Karnataka > Bahamani Kingdom (c.1347-1520)
The Bahmani Sultans are remembered for the great contribution they made in the field of Indo-Saracenic art in the South. Founded by Alla-Ud-Din Hasan at Gulbarga in 1347, the Bahmani Kingdom clashed with Vijayanagara all through its history. Muhammed Bahaman Shah, who built the famous Jami Maszid at Gulbarga fort in 1367, is a huge monument of enduring beauty. Domes, vaultings and arches of mortar were introduced by them in their buildings of Karnataka.
Firuz Shah (1397-1422), was a great Sultan in the line and was the grandson of the founder. He extended the kingdom in the east by capturing Rajamahendri from the Reddis. He took pleasure in the society of learned men and patronized Surhindi, a scholar, and Hassan Gilani, an astronomer. He erected the observatory at Daulatabad.
Ahmed (1422-36), successor of Firuz shifted his capital to Bidar, where fine palaces came to be raised in course of time. The Solha Kamb Mosque is a fine creation of his time. He was highly devoted to Sufi saint Bande Nawaz. The prince himself was called 'Vali' (saint) and his tomb at Ashtur near Bidar is highly venerated.
Another great figure in Bahmani history is Mahamud Gawan, a great minister who was born in Persia (1411). On his visit to Bidar (1445) he was given an important position in the Bahamani court, and he was the chief administrator of the kingdom from 1461 till his death in 1481. He administered the territory during the minority of two Sultans, and extended it in the South upto Hubli, in the West upto Goa and the Konkan Coast, and in the East upto Kondavidu and Rajamahendri. A scholar and writer himself, he founded a college at Bidar and provided it with a library from his own personal income. The college building (Madrasa) is a fine structure. Gawan fell a victim to court intrigues and was ordered to be executed by Sultan Muhammad, whom Gawan had educated and brought up.With him vanished the glory of the Kingdom, and soon it broke up into five Shahi Kingdoms of the Deccan. The fine Indo-Saracenic buildings like the Bande Nawaz Dargah, Sath gumbaz, etc., at Gulbarga, Gawan's Madarasa at Bidar and his dome at Ashtur are the important contributions of this Sultanate.
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