Bahamani tombs of Ashtoor

September 3, 2018
This was my third visit here, the place had changed so much since the first visit in Feb-1996. The site was open, now its bound by walls, good way to keep out vandals. During the first visit there were just three people here- the caretaker and two visitors from Bidar. One of the visitors had said that he and his friends came here whenever they wanted to take important or difficult decisions. He said the peaceful ambiance and their belief in this Dargah helped them think clearly. In fact the place was  serene, Gulli and I must have spent an hour here.

The next visit was January 2011 with my maternal uncles. We met a young man who was a tourist guide here. He- Kalil Shah Bahamani -claimed to be a descendant of Bahamani dynasty. I'd made a video of his narration and uploaded it to YouTube.

This time with Pushpa. We had stopped at Chaukandi, tomb of Hadrat Khalimullahullah, before coming here. I happened to see and recognize Kalil Shah. He poured his heart about the difficulties he's facing to prove his Bahamani connection. He showed us around Chaukandi and then came down here to show us the tombs as well.

This is the first structure seen as we enter this necropolis, tomb of Ahmad Shah-al-Wali. This is the only tomb public get to see the inside.

A small board describes the monuments as-
Ahmad Shah was the ninth king of the Bahamani dynasty and ruled for thirteen years (AD 1422 - 1436). This is the earliest and grandest of the Bahamani tombs located at Bidar. Built in AD 1436, upon the demise of Ahmad Shah, it honours the sultan who shifted the Bahamani capital from Gulbarga and Bidar. The tomb displays continuing Persian influences of the time, as well as synthesis between Indic and Islamic cultures. The monument is unique as it is the only tomb at the site under veneration. The tomb is a square, domed structure with three tiers of arched recesses. There are four recesses, each on the bottom and middle floors, and seven on the highest of the three floors. The pointed arches are one example of Persian elements which continued. The tomb is decorated with calligraphic bands and inscriptions, representing similes used by meta-physicians of the time to express their views regarding the unity of God. Foliate and arabeque designs are painted on the interior of the tombs and have retained their original colour. While the most recurring colour schemes include vermilion, turquoise and gold, there are also instances of cobalt, grey terra-verde and buff. The most striking aspect of the paintings is not merely the variety of colour used but the manner in which they play upon one another to create striking contrasts within the designs. There is also a crenelated parapet with corner finials on the ground floor which is repeated on the sixteen sided drum on which the dome is raised.
Near the tomb of Ahmad Shah, is that of his wife which essentially has the same layout, on a much smaller scale. However, it is placed on a four foot platform and rises 29 feet above the sultan's own tomb. Only traces of the original paintings are visible in this tomb.

As seen from the other side. The white structure is a mosque. A group consisting of men, women and children had come from Gulbarga district. For them it was a religious visit, they would spend the entire day here.. perform a ritual, cook food, offer it to the Dargah and then consume it.

The next building is the tomb of Aladdin Ahmad Shah II who reigned between 1435 and 1457. This structure is almost the same size as the previous one. As you see the outer walls had been covered in cobalt colored tiles, like Madrasa of Mohemmad Gawan. The other interesting thing is the sculpted stones outlining the arches and building corners.

I think originally Ahmad Shah's tomb was white colored while Alladin's tomb was striking red-blue-white.

The next one is the tomb of the eleventh Bahamani Sultan i.e. Humayun Zalim Shah who reigned between 1457 and 1561. It looks like the dome collapsed at some point of time, not sure if it was due to defect in construction or it was cannoned. The person standing is our guide who claims to be Bahamani himself.

This structure was pyramidal, tapering upwards.

Diagonally opposite the damaged building is a much smaller building which is marked as the tomb of wife of Sultan Humayun. A board planted near the entrance read as follows-
All the queens of Bidar were given the title Malika-I-Jahan, queen of the world. However, this particular tomb is dedicated to Sultan Humayun's wife, and the regent queen for both her sons, Nizam Shah and Muhammad Shah who came to power at the ages of eight and nine, respectively. Upon the assumption of full kingship by her son Muhammad Shah the queen withdrew from the court and became extremely religious. Her tomb is smaller than those of her husband and sons. The walls of the tomb is not extensive but displays neat workmanship in the stucco and plaster work medals, which bear religious themes.

