CONTENTS.

The Mosque at Kalburgah.

CHRONOLOGY.

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]

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.