The Life of Captain Sir Richard F. Burton, volume 2 (of 2): By His Wife, Isabel BurtonBurton, Isabel, Lady
History
The Life of Captain Sir Richard F. Burton, volume 2 (of 2): By His Wife, Isabel Burton
Burton, Isabel, Lady
Burton, Richard Francis, Sir, 1821-1890; Explorers -- Great Britain -- Biography; Scholars -- Great Britain -- Biography
The Afzal Ganj (the native bazar of the regular troops) consists of
parallel lines of shops and booths, flat-roofed or tiled, one-storied,
verandahed, and cleaned with whitewash and red paint.
Hyderabad owes its origin to Sultan Mohammed Kuli II., of the Kutub
Shahi or Golconda dynasty, who about A.D. 1520 built a country palace
for one of his mistresses, the lady Baghwati, a Hindú of no particular
caste. He assigned to her a guard of a hundred horsemen, and called the
outpost Bhagnagar.
As a short account of Hyderabad, a literal translation by a native,
from an ancient Hindostani work in that City, was given to us by Sir
Salar Jung, I think it may not be uninteresting:--
"Up to the reign of three kings of the line of Khootoob Shahs, the
Fort of Golconda, which was so large as to contain forty thousand
cavaliers, was the seat of the Capital, but during the rule of
Mohammed Khoolee II., son of Ibrahim Khootoob Shah, the Capital, being
crowded by people, and densely populated, created a foul air, from
which most of the people were subjected to all sorts of illness; and,
besides, the King, taking consideration of his rank and dignity, found
that the place was unworthy of his residence, and thereby resolved to
build another City, which, both in expansion and pleasantness, was to
be the next to the Paradise of Rest. In this meditation he rode for
hunting, and went in search of game. Whilst going here and there he
happened to pass into a forest, which, being put up into a beautiful
spot of ground, was, in pleasantness and purity of climate, envied
by the blue sky and the garden of heaven. There the King was pleased
to build a City, and ordered the astrologers, of great skill and
discernment, to fix an auspicious moment to lay its foundation. This
being accordingly done, the cleverest architect laid the design of the
City, containing four extensive bazars and four elevated arches (Chár
Kámán), and each of the bazars was equal in size to the other; also
several other bazars, which are said to have been forty thousand in
number, were made with streams flowing through, bordered with shadowy
trees, and each bazar was confronted by a large edifice; and, besides,
there were planned twelve thousand buildings, of the kind of baths,
monasteries, schools, mosques, poorhouses, and inns. The residence
of the King being settled to be in the northern part of the Capital,
several grand and beautiful palaces were erected. The Capital was at
first named Bhag Nugger, after the name of a woman, Bhag Mutty, to
whom the King was attached, and upon her death it was changed into
Hyderabad, which is bounded on the north by Meduck, on the south by
the Coelconda Circars, on the east by the Bhonghur Circars, and on the
west by the Mozuffer Nugger Circars, called also Mohamadabad Beder.
The year of the commencement of the City can be found out from the
word 'Ya Hafiz,' said by some poet, which comes to 1000; and of its
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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