HYDERABAD: Why are some dargahs painted green and others yellow? Why do the names of many places end with 'gunj'? Did our ancestors have a different outlook on death? And, did Hyderabad contribute to scientific developments?
Exploring these questions, a group of heritage enthusiasts embarked on a 'map-walk' organised by Deccan Archive on Sunday, part of a series where participants explore unknown neighbourhoods in the Old City through century-old maps, discovering what has been lost and what remains.
The walk began at Fateh Darwaza, one of the original gates to Hyderabad, which was established as a walled city. The group used meticulously detailed 'Munn maps', created by the Hyderabad Municipal Survey from 1912-15 under British engineer Leonard Munn. They were made as part of the redevelopment plan of the city, in the aftermath of the 1908 floods.
The group explored burial grounds and Sufi shrines, learning about the four Sufi orders — Chishti, Suhrawardi, Qadri, and Naqshbandi — each identified by different colours. They visited the shrine of Baba Yahya Pasha, draped predominantly in yellow, with highlights of green.
This shrine was flocked by devotees in large numbers as traditional medicines were administered here. The saint lived around the 1930s and was a patron of the last Nizam, Osman Ali Khan. After the death of the saint, the Nizam would come to offer sandalwood paste to his shrine annually on his Urs, or death anniversary.
“The Urs celebrations of Sufi saints in the Deccan are unique. They draw large numbers of devotees, turning the event into a grand mela (fair). Offering yellow velvet cloth and sandalwood is typical of the Chishti Sufi order, which traces back to Khwaja Mohiuddin Chishti, who came from 'Chisht' province in Afghanistan and is buried in Ajmer,” said Sibghatullah Khan, founder of Deccan Archives.
Sibghatullah Khan also explained how Misrigunj got its name. "The term 'gunj' means market, and 'Misri' means sugar, referencing a state-run sugar factory established by the Nizam, with products sold in this market," he said.
The walk’s highlight was the dargah of Hazrath Shah Raju Qatal Hussaini, a descendant of the famed Gulbarga Sufi Khwaja Banda Nawaz Gesudaraz. The shrine, marked by a towering dome and 25-foot-high granite columns, also holds a unique connection to science. Its dome was selected in the 1880s for the Great Indian Peninsular Trigonometrical Survey to document India’s topography.
The shrine’s history connects deeply with the region’s last independent Qutub Shahi ruler before Aurangzeb’s conquest. Shah Raju Qatal’s prophetic choice for the throne, a young boy sweeping the floors of the shrine who turned out to be of royal blood, foreshadowed his fate.
The saint sent the king, Abul Hasan 'Tanashah', a pomegranate. With great difficulty, the feeble-bodied king had only 14 grains. The saint then predicted 14 years of rule followed by 14 years of exile. Just as Khwaja Shah Raju predicted, Abul Hasan's rule came to an end with Aurangzeb's conquest of Golconda and he spent the next 14 years in solitary confinement.
Reflecting on how Sufis approached death, Sibghatullah Khan noted, “Sufi traditions often include preparing for one’s death with rituals and decorations at chosen burial sites. They would invite others to pray at these places, demonstrating a fearless acceptance of death.”
This philosophy is seen in how Abul Hasan too, having lived all his life in a Sufi shrine, embodied some spiritual powers to be able to accurately predict the exact Friday of his passing — a continuation of the unique Sufi outlook on life and death.
