The Strange Life of Tana Shah

Legends and Anecdotes of Hyderabad - 4


The Strange Life of Tana Shah
by Narendra Luther


The story of the life of Tana Shah, the last Qutb Shahi ruler of Golconda (1672-1687) reads like a fairy tale. His real name was Abul Hassan. He was distantly related to Abdullah Qutb Shah, the seventh sultan of the dynasty (1626-1672) and was therefore accommodated in the royal palace. There he grew up and for some misdemeanour, he was the story of the life of Tana Shah, the last Qutb Shahi ruler of Golconda (1672-1687) reads like a fairy tale. His real name was Abul Hassan. He was distantly related to Abdullah Qutb Shah, the seventh sultan of the dynasty (1626-1672) and was therefore accommodated in the royal palace. There he grew up and for some misdemeanour, he was expelled from the palace at the age of 12. Having spent his infancy and adolescence in ease and comfort without having acquired any mental or physical wherewithal to earn a living, Abul Hassan could not do a thing to support himself.

On the advice of a friend he went to the monastery of a Sufi saint called Syed Shah Raziuddin, popularly known as Shah Raju Qattal. Shah Raju was eighth in the line of Saint Khwaja Gesu Daraz Bande Nawaz of Gulbarga. He came to Hyderabad and set up his hospice on the west side of the Fateh Darwaza gate of the city (not the fort). He was believed to possess great spiritual powers and was an influential teach of the Sufi doctrine. He was greatly revered by the people. Sultan Abdullah Qutb Shah became his disciple at a fairly early age and Shah Raju also had a soft corner for him.

Shah Raju took pity on the young boy expelled from the palace and accepted him as his disciple. He became his errand - boy and was constantly in and out of the cell in which Shah Raju spent most of his time in contemplation and meditation.

Abul Hassan had a good voice and sang well. He also had a certain innocence about him. Shah Raju therefore gave him the nick name of `Tana Shah' which means a child saint. Having been brought up in the palace Abul Hassan was also of a delicate build and was often seen lost in reverie.

Abdullah had three daughters and no son. The eldest daughter was married to Prince Mohammad Sultan, son of Aurangzeb, after the treaty entered into between Aurangzeb as the Viceroy of the Deccan and Abdullah, in 1656. As a consequence of this marriage the sultanate of Golconda was to pass on to the Mughal prince on Abdullah's death. But as fate would have it, for his having opposed Aurangzeb in the War of Succession to the throne of Delhi, Mohammad Sultan was imprisoned by Aurangzeb and he died in jail. The second daughter was married to Nizamuddin Ahmed of Mecca. The youngest was engaged to Syed Sultan of Najaf. However, misunderstandings developed between the second son-in-law who was very powerful in the court and Syed Sultan. As a result the proposed marriage of the third daughter of Abdullah to him was opposed by the second son-in-law and a number of other members of the royal family.

Abdullah , in his confusion, went to consult his mentor, Shah Raju at his retreat. When it was announced that the Sultan was coming all the devotees who had gathered for the darshan of the saint quietly withdrew. Abdullah and Shah Raju met alone and Abdullah explained his predicament to him. Shah Raju asked him to come after three days. After Abdullah had gone, the followers of Shah Raju came back to sit at his feet. Shortly thereafter Tana Shah also scampered into his presence. Thereupon Shah Raju remarked involuntarily - "Lo ! One king goeth and the other cometh." The audience were puzzled at such a mysterious utterance.

At the palace preparations for the marriage of the youngest daughter of the Sultan to Syed Sultan were going on. The prospective groom was also getting ready to lead his wedding procession.

At the monastery Shah Raju told Tana Shah teasingly : "We shall get you married soon. So let us go through your wedding ceremonies." A bewildered Tana Shah submitted to the seemingly eccentric orders of his master. On the third day a messenger a came from the sultan asking for an appointment with the Saint. Shah Raju told him that the Sultan was welcome and that he should bring with him appropriate dresses and gifts for a bridegroom. When Abdullah came to the monastery accordingly and with a spare horse, Shah Raju got hold of Tana Shah and presenting him to Abdullah, said : This is the groom.Take him to be your son-in-law." Tana Shah was taken to the palace, given a good scrubbing and bath, doused with scents, decked in jewellery and in no time was made into a royal groom. Syed Sultan was waiting for the signal to start the wedding possession, but that signal was never given. The switch of grooms was made at the last minute and instead of Syed Sultan it was Tana Shah who became the last son-in-law of Sultan Abdullah. Syed Sultan fled from Golconda and went to Aurangzeb. Aurangzeb laughed at this tragi - comedy and said : "Never mind. We will get you married to the daughter of Mir Jumla."

Tana Shah had spent 14 years in the palace, same period in the hospice of Shah Raju and now he was ready for the third phase in his life. In 1672 Abdullah died. Tana Shah who was very popular with the nobles was made the next ruler of Golconda.

One day when Tana Shah was enjoying himself in a boat in the river Musi, Shah Raju sent him a gift of some fruits. The messenger who brought the gift said that Shah Raju had ordered that the Sultan must eat the pomegranate straightaway. Tana Shah, willy-nilly, cut open the fruit and just to carry out the orders of his mentor ate some seeds. The messenger went back and when Shah Raju asked him how many seeds he had eaten. The messenger replied - "Fourteen". Shah Raju sighed and said "Ah! the wretch. He will rule only for 14 years."

And as it happened, it was his prophecy came true. How it happened will be the subject of our next instalment.


