Golconda through Time: A Mirror of the Evolving Deccan by Marika Sardar A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Institute of Fine Arts New York University May, 2007 Priscilla Soucek © Marika Sardar All Rights Reserved, 2007 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This took a long time. I may never have been able to complete this dissertation without the support of so many people. Firstly, I would like to thank the three members of my committee: Professor Priscilla Soucek, who helped and advised me from the start of my graduate studies, and who steered me towards the Deccan in the first place; Professor Barry Flood, who visited me in Hyderabad and suggested numerous improvements to the document now before you; and Professor Phillip Wagoner, who was an extremely generous reader who refined my arguments and clarified many issues related to Telingana and its forts (and also supplied very useful hotel tips). I would also like to thank the Institute of Fine Arts, NYU and the Metropolitan Museum of Art for their financial support of my work. In Hyderabad, several individuals assisted my research. I would like to thank Andreas D’Souza and Robert Schick of the Henry Martyn Institute for sponsoring my research visa. Dr. Venkateshaiah of the Dharwad office and Dr. Kedareshwari of the Hyderabad office of the Archaeological Survey of India granted me permission to photograph at sites throughout the Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh states. Drs. Vasant Bawa, Shanti Bawa and Narendra Luther shared their expertise on the history of the region. The Hyderabad Public School Class of 1967 supplied advice, housing, food, drink, and most importantly, Secunderabad Club membership. I would like to thank Sunita and Nanda Kumar Reddy, Nabiha and Humayun Mirza, Bharati and Yeshwant Ramamurthy, Parveez and Sohrab Chinoy, and Manohar and Lata Agarwal. Other iii friends and family who helped along the way include Anvar Alikhan, Sunita, Roy and Roshni Verghese, Kevin and Rati Parker, and Eapen and Leela Mathulla. On a more personal note, there are several friends at NYU I would like to acknowledge—there are too many to name so I will include those who started with me back in 1999: Alexandra Lange, Blair Fowlkes, Jason Earle, Katie Lewis, Matthew Hayes and Neuza Costa. Other friends came to visit me in India, not realizing they would be dragged to such picturesque sites: Jen Dobrowolski and Debbi Lyons will never forget Agra and Indore. My thanks also go to Cornelia Wu and Mark Dixon, who stepped in at the last minute to draw plans. My family, David, Liza and Nick Sardar, has always lent its support, but I think my mother deserves special note for actually climbing several forts with me. And finally, I would like to thank my husband Stephen Nickson, who climbed even more forts, rode innumerable buses and trains, and made lots of tea: the D is dedicated to you. iv ABSTRACT The fort of Golconda is located in the Deccan region of India, and was the capital of the Qutb Shahi dynasty between 1495 and 1687, when the kingdom fell to the Mughals of Delhi (1526-1858). Despite its major role in the events of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and its set of well-preserved monuments, there is no extended study of Golconda that examines the fort during the Qutb Shahi period or deals with its earlier history. In this dissertation I propose an outline of the fort’s development, starting with new evidence for its foundation in the late thirteenth or early fourteenth centuries and continuing until its capture by the Mughal armies in 1687. This was accomplished by closely examining the fortifications and structures of the citadel and palace area of the fort. Then, by using securely dated monuments at Golconda and at other sites in the Deccan, I defined patterns in structure and ornament that were prevalent in each period of time, and used these patterns to analyze those buildings at Golconda without inscriptions. Having grouped the buildings into discrete phases, I tried to understand how the addition of these buildings advanced and/or affected the development of the fortified town of Golconda as a whole. I attempted to answer the questions of how the fort was used at each particular moment in time, where its main entrances and egresses were, and how its buildings were designed for visibility and access from other parts of the fort. I also strived to place the development of Golconda into a historical and regional context, for unique though the site is, analogues for its development can be found at the contemporary Deccan capitals of Bijapur, Ahmadnagar, Bidar and Vijayanagara. