Dubbed the Arc de Triomphe of the east and Hyderabad’s most iconic structure, Charminar, was built to mark the eradication of the epidemic cholera that had ravaged the city in the 16th century. Lying on the east bank of the Musi river with the Laad Bazaar to its west and Makkah Masjid to the south-west, Charminar is a cultural and historical landmark that translates into four minars or pillars in Urdu. The area around the monument is also referred to as Charminar, and for a first-timer a tour of the Nizam city is incomplete without taking in the infectious energy of the place where it all began. Albeit traffic-ridden, the bazaars are still chaotic with their labyrinthine by-lanes heaving with hawkers, bangle sellers and food stalls.
The Charminar was built in 1591 after Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, the fifth king of the Qutb Shahi dynasty, moved his capital from Golconda, due to shortage of water, to Hyderabad city. Listed under the Archaeological Survey of India, theories abound on the reason for the construction of the Charminar. However, the two most probable ones historians rely on include the moving of capitals from Golconda to Hyderabad under Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah who prayed for the end of Cholera that had caused many deaths in his city, and had taken an oath to build a mosque on the site in which he prayed. Marking the end of the plague, Charminar stands on the very site. Persian texts, on the other hand, refer to a narration by a French traveller from the 17th century to the commemoration of the beginning of Islam’s second millennium year 1000 AH as the reason for the construction of the Charminar in 1591.
It is no surprise that the old city of Hyderabad came up around the Charminar, and its strategic positioning at the intersection of historical trade routes that connects the port city of Machilipatnam with the markets of Golconda.
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