HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE….

HISTORY :
history of the present fort at Bidar is attributed to the
Sultan Ala-ud-Din Bahman Shah the first sultan of the
BIDAR FORT : Bahmani dynasty to 1427 when he shifted his capital from
Gulbarga to Bidar since it had better climatic conditions and
was also a fertile and fruit bearing land.
is situated in Bidar district of
the northern plateau
of Karanataka, India. Sultan
Alla-Ud-Din Bahman of
the Bahmandi dynasty shifted
his capital
from Gulbarga to Bidar n 1427
and built his fort along with a
number of Islamic monuments.

LOCATION :The fort,

the town and the district are all
affixed with the name Bidar.
The town and the fort are
located on the edge of an
oblong shaped plateau, which
measures 22 miles (35 km) in
length and 12 miles (19 km) in
width at its broadest,
encompassing a total area of 12
square miles (31 km2).
THE FORT OF BIDAR
 The Bidar fort has a haphazard quadrangular layout plan of 0.75
miles (1.21 km) in length and 0.5 miles (0.80 km) breadth.
 walls measure 4,500 yards (4,100 m).

 There are seven gates in the fort.

 The ‘Sherza Darwaza’ of Fort, the second gate of entry, depicts two
images of tigers carved on its fascade are indicative that assured
protection to the building from enemy attack.

 Different names were given to each gate.

 The prominent bastion at the entry is known as the ’Munda Burj’ .
BIDAR PALACE :
Fortifications at Bidar date from the
late 14th century when it became the
capital of the later Bahmanis. Massive
fort walls encompass the city as well
as a citadel at the north. The citadel
has spectacular gateways and ruins of
palaces and mosques on a promontory
that falls sharply to plains on the
north and east. Recent excavations
have shown that the palace area was
in use from Chalukya times.

THE GATEWAY :
This two-storeyed entrance gateway is
to the south of Ali Shah's tomb. The
gateway has double tiers of wide
arches, three in each story. A row of
diagonal squares runs just below the
crenellated parapet. The arch above
the entrance has an inset of a triple
arched window, while flanking arches
have a single window at the centre.
SHARZA GATE :
A small dome above the Sharza
Gate entrance has slender minarets
and the parapet is crenellated.
Several sets of unaligned stairs lead
to platforms, guard rooms and
balconies at various levels. A
window on the right has a triple
arch with a carved stone screens

GUMBAD GATE :
. This innermost entrance gate has
an imposing facade composed of a
high, pointed arch. Above this is a
crenellated parapet flanked by
domed turrets. A large flattish
dome rises behind this, an unusual
feature for a fort entrance. The
gravel path leading to it, flanked by
battlements, traverses the inner
moat.
CENTRAL
COURTYARD
Arched portals on each side lead to this square, central courtyard
with a small tank at the centre. Triple tiers of arched openings on
either side of the portals lead to teaching chambers and the
library. An octagonal tower at the centre of each wall marks an
entrance. It is surmounted by a bulbous dome raised on an
octagonal drum. Several desolate graves lie in the surrounding
field.
MAHMUD GAWAN :
The builder of this grandiose madrasa was the prime-
minister of the Bahmani empire in the late 15th century.
He became powerful through military campaigns,
administrative reform, and a policy of balancing rival
factions in the Bahmani court. The madrasa however,
built to reaffirm Shiism as the state religion, is clearly
modeled on contemporary central Asian buildings. Its
principal east facade, now partly ruined, faces the city's
main street leading to the citadel. An imposing minaret
is in three stages separated by cantilevered balconies and
surmounted by a dome. The minaret and façade walls
were once covered with blue and white tiles, with traces
of yellow and green.
THRONE ROOM :
This chamber is identified as the throne room. The circular stone
steps on the right lead to a small entrance at the base of a high
arched recess with a markedly pointed profile. It is flanked by
double tiers of rectangular panels containing similar pointed
arches. All the arches and panels are outlined by strips of basalt.
Hexagonal panels in the spandrels of the main arch once depicted
royal tiger and sun emblems.

