Unit 18 Regional Cities*
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UNIT 18 REGIONAL CITIES* Structure 18.1 Introduction 18.2 Jaunpur 18.3 Gaur and Pandua 18.4 Kalpi 18.5 Mandu 18.6 Ahmadabad 18.7 Gulbarga and Bidar 18.8 Nature of Regional Capital Cities 18.9 Summary 18.10 Exercises 18.11 References 18.1 INTRODUCTION The ambitious and rapid expansions of the Delhi Sultanate under Alauddin Khalji (reg. 1296-1316) and then Muhammad bin Tughlaq (reg. 1325-1351) ensured the spread of a Turkic-Persianate court culture across the entire sub-continent. Despite regional variation in local design histories, we can perceive certain uniformity in the architecture and planning of sultanate cities across the Indian sub-continent. In this Unit, eight Sultanate cities that emerged at regional centres of power and were conceptualised in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries are considered, from across different parts of India. After Muhammad bin Tughlaq’s reign, most of his territories rebelled and declared independence from the empire that he had tried to consolidate. The sultanates of Bengal (1342-1576), Deccan (Bahmani: 1347-1518), Khandesh (1382-1601), Malwa (1392- 1562), Gujarat (1391-1583), Jaunpur (1394-1479), along with the kingdom of Vijayanagara (1336-1565) were all the successor kingdoms to the Khalji-Tughlaq empire. Various other local chieftains and subdued kings also declared their independence in this period. As all these successor states sought to consolidate their own kingdoms, they established new capitals, sometimes on the sites of earlier settlements, but with completely new paradigms of architecture and planning, in part rooted in local custom, but also derived from new ideas ushered in by the Delhi sultanate. The fourteenth century fashioning of court culture and kingship by Timur (1336-1405) in his Central Asian heartland was being emulated in the greater Persianate world, and these new kingdoms in India were no exception. The aesthetic and visual ideals promulgated by Timurid practices shaped the Persianate world, from present-day Iraq to India. In addition, several new forms of irrigation, water technology, agriculture, and land settlement were introduced across India in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, allowing the establishment of urban centers in India at locations hitherto thought of as unsustainable for cities. Here, we will look at some cities in some detail, viz. Jaunpur, Gaud, Pandua, Bidar, * Dr. Pushkar Sohoni, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA. 2 9 Urbanisation in Gulbarga, Mandu, Ahmadabad, and Kalpi. In tracing the emergence, continuity and Medieval India - 1 changes in the urban settlements in this period, it is possible to highlight differences and similarities in the new capitals of the regional sultanates. Map 18.1: Regional Kingdoms c. 15 Century [After Joppen, Charles, (1907) Historical Atlas of India, London: Longmans Green & Co. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/ 57/India_in_1525_Joppen.jpg] 18.2 JAUNPUR The city of Jaunpur was founded in 1359 by Firuz Shah Tughlaq (reg. 1351-88) on the bank of the Gomti river. It was used as a base for the Delhi sultanate for further operations against the rebellious Bengal sultanate and Orissa. When the rule of the Delhi sultanate weakened, Khwaja Jahan (reg. 1394–99), Malik Sarwar, upon whom Muhammad Shah conferred title of Sultan-us Sharq, who had been then the governor of the province, 3 0 declared independence and founded the Sharqi sultanate in 1394. It was under the Regional Cities Sharqi sultans that the city prospered, and they carried out ambitious building activities to embellish their capital with a distinct architectural programme. Eventually, Sikandar Lodi (reg. 1489-1517), second ruler of the Lodi dynasty in Delhi, ransacked and pillaged the town, destroying all buildings except the mosques. Under the Mughals, Jaunpur was rebuilt as were most of its fortifications. The city of Jaunpur comprised of 67 mohallas; a few still survive today – Isapur, Begum Ganj, Madar Mohala, Karar Kot and Atala Mosque mohalla. Jaunpur Sultanate [After Saeed, Mian Muhammad, (1972) The Sharqi Sultanate of Jaunpur, Map 2: The Provincial Sultanates of India and Pakistan During the 14th and 15th Centruries, Karachi: University of Karachi] Architecture and Planning Sharqis were great patrons of art and architecture. Within a short span Jaunpur emerged centre of Islamic culture. What makes Jaunpur architecture occupy distinct place was local roots of the artisans, both Hindu and Jain. – it assimilated and blended the Islamic tradition with local. Timur’s invasion forced the artisans and men of letters to move to provincial centres. Jaunpur rulers provided them liberal patronage. The city of Jaunpur, like most other sultanate cities, does not have any extant remains from earlier settlements at the site. Founded as a new provincial capital, it soon became the capital city of a new kingdom in the late fourteenth century. The walled city with a network of streets around a centrally located congregational mosque, and a citadel on the edge of