medieval artifacts collection, Ashtoor

September 3, 2018
Our day started early with a quick visit to Narasimha Jharani, there was a log line of people queued up already. Though Pushpa wanted to see the cave, we skipped it because of time constraint. Then we moved on to Chaukandi - Dargah of Hadrat Khalimullahullah, where we happened to recognize the tourist guide Kalil Shah Bahamani. I'd met him in January 2011 at Bahamani tombs at Ashtoor. He had claimed and still claims to be descendant of Bahamani dynasty. He carries a bag full of papers supporting his claim including a print-out of my post on Bahamani Tombs. He offered us to show his collection of artifacts at his home. Naturally, I was interested and agreed. He lives in a small village near Ashtoor, we drove down to his small house. From the looks of the house, he seems to be a carpenter and probably a farmer too. When we entered the house, a collection of arms spread on a plastic mat greeted us, large enough to rival a small museum.

This collection included swords, daggers, stirrups, martingales, horse shoes,daggers, spearheads, arrow heads, scissors, sword handles, shield, one screw with a handle, bowl, a brass cat and coins (currency).

Here are the horse-shoes and stirrups. Stirrups are horse rider's foot rests. I have no idea where the linked rings are used.

A curved dagger, sword, spearheads and broken sword.

These are known as Katar. This is usually concealed on a person and used for self defence.

A brass sword-handle and a silver bowl with Persian or Arabic inscription.

Silver and brass coins. The small coin must be issued from Hyderabad since Charminar is embossed on it.

This just a part of his coin collection, impressive isn't it.

Lastly, we come to the deadly item- the screw. Kalil is holding the screw and its handle separately (left). The screw fits on to the handle, together they become a torture device. I need not describe its usage, you might have imagined how this would have been used on a human being. How cruel can man be!

Kalil in front of his house. The kid here (see inset) is his son, he's holding a foot tall brass cat in his hands. Its Kalil's wish to make a museum in his village and he's reserved a place also. He's trying to raise funds to make his dream come true. On the other hand, he's trying to prove his Bahamani lineage legally.

Thanks to Kalil for his invitation to see this invaluable collection.

.........

Madrasa of Khwaja Mahmud Gawan, Bidar

September 3, 2018
Our tour of Bidar started with Narasimha Jharani followed by Chaukandi, Bahamani tombs of Ashtoor and Bidar Qila. From the fort we drove into the old city in search of the five gates of Bidar city fort, Choubara and Madarasa of Khwaja Mohammed Gawan.

Khwaja Mohammed Gawan Madarasa is an imposing and unique structure. Its a three storey building almost 40' high and its Minar is about 50; tall. Its facade and tower (Minar) are covered in terracotta tiles and glazed tiles, there's no other monument which is quite like this red colored building in Bidar.

Archaeological Department board planted at the building's entrance reads as follows-

Madrasa of Khwaja Mahmud Gawan: The Madrasa at Biadr is a distinguishes example of Bahamani architecture (Persian style) build in AD 1472 by Khwaja Mahmud Gawan, the minister of Muhammad shah III (AD 1463-82). It was functioned like a residential university and was maintained on the lines of the Madrasa of Khurasan. It comprises a conventional quadrangular hall and chambers on all sides. This three storeyed building houses mosque, library, lecture halls, professors's quarters and students's cubicles. The library that existed on the other wing is now destroyed. On three sides there are semi-octagonal projections crowned by bulbous and on the fourth side is the main entrance, flanked by two stately three-stage minars. The facade is adorned with multi-colored tiles in green, yellow and white in a variety of designs, arabesques and Quaranic verses. Even though the building suffered much damaged due to explosion of gun powder in AD 1695, it still retains much of the original architecture features. It is the only one of it kind in India.

The ruined walls have exposed the interior. The pyramidal column is an engineering marvel, it rises 3 floor high. During my first three visits, I remember seeing kids running around inside. I think the building was used as a Madrasa. Looks like archaeology department has banned public usage. However the grounds around this monument is mostly occupied by children playing cricket.

