Op 9 december waren we in Hyderabad.
Hyderabad is een grote stad in centraal India.
De stad heeft een rijke geschiedenis en daarvan
bezochten we drie plaatsen:
de oude binnenstad, het Golconda fort en
de koninklijke graven.

Het is deze necropolis die het onderwerp is van deze blog.

Het was eigenlijk al te laat.
De zon ging al onder.
De grafmonumenten liggen verspreid in een soort park.
Heel af en toe staan er borden die vertellen wie er begraven ligt.
Maar meestal staat er niets bij.

Het graf van Fatima Sultana. Op de voorgrond, rechts van de traptreden is een tekst te zien. Die kan men ook hieronder lezen.

Tomb of Fatima Sultana

The tomb on the left side of the gateway is popularly known as Tomb of Fatima Sultana, daughter of prince Mohammed Amin and sister of Mohammed Qutb shah (1612 – 1626).
It contains two graves.
One grave contains an inscribed sarcophagus which gives the name of Fatima Sultana besides verses from Holy Quran. The other grave devoid of any name.
It is a small tomb square on plan built over a platform. A shapely dome is built over a square hall.
Two entrance ways are provided for entry into the hall from southern and eastern sides.
Exterior walls of the tomb are decorated with three recessed arches on each side and decorated with creepers and medallions.
Parapet is built over the roof having minarets at the corners.

Qutb Shahi Tombs / de graven van de Qutb Shahi dynastie

Hieronder de tekst over deze graven zoals die
op de Engelstalige Wikipedia site te vinden is.
Gevolgd door een korte Nederlandse vertaling/samenvatting.

The tombs of the Qutb Shahi sultans lie about one kilometer north of Golkonda’s outer wall. These structures are made of beautifully carved stonework, and surrounded by landscaped gardens. All except the last of the Qutb Shahi sultans lie buried here. The galleries of the smaller tombs are of a single storey while the larger ones are two storied. In the centre of each tomb is a sarcophagus which overlies the actual burial vault in a crypt below. The domes were originally overlaid with blue and green tiles, of which only a few pieces now remain. The tombs form a large cluster and stand on a raised platform. The tombs are domed structures built on a square base surrounded by pointed arches, a distinctive style that blends Persian, Pashtun and Hindu forms. The tombs are structures with intricately carved stonework and are surrounded by landscaped gardens.

The tombs were once furnished with carpets, chandeliers and velvet canopies on silver poles. Copies of the Quran were kept on pedestals and readers recited verses from the holy book at regular intervals. Golden spires were fitted over the tombs of the sultans to distinguish their tombs from those of other members of the royal family. Sultan Quli Qutub ul Mulk’s tomb, the style of which sets the example for the tombs of his descendants, is on an elevated terrace measuring 30 meters in each direction. The tomb chamber proper is octagonal, with each side measuring around 10 meters. The entire structure is crowned by a circular dome. There are three graves in this tomb chamber and twenty-one laid out on the surrounding terrace, all of which lack inscription except for the main tomb. The inscription on Sultan Quli’s tomb is in three bands, in the Naskh and Tauq scripts. The inscription refers to Sultan Quli as Bade Malik (Great Master) — the endearing term by which all people of the Deccan used for him. The tomb was built in 1543 A.D. by the Sultan, during his lifetime, as was the custom.

Near the tomb of Sultan Quli is that of his son, Jamsheed, the second in the line of Qutub Shahi sultans. Built in 1550 A.D., this is the only Qutub Shahi tomb which has not been fashioned from shining black basalt. Its appearance, too, is quite unlike the other tombs in the garden — it rises gracefully in two stories, unlike the squat tombs of the other kings. Jamsheed and his son, Subhan’s tomb also does not have any inscriptions. Subhan Quli Qutub Shah ruled for a short time. Subhan’s tomb stands mid-way between the tombs of his father and grandfather. Sultan Ibrahim Quli Qutub Shah’s tomb, built in 1580, after his death, is slightly larger than Sultan Quli’s tomb. Traces of the enameled tiles, which once adorned this mausoleum, can still be seen on the southern wall. The tomb has two graves in the main chamber and 16 on the terrace; some of them probably are those of his six sons and three daughters. There are inscriptions in the Thulth script on all faces of the sarcophagus. The three famous calligraphists — Isphalan, Ismail and Taqiuddin Muhammad Salih — who left a store of Naskh, Tulth and Nastaliq inscriptions on the many Qutub Shahi edifices in the city, were contemporaries of Ibrahim Shah.