DEEWANI-AAM:
This impressive palace, now ruined, is a short distance west of the
Solah Khamba Masjid. It was the ceremonial focus of the
Bahmani and Barid Shahi rulers. The large rectangular court seen
here once had timber columns of which only the granite bases
remain. Some of the chambers opening off the hall have remains
of tilework and geometric floor-patterns. The east wall seen here
has a high parapet of trefoil crenellations. Arched openings below
the parapet have pierced stone screens, each of a different design.
MOSQUE :
This mosque is in a separate
compound to the south-west of Ali
Shah's tomb. Its façade has three
cascading arches surrounded by
intricate plasterwork. The pierced
parapet has interlocking battlements.
A building on the left has a similar but
plain façade. Narrow stairs on its sides
lead to a terrace. The steps seen in the
front belong to a water-tank.

PRAYER HALL: This is

one of the five bays into which
the long prayer hall is divided.
The outer square columns and
inner circular columns have
petalled elements at the top of
the shafts. They carry flattish
domes on faceted pendentives,
forming an arcade of receding
arches.
MOSQUES OF BIDAR :
 Bidar has two prominent mosques
 'Jami Masjid'
 A large mosque
 Without minarets or prominent domes. The mosque though simple in design but has a symmetrical
plan .
 Solah Khamba Mosque
 Built in 1327.
 Its long prayer hall has nineteen passageways.
 In plan, the mosque measures 295 feet (90 m) x 77 feet (23 m).
 Piers were used , all the piers support a roof which has 84 domes.
 The domes are flat with features of pendentives .
 Massive circular columns supporting the structure are fashioned with leafy
motifs at the top.
 Parapet were a later addition.
 The main dome has flattish shape and is supported on a circular DRUM.
ALI BARID SHAH
TOMB:
This ruler was an active patron of
architeconsidered the masterpiece
of Barid Shahi architecture. It
stands on a high platform accessed
by stairs on all four sides. The tomb
chamber has high, arched cture.
His tomb is openings flanked by
double tiers of arched recesses.
Strips of grey-green basalt outline
the arches, tassels, and wall edges.
The south-west corner of the
platform has several rows of graves.
A Persian style char-bagh once
surrounded the tomb of which only
fragments of enclosure walls and
entrance portals remain
TAKHT MAHAL :
This Throne Palace at the west end of the
Fort is where the Bidar rulers held private
audience. It has a columned hall facing north
onto a rectangular court. Steps to the west of
the courtyard lead to various rooms with
complicated plans. Some have remains of
granite columns.
RANGEEN MAHAL:
This palace, immediately within the
Gumbad Gate is one of the best preserved.
It dates mainly from the rule of Ali Barid
Shah in the mid-16th century. A six-bay
hall of carved wood columns forms a
rectangular foyer. The columns have
elaborate capitals and intricately carved
brackets. Entrances to the inner rooms
have a frame of multicoloured tilework
with Koranic verses above the entrance
arch. The inner chambers have more
tilework and mother-of-pearl inlay work,
mainly around the entrances, and on a
panel along the base of the walls.
JAMI MASJID, BIDAR

The jami masjid of bidar is also

called as “ sola khamba masjid “ or
sixteen pillars .
Built in sedate and uneffected style
of a 77ft wide and 295 ft long
sanctuary.
The mehrab in the middle of the
liwan is enclosed within a square
compartment over which rises a
silted gulbarga ( type dome resting
on a octagonal base ) .
The installation of three scores of
4.25 ft is one of the most curious
factor diameter ,plain ,circular
pillars to hold up groined roof to
long chambers .
TARKASH MAHAL :
An open space just outside the Rangin
Mahal has an arcade on one side. An
entrance with triple arches, flanked by
arched recesses, leads to a courtyard
in the second, ruined palace, the
Tarkash Mahal. The dome of the
Gumbad gate can be seen on the left.

SOLAH KHAMBA :
This mosque served as the principal
place of worship within the fort. It was
founded in the early 14th century
during the Tughlak occupation of
Bidar but was extended later. Its
facade consists of a long row of arched
openings above which the parapet of
interlocking battlements is a Bahmani
addition. Its flattish central dome is
raised on a drum with with trefoil
crenellations. The masjid stands in a
separate walled garden, Lalbagh.
Waterways in the garden led from the
Tarkash Mahal at the south to a royal
bath at the north.