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This is the first comprehensive and profusely illustrated book which brings under one cover almost all the existing antiquities of the heritage of the multi-faceted Adil Shahi cultural history of Bijapur Kingdom. The Adil Shahi Kingdom was one of the five off-shoots of the Bahmani Kingdom (1347-1518). The dynasty and the Kingdom was founded by Yusuf Beg, an emigrant from Anatolia (Asia Minor). He belonged to the Aq-Quyunlu (White Sheep) tribe of Diyarbykir. On migration to the Deccan he joined Bahmani service under the minister Khwaja Mahmud Gawan. He was granted title of "Adil Khan". Subsequently he was appointed governor of the Bahmani province of Bijapur in 1481. During the disintegration of the Bahmanis, he gradually consolidated the power and became autonomous in 1489. But he was loyal to the Bahmani Sultans and did not declare independence nor assumed royal title. From this Bahamni province of Bijapur, gradually evolved the Bijapur Kingdom under the successive Adil Shahs. They ruled from 895/1489 to 1097/1686 for 202 lunar year till the Kingdom was annexed by the Mughal Emperor Aurangazeb.
The Adil Shah were great patrons of learning, art and architecture. Bijapur became the rendezvous of men of learning and flourished as multi-national and multi-racial city, with people flocking to it from Iran, Turkey, Central Asia, Africa, North India, and other regions of the Deccan. Further, with ideological link between Iran and the Adil Shahs, there was a constant influx of Iranians and they had profound impact on all walks of life and culture. Iran Bijapur relations were very special Bijapur became the cradle of cultures and nucleus of composite cultures with the unique architectural monuments of distinct, Adil Shahi style which are the living heritage.
During the second half of the seventeenth century, when the kingdom was at its height, it extended from Arabian Sea on the West Coast to the Bay of Bengal on the East coast.
This magnum opus recaptures the sublime spirit of the opulent oriental life and culture as rendered by its aesthetic carved architecture, art, pulsating lush paintings, costumes, jewellery, arms, armour and scores of other antiquities, which are brought to light now and most of them published for the first time. Being secular rulers they patronized Muslims, Hindus, and Christians alike. The Hindus occupied high positions in administration and the army and were recruited at all levels. European too were employed and were given extra-ordinary concessions to establish factories within the Kingdom. They patronized Parsian, Marathi, Kanarese, Urdu and Arabic languages. Some of the royal orders or farmans were bilingual. Some of them were inscribed on stone slabs and have survived. It represented unity in diversity. The composite civilization that evolved at the highly cosmopolitan Bijapur was known as "Deccani".
A glance of the table of contents reveals the wide variety of topics covered and documented by original photographs taken by the author himself (except of few from the museums) during his field surveys of the architecture and the antiquities and exhibits of the Bijapur Museum of the Archaeological Survey of India (with the kind permission of the Government of India).
The study of high level of grandeur and sophistication is explored by the author in this very vivid account substantiated by over six hundred photographs, all in multicolour, except a few. Another unique aspect of the study is the plans of the Palatial Adil Shahi palaces, specially surveyed and scientifically prepared by the author for the first time. Also included are the revised version of the ancient maps of Ark-Oila, Bijapur fort and its environs along with the lists of archaeological sites marked on the maps.
This splendid work printed on art paper of 14 chapters in three parts is an outcome of several years research and field work is a board based study that integrates diverse elements and present a synthesized panoramic survey of the chief constituents of the oriental culture. The author brilliantly treats the historical frame work (Part-I) in chronological order, highlighting the salient aspects of each ruler`s reign with separate chapters on Bijapur`s relations with Iran and the Europeans. The seven chapters of Part two are devoted to the architecture, paintings arms, amour, numismatics, miscellaneous antiquities, calligraphy and epigraphic heritage, archival and literary heritage. Part-III covers the architecture and antiquities of the outlaying provinces of the kingdom, large size maps, bibliography and genealogy of the Adil Shahs are appended at the end.
ISBN - 8185492995
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Pages : 422
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