How the Nizams Made Bibi-ka-Alam Hyderabad’s Muharram Icon

The Nizams inherited many institutions from the Qutb Shahis, one of which was the Bibi-ka-Alam.

The institution of Bibi-ka-Alam was created under the Shia Qutb Shahi rulers of Golconda, but it became Hyderabad’s pre-eminent public symbol of Muharram through sustained Asaf Jahi patronage, royal endowments, ceremonial participation, and incorporation into the public ritual life of the state.

The Qutb Shahs institutionalised Azadari (the ritual of mourning during Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar) as a state-supported practice. Historical traditions maintain that the sacred relic of the Bibi-ka-Alam reached Golconda during the reign of Abdullah Qutb Shah and that the practice of installing the alam, therefore, dates to the Qutb Shahi period. Thus, religious legitimacy, relics, and ritual tradition associated with the Bibi-ka-Alam were Qutb Shahi creations.

The Nizams inherited many institutions from the Qutb Shahis, one of which was the Bibi-ka-Alam. However, what transformed the Bibi-ka-Alam from a dynastic Shia relic into Hyderabad’s most visible Muharram observance was Asaf Jahi patronage.

Three developments were crucial: the first was the relocation of the alam, the second was the bestowing of royal endowments on the alam, and the third was the Nizams’ participation in the rituals. During the Asaf Jahi period, the alam was shifted from its earlier Golconda fort setting and housed at Bibi-ka-Alawa in Dabeerpura. The present structure bears an inscription dated 1784, indicating its establishment as a major ritual centre under the Nizams. Successive Nizams enriched the alam with jewels and gifts. Historical accounts record donations of precious stones and ornaments by the Nizam’s family, while the seventh Nizam, Mir Osman Ali Khan, added valuable jewels that remain associated with the alam. The most significant factor was the participation of the members of the ruling family in the annual rituals of offering dhatti and ceremonial gifts to the alam. These acts publicly linked the legitimacy of the Hyderabad state with the sacred observances of Muharram.

Bibi-ka-Alawa was originally a royal endowment or a waqf, but later the Nizam’s patronage transformed its legal status.

Out of 33 trusts created by the seventh Nizam, there was one particular trust named the Bibi-ka-Alam and Koh-e-Maula Trust. This trust deed was signed at Hyderabad on 29th March 1951, between Mir Sir Osman Ali Khan, as the ‘Settlor’; Nawab Zain Yar Jung Bahadur of Hyderabad; and Shavax Ardeshir Lal of Delhi, called the ‘Trustees’. Earlier, the Ecclesiastical Department of the Sarf-e-Khas of the Nizam of Hyderabad used to maintain the two sacred places until 1950.

The trust created a sum of 3,000 rupees per annum to provide for the maintenance and upkeep of the Bibi-ka-Alam and a sum of 1,000 rupees as annual offerings for its benefit. The Settlor set apart Government Securities of the total face value of 300,000 rupees for the Bibi-ka-Alam. The deed further says that after the death of the Settlor, the trust funds were to be divided into three equal parts and to allocate one such equal part to an account or fund called the Bibi-ka-Alam Trust Fund. To manage and maintain the Bibi-ka-Alam, the Trustees were mandated to provide for the expenses incurred during the first week of Muharram when the alam is brought out, certain ceremonies are performed, and the procession of the alam is taken out on an elephant on the 10th day of Muharram, known as Yom-e-Ashura.

The Trustees could appoint a committee of three well-experienced persons to execute these matters. The first such Advisory Committee appointed by the Trustees comprised Nawab Shaheed Yar Jung Bahadur, Moulvi Mahomed Abdus Sattar Saheb, and Humayun Ali Baig. This trust deed was signed by the Settlor and Trustees in the presence of M. K. Vellodi, Chief Minister of Hyderabad, and N. K. Suntook, Solicitor, Bombay.

Based on this crucial evidence, the most defensible historical conclusion is that the Bibi-ka-Alam originated as a Qutb Shahi sacred institution, received extensive patronage from the Nizams, and came under the administration of H.E.H. the Nizam’s Trust, and now operates within a legal framework that also involves the Telangana State Waqf Board.

Many Qutb Shahi ashurkhanas have survived, but only the Bibi-ka-Alam achieved city-wide prominence. The reason was not merely religious devotion; it was also political patronage. From financing Muharram observances, renovating the shrine, attaching royal ceremonies to the procession, donating jewels and relic adornments, and incorporating the procession into Hyderabad’s public ceremonial calendar to preserving it as a dynastic ritual even in the twentieth century, the Nizams’ interventions are noteworthy. As a result, the Nizams transformed a Qutb Shahi sacred relic into one of the most visible symbols and a state-recognised public institution of Hyderabad.