摘要: Justification of Outstanding Universal Value　　The Qutb Shahi monuments of Golconda Fort, Qutb Shahi Tombs and Charminar are the oldest and most significant monuments of the sister cities of Golconda a

Justification of Outstanding Universal Value

　　The Qutb Shahi monuments of Golconda Fort, Qutb Shahi Tombs and Charminar are the oldest and most significant monuments of the sister cities of Golconda and Hyderabad, successive capitals of the Qutb Shahi Islamic Sultanate (1518-1687). The legendary centre of diamond trade, Golconda was a medieval fortified city complete with residential, military and courtly functions. The Qutb Shahi tomb complex was a grand royal necropolis in the distinctive Qutb Shahi architectural style. As the court grew beyond the confines of the Golconda fort, the urban metropolis of Hyderabad was founded with the monumental Charminar in the centre as a grand millennium marker. Unique in its architectural typology, the Charminar remains an acknowledged masterpiece of Islamic architecture.155. With its unique form, architectural typology and location, it is among the most recognizable icons of Indian architecture.156

　　The monuments of the Qutb Shahi period provide vivid testimony of the creative synthesis of Persianate and Indic cultural traditions with a unique Deccani identity. Qutb Shahi architecture began with Bahmani moorings and evolved a sophisticated architectural aesthetic within the Deccani paradigm, symbolising the zenith of Islamic architecture in SouthIndia.

　　Criterion (i):

　　The Charminar is an acknowledged masterpiece of world architecture on account of its grand conception, design and execution. Charminar's most compelling quality is the originality of its unprecedented design that was to stylistically exercise a profound impact on the subsequent development of Deccani architecture. 157 Based on a system of interlocking voids and solids is seen in the alternating rhythms between its lofty arches and towering minarets, it became the archetype for later Islamic buildings in India.

　　Functionally, it does not conform to any of the familiar building types from the Indo-Islamic world, but serves as a monumental marker for the central node in Hyderabad's four-quartered design. Charminar is the archetype of the chaubara or "four-fold house" marking the intersection of four cardinal avenues, affording a series of impressive vistas. It is a singular monument as it embodies a singular design and ideas not seen in earlier structures.

　　The urban ensemble of Charminar and the Char Kaman resonates deeply with symbolic and ceremonial meaning to commemorate the beginning of the second Islamic Millennium and is a remarkable example of Shia city planning. This symbol envisioned the universe as a domed quadrangular structure of immense proportions, carried on four arches and illuminated at its apex by the sun as the light of heaven and earth. The Charminar's ground storey is indeed capped by a low compressed dome adorned with a solar lotus at its apex.

　　Criteria (ii):

　　Together, these Qutb Shahi monuments provide a unique testimony to the vibrant cosmopolitanism that characterized the medieval period in India and in the Deccan region in particular. Other Deccani sultanates were similarly multi-ethnic and multi-lingual, but the Qutb Shahi Sultanate appears to have been at the forefront of this cosmopolitanism. The founder of the dynasty and many influential nobles were immigrants from Iran. The success of the Qutb Shahi state depended critically on the ability of these "westerners" (gharbian) to form alliances both with members of the deeply rooted class of Deccani Muslims, and the local Telugu-speaking Hindu elite. In a manner that is more striking than at any other site, the Qutb Shahi monuments reveal the innovative and inspired blending of Persianate and Indic cultures that flowed from the successful integration of this multi-ethnic society.

　　In Golconda fort, the medieval diamond trade drew travelers from the world and the blending of cultures is manifest in a succession of constructional phases. The uppermost circuit of 14^th century walls represents a local Indic architectural tradition. The Qutb Shahis introduced the Persianate style of elevated citadel (bala hisar) and fortified lower city (pa'in shahr). The Iranian urban traditions are best seen in the axial alignments of defensive gates, commercial streets, ceremonial portals and audience halls158. The accurate acoustical system and water system at the fort are the most innovative advances in the defence technology at Golconda.

　　It was with Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah's founding of Hyderabad in 1591 (AH 1000) to commemorate the beginning of the second Islamic millennium159 that the full synthesis of Indic and Persianate cultural strains was achieved. Although this was a Persianate impetus, the planners were drawing on ancient Hindu cosmological traditions of the central ritual node (chaubara) from which the four-quartered capital would unfold. In its formal expression however, the Charminar was inspired by a venerable Persian image of the cosmos, known as the chahar taq or "four arches".

