Qutb Mushtari

For Mark Zebrowski the Qutb Mushtari is a "history" in a non-historical manner written at Golconda for Sultan Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah: a long poem in Deccani Urdu composed by Wajhi in 1609–10. ¹

Its hero is the sultan himself: one night he dreams of a maiden, falls in love and sets out impulsively to find her with his best friend, Utarad the painter. She is Mushtari, princess of Bengal; Utarad is commissioned to paint murals in her apartments and introduces the sultan's portrait, she falls in love with it and then with the sultan, who carries her off to Hyderabad. ^{1 2}

The author notes that Deccani literature, like Deccani painting, is idealised rather than factual, and that a translation would be useful since many of its scenes were likely illustrated by Golconda painters. The tale itself makes the painter the king's friend and go-between in love. ^{1 2}