by Prof. A.V. Narasimha Murthy, former Head, Department of Ancient History & Anchaeology, University of Mysore
Gulbarga, which is now a district of Karnataka, had a chequered history from ancient times. It was the habitat of stoneage man as evidenced by the stone tools found in various sites. Sannati in this district was a flourishing Satavahana site as evidenced by parts of Buddhist stupas and Buddha images as discovered in archaeological excavation. Asokan inscription also has been found in Sannati. It has also yielded a large number of ancient coins.
The Rashtrakutas, who ruled over Deccan and made incursions even to north India, had their capital at Malkhed which was located in Sedam taluk of this district. Subsequently, it came under the rule of the Chalukyas of Kalyana. When Mohammad Bin Tughlaq invaded this part of Deccan, Gulbarga came under his rule.
It came to prominence when Alauddin Hasan Gangu Bahman Shah founded the Bahmani kingdom in 1347 AD. It became his capital and continued to be so under various kings of this dynasty. When Bahmani kingdom was divided into five States, some parts went to Adil Shahis of Bijapur and Barid Shahis of Bidar. During the Deccan invasion of Mughal emperor Aurangazeb, Gulbarga was included in his empire. After the death of Aurangazeb, the Asaf Jahi dynasty became prominent and it was included in it. It was included in the province of Nizam of Hyderabad.
In the meantime, the parts of this district came under different chiefs known as Nayakas. The district was included in the kingdoms of Surapura Nayakas. This hunter community chiefs of Surapura were very brave and under the leadership of Venkatappa Nayaka rebelled against the British and he was put to death and the latter took away his kingdom and handed it over to Nizam of Hyderabad.
The famous Salar Jung introduced many reforms and Gulbarga became a part of Surapura district. In 1873, Gulbarga was made into a separate district. In 1956, some taluks of this district were transferred to Andhra Pradesh and the remaining taluks formed parts of Gulbarga district and it was included in Mysore State, now Karnataka.
Gulbarga district has a respectable place in literary and cultural history also. The author of Kaviraja Marga belonged to this place, poet Ponna and Devara Dasimayya belong to the district. It is also considered to have had connections with poet Lakshmisha, saint Akshobhya Tirtha of Dvaita philosophy, Pushpadanta, the author of Mahapurana etc. Thus it had a glorious history and it became more famous because it became the capital of the Bahmanis in the medieval period, and for its Islamic buildings. Two such buildings are examined here:
Jamia Masjid (mosque) at Gulbarga is a unique mosque with a special feature not seen in other buildings of this type. Hence, it is famous all over the Islamic world. According to a Persian inscription, this mosque was completed in 1367 AD during the reign of Mahmad Shah Bahmani. He was the second Sultan of the Bahmani dynasty and he was successful in consolidating the political power of the Bahmani dynasty. He also introduced many administrative reforms and his period saw peace and prosperity. Architecture received great patronage during the period. This mosque was designed by an engineer- cum-artist from Persia, namely Rafi. He was a hereditary architect from the town of Kazvin in north Persia. The uniqueness of this mosque is that it has no open courtyard and the entire structure is covered. It is believed that this is not according to the Islamic tradition and hence people did not favour it and consequently this type of building was not repeated and for this reason this mosque became unique. The architect has designed it in such a subtle way as to show the harmonious blending of Persian and Indian elements in an undistinguishable way.
The mosque is built on a rectangular base of 216 ft in length and 176 ft in width. It has cloisters on its three sides. The other western side has a nave under a high dome. The entire area is filled by rows of aisles forming sixty-eight bays each having a cupola for its roof. In effect, the entire area is made into a vast closed pillared hall. The main dome which is an elegant structure and huge dominates the vicinity. The interior of the central dome is artistically ornamented with foliage designs. These attest to the long experience and superior technical knowledge of the artists. The decoration over the arches adds a grace to the entire building. The exterior walls have tall and slender arches repeated at regular intervals. This provides a graceful façade to the building on all the four sides.
Inscriptions in Persian at different places add a charm because of the fine calligraphic characters. With all these characters, the Jamia mosque is a unique monument. It has a dargah or tomb of saint Haji Hafeez Jamaluddin Ul Harmain. He was the grandson of Ghouse Azam Dastagir. He lived in Iraq. He was a famous philosopher and a learned man and was highly respected in the Islamic world for his knowledge and saintly living. Devotees go to this mosque to pay homage to this saint. Even today Jamia mosque attracts visitors in huge numbers.
Gulbarga has a large number of tombs of the rulers of the Bahmani dynasty and they are found in two groups. The first group consists of simple tombs beginning from the first ruler Alauddin Bahman Shah. The second group is more famous because of the architectural embellishments and innovations. As a group they are referred to as Haft Gumbaz or seven domes in local parlance. Actually it consists of the tombs of the four sultans beginning from Mujahid Bahmani who died in 1378 and of his successors. Firoze Bahman Shah (1397-1422) was a peace-loving sultan and sent an embassy to Timur in 1401 and thereby became the head of the Deccan, Malwa and Gujarat. He invited a large number of Arabs and Persians to his kingdom and this is reflected in the architecture of the period. This King died in 1422 and a tomb was built in the same year for him.
This tomb has many unique characters. It expresses the architectural features of Tughlaqs in addition to local innovations. The most important character of this tomb is the introduction of double domes over the structure. Normally only one dome is found over the structure. There are also two chambers. The arrangement is such that one dome and corresponding chamber is for the Sultan and the other one is for his family.
The structure measures externally 150 ft in length and 78 ft in width and the height of the walls is 42 ft. Above the latter are two hemispherical domes of 30 ft. The two symmetrical domes at the top are very elegant and add a special charm to the building. But what is more imposing and charming are the outer walls which give the appearance of a double-storeyed building. This is achieved by introducing a series of arches at the ground level.
Over these rises the walls with similar arches with pierced window designs. Above is a moulding on which is a parapet with row of decorations. A slight projection after the two alternate arches at the central level is very elegant. The smooth stucco work for which the Deccanese artists were famous all over the Islamic world is easily seen in abundance at this tomb. From all these architectural members, decorative embellishments and double domes, this tomb of Firoz Shah Bahmani is considered unique and a beautiful edifice.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home>Feature Articles / July 19th, 2014