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Mahmud Gawan Madrasa
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Mahmud Gawan Madrasa
The Mahmud Gawan Madrasa is a former madrasa, now mosque, in partial ruins, located in Bidar, in the state of Karnataka, India. It was completed in 876 AH (1471/1472 CE) and is an example of the regional style of Indo-Islamic architecture under the Bahmani Sultanate. 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 in Iran and moved to Bidar in 1453.
Mahmud reportedly built the madrasa with his own money and it functioned like a residential university which was built and maintained on the lines of Madrasa of Khurasan. 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, administered by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) since 1914. In 2014, UNESCO placed the building on its "tentative list" to become a World Heritage Site, under the name Monuments and Forts of the Deccan Sultanate.
Situated on the Deccan Plateau, 710 metres (2,330 ft) AMSL, Bidar is a place of Cultural and Historical Importance for many years. The monument is located between the Chowbara (Clock Tower) and the fort, 200–300 metres (660–980 ft) away. Remains of the monument stand strong amongst the chaos of urban settlement around it. Its principal east façade, now partly ruined, faces the city's main street leading to the Bidar Fort.
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, 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, 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.
After this capture, the madrasa was principally appropriated as barrack for a body of cavalry, while a room (or rooms) near the left minar were used to store gunpowder 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 in 1107 AH (1695/1696 CE) 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.
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Mahmud Gawan Madrasa
The Mahmud Gawan Madrasa is a former madrasa, now mosque, in partial ruins, located in Bidar, in the state of Karnataka, India. It was completed in 876 AH (1471/1472 CE) and is an example of the regional style of Indo-Islamic architecture under the Bahmani Sultanate. 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 in Iran and moved to Bidar in 1453.
Mahmud reportedly built the madrasa with his own money and it functioned like a residential university which was built and maintained on the lines of Madrasa of Khurasan. 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, administered by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) since 1914. In 2014, UNESCO placed the building on its "tentative list" to become a World Heritage Site, under the name Monuments and Forts of the Deccan Sultanate.
Situated on the Deccan Plateau, 710 metres (2,330 ft) AMSL, Bidar is a place of Cultural and Historical Importance for many years. The monument is located between the Chowbara (Clock Tower) and the fort, 200–300 metres (660–980 ft) away. Remains of the monument stand strong amongst the chaos of urban settlement around it. Its principal east façade, now partly ruined, faces the city's main street leading to the Bidar Fort.
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, 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, 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.
After this capture, the madrasa was principally appropriated as barrack for a body of cavalry, while a room (or rooms) near the left minar were used to store gunpowder 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 in 1107 AH (1695/1696 CE) 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.
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