History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v2.c29: Chapter VIII. Kulbarga.

History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v2.c29

Language: English

Chapter VIII. Kulbarga.

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CONTENTS. The Mosque at Kulbarga—Madrasa at Bîdar—Tombs.

| 'Alâu-d-Dîn Hasan Gângû, Bahmanî, a servant in Muhammad Tughlaq's court | A.D. 1347 | 'Alâu-d-Dîn Ahmad Shâh II. | A.D. 1435 |
| Muhammad Shâh I. Ghâzi | ,, 1358 | Kalîm Allâh Shâh, last of the Bahmanî dynasty . . . | ,, 1525 |
| Mujâhid Shâh . . . | ,, 1375 | | |
| Mahmûd Shâh I. (or Muhammad Shâh II.) . . . . | ,, 1378 | Qâsim I., Barîd, founder of Barîd Shâhî dynasty of Bîdar | ,, 1492 |
| Tâju-d-Dîn Fîrûz Shâh married daughter of Devarâya of Vijayanagar . . . . | ,, 1397 | 'Alî Barîd Shâhî, assumed royalty . . . . | ,, 1542 |
| Ahmad Shâh I., capital Bîdar | ,, 1422 | Amîr Barîd Shâh, last of his race . . . . | ,, 1609 |

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THE campaigns of 'Alâu-d-Dîn and of Tughlaq Shâh in the beginning of the 14th century extended the fame and fear of the Moslim power over the whole peninsula of India, as far as Cape Comorin and the Straits of Manâr. It was almost impossible, however, that a state in the semi-barbarous condition of the Afghâns of that day could so organise a government as to rule so extensive and varied an empire from one central point, and that as remote as Delhi. Tughlaq Shâh felt this, and proposed to establish the capital at Daulatâbâd. If he had been able to accomplish this, the whole of the south might have been permanently conquered. As it was, the Ballâla dynasty of Halebîd was destroyed in A.D. 1311,¹ and that of Worangal crippled but not finally conquered till some time afterwards, while the rising power of Vijayanagar formed a barrier which shielded the southern states against Muhammadan encroachment for some centuries after that time; and but for the establishment of Muhammadan kingdoms independent of the central power at Delhi, the Dekhan might have been lost to the Moslims, and the Hindûs held their own for a long time, perhaps for ever, to the south of the Vindhya range.

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¹ *Ante*, vol. i. p. 437.

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The first of those dynasties that successfully established its independence was that called the Bahmanî, from its founder. Hasan Gângû, being the servant of a Brâhman in Mahmûd Tughlaq's court, and owing his rise to his master, he adopted his name as a title in gratitude. He established himself at Kulbarga or Gulbarga,¹ an ancient Hindû city of the Dekhan in 1347, and with his immediate successors the kingdom extended from Berâr to the Krishnâ river, and from the Worangal kingdom on the east to the Arabian sea on the west, and not only held in check the Hindû sovereigns of Worangal and Vijayanagar, but actually forced them to pay him tribute. This prosperous state of affairs lasted for nearly a century, when Ahmad Shâh I. (A.D. 1422 - 1435), for some reason not explained, in 1428 transferred the seat of power to Bîdar. Under 'Alâu-d-Dîn Ahmad II. fresh conquests extended the kingdom over all the western Dekhan from Mysore to Gujarât. After Muhammad II., they lingered on for about another century, latterly known as the Barîd Shâhis, till they were absorbed in the great Mughal empire in A.D. 1609.² Long before that, however, their place in the Dekhan had been taken by the Bijâpûr 'Adil Shâhîs, who established themselves there A.D. 1490.

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¹ Kulbarga is the form generally and properly used, but in Haidarâbâd, the spelling Gulbarga is favoured.

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² A very succinct account of the dynasty is given in the 'Numismatic Chronicle,' 3rd Series, vol. i. pp. 91 *et seqq.*

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During the short supremacy of Kulbarga as capital of the Dekhan (A.D. 1347-1428), it was adorned with several important buildings, among which was a mosque, one of the most remarkable of its class in India (Woodcuts Nos. 409, 410). Its dimensions are considerable, though not excessive: it measures 216 ft. east and west, and 170 ft. north and south, and consequently covers 36,720 sq. ft. Its great peculiarity, however, is that, alone of all the great mosques in India, the whole of the area is covered over as in the great mosque at Cordova. Comparing it, for instance, with the mosque at Mandû, which is the one in other respects most like it, it will be observed that the greater part of its area is occupied by a courtyard surrounded by arcades. At Kulbarga there is no court, the whole area of about 126 ft. by 100 ft. is roofed over by sixty-three small domes, and the light is admitted through the side walls, which are pierced with great arches for this purpose on all sides except the west, where is the masjid proper, 45 ft. in depth (Woodcut No. 408). The central area of the mosque is covered by a dome 40 ft. in diameter, raised on a clerestory, and the side areas by six small domes each, whilst on each end of the side corridors are domes of 25 ft. in width.

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Having only one example of the class, it is not easy to form an opinion which of the two systems of building is the better.

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408. Mosque at Kulbarga. (From a Plan by the Hon. Sir Arthur Gordon, now Lord Stanmore.) Scale 50 ft. to 1 in.

