Globalisation of Golconda: The city of battle field

The writers and historians from leisure classes usually portray and popularise the history of rulers and leisure classes. They ignore and reluctant to record the history of productive masses. As a result, wrong may be known as right and right may not be noted as right at any time. This is true in case of Golconda or Hyderabad city. In fact, the city supposes to construct at Ananthagiri hills located between Siddipet and Karimnagar towns by shepherds.

The remnants of citadel and folklore are substantial evidences for it. In the course of migration, shepherds realised that Golconda hill is more suitable place than any other rocky hill (namely Bhongir, Hanumakonda, Yadagirigutta, Komuravelli etc) situated in between rivers Krishna and Godavari. They observed that almost an equal distance from Golconda to Krishna and Golconda to Godavari. They had known that their sheep won’t get any black mud (block soil) within 60 kms radius of Golconda as it is surrounded by red soil and partly with small scrubs and hills. Black soil is hurdle for the mobility of flock of sheep and prone to hoof diseases.

The rivulet Musi also lured to them to establish a permanent settlement on and around Golconda hill, later it was named as Gollagonda (Shepherd’s Hill).

During 13th Century, there was a severe rivalry between Kakatiyas and Yadavs of Donakonda in Prakasham district, eventually, Donakonda and Golconda were occupied by Kakatiya rulers. Later, it was conquered by Bahmani Sultanate and arose as a capital for a major province of the Sultanate. Meantime, Quli Qutub Shah declared it as an independent state. However, it was a heated battleground among the three kingdoms for a long time and the tradition is continuing even today among the Telangana, Rayalaseema and Andhra regions.

In 15th Century, plague epidemic ravaged Golconda and a new city was constructed 8 kms away from the old settlement. Muhammad Quli Qutub Shah, the ruler of Qutub Shahi dynasty had fallen in love with a local nautch (dancing) girl named ‘Bhagmathi’ who was a Dalit and converted to Islam.

The city was named as Bhagyanagar in her honour. She also adopted the title Hyder Mahal so that it was renamed Hyderabad later. The city was planned on a ‘grid-iron’ pattern in the form of a giant double cross with two main intersecting roads, 60 feet wide running north-south and east-west. The intersection of two main roads, marked the city centre where Charminar was built in 1591, the city's enduring landmark. This plan was purely Mohammed Quli Qutub Shah's imagination.

Surprisingly, the city is one of the few landlocked urban centres in the world without having a major river system or a port next to it but its legacy reached to the highest peaks during Nizam ruling. It linked with Bandar and Bombay ports. The goods exported from here to the West are diamonds, textiles, iron and steel, rice, tobacco and indigo, while imports were coffee, dried fruits, almonds, rose water, coined specie, silk and horses. Later, Hyderabad accumulated Hospitals, Museum, Airport, Ratio Station, University, Public Transport System, Industrial areas and decorated with beautiful parks (bhaghs), thereby, many of people were pulled to migrated to city; those are not only from North India but also from Africa and Europe. By the culmination and interaction of divergent cultures, the Golconda was culturally globalised a long back.

Now, internal-colonial Andhra rulers claim that they developed Hyderabad, if it is so what about the existed infrastructure of erstwhile-Hyderabad? In fact, all public sector industries viz Praga Tools, Allywn, Azam Jahi Mills, Nizam Sugar Factory, etc were closed and Osmania, NIMS, Niloufer, Gandhi, Victoria, Unani and Cancer hospitals were thrown aside owing insufficient allocation of funds by Andhra governments. It was done to promote Andhra corporate hospitals and now they become money spinning machines for them.

Lakhs of acres of land around Hyderabad and far into Nalgonda, Ranga Reddy, Medak and Mahabubnagar have been allotted to non-local politicians and businessmen led to unemployment for local agricultural labourers who transfigured as construction workers.

Thousands of lakes were encroached due to lack of strict enforcement of laws leading to ecological imbalance. Traffic system of today’s Hyderabad become terrible as no sustainable plan was done to tackle the present need of commuting. However, the structure and infrastructure of Hyderabad are gradually globalised and polarised but the lives of people, particularly who migrated from Telangana region become miserable owing to Andhra nepotism. The classic instances are Telugu Film Industry, Press and Media.

The hegemonic hold wanted to continue even after a big wave of Telangana movement, the UPA is ready to introduce the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill -2013 to bifurcate the State. Leaders from Seemandhra were determined to stall the introduction of the Bill while leaders from Telangana demanded immediate debate on the 65-page document. If separation is inevitable, the demand of common capital for ten years and sharing on Hyderabad income spur again the fire in battlefield. Fight has been simmering and separation becomes painful and violent. Sufferings are not removed and solutions are not developed. Still, Hyderabad is real battlefield.

(The writer is Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Osmania University)