Musafir

Chaukandi is a compound Hindi word, meaning a four storeyed building. Although the building itself is double storeyed, the term has been applied as it is situated at a high ground and reached by a flight of steps. Hadrat Khalil-Ullah was the son of Shah Nimat Ullah Kirmani, and as mentioned in of the posts, the former came over from his native place to Bidar in 1431 AD during the reign of Allauddin Shah Wali Bahmani and his sons were married to the royal princesses.

The Chaukhandi has three graves in the main vault and several others in the corridor. The tomb is approached from the road which goes from the Dulhan Darwaza to the Bahmani tombs. To approach the outer gateway of the tomb, the visitor has to ascend a flight of steps and walk across a long pavement which has intermediate steps. There is a pleasing façade at the end of the pavement, comprising of an arch in the middle and a parapet of trefoil pattern at the top of the wall. The arch has a stilt at the top showing Persian influence. There is a panel with medallions of stucco work and contains the names of Allah, Mohammed and Ali written in the Kufic script but arranged in the Tughra style.

Just outside the gateway, there is a hall to the left which is barred for entrance. It has three arches and its ceiling is divided into three compartments built across its width, each compartment containing a vault. The upper hall of this building was originally used by musicians, who played on trumpets and drums at the four watches to maintain the ceremonial dignity of the shrine. Passing through the gateway, the visitor has to ascend some steps to reach the passage. On either side of the passage at this stage are a large number of graves belonging to Shah Khalil-Ullah and his successors. From here, there are again a fleet of stairs after which we reach the building.

The Chaukandi appears to have been designed by the same architect who planned the tomb of Sultan Allauddin, for there is much in common in the decorative schemes between the two. However, their ground plans are different as the Chaukandi is octagonal unlike the other which is square. The walls of the Chaukandi were originally decorated with encaustic tiles, the trace of which are found only in a few places. Black stone borders have been done for the this tomb as well as we had seen on the tomb of Sultan Allauddin. There are arches on two levels which is again a similarity of the two buildings. The walls are built of black trap masonry laid in lime and they are very massive in construction.

The interior of the tomb is approached by a covered passage from the arch facing South. The tomb of the saint, which is built in the middle of the interior of the Chaukandi, as a square plan externally and an octagonal plan internally. The walls are decorated with stucco work both inside and outside. In later times, separate vaults have been built for the graves of the descendants of Shah Khalil-Ullah, one of which is attached to the Chaukandi itself and and may be noticed in the form of a projection to the east of the passage. Over the doorway of this vault the date of 1675 AD. is carved which show that it was built after the conquest of Bidar by Aurangzeb in 1658. Inside the vault, there are 9 graves. The beautiful inscription in the Thulth style if writing which beings from the main doorway of the Chaukandi is continued till the inner corridors. It was designed by a calligraphist of Shiraz named Mughith.

To the east of the Chaukandi, until some 70 years ago, stood a tomb which has since perished completely, but photographs of its exterior and interior were fortunately taken by the Archaeological Department in 1917. It was not of large dimensions but had distinctive decorative features which made the building picturesque.

The Chaukandi, apart from its lofty position, which has made it a prominent feature in the panorama of Bidar, possesses certain architectural merits placing the monument among the best constructions of the Bahmani period. It is now denuded of much of its splendor, but its stately arches, neat carving, and magnificent calligraphy and artwork show the highest quality of Bahmani architecture, which probably reached during the reign of Sultan Allauddun, whose own tomb as similar decorative features as the Chaukandi.

The next in line is the tomb of Sultan Nizam Shah, which is to the west of Humayun’s. The thought of a tomb to Nizam Shah was probably his mother’s as the Sultan was just eight when he became the ruler and ruled only for two years. The tomb is left incomplete due to the demise of the queen mother a few years later. Though small, the walls of this tomb rise to a height of 25 feet from ground level. The external dimensions are the same as the other royal tombs. It is very likely that the architect had initially planned a dome as the structure is massive enough to withstand the load. The exterior of the tomb towards the south has a large arch in the middle which forms the entrance.

Next is the tomb of Sultan Muhammed Shah III, entitled Lashkari which is also incomplete. The reason could be even if he ruled for nineteen years, he was merely a puppet in the hands of the queen mother and the two ministers, Khwaja Jahan Turk and Mahmud Gawan. His tomb is almost similar to that of Nizam Shah except that the dimensions of the arches vary a little. It is possible that it had been designed by the same architect. There are three graves inside and one of them must have belonged to Muhammed Shah’s wife.

