DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.27192#0315
Chap, IX.
GOLKONDA.
279
Muhammadan style, every part and every detail covered with
ornament, but always equally appropriate and elegant. It is
about 24 ft. square in plan and three storeys high, surmounted
in front by two slender turrets. On the first floor are remark-
ably fine balcony windows on each of the four sides. The floors
of the first and second storeys are constructed in the same way
as that in the Ibrahim Rauza. It formed the entrance to a
mosque, and of its class it is perhaps the best example in the
country, though this class may not be the highest.
The gigantic walls of the city itself, 6\ miles in circumference,
are a work of no mean magnitude, and, combined with the tombs
of those who built them, and with the ruins of the suburbs of this
once great city, they make up a scene of grandeur in desolation,
equal to anything else now to be found even in India.1
If the materials were available for the purpose, it would be
extremely interesting, from a historical point of view, to trace
the various styles that grew out of each other as the later
dynasties of the Dekhan succeeded one another and strove to
surpass their predecessors in architectural magnificence in their
successive capitals. With the exception, however, of Bijapur,
none of the Dekhani cities produced edifices that, taken by
themselves irrespective of their surroundings and historical im-
portance, seem to be, so far as we yet know, of great value in an
artistic sense.
Burhanpur, which was the capital of the Faruqi dynasty of
Kandesh, from A.D. 1370 to 1596, does possess some buildings
remarkable for their extent and picturesque in their decay,
but of very little artistic value, and many of them—-especially
the later ones—in very questionable taste. Ahmadnagar, the
capital of the Nizam Shahi dynasty, A.D. 1490 to 1607, is
singularly deficient in architectural grandeur, considering how
long it was the capital of an important dynasty.
Golkonda, the chosen seat of the Outb Shahi dynasty,
A.D. 1512 to 1687, lies 6 miles north-west from Haidarabad.
The first of the dynasty was Quli Qutbu-l-Mulk, a Turkman or
Persian in the service of Mahmud Shah II. Bahmani, who rose
to be governor of the Telingana districts, and who assumed
independence in 1512. Ibrahim, the third king, Ferishta tells
1 Besides the two larger works
mentioned above, p. 269, note, Mr
Fergusson contributed to the ‘Trans-
actions of the Royal Institute of British
Architects,’ 1st ser. vol. v. (1854-55),
two papers: (1) ‘ Architectural Splendour
of the City of Beejapore,’ Nov. 1854 ;
and (2) 1 The Great Dome of Sultan
Muhammed,’ Dec. 1854. Mr Cousens
made a survey of the Bijapur buildings
several years ago, but the results have
not yet been published. His ‘ Guide to
Bijapur.’ (1907) is a useful handbook.
GOLKONDA.
279
Muhammadan style, every part and every detail covered with
ornament, but always equally appropriate and elegant. It is
about 24 ft. square in plan and three storeys high, surmounted
in front by two slender turrets. On the first floor are remark-
ably fine balcony windows on each of the four sides. The floors
of the first and second storeys are constructed in the same way
as that in the Ibrahim Rauza. It formed the entrance to a
mosque, and of its class it is perhaps the best example in the
country, though this class may not be the highest.
The gigantic walls of the city itself, 6\ miles in circumference,
are a work of no mean magnitude, and, combined with the tombs
of those who built them, and with the ruins of the suburbs of this
once great city, they make up a scene of grandeur in desolation,
equal to anything else now to be found even in India.1
If the materials were available for the purpose, it would be
extremely interesting, from a historical point of view, to trace
the various styles that grew out of each other as the later
dynasties of the Dekhan succeeded one another and strove to
surpass their predecessors in architectural magnificence in their
successive capitals. With the exception, however, of Bijapur,
none of the Dekhani cities produced edifices that, taken by
themselves irrespective of their surroundings and historical im-
portance, seem to be, so far as we yet know, of great value in an
artistic sense.
Burhanpur, which was the capital of the Faruqi dynasty of
Kandesh, from A.D. 1370 to 1596, does possess some buildings
remarkable for their extent and picturesque in their decay,
but of very little artistic value, and many of them—-especially
the later ones—in very questionable taste. Ahmadnagar, the
capital of the Nizam Shahi dynasty, A.D. 1490 to 1607, is
singularly deficient in architectural grandeur, considering how
long it was the capital of an important dynasty.
Golkonda, the chosen seat of the Outb Shahi dynasty,
A.D. 1512 to 1687, lies 6 miles north-west from Haidarabad.
The first of the dynasty was Quli Qutbu-l-Mulk, a Turkman or
Persian in the service of Mahmud Shah II. Bahmani, who rose
to be governor of the Telingana districts, and who assumed
independence in 1512. Ibrahim, the third king, Ferishta tells
1 Besides the two larger works
mentioned above, p. 269, note, Mr
Fergusson contributed to the ‘Trans-
actions of the Royal Institute of British
Architects,’ 1st ser. vol. v. (1854-55),
two papers: (1) ‘ Architectural Splendour
of the City of Beejapore,’ Nov. 1854 ;
and (2) 1 The Great Dome of Sultan
Muhammed,’ Dec. 1854. Mr Cousens
made a survey of the Bijapur buildings
several years ago, but the results have
not yet been published. His ‘ Guide to
Bijapur.’ (1907) is a useful handbook.