The two great arches and domes. A photograph of the ruined Madrasa at Bidar, taken by D.H. Sykes in 1875 shows this yard was littered with massive chunks of rubble which was result of gunpowder explosion. On the right is one of those chunks left behind probable as a reminder of the incident.

Remains of a doorway.

A ruined arch. An arched window covered by a mesh made of mortar.

A wide angle lens would cover the entire structure or shoot from one of the roofs across the street.

Here's a short video.. a walk around the monument.

From here we continue our search of the gates of Bidar old city-

• Fateh Darwaza
• Talghat Darwaza
• Agsi Mangalpet Darwaza
• Shah Gunj Darwaza

Bidar fort has five gates namely-

• Mandu Darwaza, main gate
• Kalmadgi Darwaza
• Delhi Darwaza
• Kalyani Darwaza
• Carnatic Darwaza

Mandu gate is the one used by locals and tourists. The remaining gates are used only by local people, would be interesting to explore and check them.

.........

Saath Gumbaz, Gulbarga

During my first two visits to Gulbarga I'd skipped this particular spot because of time constraints.

January 30, 2016
Pushpa and I were travelling back to Hyderabad from a short vacation at Dharwad. Morning we visited Sharana Basaveshwara Gudi, Fort, Government Museum and then reached Saath Gumbaz ~ the seven domes. These tombs are on the eastern side of the fort, about 1.7 kms away.  The enclosure actually has seven structures of which 5 are tombs and two are mosques. The caretaker showed us the 5 tombs only. Of the five buildings two buildings have twin domes, so that's how we have seven domes.

The five tombs are named after five rulers of Bahamani dynasty-

1. Mujahid Shah Bahmani (1375–1378 CE)
2. Dawood Shah Bahmani (1378 CE)
3. Ghiyath-ud-din Shah Bahmani (1397 CE)
4. Shams-ud-din Shah Bahmani (1397 CE)
5. Feroze Khan (1397–1422 CE)

We start The closest to the entrance is the tomb of Mujahid Shah. The exterior is pretty grim but once you step inside its different. Its dimensions are approximately 60' x 60' in plan and its overall height 80'. The dome's is approximately 50' in diameter.

Here's the description of this structure on the signage-

This tomb, at the western end of the complex, is that of the third Bahamani Sultan, Mujahid Shah (1375 - 13678 AD). It has sloping walls that are devoid of any decoration. The dome is flattish and the corners are adorned with fluted finials. There are three arched entrances on the east and south sides of the structure. The sacrophagal within are those of the king, his wife and his sister.

The interior is not as plain. The walls have niches and decorated with floral and geometrical motifs.

I'm guessing..in the beginning the interior would be all white.. like a white lace-work apparel.

Here's a snap-shot of the necropolis from Wikimapia. You can see 7 structures and 9 domes. Tombs are marked with numbers.

These two are the tombs of Giyasuddin Shah and Shamshuddin Shah. These two structures are almost same dimensions as of Mujahid Shah tomb.

As seen from the other side. There's a lonely unidentified sacrophagal..

This is the tomb of Dawood Shah, a twin dome structure measuring approximately 55' x 110' x 80'. The dome's diameter is approximately 40'. The interior is actually two domed chambers connected by a vestibule. I missed shooting the structure from the front :( also missed.

The interior is similar to that of Mujahid Shah's tomb however all designs are unique. The exterior is square in plan but the interior is octagonal. The western chamber has a single sacrophagal.

The eastern chamber has 3 or 4 sacrophagal.

I know not the purpose of this design but its simply beautiful! I guess the design must have evolved from a pumpkin or musk melon.The two dark circles are lotus in full bloom.

Coming to the largest and most decorated structure of this necropolis - Tajuddin Feroze Shah's tomb. This structure is bigger measuring approximately 150' x 72' x 130'. Diameter of dome is approximately 68'. This building is similar to Dawood Shah's tomb i.e. two tombs merged into one unit. The interior is two domed chambers connected by a richly decorated vestibule.