The title Malika-E-Jahan is commonly given to the queen consorts during the Bahmani and subsequent dynasties when they ruled, but here it specifically refers to the wife of Sultan Humayun who played a very important role in Deccan politics during the reign of her minor sons, Nizam Shah and Muhammed Shah III. She retired from State affairs and devoted to religious activities once Muhammed Shah was of age. The Malika’s tomb is a little smaller than that of her husband and two sons. With respect to ornamentation, it has good stucco work which gives a pleasing look. There are four graves below the vault and the one right in the middle of the vault is of the queen.

The tomb of Mahmud Shah Bahmani is one of the most imposing structures in the vicinity. He also ascended the throne at a tender age of twelve years. He took control of the kingdom from the de facto rule of Ministers and ruled for thirty six years and probably had his tomb built during his lifetime. His tomb also possesses all the solid dignity of the tombs of the earlier Bahmani kings but lacks in austerity for it does not either have decorative tiles on its outside or paintings inside. The walls rise to a height of 45 feet and strongly support the gigantic dome and are crowned by a parapet of 5 feet.

The enclosure walls measure 77 feet on each side and has a wide arch in the center of each wall. There are smaller arches above this arch and this is a common pattern followed all across the building. The dome has an octagonal base on the roof and its circumference at the springing point is 206 feet. The interior of the tomb is somewhat somber with light entering through windows filled with trellis work. Apart from some minor designs here and there, there is no decoration found but the tomb is consistent in its massive and spacious interiors which is a signature of the earlier Bahmani tombs.

There are two unidentified tombs in front of this one. They are supposedly of two puppet kings Ahmed Shah and Allauddin who were placed on the throne by Amir Barid in 1518 and 1521AD. Of these two sepulchers, one has a conical dome with eight facets, which are marked by plaster ribs. The interior of the tomb is square measuring only 15 feet. The walls have an arch on each side with a parapet of 2 feet above. The second sepulcher is incomplete. The walls of this building have not been plastered but traces of a tomb were noticed and the building restored by the ASI.

Now that we have completed the Bahmani tombs, we will visit the remaining monument in this place, the very famous Chaukandi.

We have seen the glorious and massive tomb of Ahmed Shah Wali in the previous post. In this post, we will visit the remaining tombs.

To the east of Ahmed Shah’s tomb, but at a lower level, is a tomb which is assigned to the wife of the king. There is no inscription on the tomb and its internal decoration has perished with its usage as a dwelling by the locals. Its architecture is similar to that of Ahmed Shah’s but considerably smaller in dimensions. It must at one time, nevertheless, have been quite imposing as its built on a platform and the walls of the tomb rise to around 28 feet above the Sultan’s own tomb. Inside, there are traces of paintings on the ceiling, but owing to neglect over the centuries, the designs have almost perished. There are five graves in this monument, of which the one at the extreme left is said to be that of Ahmed Shah’s wife.

There is another tomb to the south of Ahmed Shah Wali’s which is said to be of his son Hassan Khan. However, it is very untrue as Hassan Khan was Ahmed Shah’s nephew and was also a rival. So it is unlikely that he was buried at the royal cemetery. The tomb, in view of the above facts, probably contains the grave of one of the two princes Mahmud Khan or Daud Khan, or perhaps both, for there are eight graves inside and it could have been the family vault of Ahmed Shah. From an architectural point of view, this building is not of much importance as it is comparatively very small than the others we had seen.

The next one is the tomb of Allauddin Shah, the eldest son of Ahmed Shah Wali. This tomb probably built during his lifetime should have been magnificent in those days with the colored tiles and floral designs. Much damage has been done to the tiles due to weather and vandalism of curious visitors who plucked the tiles till where hands could reach. The specimens which are intact show pleasing floral scrolls, geometric patterns and calligraphic motifs. The principal colors used were blue, green and yellow on white background, of which yellow was used as a contrast.

The black stone margins and along the decorative panels is a distinctive characteristic of this tomb. You can find these slender black stone bands at the four corners of the tomb where walls join one another. They are not only finely polished but also carved intricately which is very pleasing. The tomb has three doorways and the ornamentation on its exterior may perhaps at one time have given the same impression of splendor and glory as is produced by the tile decorated walls of the Dome of the Rock at Jerusalem. The name of the King with his title was given in the band of tiles above the southern doorway, but except the word Sultan everything else has perished.

The ceiling of the dome was originally painted, and a few fragments of them can be traced here and there. The interior of the tomb seems to have been used roughly by some uncultured people causing damage not only to the paintings, but also to the plaster on the walls. They unfortunately destroyed the sarcophagus over the grave and this has been rebuilt by the Archeological Survey of India.

