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Promotion of Learning in India during Muhammadan Rule (by Muhammadans) c12.s2: 2. The Kingdom of Bījāpūr

Promotion of Learning in India during Muhammadan Rule (by Muhammadans) c12.s2

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English

2. The Kingdom of Bījāpūr

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The name Bījāpūr is looked upon by some as a euphonized corruption of Vijaya Pura (city of victory), but according to another theory it is a different form of Vidyāpur (city of learning). The latter name, it is said, owes its origin to an old college ² still existing there, the original endowments of which by the Chalukya Dynasty of Kalyān are commemorated upon large stone pillars hard by. The inscriptions are not of very great antiquity, one being of the Chalukya Dynasty (1192 A.D.), and the other of the Yādava (1249 A.D.). The local tradition says that a band of Muhammadan fanatics who preceded the main Muhammadan army in the second invasion of Malik Kāfūr (’Alāuddīn’s general) killed or drove away the Brāhmaṇas of the college, and occupied it. The story is not improbable, since there are traces, as Mr. Fergusson says, of similar occupation in other parts of the Deccan. It was

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² Fergusson interprets *Agrahār* as “college.” It literally means a royal donation of land to Brāhmaṇas.

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probably converted into a mosque by the garrison left by Kāfūr in Bijāpūr.

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The college building, made of granite, is very extensive and the most venerable in Bijāpūr, consisting of an oblong, set out with rows. It is three-storied, and is still wonderfully perfect, though necessarily out of repair.¹

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¹ Vide Fergusson's *Architecture at Bijāpūr*, pp. 58, 60, 65, 66, where a detailed description of the college premises is found.

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With the disappearance of Hindu sovereignty, Bijāpūr did not cease to be a centre of learning. The Muhammadans took the place of the Hindus and kept up its literary reputation.

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'Ādil Shāh, the founder of the Muhammadan kingdom of Bijāpūr, was educated at Sava and had a good literary outfit. He was eloquent in speech, a good judge of poetical composition, and wrote both prose and poetry with elegance. He had a great taste for music, and his skill in it was superior to that of many a master-musician of the time whom he encouraged to attend his court by handsome rewards. He could perform admirably on two or three kinds of instruments, and in his delightful mood sang extempore compositions. Many learned men were invited to his court from Persia, Turkistan and Rūm, as also several eminent artists, all of whom lived under the king's patronage.²

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² *Ferishta* vol. iii, pp. 8, 30, 31.

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[Figure: An Ancient Hindu College at Bījāpūr belonging to the Twelfth Century A.D., (the three-storied building made of granite in the foreground). [From Fergusson’s Architecture at Bījāpūr (John Murray).] [Facing page 92.]

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Ismā'īl 'Ādil Shāh, the successor of 'Ādil, kept up the reputation of his house by his literary refinements and proficiency in the fine arts. In music and poetry he was a great adept, and combined a skill in varnishing, arrow-making and embroidering with his mastery in the art of painting. He was fond of the company of learned men and poets, a large number of whom was munificently supported at his court. He was a wit, and his brilliant humour often displayed itself in his conversation. He loved Turkish and Persian music and language more than the Deccanese. This bias was due to his being educated under the tuition of his aunt Dilshād, who by desire of his father kept him away from the company of the Deccanese.¹

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¹ Ferishta vol. iii, p. 72.

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1510-34 A.D.

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One noteworthy fact of the reign of Ibrāhīm 'Ādil Shāh I. was that public accounts began to be kept in Hindī instead of in Persian, and many Brāhmaṇas were appointed in charge of the accounts, so that they soon acquired a great influence in the government.² In the reign of Yūsuf 'Ādil Shāh, the Hindus had also been admitted to the exercise of considerable powers in his revenue department. This was probably due to the fact of his having married a Hindu lady—the daughter of a Mahratta chieftain.³ This shows

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² Ibid., p. 80.

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³ Ibid., p. 31.

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1534-57 A.D.

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how the Muhammadans while conquering the Hindus were at the same time being conquered themselves, and how the gradual linguistic intercourse was taking place.

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A fact to be noticed in the reign of Ibrāhīm ’Ādil Shāh II is that the great historian, Muḥammad Qāsim, the author of the *Tārīkhi-Firishtah*, lived in his court.

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A part of the royal ’Ādil Shāhī Library is still to be found at Bījāpūr in the Āṣāri Maḥal. Mr. Fergusson tells us—

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“Some of its books are curious and interesting to any one acquainted with Arabic and Persian literature. All the most valuable manuscripts were, it is said, taken away by Aurangzib in cart-loads, and what remain are literally only a remnant, but a precious one to the persons in charge of the building who show them with a mournful pride and regret.” ¹

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¹ Fergusson’s *Architecture at Bījāpūr*, p. 75.

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