Gulbarga

The city of Gulbarga is situated in the north-eastern part of Karnataka, in southern India. It is a major district as well as the fourth largest city of Karnataka. It lies 214 km from the city of Hyderabad and 663 km from Bangalore. The district lies in the Deccan Plateau and was formerly a part of Hyderabad, but most of its area became the part of the Mysore state, in 1956.

The city was also the first capital of the Bahamani Kingdom that ruled the region in 1347 as well as the district and divisional headquarters of the Nizam’s state. Formerly known as Kalburgi, the city also has two main rivers flowing through here, namely Krishna and Bhima.

Gulbarga’s history belongs to the 6th century, when the Chalukyas regained their Kingdom from the Rashtrakutas and ruled here for the next two hundred years. The Kingdom of Kalachuri then replaced the Chalukyas. After them, around the 12th century, the Yadavas of Devagiri and the Hoysalas of Halebidu took over the place.

Around the same period, the Kakatiya Dynasty Kings of Warangal took over the rule of the present Gulbarga District and the Raichur District. Right before independence, the rule of the city was under the Nizam of Hyderabad. The district of Gulbarga is also famous for being the origination centre of Hyder Ali.

The rich cultural background of the city is depicted from the university present in Nagai in Chitapur, Vignaneeshwara’s Mitakshara and Nrupatunga’s Kavirajamarga as well as from the social and religious revolutions led by the Shivsharanas and the Sufi Saint Banda Nawaz.

Gulbarga is also known for the famous poet and philosopher Purandara Dasa of the Vijayanagara Empire and the famous Saint Shri Sharanabasaveshwara, in the 19th century. It is also the foundation centre of Carnatic music. The district also came into news in 2009, when a rare sculptural portrait of ‘Ashoka the Great’ was found here, during an excavation.

The Bhamani Fort here is one of the most popular tourist attractions of the place. King Gulchand, who was a feudatory of the Orangal Kakatiyas, originally built the Fort. However, it was rebuilt by Allah-ud-din Bahmani, who also introduced 15 new towers to its original structure.

The fort covers an area of 38,000 square feet and is built as per Spanish architecture. Along with this Fort, the Khandar Khan’s Mosque and the Hirapur Mosque built in 1585, by Chandbibi, are some other attractions of Gulbarga.