Gol Gumbaz (),
also written Gol Gumbad,
is a 17th-century
mausoleum located in
Bijapur, a city in
Karnataka
Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. It houses the remains of
Mohammad Adil Shah, seventh sultan of the
Adil Shahi dynasty
The Adil Shahi or Adilshahi, was a Shia,Salma Ahmed Farooqui, ''A Comprehensive History of Medieval India: From Twelfth to the Mid-Eighteenth Century'', (Dorling Kindersley Pvt Ltd., 2011), 174. and later Sunni Muslim,Muhammad Qasim Firishta's ...
, and some of his relatives. Begun in the mid-17th century, the structure never reached completion. The mausoleum is notable for its scale and exceptionally large dome.
It is an important example of the southern regional style of
Indo-Islamic architecture
Indo-Islamic architecture is the architecture of the Indian subcontinent produced by and for Islamic patrons and purposes. Despite an initial Arab presence in Sindh, the development of Indo-Islamic architecture began in earnest with the establi ...
.
The building is one of those put by
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
on its "tentative list" to become a
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
in 2014, under the name
Monuments and Forts of the Deccan Sultanate.
History
The construction of the Gol Gumbaz began in the mid-17th century, during the close of Mohammad Adil Shah's reign, which was from 1627 to 1656.
It is located directly behind the ''
dargah
A dargah ( fa, درگاه ''dargâh'' or ''dargah'', Turkish: ''dergâh'', Hindustani: ''dargah'' दरगाह درگاہ, bn, দরগাহ ''dorgah'') is a shrine or tomb built over the grave of a revered religious figure, often ...
'' of
Hashim Pir, a
Sufi saint;
Richard Eaton views this as suggestive of the close relationship between the ruler and the saint. The mausoleum was never completed; construction may have halted in 1656 due to Mohammad Adil Shah's death that year.
Architecture
The Gol Gumbaz is one of the most ambitious structures built by the Adil Shahi dynasty. It is the most technically advanced domed structure to have been erected in the
Deccan
The large Deccan Plateau in southern India is located between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, and is loosely defined as the peninsular region between these ranges that is south of the Narmada river. To the north, it is bounded by the ...
,
and one of the largest single-chamber structures in the world.
The architect of the structure is not known.
Bianca Alfieri asserts that the building's size was a conscious decision made by Mohammad Adil Shah in order to rival the architecture of the
Ibrahim Rauza, the tomb of the ruler's predecessor
Ibrahim Adil Shah II
Ibrahim Adil Shah II (1570 – 12 September 1627) was king of the Sultanate of Bijapur and a member of the Adil Shahi dynasty. Under his reign the dynasty had its greatest period as he extended its frontier as far south as Mysore. He was ...
.
Alternatively, Elizabeth Merklinger suggests that the size was an attempt to assert the stature of the Adil Shahi dynasty, in light of its later absorption by the
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...
.
The mausoleum is contained in a larger walled complex, with other buildings such as a mosque, a ''
naqqar khana
Naqqar Khana ( hi, नक़्क़ार ख़ाना, ur, ) or Naubat Khana (Hindi: नौबत ख़ाना, Urdu: ) is a term for a drum house or orchestra pit during ceremonies. The name literally means ''drum'' (Naqqar/Naubat)-'' ...
,'' and a ''
dharmshala
Dharamshala (; also spelled Dharamsala) is the winter capital of Himachal Pradesh, India. It serves as administrative headquarters of the Kangra district after being relocated from Kangra, a city located away from Dharamshala, in 1855.
The ...
''.
Plan and exterior
Despite the grand nature of the monument, the plan of the Gol Gumbaz is simple. It is a cube 47.5 m on each side, topped by a hemispherical dome of diameter approximately 44 m. domed octagonal towers, each divided into seven floors and topped by a bulbous dome, line the four corners of the cube. The levels of the towers are marked by
arcades and contain staircases within.
The walls of the structure are built of dark grey
basalt
Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90 ...
and decorated
plaster
Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of buildings, while "re ...
.
Each side wall of the cube bears three
blind arches; the
spandrels of the arches contain medallion motifs, and the central arch on each side wall is filled with a stone screen containing doorways and windows.
Cornices
In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...
project from the building, supported by
corbels
In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the st ...
. Atop the cornices are rows of small arches, themselves topped by large
merlons
A merlon is the solid upright section of a battlement (a crenellated parapet) in medieval architecture or fortifications.Friar, Stephen (2003). ''The Sutton Companion to Castles'', Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2003, p. 202. Merlons are sometimes ...
. Leaves surround the base of the mausoleum's dome, hiding the joint between the dome and its drum.