　　The monument provided inspiration for the design of another Charminar, constructed in 1807 in the city of Bukhara in Uzbekistan160 and now included as part of the World Heritage Site "Historic Centre of Bukhara". Although the Bukhara Charminar functions as a gateway rather than as part of the larger urban armature, it nonetheless follows its design quite closely.

　　Criteria (iii):

　　The monuments of the Qutb Shahi period provide a unique testimony to the social, economic, cultural, political and technological landscape of the period of the Deccani Islamic Sultanate in medieval India. The Golconda Fort, Qutb Shahi Tombs and Charminar epitomise the flourishing of Deccani art and architecture and are unique expressions of the religious and artistic flowering of the Islamic Sultanate in Southern India.

　　Golconda Fort lay on an important trade route from the port town of Masulipatam to hinterlands and thus grew as a great trade centre and an international market place for textile, printed cloth and the famous Golconda diamonds and one of the leading cities of the East. Given the vicinity of diamond mines, it flourished as a diamond trading centre and thus played a significant role in the economics of the region.

　　The Qutb Shahi rulers were patrons of a culture which is sometimes dubbed the Deccani culture, a result of the synthesis of cultures from the indigenous dakhani culture of southern India to the mingling of the cultural nuances and ideas brought by the afaqi settlers from other parts of the Islamic world and the many travellers that swarmed to the diamond trade centre of Golconda. The twin capital cities of Golconda and Hyderabad were witness to a unique flowering of art, architecture, language, literature, music, cuisine and costume reflected subtly but perceptibly in the miniature paintings architecture and the Shi'a culture of the period.

　　Criteria (iv):

　　The group of Qutb Shahi tombs constitutes an outstanding example of an Indo-Muslim dynastic necropolis. Although many other Indo-Muslim dynasties also produced such necropolises, that of the Qutb Shahis is unique on three counts. First, it is a more complete dynastic complex than any other in India, as it unites in one location the tombs of five of the dynasty's seven rulers as well as four other identified members of the royal family. Second, its chronological span of 130 years is longer than that of any other documented necropolis in India. Third, because of these first two factors, the necropolis provides unique testimony not only for the stylistic development of Qutb Shahi architecture, but also for the dynastic politics within the family.

　　Because the Qutb Shahi necropolis includes nine tombs of members of the royal family, all firmly datable by means of their epitaph inscriptions, the complex affords the best controlled means of understanding the developing Qutb Shahi architectural style and its chronology. The earliest tomb-that of the dynasty's founder Sultan Quli (d.1543)-reveals its dependence on late Bahmani traditions of tomb design, while the tomb of the next to last ruler, Abdullah (d.1672) exhibits all of the distinctive qualities of the fully formed Qutb Shahi style. In between, every intermediate stage is represented, and several unusual variants as well, including the tomb of Muhammad Quli (d.1612) with its Iranian-inspired post and beam porticoes (talar), and the so-called tomb of Jamsheed (d.1550) with its unusual two-storeyed octagonal plan.

　　The complex also provides invaluable evidence shedding light on the nature of dynastic politics within the Qutb Shahi family. Tombs were built not only for the ruling sultans, but also for their wives and consorts, and for sons who were excluded from the succession. The spatial relationships between these various tombs are often highly instructive. Thus, until the 1620s, the original necropolis was confined to the southwestern block of the present enclosure and contained the monumental tombs of Sultan Quli (d.1543), Ibrahim (d. 1580), and Muhammad Quli (d.1612). Additionally, there was the small tomb of Ibrahim's son, Mirza Muhammad Amin (d.1596), which occupied the same terrace as his father's tomb, and numerous smaller tombs lacking inscriptions and most likely belonging to various members of the Qutb Shahi elite. Although this area also contains two structures that are popularly identified as the tombs of the Sultans Jamsheed (d. 1550) and Subhan (d.1550) -with whom Ibrahim fought a succession dispute-neither contains epitaphs confirming this identification, and moreover, they are built in the fully developed style of the mid-seventeenth century, making it impossible that they should belong to these two rulers. At least during the sixteenth century, it would appear that Jamsheed and his son Subhan were excluded from the royal necropolis, as if to deny that their reigns had ever occurred.

　　Golconda Fort is an outstanding example of military architecture, with its impregnable defence mechanism, unique water supply and distribution system, as well as the unique sewage disposal mechanisms and extraordinary acoustical system unparalleled in the architectural history of the Deccan and perhaps the military architecture of India. Golconda is one of the biggest fortresses in south India and has commanded the geo-politics of the region as well as the coveted diamond trade over seven centuries and governed the trade and destiny of South India.