History of Hyderabad
History of Hyderabad
It is a well established fact that the
mauryan empire, ruled the area around Hyderabad in the third century B.C during the reign of Ashoka. According to the medieval history of hyderabad, many Buddhist and Hindu kingdoms ruled the area, during succeeding centuries, also. The Kalyani branch of the Chalukya kings had also ruled this region. Consequently kakatiyas, who were feudal chieftains of Chalukya, declared independence and setup their kingdom around Warangal.
There are several archeological evidences available to prove that hyderabad was populated by a very advanced Sanatana Dharma Civilization. The evidences of existence of sanatana culture on region adjoining hyderabad is evident from the fact that there are many ancient temples, existing in the city.
There is a 5000 years old temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu, under the name Anantha padmanabha Swamy Temple, located near Hyderabad. There are many ancient temples in and around Hyderabad, which are known for the ancient architecture.
Yadadri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple previously known as Yadagiri gutta is one of the oldest temples around Hyderabad. The temple is perched on a hillock in the Yadadri Bhuvanagiri District which is about 60 kms away from the city. The main deity is Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. This temple is around 1000 years old with the idols inside a cave. Sri Ranganatha Swamy temple is a 400 year old temple (Sri Ranganatha, is a form of Lord Vishnu) The temple was built in 1600 A.D.
There is another 600 years Venu Gopala Swamy temple at Manchirevula, near Hyderabad. The temple was constructed by Akkanna and Madanna, the two ministers of the Golconda emperor Tana Shah. The main idol in the temple is a rock carving of Lord Krishna along with Rukmini and Satyabhama. Chennakesava temple located in Keshavagiri of Chandrayanagutta is also one of the oldest temples in Hyderabad, which is believed to be around 1000 years old.
Sri Ranganatha Swamy temple located in Gandicheruvu of Hayathnagar Mandal is another 500 years old, temple in Hyderabad.
Yellamma temple is one of the ancient temples. This temple is dedicated to the worship of Yellamma, an incarnation of Goddess Kali, who is revered as one of the significant deities in Telangana. The temple was originally constructed in the 15th Century A.D. The main idol of the Goddess lies 10 feet deep into the ground level. There is also a well inside the compound, which supposedly has medicinal properties and cure many ailments.
Ammapalli Sita Ramachandra swamy Devasthanam is one of the oldest and most popular temples in Hyderabad. It is located about 5 kilometres from the RGI airport, Shamshabad and is built by Vengi Kings in 13th Century.
Ancient Chilkur Balaji Temple is one of the oldest and most famous temples in Hyderabad. The temple is dedicated to Lord Venkateshwara. In addition to this there are many many ancient temples, which confirm that hyderabad was an ancient Sanatana Dharma pilgrimage centre. The ancient temples were known for fulfilling desired of the devotees.
This pilgrimage was considered to be having miraculous powers to change destiny of people and was thus named as “Bhagyanagar”
The discovery of Megalithic burial sites and cairn circles in the suburbs of Hyderabad, in 1851 by Philip Meadows Taylor, a polymath in the service of the Nizam, provide necessary evidence that the region in which the Bhagyanagar city stands has been inhabited since the Stone Age.
Archaeologists excavating near the city have also unearthed Iron Age sites, that may date from 500 BCE.
The history of hyderabad is testified in many inscriptions of the ancient monuments in the Bhagyanagar city.
According to some stories that, the old name ‘Bhagyanagar’ or ‘Bhagnagar‘ was derived from Bhagmati, a beautiful courtesan who married Sultan Muhammad Quli Qutub Shah (1565-1612 CE) the fifth Sultan of the Golconda Sultanate. Which is wrong & these false claims need to be researched/investigated. The two women whose records are found so far are those of “Taramati and Pemmamati” who are the most important non-Muslim women of Abdullah Qutb Shah’s life.
None of them were named Bhagmati and therefore this theory is wrong. The truth is that the previous name of this city was “Bagyanagaram”, a Sanskrit word. ( Bhagya means luck ) and this city later acquired the name Hyderabad.
And this name was retained till the middle of the 15th century, when this region was under the control of the Bahmani Sultanate, which controlled the Deccan north of the Krishna River from coast to coast.
The Bahmani Sultanate disintegrated into five different kingdoms. Mohammed Quli Qutub Shah of Qutub Shahi dynasty renamed the city, that was originally known as Bhagyanagar on the Musi River.
The bhagya nagar region and its surroundings was ruled by the Chalukya dynasty from 624 CE to 1075 CE. Following the dissolution of the Chalukya empire into four parts in the 11th century, Golconda came under the control of the Kakatiya dynasty from 1158, whose seat of power was at Warangal, 148 kms, northeast of bhagyashree. The Kakatiya ruler Ganapatideva 1199–1262 built a hilltop outpost—later known as Golconda Fort, to defend their western region. The Kakatiya dynasty was reduced to a vassal of the Khalji dynasty in 1310 after its defeat by Sultan Alauddin Khalji of the Delhi Sultanate. This lasted until 1321, when the Kakatiya dynasty was annexed by Malik Kafur, Allaudin Khalji’s general. During this period, Alauddin Khalji took the Koh-i-Noor diamond, which is said to have been mined from the Kollur Mines of Golconda. Muhammad bin Tughluq succeeded to the Delhi sultanate in 1325, bringing Warangal under the rule of the Tughlaq dynasty.
Malik Maqbul Tilangani was appointed its governor. In 1336 the regional chieftains Musunuri Nayakas, who revolted against the Delhi sultanate in 1333, took Warangal under his direct control and declared it as his capital.
In 1591, the city was renamed as Golconda-Haidarabad. Then it was found that Goclonda was too crowded and it was not possible to expand in the walled city. Though the name was spelt little differently, a new city emerged as Hyderabad, that owed its name to the earlier city.