About Bidar
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INTRODUCTION

Bidar is a hill top city in the north-eastern part of Karnataka state in south India. It is the headquarters of the Bidar District which borders Maharashtra and Telangana. It is a rapidly urbanising city in the wider Bidar Metropolitan area. The city is well known for its many sites of architectural, historical and religious importance

HISTORY

Bidar gained popularity mainly during the rule of Ahmad Shah Bahman (1423-1436 A.D) in 1429 who belonged to the Bahamani dynasty and it was he laid the foundations for the Bidar fort. The beauty and the weather of Bidar made Ahmad Shah Bahman build a new city near the old fortress and also he named it as Ahmadabad-Bidar.The year 1538 witnessed the collapse of the Bahmani dynasty leading to five independent sultanates during which Bidar came under the Barid Shahi dynasty. After a period of time in 1619, Bidar was taken by the Bijapur Sultanate, only to be captured again in 1686 by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.The Nizam of Hyderabad’s took over Bidar and it was under their control from 1724 to 1948 and it became a part of the erstwhile Hyderabad state till it was portioned in 1956 on linguistic basis. After the partition Bidar became a part of Karnataka.

LOCATION

Bidar is located in the northeastern part of the state of Karnataka, in the southern region of India. It is 669 km from Bangalore and 136 km from Hyderabad. It is located 2,200 feet above sea level on a plateau overlooking the Manjira river valley

BEST TIME TO VISIT

The best time to visit Bidar is between October and March.
PLACES OF INTEREST
Bidar Fort
Bidar Fort is located in the heart of the town and was built by 1428 by Ahmed Shah Bahmani. The fort takes up a high ridge of land which is enclosed by double rings of wall with nearly five Darwazas.A part of this castle is partly carved out of bedrock.

The fort houses the ancient city of the Bahamani dynasty along with its palaces, monuments and structures. Of all, the Rangin Mahal palace is a wonderful monument built in the 16th century by Ali Shah Barid.The main attraction of this Rangin Mahal is the wooden columns displaying ornate brackets and beams.

There is also a walled garden, Lal Bagh close to the Rangin Mahal with a central lobe-fringed pool. Adjacent to the Lal Bagh is the Takht Mahal.

Tombs of Bahmani Rulers
The tombs of Bahmani rulers in Ashtur, Bidar were erected from 1436 to 1535. The most attractive one are that of the ninth and tenth Bahmani rulers, Ahmad Shah I and Allauddin Shah II. Where the tomb of the former has dome and goes upto a height of 30m high. The interior of these tombs are done up very well by eye catching colours and paintings.
Tombs of Bahmani Rulers
Among the Barid Shahis, tomb of the Ali Shah Barid was the largest.

This is built within a square shaped garden and is a domed chamber where the tomb is about 25m high.

The panels above these arches have beautifully inlaid mosaic tiles.

But however the tombs of the Bahmani Rulers were much grander than that of the tombs of the Barid Shahis.

Madrassa of Mahmud Gawan
Madrassa of Mahmud Gawan was once a renowned centre of learning in the stream of Persian, Arabic, philosophy, theology and mathematics.

This centre of Islamic learning was built in 1472 by the then Prime Minister, Khwaja Mohammad Gawan during the period of the Bahamani ruler Muhammad-III.

Now this huge three-storey building accommodates a mosque, a laboratory, lecture halls, quarters for the teaching faculty and a students’ hostel.

Chaubara
Chaubara is an observation post situated in the heart of the town which gives a splendid and a commanding view of the entire city when seen from here.
This tower is cylindrical and it is about 71-feet-tall.
Takhti-i-Kirmani
Takhti-i-Kirmani is an ancient town with a fortification consisting of an embankment, with a parapet built on top. The other main feature of the Takhti-i-Kirmani or the gateway which belongs to the 15th century is ornamented with bands of foliate and arabesque design.
Guru Nank Jhira
It is a beautiful gurudwara. It is located at the same place where Guru Nanak stayed during his second missionary tour of India.

Meanwhile there was acute shortage of drinking water.
Seeing the misery of people Guru Nanak performed a miracle and created a spring of fresh water from the rocks.
Nobody knows where from the water is coming.