutub Shahs desired to create a collective life in their subjects so that they could promote social activities, develop their mental and moral faculties and thereby diffuse their cultural rays all over the country. And Hyderabad continues to live up to its repute even four centuries later.
