• Home
  • Contact Me
Wednesday, March 29, 2023
Rana Safvi
  • Home
  • About
  • Book & Publication
  • Culture & Heritage
    • Our Cultural Heritage
    • Sufi saints
  • Food
  • Hazrat-E-Dilli
  • Rana’s Space
    • Walks & Talks
    • Rana’s Space
    • Sher o Sukhan
  • Travel
    A Kashmiri Haveli in Mathura, UP

    A Kashmiri Haveli in Mathura, UP

    Jharokha

    Jharokha

    The Staircase in Ali Qapu Palace, Isfahan, Iran

    The Staircase in Ali Qapu Palace, Isfahan, Iran

    Dervesh and Lion

    Dervesh and Lion

    Mathura and Gandhara school of Art

    Mathura and Gandhara school of Art

    My favorite artworks from European Museums

    My favorite artworks from European Museums

    Gandhara Art in Humboldt Forum: Life of Lord Buddha

    Gandhara Art in Humboldt Forum: Life of Lord Buddha

    Jewish Heroes Square in Krakow, Poland

    Jewish Heroes Square in Krakow, Poland

    Block no. 4 in Auschwitz concentration camp

    Block no. 4 in Auschwitz concentration camp

    Ottoman tent in Princess Czartoryski Museum in Krakow, Poland

    Ottoman tent in Princess Czartoryski Museum in Krakow, Poland

    The Steam Engine Building, Potsdam, Germany

    The Steam Engine Building, Potsdam, Germany

    Assyrian human-headed winged bull from Nimrud; 9th cent. BCE; Pergamon Museum, Berlin

    Assyrian human-headed winged bull from Nimrud; 9th cent. BCE; Pergamon Museum, Berlin

    Catacombs in St Peter’s Abbey Salzburg, Austria

    Catacombs in St Peter’s Abbey Salzburg, Austria

    St Nicholas Church in #Leipzeg, #Germany

    St Nicholas Church in #Leipzeg, #Germany

    Gloriette, Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna,Austria

    Gloriette, Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna,Austria

    Matthias Church on Buda Castle Hill, Budapest

    Matthias Church on Buda Castle Hill, Budapest

    The Neptune fountain in Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna, Austria

    The Neptune fountain in Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna, Austria

    The Dohany Street synagogue in Budapest

    St Peter’s Abbey Church in Salzburg, Austria

    St Peter’s Abbey Church in Salzburg, Austria

    Trending Tags

    • Contact Me
    No Result
    View All Result
    • Home
    • About
    • Book & Publication
    • Culture & Heritage
      • Our Cultural Heritage
      • Sufi saints
    • Food
    • Hazrat-E-Dilli
    • Rana’s Space
      • Walks & Talks
      • Rana’s Space
      • Sher o Sukhan
    • Travel
      A Kashmiri Haveli in Mathura, UP

      A Kashmiri Haveli in Mathura, UP

      Jharokha

      Jharokha

      The Staircase in Ali Qapu Palace, Isfahan, Iran

      The Staircase in Ali Qapu Palace, Isfahan, Iran

      Dervesh and Lion

      Dervesh and Lion

      Mathura and Gandhara school of Art

      Mathura and Gandhara school of Art

      My favorite artworks from European Museums

      My favorite artworks from European Museums

      Gandhara Art in Humboldt Forum: Life of Lord Buddha

      Gandhara Art in Humboldt Forum: Life of Lord Buddha

      Jewish Heroes Square in Krakow, Poland

      Jewish Heroes Square in Krakow, Poland

      Block no. 4 in Auschwitz concentration camp

      Block no. 4 in Auschwitz concentration camp

      Ottoman tent in Princess Czartoryski Museum in Krakow, Poland

      Ottoman tent in Princess Czartoryski Museum in Krakow, Poland

      The Steam Engine Building, Potsdam, Germany

      The Steam Engine Building, Potsdam, Germany

      Assyrian human-headed winged bull from Nimrud; 9th cent. BCE; Pergamon Museum, Berlin

      Assyrian human-headed winged bull from Nimrud; 9th cent. BCE; Pergamon Museum, Berlin

      Catacombs in St Peter’s Abbey Salzburg, Austria

      Catacombs in St Peter’s Abbey Salzburg, Austria

      St Nicholas Church in #Leipzeg, #Germany

      St Nicholas Church in #Leipzeg, #Germany

      Gloriette, Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna,Austria

      Gloriette, Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna,Austria

      Matthias Church on Buda Castle Hill, Budapest

      Matthias Church on Buda Castle Hill, Budapest

      The Neptune fountain in Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna, Austria

      The Neptune fountain in Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna, Austria

      The Dohany Street synagogue in Budapest

      St Peter’s Abbey Church in Salzburg, Austria

      St Peter’s Abbey Church in Salzburg, Austria

      Trending Tags

      • Contact Me
      No Result
      View All Result
      Rana Safvi
      No Result
      View All Result

      Mahlaqa Bai’s resting place in Hyderabad

      inOur Cultural Heritage
      0

      On Mahlaqa Bai, the first to give Urdu poetry a feminine voice

      Every time I visit Hyderabad, I walk up the 500 steps leading to the shrine known as Koh-e-Ali or Maula Ali ka Pahad (the hill of my lord) to pray for strength to overcome difficulties or to offer my gratitude. Like me, every year lakhs visit this shrine, which is dedicated to Ali ibn Abu Talib, the fourth Caliph of Islam and the first Imam of the Shia sect. He is called Mushkil Kusha, or the solver of difficulties.

