more-in On November 29, the Telangana government will host a sit down dinner inside the inner fortification of Golconda for delegates of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit. But this won’t be the first time that the fort will be playing host to a diplomatic dinner. The garden inside Golconda, the one known as Nagina Bagh right at the entrance, was a spot known for hosting parties. Bagh-e-Naya Qila built much later by Abdullah Qutb Shah was another garden of which only traces remain at the Naya Qila surrounded by a golf course. But before all of them was the Kala Chabutra. Sometime in 1603, the Persian emperor Shah Abbas sent an envoy to Golconda with a marriage proposal for Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah’s daughter Princess Hayat Baqshi Begum. The Persian emperor had three eligible sons. A marriage between the then richest kingdom of Golconda with one of the most powerful ruling dynasties in Central Asia would have brought two successful Shia kingdoms together. The Persian envoy reached the western coast and his caravan reached Golconda escorted by a Muhammad Quli’s envoy. The proposal unfolded at a diplomatic encounter on the Kala Chabutra of Golconda. The Kala Chabutra is a jutting rock that has been flattened and shaped like a table on the western side of the Golconda fort. Halfway up the hillock, it is the first place to cool down during the harsh Deccan summer. By evening, a cool breeze rolls down the hillock creating a perfect spot for a party. Now, young men from surrounding areas gather to party. Some bring along bottles, some bring playing cards. With four cannons on four corners of the square space, nothing remains of the glory or gives a hint about the past role of the space. But centuries ago, the location was the chosen spot for the diplomatic battle. Muhammad Quli invited the Shah Abbas’s envoy to the Kala Chabutra for their first encounter. Here, the Persian envoy brought Arabian horses, jewelled knives, Persian carpets, silk clothes from China and other expensive gifts. Muhammad Quli whose diplomatic team was led by another Persian Mir Momin wasn’t far behind in showcasing Hyderabad’s might. Dancing girls, poets, choice of wines, story tellers, beside a host of expensive gifts were showered on the Persian team in a tent. The diplomatic meeting was a charade. Hyderabad fobbed off the marriage proposal. Hayat Baqshi Begum was married off to her cousin Sultan Muhammad while the Persian envoy was still in the kingdom. The Persian envoy left only after five years carrying with him a sari woven in gold at Paithan. Blind ambition If the 11-year-old Hayat Baqshi Begum married the Persian prince would she have become the queen of Persia? Unlikely. The eldest son of Shah Abbas was killed in the bath on the orders of his father, the second son was blinded and imprisoned for being ambitious, a similar fate awaited the third and youngest son. Shah Abbas’ grandson inherited the kingdom. Another party was hosted by Muhammad Quli’s Mir Jumla (finance minister) Muhammad Amin on the banks of the lake which used to bear his name Mir Jumla Tank. He had the interiors of the garden palace decorated with zarbaft (gold brocade), satin, velvet, and carpets from Persia. Standing in attendance were 20 elephants with gold trappings, 30 horses with gold harnesses and saddles, and the piece de resistance was a porcelain double sided mirror. The Mir Jumla blew up a vast sum of money and cooked food weighed about 6,000 tonnes. In return, Muhammad Quli draped his own robe on Mir Jumla and gave him five elephants and five horses. Parties like this were not rare. Garden pavilions, parks, remnants of water channels show how the Qutb Shahis lived. Now, many of the gardens and parks just retain the name while all other traces have been erased. The Mir Jumla tank is known by locals as Talabkatta.

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