Next to the damaged building is the tomb of Nizam Shah who reigned between 1461 and 1463. This four-walled structure is either by design or incomplete.

Next is the tomb of Muhammad Shah III who ruled from 1462 to 1482. Going by the looks, this is an incomplete structure.

Moving on to the next one.. this is the tomb of Mahmood Shah Bahmani II, he was in power for 36 years, between 1482 and 1518. It was during his rule that the kingdom disintegrated. This structure is comparable to the the tombs of Ahmed Shah and Aladdin Shah.

All four faces are marked with arched niches, some with mesh covered windows. You have to see them closely to actually see their beauty.

This square slab with an embossed circle is positioned at the tomb's entrance. This doesn't seem to be part of this tomb's design. From its looks, this is a dance stage of a Chalukyan temple. You can see such slabs at Mahadeva temple of Itagi in Koppal district. Quoting a line from Wikipedia page on Bahamani Sultans.. "Bahmani Sultans were fanatics and did not show any interest in general welfare of their subjects." Their subjects were mostly Hindu people, Sultans' soldiers must have looted and pillaged Hindu shrines and temples.

The next two tombs are small and different by design. Instead of domes, these tombs are crowned by six-sided pyramids. This reminds me of structures seen at Firozabad fort near Gulbarga. These are the tombs of Waliullah Shah Bahmani and Kaleemullah Shah Bahmani who ruled between 1522–1526 and 1525–1527 respectively. Their rule was not independent but under Amir Barid I.

The last structure in this site is a simple mosque.

This is the third tomb with pyramid crown. Mortal remains of Ahmed Shah Bahmani II are buried here.

The necropolis of Ashtoor. How much money must have been spent on raising these structures for the fancy of few men and women. I wonder why Muslim kings had a liking for grand tombs.. to make their names immortal?

Going back to the starting point, there are two more structures. One is an unidentified tomb, which is damaged just like Humayun's tomb.

And the last one is said to be a queen's tomb, not sure which queen. The group from Gulbarga had gathered around this building. Children huddled together, busy with a mobile phone. men were chatting while women had setup a make shift kitchen preparing a feast. Pushpa went up to them and made friends.

About eight women were preparing holige and chapatis. They must've planned to prepare some curries and rice too. Pushpa was awestruck by the jewelry on the lady in blue-orange saree.

The other two ladies.. attired in traditional North Karnataka sarees were preparing madli. The elderly women must be in her 90s and I'm sure she would be working in fields along with her family. Observe the number of bangles around their arms.. these are the people who have preserved our traditions so far.

From here we drove back to Bidar city. We wanted to quell our hunger and the explore Bidar fort.

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Sola Kambh Masjid, Bidar fort

My first visit to Bidar. Gulli and I had ridden from Bangalore to Bidar, 750 kms on my Hero Honda Splendor. Back then every corner of the fort was accessible, we could decide where to go and where not to. Gulli and I had explored the fort non-stop, we had climbed the army barracks, peeked into the prisoner dungeons, walked along the walls, climbed bastions and turrets.. the energy of that age! The gateway buildings were a complex maze, it was fun to explore the ruins, wish we had digital cameras back then, we would've shot a thousand pictures for sure. We carried a aim and shoot Yashica, had to change rolls and batteries after 36 shots, photographs had to be rationed. Anyway, I'd scanned some pictures and saved them.

This is how Sola Kambh mosque was in 1996. That's me with the caretaker standing on the fountain platform. The caretaker was washing clothes when we arrived here, this was his regular washing, bathing place. We ventured into the mosque and were amazed at the pillars and domes. 

February 1996

My next visit was with my maternal uncle Praveen. We had come on a business trip to Basava Kalyan and did some sightseeing too. The place had changed little.. the previous caretaker was gone, the enclosure was gated as well.

January 2003

September 3, 2018
This was my fifth visit, this time with Pushpa. I wanted her to see the northern most district of Karnataka. Let me be frank, tourism department had made Bidar fort tourist unfriendly. We came here early morning hoping to see the fort in cool weather. The guards at the gate did not allow us in stating that fort opens at 9 AM. A ugly board handing on the fort gate stated two timings- 6 AM and 9 AM. As per rules all monuments are open to public between sunrise to sunset i.e. 6 AM to 6 PM. We decided to end our conversation with the insensitive guards and leave the place. Wishing the authorities train the guards basic etiquette. We went towards Narsimha Jharani and Ashtoor. We came back to the fort by noon. We walked a lot.. first to see the huge cannon on the eastern wall, then towards Kali Burj (black turret) to see the other cannon, the palace ruins and then came back to see the mosque.

