The different facets of the founder of Hyderabad, Mohammad Quli Qutb Shah, were brought to the fore in a lecture delivered by Vice President Hamid Ansari.
From the praises showered by a 17th century English traveller on the city to the non-communal outlook of the Qutb Shah, rare stories related to the history of Hyderabad were shared with the audience consisting of students, scholars and people from various fields.
The former diplomat and author spoke on ‘The Regional Legacy of a Rich History’ at the first Mohammad Quli Qutb Shah Memorial lecture organised by the Maulana Azad National Urdu University here on Thursday.
Mr. Ansari spoke on the importance of Telugu language during the reign of the Qutb Shahis.
“Another aspect of this catholicity of approach was the Sultan’s approach to Telugu. His father, who spent seven years as an honoured guest in Vijayanagar, imbibed a passion for the language and the same was the case with Mohammad Quli to whom Telugu was ‘like a mother tongue’ and who used Telugu words in his Dakhni Urdu poems, offered patronage to its literary personages and whose firmans and official announcements were bilingual,” he said while making references to history books and published research works.
The Vice-President read out a number of couplets penned by the Qutb Shah on the construction of Hyderabad and other topics. He also touched upon the administration style, policies and objectives of the ruler.
Talking about the present scenario of Hyderabad and relevance to the past but rich heritage, he said, “Contemporary Hyderabad was crafted with skill and succeeds to get a place for itself in the new world of the 21 century. One can only hope that its inherited tradition of tolerance, co-existence, inclusiveness and cultural effervescence would continue to signal its uniqueness and remain an example for the country.”
The lecture was also attended by Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan.
