JOIN USFounded by Taj ud-Din Firoz Shah Bahmani (1397-1422), the city of Firozabad, about 30 km south of Kalaburagi, lies in ruins today. Situated on the banks of River Bhima, Firozabad was initially intended to be a royal pleasure resort, but it also served as a halting stage for Bahmani troops on their campaigns.
I recently visited this historical place along with my friends, Mohammed Ayazuddin, a photographer, and Mohammed Ismail, a coin collector. While the former captured the stunning landscapes of the place on film, the latter regaled us with numerous nuggets of the city’s history.
On reaching a tiny hamlet, we took the trail that runs along the village fields next to the fort. Huge palaces and forts, once stately and strong, now lie in a dilapidated condition and are the only remains of Firozabad. We climbed over the dainty steps and walked the alleyway atop one such fortress to enjoy the sweeping view of green fields in rustic surroundings.
The city is furnished with local solid stone walls and one has to get through monumental gateways (present on all four sides) to get inside. The eastern gate sports the kingdom’s royal emblem of tigers in opposite direction on top of the arch. One can find many battered residential structures in the centre of the city. These structures housed the king’s many queens and their female retinues.
The ‘Shahi Hammam’ (royal baths) roofed with domes and pyramidal vaults are the earliest examples of the royal bath-houses in the Deccan region. Such buildings give visual expressions to Firoz Shah’s desire to replicate the Islamic architecture found in other parts of the world in the region.
Almost all the Bahmani kings were great patrons of art, poetry, culture and architecture. They encouraged and supported scholars, artists and poets, many of whom migrated from distant lands, particularly Persia from where the founder of the Bahmani dynasty had come as an adventurer.
Among the Bahmani figures who forged the Deccan’s idiosyncratic cultural identity is Firoz Shah Bahmani. This Sultan was a great patron of art, culture and was celebrated for his theological and philosophical knowledge.
During his reign, new architectural expressions of power appeared, some inspired by Persian literary sources. The influence is clearly discernible in Firozabad. They were not only planned by Persian architects but also built by their artisans. Different arches of the Jama Masjid contain different patterns of beautiful floral design in stucco work (plaster cut). Spread across an area of 90,000 square feet, this mosque is said to be one of the largest ones in the State.
These magnificent ruins are direly in need of some restoration. After all, they are our window to the past.