HYDERABAD ( QUTB SHAHI TOMBS )

QUTB SHAHI TOMBS(contd..)

·         Sultan Muhammed Quli Qutub Shah's mausoleum is, by far, the grandest of the Qutub Shahi tombs. Built in 1602 A.D., the tomb is situated 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 itself is situated in a vault below the terrace. Inscriptions in Persian and the Naskh scripts decorate the tomb.

·         Another grand mausoleum is that of the sixth Sultan, Muhammed Qutub Shah. The facade of this tomb was once decorated with enamelled tiles, only traces of which are now evident.

·         There are six graves altogether in this tomb and 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, when he died.

·         While the tombs of those who ruled dominate the area, interspersed are many other monuments too, 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 of them with inscriptions. Immediately to the south of Muhammed Quli's tomb are three uninscribed tombs.