Sultan Muhammed Quli Qutub Shah’s mausoleum is considered the grandest of the Qutub Shahi tombs. Built in 1602 A.D., the tomb is on a terrace of 65m square and 4m high. A flight of steps leads to the mausoleum proper, which is 22 m square on the outside and 11 m square on the inside. There are entrances on the southern and eastern sides. The tomb is in a vault below the terrace. Inscriptions in Persian and the Naskh scripts decorate it.

Another grand mausoleum is that of the sixth sultan, Muhammed Qutub Shah. The facade of this tomb was once decorated with enameled tiles; only traces are now evident. There are six graves with inscriptions in Tulth and Naskh. The mausoleum was built in 1626. Sultan Abdullah Qutub Shah’s tomb is the last of the royal tombs, as Abul Hasan Qutub Shah (Tana Shah), the last Qutub Shahi Sultan, was a prisoner in the fortress of Daulatabad, near Aurangabad, where he died.

While the tombs of those who ruled dominate the area, interspersed are many other monuments, most of them tombs of other members of the royal family. The tomb of Fatima Sultan, with its bulbous dome, is near the entrance to the tomb-garden. Fatima was the sister of Muhammed Qutub Shah. Her tomb houses several graves, two with inscriptions. The mausoleum which Abdul Hasan, the last Qutub Shahi Sultan, began building for himself, actually houses the grave of Mir Ahmed, the son of Sultan Abdullah’s son-in-law and the sister of Abbas II Safair, the Shah of Persia. The tomb of Fadma Khanum, one of Sultan Abdullah’s daughters, stands near the mausoleum of her husband, Mir Ahmed. Hers is the only Qutub Shahi tomb not surmounted by a dome.

To the west of the tombs lies the dargah of Hazrat Hussain Shah Wali, the revered Sufi saint. He is most affectionately remembered by people as the builder of Hussain Sagar in 1562. Among other monuments in the garden that are not tombs, the most important are the mortuary bath and the Masjid of Hayat Bakshi Begum.

The mortuary bath, which stands opposite the tomb of Muhammad Quli, was built by Sultan Quli to facilitate the ritual washing of the bodies of the dead kings and others of the royal family before they were carried to their final resting place. The bath is one of the finest existing specimens of ancient Persian or Turkish baths. The Qutub Shahis built a number of masjids all over Golkonda and Hyderabad, and almost every tomb has a masjid adjacent. The biggest and the grandest such masjid is by the mausoleum of Hayat Bakshi Begum. Popularly known as the great masjid of the Golkonda tombs, it was built in 1666 A.D. Fifteen cupolas decorate the roof and the prayer-hall is flanked by two lofty minarets. The impression, as a whole, is one of majesty and splendour. The inscriptions in the masjid are in calligraphic art. The tomb-garden of the sultans of Golkonda was known as Lagar-e-Faiz Athar (a place for bountiful entertainment) in the days of the Qutub Shahi rulers.

Nederlandse samenvatting:
De grafmonumenten van de Qutb Shahi sultans liggen op ongeveer een kilometer van de noordelijke buitenmuur van het Golkonda fort. De Qutb Shahi sultans regeerde een gebied in centraal India van 1518 – 1689. Hun thuisbasis was Golkonda en Hyderabad.

De zeven sultans waren:
Sultan Quli Qutb-ul-Mulk (1518–1543)
Jamsheed Quli Qutb Shah (1543–1550)
Subhan Quli Qutb Shah (1550)
Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah (1550–1580)
Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah (1580–1612)
Sultan Muhammad Qutb Shah (1612–1626)
Abdullah Qutb Shah (1626–1672)
Abul Hasan Qutb Shah (1672–1689)

Alle sultans liggen hier begraven behalve de laatste. Die stierf in gevangenschap in het Daulatabad fort.
Kleine grafmonumenten bestaan uit een enkele verdieping terwijl de grote grafmonumenten uit twee verdiepingen bestaan met daarboven een grote koepel. De monumenten staan op een platform. De gebouwen zijn soms rijk versierd en bevatten puntige boogconstructies waarin Perzische, Pashtun en Hindoe-invloeden te herkennen zijn. In het midden van het monument staat een sarcofaag die boven de werkelijke begraafplaats staat. De werkelijke begraafplaats is in de crypte onder het gebouw.
De koepels waren origineel bedekt met groen en blauw geglazuurde tegels.