      According to Tuzuk-e-Qutb Shahi, a eunuch in the court of Ibrahim Qutub Shah, the fourth ruler of the kingdom of Golconda, dreamt that a man dressed in green told him to visit a hill where Maula Ali was waiting for him. The eunuch went there in his dream and found Maula Ali on top of the hill with his hand resting on a stone. The next day, the eunuch went up the hill and saw a stone with an imprint of a hand. He got it hewn out of the rock and built a masonry arch over it. On hearing about this, Sultan Ibrahim Qutub Shah visited the hill and ordered a mosque to be built there. Since then, that area has been known as Koh-e-Ali. The rock with the hand imprint is enshrined at the back of the dargah. It is covered by a cloth and flowers and is said to have healing powers.

      The poet-devotee

      This year, on my visit to Koh-e-Ali, I went in search of another devotee of Maula Ali, a poet whose devotion was so deep that she ended nearly every verse with Ali’s name. She replaced the wooden canopy on the shrine and got a marble one made in its place.

      Her name was Chanda (moon), and Asaf Jah II, the Nizam of Hyderabad, gave her the title Mahlaqa Bai (moon-faced lady). She was born in 1768 to Mida Bai, also known as Roop Kanwar Bai. Her birth was a miracle as her mother suffered a miscarriage while on a pilgrimage to Koh-e-Ali. Shah Tajalli Ali, a scholar and sage who was accompanying her, immediately brought her a thread and some incense sticks from the shrine. He tied the thread on her wrist and waved the incense under her nose. Roop Kanwar’s bleeding stopped and the foetus was safe.

      Chanda Bibi went on to become one of the most important courtesans of the court of Asaf Jah II. She was extremely accomplished. Her teacher was the renowned exponent of khyal and dhrupad singing, Khush-hal Khan. She was also proficient at warfare and a consummate politician. She not only patronised poets and people of letters, but also rode to war dressed in male clothes with the Nizam. Though she may not be the first woman to have had her diwan published, as is popularly believed, she was the first to give Urdu poetry a feminine voice. Journalist Faiyaz Wajeeh tells me that it was Lutfun-Nisa of Bijapur’s diwan that came out a year before, in 1797. Lutfun-Nisa is overlooked because she wrote under the male sounding pen-name of Imteyaz.

      In 1792, when her mother passed away, Mahlaqa Bai got a tomb made for her at the foot of Koh-e-Ali. She was buried next to her mother in 1824.

      A plaque on the gateway of her tomb reads: Cypress of the garden of grace and rose tree of the grove of coquetry/ An ardent inamorata of Haider and supplicant of Panjetan/ When the glad tidings of the advent of death arrived from God/ She accepted it with her heart and heaven became her abode/ The voice of the invisible speaker called for her chronogram/ Alas! Mahlaqa of the Deccan departed for heaven 1240 AH (1824 AD).

      Renovation efforts

      Over the years, the garden where her tomb lies fell into disuse. No one knew that this was the resting place of a woman whom the Nizam had given the rank of an umara, and whose palanquin was preceded by drummers and 500 armed guards.

      It was Scott Kugle, a professor of Emory University, who researched the life of Mahlaqa Bai and deduced that beneath this garden was her tomb. With the help of funds from the U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation and with supervision from the Centre for Deccan Studies, the tomb was renovated.

      https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/columns/the-moon-faced-ladys-dargah/article23402810.ece

      Share this:

      • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
      • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

      Related Posts

      Jharokha
      My Travels

      Jharokha

      by Rana Safvi
      March 28, 2023
      Dervesh and Lion
      My Travels

      Dervesh and Lion

      by Rana Safvi
      March 28, 2023
      Mathura and Gandhara school of Art
      My Travels

      Mathura and Gandhara school of Art

      by Rana Safvi
      March 28, 2023
      Twitter Facebook Instagram Youtube
      Rana Safvi

      Come, explore and fall in love the Beauties of Delhi (Dilli ki Ranaiya’n) and the World with me, Rana Safvi

      I have a masters in medieval history from the prestigious Centre for Advanced Studies, Dept. of History, AMU. A firm believer in our Ganga Jamuni Tehzeeb, I am passionate about gaining and sharing knowledge and these days I am doing it via the social media platform.

      Browse by Category

      Currently Playing

      © 2018 Rana Safvi - A blog Exploring Ganga Jamuni Tehzeeb of India, website handcrafted by Abu Sufiyan.

      No Result
      View All Result
      • Home
      • About
      • Book & Publication
      • Culture & Heritage
        • Our Cultural Heritage
        • Sufi saints
      • Food
      • Hazrat-E-Dilli
      • Rana’s Space
        • Walks & Talks
        • Rana’s Space
        • Sher o Sukhan
      • Travel
      • Contact Me

      © 2018 Rana Safvi - A blog Exploring Ganga Jamuni Tehzeeb of India, website handcrafted by Abu Sufiyan.

       

      Loading Comments...