Description of the tomb on the signage:

The tomb of Tajuddin Firuz is the largest and most elaborate of the complex. The façade is decorated with vertical and horizontal divisions., surrounded by arches. It has, like the tomb of Dawood Shah tomb, two domed chambers, with the domes rising nine meters above the trefoil parapet. The style was never to be repeated in Bahamani architecture but some of the lesser features show traits of a maturing Bahamani style. For example, the walls are no longer plain but contain geometric designs worked into masonry of the upper recesses as well as bands of plaster work and roundels with arabesque designs. Angled eaves are hung over the doorways and diagonal panels adorn the brackets, which are found in local temples as well, with half pyramidal vaults above them. The corner arches on the lower level have cusped profiles, while the arches, higher up have squinches and lower profiles. There was once painting on the inside of the domes, but only a few traces remain while more frequent traces of the ornate plaster work are visible. Firuz Shah was known as a tolerant king, famed for his encouragement of cultural confluence. Hence the mosque shows the introduction of non-Islamic motifs, many which appear first in temple architecture.

This building seems like a palace rather than a tomb.

The interior: lower half is square and the upper half is octagonal. Niches are decorated with rich designs. Architects have made enough provision for ample light and air flow.

Of the seven domes here, this is most beautiful. I wonder how lovely this would've been when it was new.

This is one of the niches, also richly decorated.

The niches at the lower level are unique.. the wavy pattern is seen only here, no where else have I seen this design. The corner niches are to prevent echoing.. I guess.

This is the vestibule's crest. Simply lovely!

The other dome; plain in design but richly painted. The leaf like figure resembles the spade of playing cards. I loved the shades of colors forming the concentric circles. What an imagination and qudos to the artists who translated the imagination to a painted dome.

A closer look at the special niches.

Little little details cover every bit here.

These seven tombs are grim / plain from outside but are graceful structures. Their interiors have been created by lot of skilled hands with lot of patience. Good I made time to check out these tombs.
When in Gulbarga, do make time for this spot. Also close by is the government museum. ASI has taken over two tombs and used them to store and exhibit artefacts of various kinds from different periods of time. But there are few things which are of special interest.. objects used by the legendary Meadows Taylor. Artefacts such as his chair, palanquin, dressing table, study table and many more wooden furniture. Sadly the objects were covered in layers of dust and in a careless state. I wish they keep them covered during off hours. Sad part is the museum staff does not allow photography :( I wonder what their secrecy is about.

.........

Muhammadan Tombs of Kadirampuram

March 23, 2013

We were driving from Bellary back home to Dharwad. Enroute we stopped at Hampi, visited few monuments and had lunch. It was my idea to find a silent spot for a nap.. as we drove towards Hospet I saw this tomb to our right.. yes, this would be perfect place because its clean, has enough shade and no people around. Mama and I walked into the tomb complex while Prakash chose to stay in his Indica.

At the entrance was a signage proclaiming the complex as Muhammadan Tombs of Kadirampuram.

These are tombs and grave structures in typical "Bahamani" characters. They are known for austerity. One of the tombs has an entrance to the south with two small arched niches on either side of the door. The exterior wall of the tomb is plain with huge arches. The parapet above is treated with simple merlons. The large and plain hemispherical dome completes the elevation. Nearby is a large roofless tomb with three graves inside. While the lower half of the tomb has arched doorway flanked by two arched panels the upper half has a rows of seven small arched panels.

The complex has only two large structures one with a dome and the other without a dome. The latter is roofless, its open to sky. Both structures are grilled and locked, visitors have to be satisfied with a peek at the interior through the grills. We start with the roofless tomb which looks like a cube.

The inside is pretty plain too..

..yet there's beauty when you look up. The square floor below makes way to a circular top.

A neat looking circle with a rim displaying simple geometric design. This tomb, though not really similar, reminds me of the roofless octagonal tomb of Astur.

The second structure is much smaller, built at ground level and has a dome. Somehow when I look at this building I feel the dome is out of proportion or its not shaped well.

Scattered near the two structures are sculpted granite grave markers.

Time for a nap. We go back the shade of the roofless structure and make ourselves comfortable on the granite floor. Nearby was a bunch of chicks imitating their mummy chicken.. scraping the dirt with their tiny claws and peck at something :) It was fun to watch them

The break was very helpful, especially after a good meal. We felt refreshed, meanwhile Sun had come down little making our journey little easier. From here we head towards Anantasayana Gudi on the outskirts of Hospete.

