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| Secular ruler Sultan Ibrahim Adil Shah II,Bijapur,India. tendreams.org |
As
a ruler of a big kingdom, the king or whoever be the head, bears a
lot of responsibilities. He must be well-versed in administration,
finance, military and above all the most important branch -
management of people. Regardless of his personal religious faith, he
must treat all his citizens on par with his own religion. In the days of Muslim rule in
India, with some exception, most of the rulers it was not not the case. They
purposely neglected the welfare of the people of other faiths and some treacherous Muslim rulers openly indulged in religious suppression of Hindus and others. The
Bahmini dynasty of south India was an exception to this kind of unjust rule.
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| Jama Masjid, Bijapur. Karnataka. Flicker |
The
Bahmani dynasty,
it
is believed, descended from Bahman,
the
famous
king of Iran.
Ssultanates
of this dynasty
certainly not
only enriched of
India’s regional cultures
but also made valid
contributions to the development of the regional languages.
They
recognized
Marathi
as a language of
business and
trade and encouraged Marathi literature, besides Iranian,
Urdu
and Kannada..
Their
center of activities during their rule was Bijapur, a prominent city in Karnataka,
South India. In 1482, the Bahmini empire
was split into five kingdoms and Bijapur
sultanate was one of them.
One
of the well-known
ruler Ibrahim
Adil Shah’s successor Ali
Adil Shah I,
who built famous historical building such as Chand Bawdi - large
well, Ali Rauza- his own tomb, etc., was not blessed with a son. So,
he at last, adopted his nephew Ibrahim II as his legal heir. After Ali
Shah I death, Chand Bibi,
Ibrahim's
mother became an acting regent of Ibrahim, the fifth king of the
Bahmani dynasty.
When
Ibrahim took the reigns of the kingdom,
he
learned the nuances of regal administration
of a big kingdom
as quickly as he could. Being smart, intellectual,
tolerant
and just,
he gained the respect of people of various sorts
-
Shia,
Sunni Muslims, Hindus and others.
No doubt the people under Adil Shah II (1556 - 12 September 1627)'s rule lived in peace and harmony.
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| Ibrahim Adil Shah II (1591),Bijapur. India.quickwiki.com |
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| Jama Masjid, Bijapur, Karnataka. Flicker.com |
Unlike
many Muslim rulers of India, he was particularly kind toward the
Hindus, who constituted the largest community. During his efficient
rule that spanned 46 years, he built Hindu temples -
dedicated Saraswati (goddess of learning) and Ganapathy (god of wisdom) on
his palace precincts.
He played Tampura - a
musical
instrument and composed
songs on Hindu
deities.
He
publicly declared that he
was
deeply interested in Vidya
or learning, music, and in the teachings of great Sufi saint of
Gulburga
Hazrat
Banda
Nawaj.
He said that he was proud of living in Vidhyapuri
-
the
old name of
Bijapur.
He was a polyglot - speaking many languages
including the regional language Kannada - now the official language
of Karnataka state. As a great connoisseur and patron of music, his
keen interest in music prompted him to give shape to his idea of a
musical city.
Hence
he built
a new township at Navraspur.
For him,
the holy
Tampura
personified learning,
hence he earned the nick name ''Ebrahim the Tamburawala.''
Like his predecessors,
he happily
employed
several Hindus in top posts thus conforming his strong faith in
secularism.
The Builder
of
the
world famous Gol Gumbaz with whistling gallery pretty large dome,
was a man of charitable
disposition, character and wisdom.
The
fifth king of the
Adil Shahi
dynasty is known in Indian history as Jagadguru Badshah.
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_001.jpg&description=Jagad Guru Badsha Ibrahim Adil Shah II of Bijapur, secular Muslim ruler ){kind=link}