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There is a repose and a solemnity which is singularly suited to a place of prayer, in a courtyard enclosed by cloisters on all sides, and only pierced by two or three doors; but, on the other hand, the heat and glare arising from reflection of the sun's rays in these open courts is sometimes most painful in such a climate as India, and nowhere, so far as I know, was it ever even attempted to modify this by awnings. On the Kulbarga plan, on the contrary, the solid roof covering the whole space afforded

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409. Half elevation half section of the Mosque at Kulbarga. Scale 50 ft. to 1 in.

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410. View of the Mosque at Kulbarga. (From a Photograph.)

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protection from the sun's rays to all worshippers, and every aisle being open at one or both ends, prevented anything like gloom, and admitted of far freer ventilation than was attainable in the enclosed courts, while the requisite privacy could easily have been obtained by a low enclosing wall at some distance from the mosque itself. On the whole, my impression is that the Kulbarga plan is the preferable one of the two, both for convenience and for architectural effect, so much so indeed, that it is very difficult to understand why, when once tried, it was never afterwards repeated. Probably the cause of its being abandoned was the difficulty of draining so extensive a flat roof during the rains. Any settlement or any crack must have been fatal; yet this mosque stands in seemingly good repair, after four centuries of comparative neglect. Whichever way the question is decided, it must be admitted that this is one of the finest of the old mosques of India, at least among those which are built wholly of original materials—and in the arcuate style of Muhammadan art. Those at Delhi and Ajmîr are more interesting of course, but it is from adventitious circumstances. This owes its greatness only to its own original merits of design.¹

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¹ For the plan and section of this mosque I am indebted to my friend the Hon. Sir Arthur Gordon (now Lord Stanmore). He made the plans himself, and most liberally placed them at my disposal. The mosque is now in a dilapidated condition. In an attempt to repair it at one time, an old powder magazine close by was exploded and the work was stopped. But it has since been taken up afresh.

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Besides the mosque, there is in Kulbarga a bâzâr, 570 ft. long by 60 ft. wide, over all, adorned by a range of sixty-one arches on either hand, supported by pillars of a quasi-Hindû character, and with a block of buildings of a very ornamental character at either end. I am not aware of anything of its class more striking in any part of India. The arcades that most resemble this are those that line the street called the Street of the Pilgrims, at Vijayanagar, which may be contemporary with this bâzâr.

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There are other buildings, especially one gigantic gateway, in the city of Kulbarga, in front of the shrine or Dargâh of Banda Nawâz, built about 1640; and in the east of the town are some very grand old tombs—of seven of the Bahmanî kings—massive square domed structures, with sloping walls, and with some handsome stone tracery on the outer surfaces, but otherwise of little architectural merit; inside they are elaborately finished, but have been, and are still, used as Government offices and residences.

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After the seat of government was removed to Bîdar, a little over sixty miles to the north-east of Kulbarga, by Ahmad Shâh I., A.D. 1422-1435, the new capital was adorned by edifices worthy of the greatness of the dynasty, but which are now greatly ruined. Among these the most magnificent appears to have been the madrasa or college erected by Khwâja Mahmûd Gâwân (or Gilanî), the faithful but unfortunate minister of the tyrant Muhammad II. It was about 205 ft. by 180 ft., with lofty towers at the ends of the east face, and must have been a striking building, three storeys in height, with its towers—if not the whole façade—covered with enamelled tiles. It appears to have been finished two years before his death, in A.D. 1481, and in Ferishta’s time was one of the most complete and flourishing establishments of its class in India.¹ Unfortunately, when the place was besieged by Aurangzîb in 1656, a quantity of gunpowder was stored in it and exploded, either accidentally or by design, so as to ruin one wing. Since then the building has been disused, but so far as can be judged from such imperfect information as is available, it must have been one of the most splendid buildings of its day. In the citadel the most entire structure, perhaps, is the mosque, which is 295 ft. in length by 77 ft. deep, with nineteen arched entrances in front, and inside eighty round piers, each 4¼ ft. in diameter, which support the groins of the roof. In the middle, enclosing the *mihrâbs* and a pulpit of three steps, is an apartment 38 ft. square, which is carried up as an octagon a storey above the roof of the mosque, and covered by a large dome. Parts of the roof—which was covered by some eighty-four small domes—have fallen in. The ten tombs of Bahmanî kings, about 5 miles north-east from the city, are of the like pattern and of considerable splendour, the largest being that of Ahmad Shâh I., who died in 1435. They are not much ornamented, but are structurally good, and impressive by their massive proportions.

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¹ Brigg’s translation of Ferishta, vol. ii. p. 510.

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The tombs, too, of the Barîd Shâhî dynasty, which reigned in Bîdar from A.D. 1492-1609, are of considerable splendour, and rival those of Golkonda in extent. The tomb of Amîr Barîd Shâhî, the second of this dynasty (1504-1538), about half a mile to the west of the city, stands on a large solid platform, and is nearly 57 ft. square, with walls 9 ft. 8 in. thick, which rise to a height of 57 ft. from the platform, and are crowned with a sort of honeysuckle border. The dome is about 37 ft. in height and is ornamented inside with belts of coloured tiles, and further decorated with interlaced Arabic sentences.²

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² For further information respecting Bidar, see ‘Archæological Survey of Western India,’ vol. iii. pp. 42-46, and plates 28-32.