Hyderabad: Close to a fortnight after a scuffle at the historic Naya Qila in the Golconda Fort, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) officials here clarified that the ancient site is fully open and accessible to the general public. This was made clear after it was found that security personnel of the Hyderabad Golf Club (HGC) has been wrongly preventing visitors from seeing parts of the Naya Qila like the Mustafa Khan mosque.
On March 14, a minor scuffle broke out in front of the Golconda Fort’s Naya Qila area in the early hours. A few drunk men attacked ASI guards and the golf course security personnel who were manning the entry gate. The assailants demanded entry into the Naya Qila, and stabbed one of the guards. He was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.
The ASI posted its men round-the-clock after it found that the Hyderabad Golf Club began undertaking work to expand without permission. The work was stopped by the ASI after which it put up guards at night in Naya Qila as well. The HGC has occupied a majority of the Naya Qila area of Golconda Fort and has expanded to 18 holes over the years. The club however has no control over the areas which house some important historical sites like a 400-year-old Baobab tree.
In fact, the ASI is pretty clear about the fact that it is the only body that can decide to stop public access or give the same. Officials from ASI said that they had even put up a board outside Naya Qila stating that it os is open for the public to visit from 10 am to 5 pm everyday. The golf course in the area has its own security guards who man the entry into the site.
What has come to light is that the golf course personnel are not allowing the public to see everything at Naya Qila, and only let people visit the old Baobab tree at the site. The Naya Qila area has two mosques – the Mulla Khyali Masjid and Mustafa Khan Masjid – both of which predate Hyderabad. Aside from having a long periphery of the fort, it also has two huge bastions called Laila and Majnu.
Officials said that while the ASI accepted the golf course’s request to allow expansion, the landscaping work required for it would require permission from the ASI without fail. As none was taken, the ASI intervened and got it stopped. It may be noted that activists have from years questioned how ancient historic land of the Golconda fort was given to private organisations like the HGA.
Naya Qila history
The Naya Qila area is in fact believed to be about over 400 years old, and is a part of the Golconda dynasty’s (which founded Hyderabad in 1591) remaining heritage in Hyderabad. The Naya Qila area, which is now cut-off from the Golconda fort due to local encroachments, was developed into an external fortification after the first Mughal attack (during the time of Emperor Shah Jahan) on Hyderabad in 1656.
It has two huge bastions called Laila and Majnu, of which Majnu continues to be in a state of disrepair after its collapse during monsoons in 2021. The ancient historic site was one of the few places which witnessed damage during heavy rains in 2021 in the fort. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which runs the historical site, was supposed to undertake repairs, but that has not happened so far as well.
Other parts of Naya Qila which are open to the public are the Baobab tree, which is believed to be over 400 years old (it is said to have been planted there by African friars), the Mustafa Khan Masjid (which was built in 1561 and predates Hyderabad), and the Mulla Khyali Masjid, which is believed to be named after the Deccan poet Mulla Khyali.
While the Majnu Bastion’s collapse is the latest instance of the city’s heritage getting damaged, in the past the HGA had also disallowed the general public from entering the Naya Qila area. However, according to the ASI, there is no such restriction and the public is free to visit the place.
The Golconda Fort and the Charminar are two monuments that fall under the jurisdiction of the ASI, which works with the central government, while all the other heritage sites like the Qutb Shahi Tombs come under the purview of the Archeology Department of the Telangana government. Last year, a petition was also created to save Naya Qila and the Golconda fort by local Hyderabadis.
History of Golconda Fort
The Golconda Fort’s origins are traced back to the 14th century when the Rajah of Warangal Deo Rai (under the Kakatiya Kingdom which ruled from Warangal) built a mud fort. It was taken over by the Bahmani Empire between 1358 and 1375. Later, it was developed into a full-fledged citadel by Sultan Quli who founded the Qutb Shahi kingdom in 1518 following the death of the last sovereign of Bahmani Emperor Mahmud Shah.
Sultan Quli was a commander and later governor of Tilang (Telangana), under the Bahmani Empire (1347-1518), when its second capital was at Bidar. Sultan Quli, who was originally from Hamadan in Iran, rose to the level of Governor under the Bahmani Empire in the early 16th century. At this point in time, he was given the fort, around which he began developing a walled city. It eventually came to be called Golconda Fort (a name derived from Telugu Golla-conda, or shepherds hill).
The fort has 87 bastions, and eight gates, of which a few are not accessible to the general public as they are under the army’s control. It is believed to be one of the Deccan’s most impregnable forts and had kept Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s army at bay for eight months until he succeeded and conquered Hyderabad in 1687.
Hyderabad was founded in the year 1591 by Mohd. Quli Qutb Shah, the grandson of Sultan Quli, with the Charminar being the city’s foundation. The city turned 429 years old in 2020.