In de tijd dat de monumenten werden aangelegd waren de monumenten voorzien van tapijten, kroonluchters en fluwelen luifels op zilveren tentstokken. Kopieën van de Koran werden er bewaard op sokkels en lezers lazen er verzen uit voor op gezette tijden. Gouden torens werden aangebracht op de graven van de sultans om hun graven te onderscheiden van die van andere leden van de koninklijke familie.

Het monument voor Sultan Quli Qutub ul Mulk is het voorbeeld voor de monumenten die daarna gebouwd worden. De inscriptie op het graf van Sultan Quli is in drie delen, in de Naskh en Tauq taal/schrift. De inscriptie verwijst naar Sultan Quli als Bade Malik (Grote Meester) – de vertederende aanspreektitel voor alle inwoners van de Deccan. Het graf werd gebouwd in 1543 AD door de sultan, tijdens zijn leven, zoals de gewoonte was.

Sultan Muhammed Quli Qutub Sjah’s mausoleum wordt beschouwd als de grootste van de Qutub Shahi grafmonumenten. Het is gebouwd in 1602 na Christus. Het grafmonument is gebouwd op een terras van 65m vierkante meter dat 4 meter hoog is. Een trap leidt naar het mausoleum. Het feitelijke graf is in een kluis onder het terras.

Het mortuarium bad, dat staat tegenover het graf van Mohammed Quli, werd gebouwd door Sultan Quli om het ritueel wassen van de lichamen van de doden koningen en anderen van de koninklijke familie te vergemakkelijken voordat ze werden meegenomen naar hun laatste rustplaats. Het bad is een van de mooiste, nog bestaande exemplaren van oude Perzische en Turkse baden.

Big Well (Badi Bowti)

This well is altogether remarkable structure amnd has the usual slpings platform for the traffic of bull oks when drawing water on which there are number of stone pillars over which grapevines were trained making a cover to the platform.
The well is built in square shape with steps leading down to a corridor extending all around the well about 30 feet from the top of the wall. Below this again, there is a another flight of steps leading down to a bathing stage.
The depth of water in the well is about 100 feet.
During Qutb Shahi and Asaf Jahi period water was supplied to the adjacent garden through open channels and cisterns located in the corner of the chaman and lawns. There are 5 wells in total are existing in the premises:
1. Nawab Bowli
2. Doodh Bowli
3. Idgah Bowli
4. Kunwan Bowli
5. Badi Bowli (Bigg well)
The source of permanent water supply to this historical garden, located in Jubilee Hills known as “Durg Tank” through open channel 7 km in length. The water was supplied to these wells and distributed through small channels in the garden by gravity.

Vrij vertaald: Verboden te zwemmen in de bron. Het is er erg gevaarlijk en diep.

The Great Mosque

This splendid mosque was built by Hayat Baksh Begum in 1077 A.H. (1666 AD) during the reign of Abdoullah Qutb Shah.
The prayer hall (76 Ft x 51 Ft.) is three bays deep and has a five arched façade flanked by two tall minars the shapely pointed arches with the ogle point placed on substantial columns, the shapely minarets and restrained stucco decoration are chief architectural features.
The inscription in the prayer niche is carved in the best thulth (? Wikipedia: Thuluth is a script variety of Islamic calligraphy invented by the Persian Ibn Muqlah Shirazi, which made its first appearance in the 11th century CE) and tauqi style.
Translation of two inscription on facade hasten to say our prayers:

Lest ye miss them and hasten to repent
Lest ye perish

Dept. of Archaeology and museums, Govt of A.P.

Fragment, hetzelfde als beschreven in bovenstaande Engelse tekst,
uit een boek van Syed Ali Asgar Bilgrami:
Landmarks of the Deccan, a comprehensive guide to the archaeological remains
of the city and suburbs of Hyderabad.

De gebouwen zijn prachtig.
Zeker met het zacht zonlicht met rood/oranje tonen.
We zullen in deze vakantie nog meer grafmonumenten zien.
Mij is de ontwikkeling in die gebouwen nog niet helemaal duidelijk.
Wel is het zo dat de leden van de koniklijke familie
al tijdens hun leven begonnen aan de bouw en aanleg van de graven
en de moskee die daarbij hoorde.
Bijzonder was hier voor mij een gebouw dat bedoeld was als wasruimte.
Wasruimte voor het dode lichaam.
Water is iets dat veel moeite kost om aan te komen, vandaar
het systeem van kanalen om water vanuit de bergen naar
de bronnen hier bij het fort en de begraafplaats te brengen.