Mohammad Quli Qutub Shah, popularly known and recorded in history as Abul Muzaffar Mohammad Quli Qutub Shah, Sultan Mohammad Quli Qutub Shah, and Mohammad Quli Qutub Shah, was the fifth ruler of the Qutub Shahi dynasty of Golconda and the founder of the city of Hyderbad. He was born in Golconda, Hyderabad. The legend goes that after one of his beloveds, Bhagmati, he founded a city called Bhag Nagar, which later became Hyderabad, once Bhagmati came to be re-named as Hyder Mahal. He is said to have erected other monuments in the name of his other eleven beloveds, and he celebrated his romance with them in his poetry separately.

Shah who wrote in Persian, Telugu, and Deccani—a variant of Urdu--is justifiably the first poet in Deccani Urdu with at least fifty thousand shers to his credit. Acclaimed to be a major voice, he practiced all poetic forms. He wrote on a variety of issues concerning communal life and the sentiments of the common man, their festivals and faiths, love and the pleasures of union, in a frank and disarming manner.  Drawing upon Hindu culture, as also upon the Persian culture and its literary tradition, he developed a secular view of love, life and literature. A contemporary of Tulsidas, he blended the best traditions of the two streams of thought and life to impart a new halo to his poetry. His poetic merit lies in his simplicity and musicality which he appropriated to project an inclusive view of life and art. Essentially a poet of his own flora and fauna, Quli Qutub Shah was a kind hearted ruler, a passionate lover, and a great patron of fine arts and architecture.