Sultan Mohammed Quli Qutab Shah, son of Ibrahim Qutab Shah, was the ruler of the state of Golconda, and founder of the city of Hyderabad. He was a contemporary of Emperor Jalalud-din Akbar, and was, like Akbar, a liberal, kind-hearted ruler, a lover of peace and amity, and a patron and promoter of the fine arts of poetry, music and architecture. More than that, he was a great poet, the author of a rich collection of 50,000 couplets, comprising ghazals, masnavis, qasidas, rubaies and qitas. It is now generally agreed that Quli Qutab Shah, rather than Wali Deccany, was the founding father of Urdu poetry. He may also be called the architect of Urdu language which he built by blending together Persian and Hindi, with a sprinkling of words and phrases drawn from Punjabi, Arabic, and local Deccany dialects. He, however, saw to it that the new product remained close to the language of common speech. He may truly be called a poet of the people, who has written poems to celebrate the popular Indian festivals like Holi, Diwali, Eid, Basant or the New Year Day. But he was, basically, a lover and a poet of love. A man of romantic temperament, his privileged position as a ruler allowed him easy access to the society of women, and it was this amorous involvement with the fair sex that inspired the poet in him. In a series of poems he has chosen to dwell on the graces and charms of his twelve mistresses, who are remembered by such endearing names as "Gori', "Nanhi'. "Piari", "Sanwli", "Chhabeeli", etc. It is interesting to recall that the city of Hyderabad, founded by him was first named "Bhag Nagar", after the name of his beloved, Bhag Mati. But Qutab Shah was also a mystic poet and a devout Muslim. Love of women and love of Mohamnied are the two recurring subjects.