KALBURGAH.
CONTENTS.
The Mosque at Kalburgah.
CHRONOLOGY.
Ala ud-dîn Bahmani, a servant in Mahamud Tugluck’s court A.D. 1347
Muhammad Shah. Ghazi 1358
Mujahid Shah 1375
Mahmúd Shah 1378
Feroze Shah married daughter of Vijayanagar raja 1397
Ahmad Shah, capital Bidar 1422
Nizam Shah 1461
Kullam Ullah, last of Bahmani dynasty 1525
Kasin Berid, founder of Berid Shahi dynasty 1492
Ala Rena Shah assumes royalty 1549
Amir Berid Shah, last of his race 1609
The campaigns of Ala ud-dîn and of Tugluck Shah in the beginning of the
14th century extended the fame and fear of the Moslem power over the
whole peninsula of India, as far as Cape Comorin and the Straits of
Manaar. It was almost impossible, however, that a state in the
semi-barbarous condition of the Pathans 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. Tugluck Shah felt this, and proposed
to establish the capital at Dowlutabad. If he had been able to
accomplish this, the whole of the south might have been permanently
conquered. As it was, the Bellala dynasty of Hullabîd was destroyed in
A.D. 1311,[527] and that of Worangul crippled but not finally conquered
till some time afterwards,[528] while the rising power of Vijayanagar
formed a barrier which shielded the southern states--the Chera, Chola,
Pandya--against Mahomedan encroachment for some centuries after that
time; and but for the establishment of Mahomedan kingdoms independent of
the central power at Delhi, the Dekhan might have been lost to the
Moslems, and the Hindus held their own for a long time, perhaps for
ever, to the south of the Vindhya range.
The first of those dynasties that successfully established its
independence was that called the Bahmani, from its founder, Hasan Ganju,
being the servant of a Brahman in Mahamud Tugluck’s court, and owing his
rise to his master, he adopted his name as a title in gratitude. He
established himself at Kalburgah, an ancient Hindu city of the Dekhan,
and with his immediate successors not only held in check the Hindu
sovereigns of Worangul and Vijayanagar, but actually forced them to pay
him tribute. This prosperous state of affairs lasted for nearly a
century, when Ahmad Shah I. (A.D. 1422-1425), for some reason not
explained, transferred the seat of power to Bidar. They lingered on for
another century or more, latterly known as the Berid Shahis, till they
were absorbed in the great Mogul empire in A.D. 1609. Long before that,
however, their place in the Dekhan had been taken by the Bijapur Adil
Shahis, who established themselves there A.D. 1489.
During the short supremacy of Kalburgah as capital of the Dekhan (A.D.
1347-1435), it was adorned with several important buildings, among which
was a mosque, one of the most remarkable of its class in India (Woodcuts
Nos. 314, 315). Its dimensions are considerable, though not excessive:
it measures 216 ft. east and west, and 176 ft. north and south, and
consequently covers 38,016 sq. ft. Its great peculiarity, however, is
that, alone of all the great mosques in India, the whole of the area is
covered over. Comparing it, for instance, with the mosque at Mandu,
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 Kalburgah there is no court, the whole is roofed over,
and the light is admitted through the side walls, which are pierced with
great arches for this purpose on all sides except the west (Woodcut No.
316).
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. 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 Kalburgah plan,
on the contrary, the solid roof covering the whole space afforded
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 Kalburgah 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 Pathan mosques of India, at least among
those which are built wholly of original materials--and in the arcuate
style--of Mahomedan art. Those at Delhi and Ajmir are more interesting
of course, but it is from adventitious circumstances. This owes its
greatness only to its own original merits of design.[529]
[Illustration: 314. Mosque at Kalburgah. (From a Plan by the Hon. Sir
Arthur Gordon.) Scale 50 ft. to 1 in.]
[Illustration: 315. Half elevation half section of the Mosque at
Kalburgah. Scale 50 ft. to 1 in.]
[Illustration: 316. View of the Mosque at Kalburgah. (From a
Photograph.)]
Besides the mosque, there is in Kalburgah a bazaar, 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-Hindu 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 bazaar.[530]
There are other buildings, especially one gigantic archway, in the city
of Kalburgah, the use of which is not apparent, and some very grand old
tombs, with sloping walls; but we must wait for further information
before they can be utilised in a history of Indian architecture.
* * * * *
After the seat of government was removed to Bidar by Ahmad Shah, A.D.
1422-1435, the new capital was adorned by edifices worthy of the
greatness of the dynasty, but now all apparently ruined. Among these the
most magnificent appears to be the madrissa erected by Mahomet Gaun, the
faithful but unfortunate minister of the tyrant Mahmúd II. 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.[531] Unfortunately, when the place
was besieged by Aurungzebe, a quantity of gunpowder was stored in its
vaults, 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.[532] The tombs too
of the Berid Shahi dynasty, which reigned in Bidar from A.D. 1492-1609,
are of considerable splendour, and rival those of Golcondah in extent.
Bidar, however, has not yet been visited by anyone who has had the power
or opportunity of drawing or describing its monuments in such a manner
as to enable another to utilise them for historical purposes, and till
this is done, a knowledge of them must remain among the many desiderata
in Indian art.