the city facing the river, is a pattern seen in other sultanate towns. Malik Sarwar expanded and repaired Firuz’s fort and renamed it Badi Manzal; later the capital was named by him Dar-us Surur (the abode of the bliss). Sultan Ibrahim Sharqi built a separate palace in Jaunpur, Chihal Situn Mahal (the palace of forty pillars) for himself. Best known for the Atala mosque built in the late fourteenth century, Jaunpur has a number of other important buildings dating from the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries. Yet, the Atala mosque is stylistically unique as an exemplar of the visual identity that the Sharqi sultans were trying to create. The square tapered towers that flank the high central arch are perhaps the identifying markers of Jaunpur mosque architecture. It is the most ornate and beautifully carved, is the best among the mosques of Jaunpur. It was partially destroyed by Sikandar Lodi but restored to its glory in 1860 by Munshi Haider Husain. Other mosques such as the Khalis Mukhlis mosque (c. 1430) and the 3 1 Urbanisation in Lal Darwaza mosque (c. 1450) and Jami mosque (c. 1470) are other examples of this Medieval India - 1 style. The Mughal legacy includes a magnificent bridge (Shah bridge) built by the then governor Munim Khan, Khan-i Khanan around 1569 over Gomti river during the reign of Akbar. The most striking feature of Sharqi architecture was its propylon and recessed arches. Atala Masjid, Sketch by William Hodges, 1783 Source:https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/Atala_Mosque_William_ Hodges_1783.jpg Lal Darwaza, Jaunpur Source: Archaeological Survey of India Collections, Photograph by Joseph Beglar c.1870, British Library Online Collections. http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/photocoll/m/largeimage58808.html 3 2 Regional Cities Jama Masjid, Jaunpur Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaunpur,_Uttar_Pradesh#/media/File:BadiMasjid.jpg The Sharqis were also torch bearers in the field of cultural development in the region. Jaunpur occupied prominent place as one of the prominent centres of learning on account of which Shahjahan called it Shiraz-i Hind and named it Dar-ul Ilm (abode of learning) even it outshone Delhi. Jaunpur became abode of men of learning and sufis who were forced to leave Delhi on account of Timur invasion coupled with the decline of patronage of Delhi Sultans. Qazi Shihabuddin Daulatabadi, who is praised by Abul Fazl for his wisdom and learning, Sultan Ibrahim Sharqi honoured him with the title of Malik-ul Ulama (chief of the learned) and appointed him the chief qazi of Jaunpur. Again the Timurid onslaught was severe and the sufis left Delhi in large numbers. Jaunpur once again provided the safe abode. Khwaja Abul Fath (d. 1454) of Chishti order settled down at Jaunpur. Sultan Ibrahim Sharqi was his great murid. Jaunpur is equally blessed by the brisk activities of the madariya order. Its founder Shah Badiuddin Madar made Jaunpur-Makanpur as centre of his activities. Among the Shattaris, Shah Abdullah Shattari also for long time stayed at Jaunpur before moving towards Kalpi, Mandu and Chittor. But the major mystic movement that received its roots in Jaunpur was Mahdawi movement spearheaded by Saiyyid Muhammad Jaunpuri who aimed at restoring the ‘purity of Islam’. At Jaunpur other than Persian Awadhi also flourished. Shaikh Qutban who composed Mrigawati (1503) dedicated his work to Husain Sharqi. Music also find liberal patronage of the Sharqis at Jaunpur. Husain Sharqi himself invented many ragas. He invented 12 syams and four todis (famous being Husaini or Jaunpuri Asawari and Jaunpuri Basant). Above all Sultan Husain Sharqi left a lasting impact on posterity in the form of his invention of khayal mode of singing. Husain Sharqi, himself was a painter, provided liberal patronage to painting as well. The famous Jain Kalpasutra, (1465) was illustrated at Jaunpur under Husain Sharqi’s patronage. Thus the city of Jaunpur emerged as the prominent centre of Indo-Islamic tradition even surpassing Delhi during the 15th and early 16th centuries. 3 3 Urbanisation in Medieval India - 1 A Leaf from Jain Kalpasutra, Jaunpur School Source: The MET; Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History:Jain Manuscript painting Courtesy:http:/ /www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1992.359/ 18.3 GAUD AND PANDUA With the advent of Islam in Bengal, particularly from 14th century onwards a visible change is evident in the process of urbanisation which is evident in the presence of a number of mint towns in the region – Gaur, Pandua, Sonargaon, Satgaon, Chitagong, Tanda. Further, activities of the immigrant Sufis who got settled down there and established their khanqahas, dargahs and madarsas particularly provided the fillip to the growth of towns in the region. Bengal Sultanate [After Syed Ejaz Hussain, (2003) The Bengal Sultanate (AD 1205-1576) 3 4 New Delhi: Manohar, Map facing page 1.] Gaur, the city of the Bengal sultanate was established at Lakhnavati (today known as Regional Cities Gaud, Gaur, Goud), which was the erstwhile capital of the Pala kings.