Mahmud Gawan Madrasa
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The Mahmud Gawan Madrasa is a former
madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...
, now
mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...
, in partial ruins, located in
Bidar Bidar ( ) is a city and headquarters of the Bidar district in Karnataka state of India. Bidar is a prominent place on the archaeological map of India, it is well known for architectural, historical religious and rich heritage sites. Pictures ...
, in the state of
Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...
, India. It was completed in and is an example of the regional style of Indo-Islamic architecture under the
Bahmani Sultanate The Bahmani Kingdom or the Bahmani Sultanate was a late medieval Persianate kingdom that ruled the Deccan plateau in India. The first independent Muslim sultanate of the Deccan, the Bahmani Kingdom came to power in 1347 during the rebellio ...
. Founded by the prime-minister of the sultanate in the late 15th century, it bears testimony to the scholarly genius of Mahmud Gawan, who first came to Delhi, in exile, as a Persian trader from
Gilan Gilan Province () is one of the 31 provinces of Iran, in the northwest of the country and southwest of the Caspian Sea. Its capital is the city of Rasht. The province lies along the Caspian Sea, in Iran's Region 3, west of the province of ...
in
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
and moved to Bidar in 1453. Mahmud reportedly built the madrasa with his own money and it functioned like a residential
university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
which was built and maintained on the lines of Madrasa of
Khurasan KhorasanDabeersiaghi, Commentary on Safarnâma-e Nâsir Khusraw, 6th Ed. Tehran, Zavvâr: 1375 (Solar Hijri Calendar) 235–236 (; , ) is a historical eastern region in the Iranian Plateau in West Asia, West and Central Asia that encompasses wes ...
. The imposing and spacious building of the institution is considered as an architectural gem and an important landmark of Bidar. The structure is a
Monument of National Importance A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...
, administered by the
Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexander ...
(ASI) since 1914. In 2014,
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
placed the building on its "tentative list" to become a
World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
, under the name
Monuments and Forts of the Deccan Sultanate The Deccan sultanates were five Medieval India#Early modern period, early modern kingdoms, namely Sultanate of Bijapur, Bijapur, Sultanate of Golconda, Golkonda, Ahmadnagar Sultanate, Ahmadnagar, Bidar Sultanate, Bidar, and Berar Sultanate, B ...
.


Location

Situated on the
Deccan Plateau The Deccan is a plateau extending over an area of and occupies the majority of the Indian peninsula. It stretches from the Satpura Range, Satpura and Vindhya Ranges in the north to the northern fringes of Tamil Nadu in the south. It is bound ...
,
AMSL Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level v ...
, Bidar is a place of Cultural and Historical Importance for many years. The monument is located between the Chowbara (''Clock Tower'') and the
fort A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...
, away. Remains of the monument stand strong amongst the chaos of urban settlement around it. Its principal east
façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...
, now partly ruined, faces the city's main street leading to the Bidar Fort.


History

In the reign of Muhammad Shah Bahamani II (1463–1482), Khwaja Mahmud Geelani (better known as Mahmud Gawan), an old noble who bore the title of ''Maliku't-Tujar'' built the madrasa of which the remains still exist. In the time of
Firishta Firishta or Ferešte (), full name Muhammad Qasim Hindu Shah Astarabadi (), was a Persian historian, who later settled in India and served the Deccan Sultans as their court historian. He was born in 1570 and died between 1611 and 1623. Life F ...
, nearly a century and a half later, it was still in perfect preservation and with the great mosque and other buildings by the same founder, in what was called Gawan-ki Chowk (present day Gawan Chowk) were then still applied to the purpose for which they were originally designed. In 1635, during the wars of
Aurangzeb Alamgir I (Muhi al-Din Muhammad; 3 November 1618 – 3 March 1707), commonly known by the title Aurangzeb, also called Aurangzeb the Conqueror, was the sixth Mughal emperors, Mughal emperor, reigning from 1658 until his death in 1707, becomi ...
, Bidar was ravaged by Khan Dauran. In the end of 1656, it was invested by Aurangzeb himself. The historians of this time describes ″he entered the city and proceeding to a mosque which had been built 200 years before, in the reign of Bahamani Sultans, he caused the ''Kutba'' to be read in the name of his father Emperor
Shah Jahan Shah Jahan I, (Shahab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram; 5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), also called Shah Jahan the Magnificent, was the Emperor of Hindustan from 1628 until his deposition in 1658. As the fifth Mughal emperor, his reign marked the ...
. After this capture, the madrasa was principally appropriated as barrack for a body of
cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...
, while a room (or rooms) near the left
minar Minar may refer to: *Minar (Firuzabad), a structure in Iran * Minar Rahman, Bangladeshi singer-songwriter * Ivo Minář, Czech tennis player * Thomas J. Minar, American academic administrator *Minar, an alternate spelling for minaret A minare ...
were used to store
gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, charcoal (which is mostly carbon), and potassium nitrate, potassium ni ...
which exploded in an accident. It blew up fully of one-fourth of the edifice, destroying the tower and entrance. The structure suffered significant damage following a
lightning strike A lightning strike or lightning bolt is a lightning event in which an electric discharge takes place between the atmosphere and the ground. Most originate in a cumulonimbus cloud and terminate on the ground, called cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning ...
in and the building fell into disuse. When the ASI took over administration of the property in 1914, it was in a poor and partially ruinous state.


