History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v4.c66.s1: § 1. Reign of Abdullah Qutb Shah, 1626-1672.
History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v4.c66.s1
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§ 1. Reign of Abdullah Qutb Shah, 1626-1672.
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Abdullah Qutb Shah, the 6th king of Golkonda, had succeeded his father in 1626, at the age of twelve, and reigned for 46 years, during the whole of which he was a mere puppet on the throne. The actual administration was conducted for more than 40 years by his mother, Hayat Bakhsh Begam, a lady of strong character, the imperious daughter of one king, wife of another and mother of a third. After her death (12th Feb., 1667), Abdullah was swayed entirely by his eldest son-in-law Sayyid Ahmad.
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The clever diplomacy of these two had for half a century saved the Qutb-Shahi State from being annexed by the Mughals. But it was only a temporary respite, and the dissolution of the kingdom was inevitable. Abdullah was throughout life, indolent and almost imbecile, and his narrow escape from capture and assassination by Aurangzib's army in 1656 had given him such a fright that Bernier noted eleven years afterwards, "The King has lost all mental energy and has ceased to hold the reins of government. He never appears in public to give audience and administer justice according to the custom of the country, nor does he venture outside the walls of the fortress Golkonda. Confusion and misrule are the natural and unavoidable consequences of this state of things. The grandees, totally disregarding the commands of a monarch for whom they no longer feel either affection or respect, exercise a disgusting tyranny.'' (Bernier, 194-195.)
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Nor was the state of things any better within the palace. The worthless king spent his time in the company of dancing-girls, practising ingenious forms of sensuality, while his family was torn by discord between rival factions. (Tavernier, i. 158.) Abdullah had no son, but three daughters, the second of whom had been married to Aurangzib's son Muhammad Sultan, and the first to Sayyid Ahmad, who claimed descent from one of the noblest families of Mecca and who rose by his ability to the position of prime minister and *de facto* ruler of the State. It was proposed to marry the third princess to Sayyid Sultan, a protege of Sayyid Ahmad and a former disciple of Ahmad's learned father. But a quarrel broke out between the two as the result of Sayyid Sultan scoffing at the pedigree of Sayyid Ahmad. At last feelings were so embittered in consequence that, on the day proposed for the marriage, Sayyid Ahmad told Abdullah that if he gave his daughter to Sayyid Sultan, he would at once leave the kingdom. The weak king could not lose his long accustomed support, nor disoblige his beloved eldest daughter, and so the expectant bridegroom was suddenly stripped of his gala dress and expelled the city, and his house was looted by the ruffians under royal orders! A hurried search was made for another match for the princess in order to marry her without fail at the moment selected by the astrologers. The choice of the palace agents fell on Abul Hasan, a youth descended on his father's side from the Qutb-Shahi family, who had spent the last 16 years in the lazy pampered life of a monk by entering himself as a disciple of the saint Sayyid Raju Qattal. On account of his low tastes, dirty habits and debauched life, the Court and the gentry had shunned him. But he had pleased his master by his devoted attendance, and a story is told that the saint on the eve of the marriage-day had laughingly daubed Abul Hasan with red clay, saying "Thus I dye your fingers with henna like a bridegroom's." The words of a holy man are prophetic; next day the royal emissaries, instructed by the ladies of the harem, came to the hermitage, seized Abul Hasan, dragged him to a hot bath, washed him clean, smeared him with scents, clad him in the wedding robes made for Sayyid Sultan and led him on a richly caparisoned horse with music and lights to the palace, where he was forthwith married to the princess. (Qutb-numa, 90-94.)