.........

Bahamani Tombs, Astur

Astur village is known for tombs of Bahamani Sultans and family members. Astur is about 4km from Bidar fort.

February 1996. Gulli, I visited Astur, we had ridden my Hero Honda Splendor around Karnataka. I remember meeting two local men here, they said they come here when they needed silence and peace. This was a place where they took major decisions. The place had a peaceful effect on those who believed it.

January 28, 2011
On Bidar-Astur road, about 1.5 kms before Astur is a ivory colored octagonal building. According to sources on the net this is the shrine of Hazrat Syed Nemathullah Syed and Khaleelullah Hussaini. this is a shrine of two Muslim saints Syed Nemathullah and Syed Kaleelullah Hussaini. The two saints were from Kirman near Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The shrine was built during the reign of Bahamanis.

The building is simple in design yet beautiful. It has a peaceful look and feel. Peacock feathers are used to bless the ones who come seeking help.

Domes of tombs in the distance.

The tomb complex of Astur. One board for the entire complex: The tombs were of Ahmad Shah al-Wali (AD 1422-36), Ala-ud-Din Shah II (AD 1436-58), Humanyun (AD 1458-61), Humanyun's wife, Nizam Shah (AD 1461-63), Mahmud Shah, Wali-Ullah, Kalim-Ullad and Hazrat Khaliullah. These huge structures are remarkable for their beautiful arches, niches and lofty domes.

These tombs are similar in architecture of Gol Gumbaz.but not that big. Domes of two tombs are missing completely and one in tomb only one-fourth of the dome is remaining.

According to sources this is the tomb of the eleventh Bahamani Sultan, Humayun Zalim Shah who reigned between 1457 and 1461. No information about the cause of the damage. Anyway the damaged part offers a  cross section of the dome. The dome could be 5 to 6 feet thick. this would be an interesting specimen for students of civil engineering and architecture.

The tomb of Sultan Humayun Zalim Shah could be the largest building here. On the left is a smaller building, view partly obstructed by a Neem tree. That building is supposed to be the tomb of Humayun Zalim Shah's wife Malika-E-Jahan.

This tomb must have had a grand look during it's days. This is supposed to be tomb of the tenth Bahamani Sultan, Aladdin Ahmad Shah II  who was in power from 1436 to 1458.

This white building is the only on open to public. I'm assuming this to be the tomb of Ahmad Shah al-Wali who ruled from 1422 to 1436.

This is Kalil Shah Bahamani, he claims to be descendant of Bahamani dynasty. Kalil takes care of this tomb. He shows his collection of documents supporting his claim to be a descendant of the Bahamanis.

The inner walls of this building are richly decorated with exquisite patterns. While the higher parts are in relatively good condition, the lower levels have faded or have gone completely. Golden paint is used lavishly. That could be a reason for people to scrape away parts off these walls.
This is the dome, the highest part of the interior. Close to the center of the circular design are three diamonds embedded in the ceiling. The care-taker had reflected sunlight with a mirror to light up the dim interior.

A closer look at the center of the dome. Perhaps the Persian letters are verses of Quran.

Truly these are works of art befitting the Sultans.

Notice the maze in white & black at the center of this geometric pattern. Amazing color combination!

This is a large square design with a very complex floral design at the corners.

I could have filled the entire 4GB card with images off these walls. Wish I had carried few spare memory sticks. I'll come again and spend a day here. Also I want to see the ancestral swords at Kalil's place. Because we were tight on time we couldn't wait until Kalil finished midday prayers.
Earlier, Kalil narrates the good deeds of Bahamani Badhshah Ahmad Shah al-Wali. Kalil story says how the Badshah showed sympathy to his subjects during a famine by distributing food grains.

I consider Astur's Bahamani tombs as one of the most important monuments of Karnataka. Since the tourist traffic is less the monuments are preserved well. However, concerned authorities need to take extra care to protect and preserve them.

.........