BIDAR ITS HISTORY AND MOM U MEM'S OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON GEOFFREY OUMBERLEGE PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY CHARLES BATEY AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, OXFORD PREFACE TN 1915 1 visited Bidar for the first time. Motor-cars were costly, and further they had X not come much into vogue in Hyderabad by that time. The roads were also not so as good they are now. Bidar was a two-days' trek from Hyderabad by the pony tonga. There were no arrangements for relays, and it would have been cruel to use a pair for more than forty miles a day. In such conditions it is apparent that there was little opportunity for the ordinary student or the 'globe-trotter' to visit Bidar. Government also had not taken any action in regard to the repair of 'a mass of ruin', however glorious, which was not easily accessible. The measures recommended by me for the conservation of monuments after my first visit were therefore not very elaborate, and they affected only those remains which were not in an advanced stage of decay. The fort, which is now a great attraction to the tourist, was almost left out, and in the case of the Madrasa only the clearance of its plinth and the setting up of a few props were recommended. But even in my first note I had suggested the construction of roads and footpaths as a preliminary measure to facilitate access to these monuments. The Public Works Department prepared estimates amounting to Rs. 36,000 based on my note, and through the active support of the Right Honourable Sir Akbar Hydari, who was then the Secretary to Government in the Archaeological Depart- ment, the estimates were readily sanctioned and the work carried out in the years 1917 and 1918. Simultaneously with these measures I read a paper on the beauty and architectural importance of the monuments of Bidar before the Hyderabad Archaeological Society which aroused considerable interest among the general public. This paper was subsequently published hi the form of an illustrated booklet, to serve 1 as a guide-book for those who wanted to study the monuments on the spot. After the carrying out of these measures there followed a cessation for several years in the archaeological activities at Bidar, but luckily it was a time when the Osmania University had been established, and His Exalted Highness' s Government, side by side with the development of Higher Education, were pressing forward a vigorous programme of Secondary and Primary Education in the rural areas of the Dominions. Movements were also on foot to open up the country for the economic into the of uplift of the State. These measures were gradually bringing minds people a general reawakening and a sense of national pride. To take advantage of these conditions, in 1927 I submitted to Government a comprehensive programme for the at as thorough repair and conservation of the monuments Bidar, and the estimated of 1 the expencLLture amounted to over two lakhs rupees, suggested that expenditure should be spread over several years, and that a sum of Rs. 25,000 per annum should be ear-marked in the budget for the purpose, this allotment being continued annually until the work was finished. The programme was somewhat ambitious, and I felt considerable doubt as to whether it would be sanctioned, but the Right Honourable Sir Akbar Hydari, who was then at the helm of the finances of the State, fully This booklet was published tinder the title The Antiquities of Bidar in 1917. ri PREFACE supported the scheme, and through his kind recommendation it was graciously sanctioned by His Exalted Highness. The carrying out of the scheme has taken nine years, and the work is still in progress. The first measures undertaken were the clearance of jungle and the making of an accurate surrey of the sites of the various monuments. For the former we appointed a specially trained staff, so that in cutting down the trees and eradicating the rank vegetation no injury should be done to the masonry of the buildings, which generally were in a precarious condition. The survey work was entrusted to Party No. 6 of the Government of India, who have carried out our instructions with meticulous care. After the accomplishment of this task, we started, on the one hand, the construction of a network of motorable roads to make access to these monuments easy, and, on the other hand, we took up the repair of the remains which had been exposed to view by the clearance of jungle. Simultaneously we started excavations in the fort area at the sites of old palaces, the magnifi- cence of which was extolled in contemporary histories, but the existence of which could be traced only in the shape of huge mounds of debris. These noble edifices were blown to pieces by the royal occupants of the fort themselves at the times of the different sieges, when all hope of relief had been given up, so that their assailants should not live and enjoy themselves in them. As a result of our excava- tions the famous Ta&ht Mahall ('throne palace'), the beauties of which had been sung by Adharl in a special poem dedicated to the BaihmanI king Ahmad Shah al-WaU, has now been fully exposed to view, and its pristine grandeur can be admired. In the fort another beautiful palace, called the Rangln Mahall (' coloured palace'), has also been cleared from the debris; but the most wonderful portions of the fort now exposed to view are its defences, which were hitherto completely con- cealed either under a thick growth of rank vegetation or a mass of wrecked masonry. A visitor can now go round the fort, even in a motor-car, and examine the old ramparts, bastions, covered passages, barbicans, and gates, all of which had been most scientifically planned and which had made the fort impregnable against the armament of those days. Parenthetically I must state here that the Honourable Sir Theodore Tasker, Revenue Member, H.E.H. the Nizam's Government, has been most helpful to the Department in the matter of the preservation of the fort; and 1 the 'walk' newly constructed along the glacis is entirely his idea. The tombs of Bidar, like the sepulchres of Muslim kings in other places, were at one time adorned with lovely gardens, but with the passage of time they fell into ruin, and the lands occupied by the gardens were leased to cultivators by the hereditary custodians of the tombs. The Department experienced no small diffi- culty in stopping cultivation within the enclosures of the tombs, and in some cases considerable sums have had to be paid as compensation for acquiring possession of lands in the precincts of monuments. The walks of these old gardens have now been restored, and the flower-beds indicated by newly turfed plots. Almost all the old palaces in the fort were occupied by Government offices, and one was used as the District Jail. The Jail was removed immediately after my first 1 This walk offers the visitor excellent opportunities of enjoying views of the fort at different points. PREFACE vii report, and several other old buildings have since been vacated. As regards the remaining buildings the Government policy is that they shall be vacated as soon as new offices have been constructed. In the booklet The Antiquities of Bidar, I had expressed the hope of writing a detailed account of the place as soon as the necessary opportunities permitted of this being done. Accordingly, after the sanction of our comprehensive scheme, work was started towards a closer study of the monuments, and architectural drawings and photographs were taken and necessary historical data collected in order to present the subject in correct perspective. The material has been sent from time to time to the University Press, Oxford, which had undertaken to print the volume for the Department. As the volume has been compiled in such hours as could be snatched from official duties the progress of the work has been slow, and I must thank Dr. John Johnson, the Printer of the University Press, for his patience and courtesy in keeping the material standing for such a long time. The text and monochrome plates have both been printed by the University Press, Oxford, while the colour plates have been prepared by Messrs. Henry Stone & Son of London and Banbury. The expenditure on the production of such a work is necessarily large, and I greatly appreciate the liberality of H.E.H.'s Government in so readily sanctioning the proposal for the publication of the volume, and the kindness of His Exalted Highness who has been graciously pleased to sanction the publication of the book under his special authority. Lastly I have to thank my esteemed friend, Sir Richard Burn, who has given me most valuable help in the correction of the proofs of the book. I am also grateful to Mr. C. E. A. W. Oldham and Sir John Marshall for most kindly reading the preliminary part of the text and suggesting some useful emendations, and to Dr. J. P. Naish for compiling the index. G. YAZDANI ORANGE GROVE, HYDERABAD DN. June 10, 1944 CONTENTS ...... v-vii CHAPTER I PHYSICAL FEATURES AND TOPOGRAPHY Situation, climate, geological characteristics of the plateau, soil, agricultural produce, cattle, and monkeys, pp. 1-2. CHAPTER II HISTORY 3 ; Muslim 3-4 Early period, p. conquest, pp. ; afarkan, founder of the BaihmanI dynasty, made Bidar one of the four of his 4 Bidar a town provinces kingdom, p.