Moula Ali hill also known as Maula Ali, had the ancient name Kapargutta is a

monadnock An inselberg or monadnock () is an isolated rock hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain. In Southern Africa a similar formation of granite is known as a koppie, a ...

or dome-shaped hill located in

Moula Ali Moula-Ali commonly known as Moula Ali . It is a well-developed industrial and urban area in Malkajgiri Mandal, of the Medchal-Malkajgiri district, It is a part of Greater Hyderabad and also a part of Hyderabad Metropolitan Region of the Indian ...

Hyderabad, India Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the '' de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern In ...

. It is well known for the Moula Ali

dargah A dargah ( fa, درگاه ''dargâh'' or ''dargah'', Turkish: ''dergâh'', Hindustani: ''dargah'' दरगाह درگاہ, bn, দরগাহ ''dorgah'') is a shrine or tomb built over the grave of a revered religious figure, often ...

and shia masjid, which are both on top of the hill. The area is maximally inhabited by Shia Muslims.

Overview

The Moula Ali hill is approximately tall. It has 484 steps from dargah to bottom of the hill and has about 600

tomb A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a :wikt:repository, repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be ...

s around it. There is another hillock near the Moula Ali hill, called "Qadam -e- Rasul", on which the sacred relics of the

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...

were deposited by Mohammad Shakrullah Rahan, a servant of

Asaf Jahi The Asaf Jahi was a Muslim dynasty that ruled the Kingdom of Hyderabad. The family came to India in the late 17th century and became employees of the Mughal Empire. They were great patrons of Persian culture, language, and literature, the famil ...

History

The area near the hill has been inhabited by humans since

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

times. Excavations have found pottery, iron tools and fragments of human skeleton near the site. In 1578, a

eunuch A eunuch ( ) is a male who has been castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2nd millennium ...

of the

Qutub Shahi The Qutb Shahi dynasty also called as Golconda Sultanate (Persian: ''Qutb Shāhiyān'' or ''Sultanat-e Golkonde'') was a Persianate Shia Islam dynasty of Turkoman origin that ruled the sultanate of Golkonda in southern India. After the coll ...

court named Yakut was ill. He dreamt that a man in green dress told him to visit Moula Ali hill because

Ali ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...

was waiting for him on top of the hill. In his dream Yakut went to the hill with the man and saw Ali sitting on top of the hill resting his hand on a stone. The next morning, Yaqut's illness was cured and a stone was found on the hill, which is said to have had the hand marks of Ali on it. After hearing about this incident, the Sultan visited the hill and ordered a dargah to be built on top of the hill. The stone that was found is kept in the shrine on top of the hill. MoulaAli 1902 2

The hill was named 'Maula Ali', which means 'My Master Ali', after the incident. The stone became popular for

sufis Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spiri ...

ascetics Asceticism (; from the el, ἄσκησις, áskesis, exercise', 'training) is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from sensual pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their p ...

and

mystics A mystic is a person who practices mysticism, or a reference to a mystery, mystic craft, first hand-experience or the occult. Mystic may also refer to: Places United States * Mistick, an old name for parts of Malden and Medford, Massachusetts * ...

because of the belief that the stone has healing powers. The Nizam VI riding an elephant in a procession from Moula Ali, circa

Qutub shahi sultans began an annual pilgrimage on 17th Rijab to the hill from

Golconda Fort (Telugu: గోల్కొండ, romanized: ''Gōlkōnḍa'') is a historic fortress and ruined city located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. It was originally called Mankal. The fort was originally built by Kakatiya ruler Pratāparu ...

, but after sunni Muslims conquered Hyderabad in 1687, the festival temporarily stopped. In the

Nizams The Nizams were the rulers of Hyderabad from the 18th through the 20th century. Nizam of Hyderabad (Niẓām ul-Mulk, also known as Asaf Jah) was the title of the monarch of the Hyderabad State ( divided between the state of Telangana, M ...

rule, this festival became one of the two important national festivals.

Moula Ali dargah

The Moula Ali

is located on top of the hill. It was built by Sultan Ibrahim Qutub Shah and it is the only dargah dedicated to maula Ali, son-in-law of

Prophet Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monoth ...

. Its interior is decorated with thousands of mirrors and it is one of the 11 heritage sites in Hyderabad, identified by the "Heritage conservation committee" of

HUDA Huda may refer to: People with the name * Huda (given name), an index of people with the given name * Huda (surname), an index of people with the surname Entities with the name * Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA), the urban plan ...

. It is well known fact that Maula Ali Hill has engraving of the hand of Ali Ibn Talib, the fourth caliphate of Islam. It is revered by millions of people around the year.

References

{{reflist, 2 Hills of Telangana Geography of Hyderabad, India Tourist attractions in Hyderabad, India