We approached the mosque enclosure from the rear side. This is the mosque's rear wall above which is its impressive dome. The triangles on the base is a neat touch. try imagining the structure when its painted white.

The mosque's facade, scarred by those metallic grills. The dome as seen from the front, sitting majestically above the tall pillars and arches. A board planted by ASI describes the mosque as below:

This mosque is Bidar's oldest Islamic building and one of India's largest mosques. Built in 1423-24, it was originally Bidar's principal mosque, when it was known as Masjid-i-Jami. The name Solah Kambh derives from sixteen pillars in the middle portion of the prayer hall.

This mosque is a good example of the second phase of the Deccan style of architecture. The mosque's large prayer hall is divided into aisles by massive circular columns, a distinctive feature of this building. The tops of these pillars have simple foliar decorations of a style unusual in medieval Indian mosques. The roof is crowned by a majestic dome raised on high clerestory with windows of perforated screens in different geometric patterns. Th mosque's long facade of uniformly sized arched openings is topped with a parapet that has pleasing geometric designs. As interesting aspect of the mosque are the arrangements made for water supply. Water was collected in a reservoir on the roof from where it was distributed to cisterns on the ground floor for use by worshippers. There are also traces of a water channel on the western wall of the mosque.

In 1656, when Aurangzeb, then Mughal Viceroy of the Deccan, conquered Bidar, it was in this mosque that he had the khutba (prayers) recited in his father's name to proclaim his sovereignty over the newly acquired territory.

I think there are 16 arches. Sola Kambh means sixteen columns, that's how the mosques is known as. The interior is similar to Jamia Masjid inside Gulbarga fort, though its much lower in height.

View of Tarkash Mahal from the mosque. A board planted by ASI describes the palace as below:

Tarkash Mahal was probably originally built by the Bahamani kings (14-15th century AD). However, the style of decorative work in the upper storeys show these parts were added by Barid Shahi kings. It was possibly named for having been built for a Turkish wife of the king.

The ground floor has a series of rooms with vaulted roofs built in four rows, one behind the other. These rooms were used for storing miscellaneous articles of domestic and state use, including ammunition. On the first storey is a principal apartment consisting of a hall divided into eight bays by the insertion of massive arches. Beyond this hall, towards the north are two more halls. Beyond the halls is an open space. Traces of an old parapet here show that the upper portions of the palace were later additions. The uppermost storey consists of a hall in the centre and small rooms on either side. The hall has arched openings and a number of small arched niches in the wall. A terrace with a fountain is found in front of these apartments.

The walls in many of these rooms are beautifully decorated with coloured tiles and stucco work. The distinctive Barid Shahi motif of a chain and pendant is prominent in the upper rooms of the palace.

The ground has been converted into a garden.

This wall and building are opposite the mosque. Behind it is a large courtyard suitable for gatherings or meetings. Lets take a look at the enclosure.

This is the enclosure with special types of buildings on one side. I wonder what the tall building is for. Unfortunately all these buildings are under lock and key, out of bounds to public. The two storey building with sloping roofs is interesting, but the entrance seems to be on the side.

Panning to the left, a cylindrical-conical dome comes into view. Adjoining the dome is a laterite sentry shelter. There's another such sentry post on the opposite end. Looking at these, Pushpa said this seems to be a prison. Well, unless we see the inside, we can't be sure what exactly this place was used for.

Another view of the dome and sentry shelter.

The opposite end.. another dome and sentry post.

Turning our attention back to the house with sloping roof. It has a twin. Wondering if these were built during Bahamani time or much later during Nizam's rule or British rule. They could be officers quarters or offices themselves. Next to the second building is a narrow space, a small gun is seen there.

The cannon. Purely functional. Its bore is about 6". Going by its length, this gun's range could be 200 to 400 meters.

If you wish to see Bidar fort completely, plan to spend an entire day here. If tourists could hire bicycles to tour the fort, it would be great. And to know more about the district's monuments check out the post What to see in Bidar District.

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