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"A Replica Of heaven"

Legends and Anecdotes of Hyderabad 2

"A Replica Of heaven"
by Narendra Luther

Last month we noted that Muhammad Quli had decreed that the new city, Bhagnagar, should be "unparalled in the world and a replica of heaven itself". Ordinarily such a decree would have been taken as a figure of speech, but in this case, it seems to have been taken literally. A German architect, Jan Pieper, has tried to show by quoting the chapter and verse of the holy Quran how the planning and architectural features of the new city corresponded to the mythical Islamic paradise.

Features of Paradise :

A reading, amongst others, of Suras 47, 14; 56;28; 7,47; and 55 of the holy Quran gives a composite picture of the Islamic paradise.

It is interesting to note first of all, that the word for paradise in Arabic is the same as for garden - `Jannat'. Note that paradise is also called the `Garden of Eden'.


At the centre of that garden there is a fountain. Four stream (of pure water, pure milk, pure honey and pure wine) flow from it. There are two types of trees in paradise - the thornless Sidr and the well ordered Talh. They have no exact counterparts on earth.

Now let us compare the features of the city with those attributed to the Islamic paradise.

A Garden City :

Bhagnagar was a city of less than 3 sq kms surrounded by gardens, covering an extent of about 23 sq kms. `Naubat Pahad' where the Venkateshwara temple is now located was originally called `Naubat ghat' - botanical hillock. From this point right up to `Koh-i-Toor' the hillock 3 kms north of Charminar on which now the Falaknuma palace stands was one unbroken stretch of greenery. Rafi-ud-Din Shirazi observed in Tazkura-Tul-Mubarak in 1608 that a "large city with magnificent mansions was founded everyone of which had a garden attached to it. Some of the trees of these gardens were so tall that they seemed to touch the sky. Both bazars and houses are so full of trees..." Thus gardens and vegetation were the principal feature of the new city.

The French traveller, Jean de Thevenot who visited Hyderabad in 1655-66 was surprised at the extent of greenery both in and around the city. He says, "There are many fair gardens in this town, their beauty consists in having long walls very kept clean, and lovely fruit-trees; but they have neither beds of flowers nor water-works and they are satisfied with several cisterns or basons (sic) with water. The gardens without the town are the loveliest, and I shall describe only one of them, that is reckoned the pleasantest of the kingdom ... It is planted with palms and areca - trees so near to one other that the sun can hardly pierce through them..."

Tavernier, a dealer in diamonds (1605 - 1688) says Bhagnagar was "previously only a pleasure resort where the King had beautiful gardens ..."

Ameer Ali, the thug in Meadows Taylor's novel published in 1839 saw from Naubat Pahad, white terraced houses gleaming brightly amidst "almost a forest of trees."

Architectural Features :

The city was built as a giant double-cross. Charminar, the city centre is a perfect square, each side being 18.26 metres. The four minarets rise to a height of 48.7 metres from the ground. They are divided into four storeys each and 146 steps lead upto the top storey. On the roof is a small mosque exactly facing Mecca. Its orientation to the Qibla direction is significant.

At a distance of 76 metres from Charminar was the central plaza known as Char Kaman or the `Four Arches'. It was originally called jilukhana or the guard's square. In its centre was an octagonal fountain called the char-su-ka-houz (fountain of the four cardinal directions). Four channels flowed from it. Near the fountain coconut and betel-nut palm trees were planted to represent the Talh and the Sidr tree respectively. The four arches were located about 114.3 metres each from the fountain. Each arch was 18.30 metres high. The western arch was the gateway to the palace area. Its gate was highly decorative. Made of ebony and sandalwood, it was adorned with precious stones and nails of gold. There was a screen of cloth-of-gold behind the shutters. On the eastern arch royal musicians sat and played shehnai and other instruments five times a day.

The two northern and southern arches - watch posts of the royal guards-represented the fierce Quranic "Men of the Wall". The area behind the cloth-of-gold curtain on the western arch contained fourteen palaces amongst which was one called `Qutb Mandir' to which only women were admitted, besides of course the Sultan himself. These and the shehnai players on the eastern arch with its `nasal' sound stood for the Quranic pleasures - "houris in flowing tents singing in nasal voices ..."

The reason for adopting the plan of the giant double-cross is also interesting and is explained by Pieper. Sura 55 tells us that there is not one paradise for all but a hierarchy of them. "There are two gardens yielding flowers and all sorts of luxury for a festive and representative life, while two others are filled with herbs and fruits and humble amenities of pleasureful civic household". These two gardens are reserved for those "who live in peace with their Lord." Behind the western arch lived the Sultan - the `lord', and in other quarters lived his subjects - "in peace with their lord."

The illustration on the cover page is based on my researches into the history of Hyderabad. My findings were rendered into an zaxonometeric drawing by S.P.Shorey and further made into an `artist's' impression through the courtesy of Neelamegham of Akshara. It would be of interest to readers to know that when the former Iranian Consul General in Hyderabad, Mujtaba Karami saw this plan about three years ago, he commented that Isfahan in Iran looked somewhat like that even today. How gratifying that without ever seeing Isfahan, we were able to recreate the likeness of the city on which Hyderabad was originally modelled!

The testimony of historians, writers, visitors, chroniclers over the centuries has testified to the beauty and grandeur of the city and one could say that it could indeed have been a city "unparalled in the world and a replica of heaven itself". At least a genuine, valiant attempt seems to have been made to execute the Poet - Sultan's orders.

And look at the city now ... !

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