Musafir

Haft Gumbaz, a group of seven tombs (also called Saat (Seven) Gumbaz, situated on the eastern end of the town and on the way to the Khaja Bande Nawaz Darga consists of the tombs of some of the rulers and military commanders of the Bahmani Kingdom (14th – 15th Century AD). There is a small gate through which one can enter the complex. Nice lawns have been setup inside which adds to the serenity of the tombs. All of the tombs are barred from entrance. As I peeped through a couple of them, I did not notice any inner decorations but the outer structure of a couple are good. The plain ones of the early Tughlaq style constructions.

The complex extends from east to west. From the west, Mujahid Shah (third Sultan, 1375-78), and Daud Shah (fourth Sultan, 1378). To the northeast of these are the tombs of Ghiyath al Din Shah (sixth Sultan, 1397) and Shams al Din Shah (seventh Sultan, 1397). To the southeast of these is Firoz Shah (eighth Sultan, 1397-1422), and to the south and northeast there are some anonymous tombs. Most of the tombs are very plain in architecture with a large dome and square constructions.

Some of the structures contain more than one tomb belonging to the wife or children of the Sultan. The tomb of Mujahid Shah is the best looking of the lot having curved designs all around it. It also has an upper level from inside which looks like a balcony. The entrance is intricately carved on plaster. An interesting aspect is the usage of granite in some parts of the construction which clearly look like Hindu style of art. We can infer that some of the monuments were either constructed on the same area as any Hindu structure or stones from any Hindu monument were used in this construction after desecration of the former.

Even though this is a short post, I am ending it here as a logical conclusion. We will visit the Fort and its various aspects in the coming ones.