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Published: March 11th 2006
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Last weekend, I traveled with a group of HMI staff and students to the medieval Islamic city of Bidar. Bidar is located about 150 km east of Hyderabad in the neighboring state of Karnataka, and was the capital of two Deccan Muslim dynasties, the Bahmanis and the Barid Shahis, from about 1400 to the 1600’s.
Bidar is famous for its fort and for the many tombs in the city that house many of the Bahmani and Barid rulers, their families, as well as an Iranian Sufi whose tomb is still venerated today, Khalil Allah. The city nowadays is a backwater town, still predominantly Muslim, and rarely sees visitors—in fact, our group received more than the usual stares from the locals.
The fort at Bidar is encircled by about 10 km of baked brick fortifications, which on the north and west sides drop to 300-meter cliffs. After passing through three imposing gates, the fort opens up to a large, manicured green garden with fountains. Facing this courtyard are three buildings: the Solah Khamb Mosque, the main Palace, and the Reception Hall. Right now the entire fort is undergoing restorative work by the Indian Archeological Society, and only the Mosque is
First Stop
A tomb just outside of Hyderabad in the style of the Qutb Shahis, who ruled Hyderabad from 1518-1687. close to being finished. When we visited, they were repaving the mosque’s floor and therefore we could not see the entire building.
Of all the Fort’s structures, the former palace called Rangeen Mahal (lit. “The Colored Palace”) is the most preserved building. Rangeen Mahal consists of two floors, which once housed apartments, dressing rooms, and had a central courtyard with fountains.
In this building, I found magnificent tile work on the walls and ceilings that reminded me of the Persian styles I’ve seen in books. On one wall, an intricate vegetal pattern was inlaid with mother of pearl, and set against a black granite background. Just off of the courtyard was a hall that had a wooden ceiling decorated with both Muslim and Hindu motifs; the carvings and ornamentation reminded me of Muslim Spain mosque architecture like the Alhambra.
After touring the fort, we drove into downtown Bidar for a look at what is left of Mahmud Gawan’s madrasa, or Islamic school. This structure used to house Gawan’s renowned library, a school, a dormitory, and a mosque. Gawan was a Persian exile, and his madrasa was built in the distinctively Persian style of four halls that face
From Inside the Qutb Shahi tomb
Just around the tomb are several families living in tents who enjoyed seeing us. each other and open up to a central courtyard. In the late 17th century, the Madrasa was struck by lightning, which ignited the stockpiled gunpowder of the rulers who succeeded the Barid Shahis. What remains today is a shell of a building, and only two of the four halls remain standing. However, the building’s façade features a large portion of Qu’ranic calligraphy again in Safavid blue, as well as portions of colorful zig-zag tile on the minaret.
Our last stop was to view the tombs of the Bahmani rulers and their associates at Ashtur, about three kilometers east of Bidar. We first went to the shrine and tomb of Khalil Allah, the chief spiritual advisor to one of the Bahmani kings who died in 1460. Interestingly, there was a caretaker here who showed us around and answered our questions. In the front room, Khalil Allah's grave is surrounded by the graves of two other men who came to the Deccan with him from Iran. And throughout the tomb there are graves of followers of Allah; one of these graves was so small that it certainly held the remains of a child. Walking around the outside of the tomb, on
Inside the Qutb Shahi Tomb
These are simple, unadorned graves that we found inside the tomb structure its eastern side I found some Qu’anic inscriptions set in black colbalt stone that the guidebook claimed were the finest such examples in Bidar.
From the hill where Khalil Allah's tomb sits, looking to the east you can see that farther down the road there are several large tombs lined up in a row. These are the burial sites of the Bahmani kings, several of which are still venerated today by pilgrims. As the status of the Bahmani rulers declined, the grandeur of their tombs declined as well, and as such the most spectacular structures are those of the first three rulers.
The first tomb we came upon was that of Ahmad Shah I, whose shrine is a site of pilgramage for Sufis. Because I am a woman, I was only able to stand in the entryway of the shrine, although the caretaker did his best to help me take some good pictures. As you can see from the photos, his grave is marked off by long strings that have silver papers hanging from them; these silver papers are tied to the string by patrons who visit the shrine in the hopes that their requests will be fulfilled.
Bidar Fort
After entering three fortified gates, the fort opens up with a large green space, fountains, and a mosque (pictured). There is not much to say about the other Bahmani tombs--except that the dome of the tomb of Humayun the Cruel was cracked open by a bolt of lightning and still stands, half wrecked. A few of the larger tombs had blue tilework on their facade that had mostly been chipped away.
All in all, reliving the rise and fall of these Islamic rulers through viewing their homes, monuments, and tombs was just another of many facinating aspects of the history of the Deccan. I hope that you enjoy the pictures from our trip to Bidar!
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