Makkah masjid is one of the largest in the country and can accommodate ten thousand people at a time during the prayer. Thousands of musallis offer prayers on Friday and on the occasion of Eidain at Makkah Masjid but very few know that the arched gallery (Chaukhandi), which is a later addition at the south end of the mosque, consists the tombs of the Nizams of Hyderabad. Infact 14 graves lie in the beautiful marble chaukhandi of which 5 belong to Asif Jahi rulers and 9 belong to the members of the Asif Jahi dynasty.
The construction of this mosque was started by Sultan Muhammad Qutub Shah in 1617, the work continued during the reign of Abdullah Qutub Shah and Abul Hassan Tana Shah and was completed in 1694 by the Moghal Emperor Aurangzeb.
Nawab Mir Nizam Ali Khan Bahadur’s mother Umda Begum, Nawab Sikandar Jah Bahadur’s mother Tahniyat Unnisa Begum, Nawab Sikander Jah Bahadur’s step mother Bakhshi Begum, Nawab Nasiruddaula Bahadur’s mother Chandni Begum, Nawab Afzaluddaula Bahadur’s mother Dilawarunnisa Begum, Nawab Nizam Ali Khan Bahadur’s daughter Imami Begum, Nawab Nizam Ali Khan Bahadur’s sister Khan Bahadur Begum, Nawab Nizam Ali Khan Bahadur’s wife Burhanpuri Begum, besides Nawab Nizam Ali Khan Bahadur, Nawab Sikander Jah Bahadur, Nasiruddaula Bahadur, Afzaluddaula Bahadur and Mir Mahboob Ali Khan Bahadur were buried here.
Office of the Nazimul Umoor HEH the Nizam Trust which is the custodian of Makkah Masjid should install a board mentioning details regarding the graves of royal family to acquaint, people of Hyderabad besides tourists who visit the masjid, with the history of Makkah Masjid and the marble graves lying towards the southern end of the masjid.
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