Will Hyderabad be renamed as Bhagyanagar? At a campaign rally in Hyderabad, Yogi Adityanath assured the people that Hyderabad will be renamed as ‘Bhagyanagar’, and obviously conditions apply i.e. bring BJP to power. EurAsian Times briefly looks at an interesting story on NewsMinute.
The claim that Hyderabad should be renamed as Bhagyanagar is based on the legend of queen Bhagmati, a dancer who fell in love with the ruler of Hyderabad, Quli Qutub Shah, in the 16th century. According to the legend, the city was then named ‘Bhagyanagar’ after the dancer, and when she married the king and converted to Islam, she took the name of Hyder Mahal, after which the city is presently named.
However, according to some city-based historians, Bhagmati is only a fantasy of the imagination of writers. They argue that there is no evidence to suggest that such a woman ever existed.
“History is based on hard facts and material evidence. There are no manuscripts, miniatures, inscriptions, coins, or tombs and graves of that period (16th century) which can be attributed to the existence of Bhagmati.
Till date, only two contemporary miniatures, from the 18th and 19th century, have been produced in the name of evidence to support the existence of the mythical and nearly alien ‘Bhagmati’,”
While there are historians who believe that Bhagmati is a fictional character, some choose to differ and say that there is evidence for the existence of the queen; but the city of Hyderabad was not named after her, they say.
“There is definitely evidence that a queen Bhagmati lived. But the city of Hyderabad was never named after Begum Hyder Mahal, the name that was supposedly taken by Bhagmati after her marriage to Quli Qutub Shah. The city, during the Qutub Shahi period was called Bhagnagar, where ‘Bhag’ is an equivalent for ‘Bhagya’ or Good Fortune.
There are other myths about the city’s name. One disputes that it came from its Shia rulers who were worshippers of Prophet Ali, who is also known as ‘Haider’. However, Hyderabad-based playwright Mohammad Ali Baig, states that none of this should matter today.
“Whether Bhagmati existed or not has no bearing on the name of a city. The controversy is only a part of a clear political agenda. The CM of another state coming and making a statement doesn’t change the history of a city.