Interior
The interior is a huge single chamber that is approximately 41 m across and 60 m high.
In the centre of the chamber floor is a raised platform bearing the
cenotaphs
A cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although the vast majority of cenot ...
of Mohammad Adil Shah, his younger wife Arus Bibi, his older wife, his favourite mistress Rhamba, his daughter, and a grandson. The cenotaphs mark the location of the actual tombs, which are found in a crypt underneath and accessed by a staircase under the western entrance of the mausoleum. Though typical of Indian Muslim tombs,
this is the only instance of such a practice in Adil Shahi architecture.
Mohammad Adil Shah's cenotaph is covered by a wooden canopy; Michell and Zebrowski speculate that this is a later addition.
A half-octagonal room is attached to the north facade of the building, though this is also a later addition.
Dome
At the time of its construction, the Gol Gumbaz boasted the , largest dome in the Islamic world.
Its external diameter is nearly 44 m.
The dome is built of brick and cemented with layers of lime. It has six small openings in its base as well as a flat section at its crown. The dome rests on a circular base, which is internally supported by interlocking
pendentives
In architecture, a pendentive is a constructional device permitting the placing of a circular dome over a square room or of an elliptical dome over a rectangular room. The pendentives, which are triangular segments of a sphere, taper to point ...
, formed from eight intersecting arches that arise from the interior hall.
Similar
vaulting
In architecture, a vault (French ''voûte'', from Italian ''volta'') is a self-supporting arched form, usually of stone or brick, serving to cover a space with a ceiling or roof. As in building an arch, a temporary support is needed while rin ...
is found, though on a smaller scale, in the
Jami Masjid of Bijapur and the
Ibrahim Rauza.
Outside of Bijapur, this pendentive support system is virtually unknown.
The conceptual origin of the Gol Gumbaz's pendentives is debated, though a
Central Asian
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the former S ...
influence has been suggested by multiple scholars.
Around the base of the dome is a gallery, accessed by the staircases in the towers. It is known as the 'whispering gallery' since the faintest sound from here is heard across the dome, due to sound reflecting off the dome.
In Art and Literature
In Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1833 is a picture of Gol Gumbaz entitled ''Tomb of Mahomed Shah'' by
Samuel Prout
Samuel Prout painted by John Jackson in 1831
Market Day by Samuel Prout
A View in Nuremberg by Samuel Prout
Utrecht Town Hall by Samuel Prout in 1841
Samuel Prout (; 17 September 1783 – 10 February 1852) was a British watercolourist, and ...
, engraved by R. Sands and accompanied by a poetical illustration by
Letitia Elizabeth Landon
Letitia Elizabeth Landon (14 August 1802 – 15 October 1838) was an English poet and novelist, better known by her initials L.E.L.
The writings of Landon are transitional between Romanticism and the Victorian Age. Her first major breakthrough ...
reflecting on the claim that he had a happy end.
[ ]
Gallery
File:Dome Gol Gumbaz2.JPG, alt=, Leaves at the base of the dome.
File:Art on the Walls of Gol Gumbaz.JPG, Carvings on the wall
File:Old GolGumbaz 1890.jpg, Gol Gumbaz c. 1860
File:Gol Gumbaz from gardens.jpg, Tomb viewed from the gardens
File:Gol Gumbaz Facade.jpg, Western facade of the Gol Gumbaz
File:A building beside Gol Gumbaz.jpg, A nearby building.
File:Gol Gumbaz, Bijapur, Karnataka -2.jpg, Crenellations of the west facade
File:Historical Cannon near Golgumbaz, Vijayapura, India.JPG, Historical cannon displayed in front of Gol Gumbaz
File:Ruins near the entrance, Gol Gumbaz.jpg, Ruins near the entrance
File:Gol Gumbaz at Bijapur.jpg, Corner view
File:Tomb for Mohammed Adil Shah.jpg, Tomb
File:Golgumbaj.jpg, alt=, Interior view of dome.
File:Postal stamp of Golgumbaz.jpg, Postal stamp (1949)
References
External links
{{commons category, Gol Gumbaz
Archaeological
Gol Gumbad on Survey of Indiawebsite
*
ttp://www.sonicwonders.org/?p=981 Listen to unique sound recordings in Gol Gumbad: acoustics describedArchitectural features of Gol Gumbaz Buildings and structures completed in 1659
Monuments and memorials in Karnataka
Adil Shahi dynasty
Domes
Tourist attractions in Bijapur district
Buildings and structures in Bijapur district
1650 establishments in Asia
Mausoleums in Karnataka
Tombs in Karnataka
Indo-Islamic architecture