Architecture

The madrasa, or Islamic
seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...
, was a striking building, though long in a ruinous condition. It occupied an area of , and was entered by a large gateway on the east in front of which it had two
minaret A minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (''adhan'') from a muezzin, but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can h ...
s, approximately high. The rooms surround an open area , in the middle of each of three sides of which was a large apartment or hall wide by approximately long, rising to the full height of building, which is of three stories. Each of these hall has a
dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...
on the outer end over the oriel that projects beyond the line of the walls. The walls of the madrasa measure exactly from east to west and from north to south. The building has a high basement. To make the approach convenient, two terraces were built in front of it. The main entrance has vanished, and its floor was exposed during excavations. Beyond the entrance there was a
portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...
, square in plant at the base, measuring each way. The minaret at the northern and of the façade and the wall adjoining it towards the south are comparatively the best preserved portions of the madrasa, although only fragments of their tile decoration and trellis work have survived. The minaret has an octagonal base with a round shape at the point. The minaret has three storey, the first and second have balconies which project from the main body of the tower in a curvilinear form, without support brackets. The foundations and the lower courses, at least, of the building are all jointed with thin sheets of lead. The
minar Minar may refer to: *Minar (Firuzabad), a structure in Iran * Minar Rahman, Bangladeshi singer-songwriter * Ivo Minář, Czech tennis player * Thomas J. Minar, American academic administrator *Minar, an alternate spelling for minaret A minare ...
was faced with enamelled tiles of different colours in zig zag lines round the lower half of it.


Inscription

Portions of the walls, especially in the front, have also been covered with the same materials, and a broad frieze along the top of the front wall was inscribed with sentences from Q'uran in coloured letters on a ground of green and gold. A part of this wall remains intact, seen on the right side of the front. :


Significance

The madrasa was built to reaffirm ''
Shia Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...
'' as the state religion, and is modelled on contemporary central Asian buildings. The entire campus gives the grand impression which Islamic architecture awakes in many minds. Intelligent planning and construction went into building the madrasa. The surface treatment is composed of colour produced by glazed tiles of different hues. Traces of exquisite colourful tiles are visible on the building walls. The floral decor,
arabesque The arabesque is a form of artistic decoration consisting of "surface decorations based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils" or plain lines, often combined with other elements. Another definition is "Foliate ...
design, and decorative inscriptions with arches dominating everywhere make it a striking example of Indo-Islamic architecture. Mahmud Gawan was familiar with similarly renowned colleges in Samarkhand and Khorasan. The building contains lecture halls, a laboratory, a mosque, students’ hostel, dining room, and quarters for teaching faculty. In addition to Islamic studies, science and mathematics were taught by a carefully chosen faculty which comprised Islamic scholars,
scientists A scientist is a person who researches to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosophical study of nature ...
,
philosophers Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, value, mind, and language. It is a rational and critical inquiry that reflects on ...
, and
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
scholars. Free boarding, lodging, and education was provided to over 500 students at any given time, including students from outside India. Prior to his death, the founder established a library of 3,000 volumes in the madrasa; however, what became of it is not known.


Preservation

The
Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexander ...
(ASI) took up the programme to preserve and protect ancient monuments in
Bidar district Bidar district is the northernmost part of the Karnataka state in India. The administrative headquarters of district is Bidar, Bidar city. Geographically, it known as the "Crown of the State", occupying its northeastern end. It is bounded by Ka ...
in 2005. It included marking boundaries around these structures, building aesthetically designed compound walls, providing lighting and laying gardens around some monuments. Bidar was placed on the World Monument Watch List, 2014, which gives some hope for improvements in this ''City of Whispering Monuments''. Today goats graze among the majestic ruins and the windows with exquisite ''
jali A ''jali'' or ''jaali'' (''jālī'', meaning "net") is the term for a perforated stone or latticed screen, usually with an ornamental pattern constructed through the use of calligraphy, geometry or natural patterns. This form of architectu ...
'' look out like haunted eyes. There are approximately 100 historic monuments in and around Bidar, including the Mahmud Gawan Madarasa. Plans to develop a park around the madrasa has not been realised. The open space behind the monument is used as cricket ground by locals, with the balls often hitting the monument. In 2024, the ASI signed an agreement with the Bidar-based Shaheen Group of Institutions to assist with preserving the site.


Gallery

Ruined Madrasa at Bidar.jpg, Mosque ( Also called as " Kaanch Khanbha" ).JPG, College Campus of yesteryears.jpg, Mosque view-Front side-Madarsa Mahmud Gawan, Bidar.JPG,


See also

*
Islam in India Islam is India's Religion in India, second-largest religion, with 14.2% of the country's population, or approximately 172.2 million people, identifying as adherents of Islam in a 2011 census. India also has the Islam by country, third-larg ...
* List of mosques in India * List of Monuments of National Importance in Bidar district


Notes


References


Attribution


Further reading

* * *


External links

{{Bidar topics 15th-century religious buildings and structures in India Bahmani architecture Buildings and structures in Bidar district Education in Bidar Indo-Islamic architecture Madrasas in India Monuments of National Importance in Karnataka Mosque buildings with domes in India Mosque buildings with minarets in India Mosques in Karnataka Mosque ruins in India Sunni mosques in India Tourist attractions in Bidar