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 The golden period of Bijapur started during the reign of Ali Adil Shah I (1557 -79). He expanded and consolidated the kingdom, laid the water works, built the Citadel of halls, palaces, pavilions and gardens. He also encouraged the arts and built the Jama Masjid to commemorate the Talikota Victory.Under his successor, Ibrahim Adil Shah II (1580-1626), Bijapur reached its political, cultural and territorial zenith. The kingdom stretched right to Mysore. Mark Zebrowski compares Ibrahim to Akbar and calls him 'The greatest patron of the arts the Deccan produced'. Ibrahim Rauza, the exquisite walled tomb and mosque of the ruler and his family, is just one of the sublime buildings he constructed. The exterior is covered with faded floral murals and carved Arabic calligraphy. Romantic silhouettes are enhanced by the bulbous Turkish domes here, as at Golconda instead of the straight-necked Persian shapes. His son Mohammad Adil Shah (1626-56), built the huge-domed, ponderous
Gol Gumbaz for his mausoleum.
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It is 110 km north-west of Hyderabad, 40 km north-east of Gulbarga. Described by historian Simon Digby as a sensational stone fort built on a natural bluff rising from the plain. Bidar was the capital of the Bahmani kingdom from 1428 to 1489. It was besieged by Aurangazeb in 1656 and remained under a series of Mughal governors until 1724 when it was swallowed up by the Nizams.The tombs on the plains outside the town are magnificient. The inner fort, mostly built by Mohammad Shah (1482-1518), is entered through a massive double gateway. Beyond lies a complete fort. Inside the entrance on the left is the Rangin Mahal whose rooms are exquisitely decorated with coloured tiles, inlaid with mother of pearl.
This town was the Bahmani capital from 1347 until its transfer to Bidar in 1428. Later the kingdom broke up into a number of smaller kingdoms - Bijapur, Bidar, Berar, Ahmednagar and Golconda. The last of these, Golconda, finally fell to Aurangzeb in 1687. Gulbarga's old moated fort is in a much deteriorated state, but it has a number of interesting buildings insideincluding the Jama Masjid, reputed to have been built by a Moorish architect during the late 14th or early 15th century who imitated the great mosque in Cordoba, Spain. The mosque is unique in India, with a huge dome covering the whole area, four smaller ones at the corners,and 75 smaller still all the way around. The fort itself has 15 towers. Gulbarga also has a number of imposing tombs of Bahmani Kings, a shrine to an important Muslim saint and the Sharana Basaveshwara Temple.
16 kms from Mysore on the Bangalore one km east of the fort, across the other side of the main road, stands the Daria Daulat Bagh, set in well-maintained ornamental gardens. It also has 'artists' impressions of the last battle, drawn by employees of the British East India company. All around the internal walls of the ground floor are paintings depicting Tipu's campaigns, with the help of French mercenary assistance,against the British.
The palatial capital of Vijaynagar was once the largest empire in south India. The city rivalled Rome in splendour during the reign of Krishnadevaraya (1509-29), Prince Harihara made a victory over the Hoysalla kings and established the new city Vijaynagar (city of victory) and made it his capital in 1343. The ruins, which have been described as " virtually a vast open-air museum of Hindu monuments in the Dravidian style of architecture" , cover 16km and are of unusual interest. The story of the rise and fall of this "forgotten" empire is one of the fascinating romances of Indian history.
