Bijapur's grandeur

The myriad monuments of Bijapur, such as the Gol Gumbaz, the Jami Masjid, the Malik-e-Maidan and the Ibrahim Rauza, continue to evoke the grandeur of its past as the capital city of a sultanate that held sway for two centuries.

 

The perforated script carved on basaltic stone on one of the entrances to the tomb of Ibrahim Adil Shah II.

The Gagan Mahal (Heavenly Palace) was built by Ali Adil I (r. 1558-1579) after the Battle of Talikota in 1565.

The Malik-e-Maidan (Lord of the Field), whose muzzle displays a lion holding small elephants in its teeth.

The Haidar burj (bastion), known popularly as the Upli burj, was built in 1583, probably to accommodate a long iron cannon.

The Gol Gumbaz, the tomb of Mohammed Adil Shah (r. 1627-1656). Its hemispherical dome is one of the largest free-standing domes in the world.

Abdul Gani Imaratwale, historian and author of “Studies in Bijapur Sultanate”.

“Studies in Bijapur Sultanate” edited by Abdul Gani Imaratwale and Maqsood Afzal Jagirdar (Afzal Khan Memorial Trust)

The Jami Masjid that was begun by Ali Adil Shah I after the Deccan Sultanates’ victory over Vijayanagara at the Battle of Talikota in 1565.

The Taj baoli (a public tank or stepwell) was constructed around 1620 by Malik Sandal and named after Taj Sultan, the favourite queen of Ibrahim Adil Shah II.

The large and ornate “mihrab”(prayer niche in the direction of which the congregation prays) of the Jami Masjid of Bijapur added by Mohammed Adil Shah (r. 1627-1656) in 1636.

The mosque of Afzal Khan (d. 1569), a powerful generalissimo of the Adil Shahi Sultanate, located in Afzalpur.

A bathing tower in Kumatagi, around 25 kilometres from Bijapur. Resorts such as Kumatagi provided a space for relaxation for the Adil Shahi Sultans.

The tomb of Ain-ul-mulk, a noble at the court of Ibrahim Adil Shah I, in Ainapur on the outskirts of Bijapur.

Asar Mahal, originally intended as a hall of public audience but later converted into a building housing a holy relic of Prophet Mohammed.

The cenotaph of Afzal Khan.

The Chand baoli. Baolis were the main source of water for the fortified cities of the Deccan.

The unfinished tomb of Ali Adil Shah II (r. 1656-1672) commonly known as Barakaman (twelve arches) in Bijapur. If this structure had been completed, it would have been bigger than Gol Gumbaz.

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The Ibrahim Rauza contains the tomb of Ibrahim Adil Shah II (r. 1580-1627). The tomb and the mosque in the complex were built by Malik Sandal, the celebrated Abyssinian architect in the Adil Shahi Sultanate of Bijapur.