Hyderabad: The letters exchanged between Mir Momin Astarabadi, the erstwhile peshwa (prime minister) and architect of Hyderabad, and Shah of Iran Abbas Safacityvi indicate that the city was named Hyderabad after Hazrat Ali (RAA) Prophet Mohammad’s (PBUH) son-in-law. The correspondence was made prior to the laying of Hyderabad’s foundation in 1591.
According to historian Salma Ahmed Farooqui, numismatic evidence proves that that the city was named after Haidar right from conception to foundation. The city’s layout, which included the signature landmarks of the Charminar and the Char Kamans, was made in the name of Haidar – the title of Prophet Mohammad’s son-in-law Hazrat Ali.
Two letters exchanged between Mir Momin and the Shah of Iran are the earliest available evidence so far.
Farooqui, director of HK Sherwani Centre for Deccan Studies under Maulana Azad National Urdu University in Hyderabad revealed that in his letters, Mir Momin describes how he had drawn up the architectural blueprint of Hyderabad in the name of Haidar as a tribute to Hazrat Ali. Times of India reported.
She further added that Mir Momin designed Charminar as the first building of the new city and Badashahi Ashoorkhana as the second building, in the foundation of Hyderabad laid by Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah.
Farooqui further stated that letters indicate that the Shah of Iran was impressed by Momin’s efforts to build “Haidarabad” as part of a larger welfare plan for the Golconda Sultanate and propagate Shia Islam.
