Premamati Mosque (Qutb Shahi Masjid)
Also known as: Premamati Masjid, Pema Mati Mosque, Qutb Shahi Mosque Ibrahim Bagh, Ibrahim Bagh ki Masjid
A pre-Hyderabad Qutb Shahi masterpiece in Ibrahim Bagh. Begun under Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah as the planned grand mosque for a new capital that was abandoned for water shortage, it later served as the architectural scale prototype for Makkah Masjid.
History & Story
Predating the founding of Hyderabad (1591), the Premamati Mosque was commissioned around 1560 by Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah as the grand congregational mosque for a planned royal city in Ibrahim Bagh, west of Golconda Fort. When the new city scheme was abandoned due to acute water scarcity, Sultan Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah shifted the capital to the banks of the Musi River instead. In the early 17th century, royal architects used this solid pink-granite structure to test the structural engineering of monumental arches and vaulting before erecting the colossal Makkah Masjid in the city center. Featuring 5 grand facade arches, Kakatiya-inspired frizzle stone carvings, and 10 concealed ceiling domes, it was later associated in local lore with Premamati (Pema Mati), the celebrated Hindu consort and court artist of Sultan Abdullah Qutb Shah.