In the old city of Hyderabad, there is a 446-year-old bridge called the Purana Pul (old bridge). Constructed in 1578 by Ibrahim Qutb Shah,1 the six hundred feet long and thirty-six feet wide bridge stands fifty-four feet above the riverbed and has twenty-two arches. This bridge, the first to be constructed in the area that later became Hyderabad, survived even the great Musi flood of 1908. However, by the middle to late twentieth century, it was dilapidated and crumbling, in need of urgent repair.
A little more than two decades ago, on World Tourism Day in September 2002, construction workers swarmed the Purana Pul to restore it to its former glory. When it was safe for use again, G. Kishan Rao, director of the then Andhra Pradesh tourism department, hit upon an idea to raise local awareness about the newly repaired bridge. Drawing on the origin story of the Purana Pul, he organised a lovers’ day or couples’ day on the bridge. The idea was a grand success. Hyderabadis thronged the area and, for a while, the Purana Pul was even called the Pyarana Pul (lovers’ bridge).
The new name did not last long, but perhaps it should be restored. The way Hyderabadis turned out for the event showed that the story behind the origins of the Purana Pul remains as cherished in the hearts of the city’s newest generations as it was nearly five centuries ago when the bridge was under construction. This story is one Hyderabadis love to tell over and over again, one that resides in their hearts, one they choose to believe even though there is no historical evidence of its existence. It is the story of a love so powerful that it became the foundation for an entire city. It is the story of the love Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, the fifth Qutb Shahi ruler, had for a dancer named Bhagmati.
The legend goes that Quli met and fell in love with Bhagmati at the age of fourteen. So enamoured was he that he remained with her for the rest of his life despite severe opposition, first from his father and later from his court and the keepers of his faith. Over time, Quli’s father Ibrahim became perhaps the only person to understand that Quli’s love for Bhagmati was deeper than mere infatuation. When Quli defied a fierce storm and rode across the raging Musi river, simply to check that Bhagmati was safe, Ibrahim acknowledged the depth of Quli’s emotion and ordered the construction of a bridge across the river. This bridge, four hundred years later, came to be known as the Purana Pul. Later, after Ibrahim’s death and Quli’s ascension to the throne of Golconda, the young sultan, it is said, married Bhagmati, made her his queen and built what is present-day Hyderabad, naming the new city Bhagnagar in her honour.
Excerpted with permission from Bhagmati: Why Hyderabad’s Lost Queen Is the Soul of the City (Westland, 2024)
Bhagmati
By Moupia Basu
Westland
pp. 192; Rs 399