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments iii Abstract v List of Abbreviations viii List of Appendices ix List of Plates x Chapter 1. Introduction 1 Chapter 2. The Origins of Golconda The Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries 20 The Foundation of Golconda in Context 37 The Bahmani Period, ca. 1363 to ca. 1495 47 Chapter 3. The Early Qutb Shahi Period The Reign of Sultan Quli (r. ca.1495-1543) 66 The Development of Golconda and the Establishment of Qutb Shahi Independence 88 The Reign of Jamshid Qutb Shah (r.1543-1550) 110 Chapter 4. The Middle Qutb Shahi Period The Reign of Ibrahim Qutb Shah (r.1550-1580) 114 Ibrahim Qutb Shah and Contemporary Deccan Rulers 144 Ibrahim Qutb Shah and the Foundations of the Move to Hyderabad 158 Chapter 5. The Late Qutb Shahi Period and Beyond From Muhammad Quli to Abul Hasan (1580-1687): Historical Summary 160 Golconda in the Late Qutb Shahi Period 170 vi Mughal and Asaf Jahi Rule of Golconda (1687-1948) 189 Chapter 6. Conclusion 194 Appendices 204 Bibliography 227 Plates vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ARADH Annual Report of the Archaeological Department of His Highness the Nizam’s Dominions BSOAS Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies EIM Epigraphia Indo-Moslemica EIAPS Epigraphia Indica, Arabic and Persian Supplement HMD History of Medieval Deccan HQSD History of the Qutb Shahi Dynasty viii LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix 1. List of Dynasties and Rulers 204 Appendix 2. Catalogue of the Buildings in the Palace Area 205 ix LIST OF PLATES Plate 1. Golconda: Plan [drawn by Cornelia Wu] Plate 2. Golconda: View of the Bala Hisar and Palace Area Plate 3. Golconda: Plan during the late 13th to early 14th centuries [drawn by Cornelia Wu] Plate 4. Golconda: Inner Fort walls, detail Plate 5. Golconda: Inner Fort walls, detail Plate 6. Golconda: Inner Fort walls, detail (north side of second enclosure) Plate 7. Golconda: Inner Fort walls, bastion (south side of third enclosure) Plate 8. Golconda: Inner Fort walls, tool marks Plate 9. Golconda: Inner Fort walls, tool marks Plate 10. Golconda: Inner Fort walls, tool marks Plate 11. Map of the forts in Telingana [from Sastry, The Kakatiyas of Warangal] Plate 12. Raichur: Plan [from ARADH, 1929-30] Plate 13. Raichur: Kakatiya walls, near the 1294 inscription Plate 14. Raichur: Upper fort walls Plate 15. Raichur: Upper fort walls, tool marks Plate 16. Raichur: Quarrying relief [from ARADH, 1929-30] Plate 17. Warangal: Plan [from Michell, “City as Cosmogram: The Circular Plan of Warangal,” South Asian Studies] Plate 18. Warangal: Kakatiya walls, with alternating courses of headers and stretchers Plate 19. Warangal: Kakatiya walls, bastions x Plate 20. Warangal: Kakatiya walls, north gate Plate 21. Bhongir Plate 22. Bhongir: Early fortification walls, with alternating courses of headers and stretchers Plate 23. Bhongir: Bastion Plate 24. Bhongir: Crenellations Plate 25. Kaulas Plate 26. Kaulas: Bastion Plate 27. Koyilkonda: Early fortification walls Plate 28. Koyilkonda: Passageway leading to gate Plate 29. Bhongir: West gate Plate 30. Bhongir: East gate Plate 31. Koyilkonda: Postern door and bastion Plate 32. Warangal: Door Plate 33. Kaulas: Stairs Plate 34. Koyilkonda: Stairs Plate 35. Bhongir: Stairs Plate 36. Raichur: Stairs Plate 37. Golconda: Inner Fort, first and second enclosures, south end Plate 38. Golconda: Inner Fort, first and second enclosures, middle of the east side Plate 39. Golconda: Inner Fort, second enclosure, north end of the east side Plate 40. Golconda: Inner Fort, second enclosure, north end Plate 41. Golconda: Inner Fort, second enclosure, east-west wall next to the ‘Ramdas Jail’ xi Plate 42. Golconda: Inner Fort, third enclosure, southern extension Plate 43. Golconda: Inner Fort, third enclosure, northern extension Plate 44. Golconda: Inner Fort, third enclosure, gate Plate 45. Golconda: Inner Fort, third enclosure, gate, detail of elephants Plate 46. Golconda: Inner Fort, third enclosure, passageway preceding gate Plate 47. Golconda: Inner Fort, third enclosure, southern extension, door Plate 48. Golconda: Inner Fort, first enclosure, south end, door Plate 49. Golconda: Inner Fort, south end, stairs joining doors in the first and third enclosures Plate 50. Golconda: Inner Fort, second enclosure, door in the middle of the east side Plate 51. Golconda: Inner Fort, second enclosure, stairs in the middle of the east side, and north-facing doorway next to the ‘Ramdas Jail’ Plate 52. Golconda: Inner Fort, first enclosure, door at the top of the stairs in the middle of the east side Plate 53. Golconda: Inner Fort, second enclosure, door on the north end of the east side Plate 54. Golconda: Inner Fort, second enclosure, door on the north end of the east side, detail Plate 55. Golconda: Inner Fort, second enclosure, stairs leading to the doors on the north end of the east side Plate 56. Golconda: Congregational Mosque, door in the east gateway Plate 57. Ghanpur: Kota Gudi temple, door to the inner sanctum Plate 58. Golconda: Shrine at the summit of the Bala Hisar Plate 59. Map of India in the 14th and 15th centuries [from Keay, India: A History] Plate 60.