Situated next to the one of Allauddin Shah, is the tomb of his son Humayun, the cruel. Probably in retaliation to his cruelty, nature showed its vengeance. The tomb was struck by a lightning in recent times and the larger part of its dome and walls have fallen down. The debris of the dome was lying inside till the 19th century after which it was cleared by the ASI. The architecture of this building, even though not much pleasing, is different from the ones constructed before, particularly in the arches. This arch construction was later predominantly used in the buildings of Adil Shahi and the Baridi dynasties.

The tomb at its base measures 77 feet on each side externally and the thickness of the walls is 13 feet. Steps are built in the thickness of the walls which lead to the roof. The tomb is entirely built of black trap masonry laid in lime, but the upper courses of the dome are built in light spongy brick which float in water. When ASI sent samples of these bricks for examination, it was found that the quality of these is far superior than those found in the Ramappa Temple in Warangal. The construction of this tomb is indeed a new experience and good information to any student of Bahmani architecture. We shall visit the remaining tombs in the next post.

We need to travel outside the city of Bidar for about 2 miles to the village of Ashtur where the tombs of the later Bahmani Sultans are present. We need to pass through the Dulhan Darwaza outside the city. There are eight tombs of the kings of the Bahmani dynasty in this area, and their comparative dimensions and style of architecture demonstrate in the clearest manner the gradual deterioration of the political power of the dynasty.  There is a low wall surrounding the tombs to prevent encroachments from locals which is a good sign. There is a good motor-able road which is increasing tourism activity in this area. Keeping in line with the chronology, the earliest tomb is the one of Sultan Ahmed Shah Wali, who instated Bidar as the capital city. We will talk about each of them.

Ahmed Shah Wali Bahmani: Ahmed Shah Bahmani was a religiously inclined ruler, and accordingly fond the company of saintly personages. He was devoted to Khwaja Bande Nawaz of Gulbarga and later to the order of Shah Nimat-Ullah of Kirman whom he invited the founder to Bidar. It is said, that this saint gave the title “Wali” to Ahmed Shah. The title Wali was used by order of the king in the religious address from the pulpit (khutba). According to his religious inclination, texts are engraved on the inner walls of his tomb. He also respected the doctrine of lingayats, a religious order of the Deccan. The devotion of the latter sect to Ahmed Shah continues to this day, and at the time of the Urs (annual celebrations of the death of a Muslim Saint) their chief priest (Jangam) comes from Gulbarga to Bidar to perform ceremonies according to lingayat rituals.

The architecture of the tomb, as indicated by its external features, shows strength combined with majesty, although except for the stucco work done in the arches, there is no decoration on the walls of the building. The walls are most massively built, their thickness being 12 feet. The dome of the building is three-fourths of an orb in shape with an octagonal base at the roof level, measuring 214 feet in girth, each side of the octagon being 26 feet. At its springing point, it has a circumference of 196 feet and its height including its finial is 107 feet measured from ground level.

The inner plan of the tomb comprises of a square hall 52 feet on each side. There is a lofty arch in the middle of each of the four sides of the hall. The plan, accounting to these features looks pleasing to the eye, but the architect has further ornamented it by building squinches at the four corners of the hall, thus the building becoming octagonal at the top of the squinches. Above this, the plan is further changed making it 24 sided owing to the design below the circular base of the dome. The interior, although dark is artistically relieved by splashes of the most brilliant color combinations used to design the insides. For instance, in order to show with effect the brilliance of the gold creeper, a extremely dark background was used as you see in the above picture.. The practice of giving a while outline to the drawing which a view of suggesting an idea of depth to the subject could have been inspired by the ones in Ajanta painted during the 5th and 6th Centuries. There are textual forms of sayings by famous saints inscribed on many tablets inside this tomb. There are some more inscriptions on the life and times of Ahmed Shah Wali. Another important feature of this painting is that one of them contains the name of the painter with a reference to his native place. The most elegant of all the paintings is the octagonal shapes of gold on the walls and inner side the dome.

The various features of this tomb, such as its vast dimensions, solid architecture, choice color schemes, and subtle decorative patterns, show the lofty ideals of the builder on the one hand and his exquisite taste and religious spirit on the other. This last mentioned quality is amply demonstrated by the holy texts inscribed on the building, as also by the ritual which is still observed by the votaries of the tomb, who although professing different faiths and belonging to different nationalities, all join together in paying their homage to the memory of the saintly king.

We will talk about the other tombs of the vicinity in the next post.