BIJAPUR, formerly the capital of the Adal Shahi dynasty, which ruled there from A.D. 1501 to A.D. 1660. Yusuf Khan, a son of Murad II. of Anatolia, was purchased, in 1499, at Ahmadabad, for the Bijapur Body Guard. But in 1501 he assumed independence, under the title of Adal Shah. .The .territories over which. this dynasty ruled varied considerably in extent, as the Nizam Shahi of Abmadnaggur, the Babmani kings of Beder, the Mahrattas, and Dehli family pressed on them. The successive sovereigns were Yunuf Khan, styled Yusuf Adal Shah, . A.D. 1501 Ismail Adal Shah r., 1510 Mallon Adal Shah, 1534 Ibrahim Adal Shah I., 1535 Ali Adal Shah I., . . . . 1557 Ibrahim Adal Shah H. (in his reign Chand Sultan was regent), 1579 Muhammad Adal Shah, . . . . 1626 All Adal Shah II., 1660 Sikandar Adal Shah, 1672 The tombs of this family at Gogi and Bijapur are domes on basements. Bijapur was taken by Aurangzeb A.D. 1686, and is now in ruins, only occupied by 12,938 inhabitants. Its splendid mosques, mausoleums, and palaces, although fall ing into decay, are amongst the grandest archi tectural works in India. The more conspicuous structures are the tomb of Ibrahim, the Mehtar Mahal, the Jamma Masjid, the tomb of Muham mad Adal Shah. A great brass gun is still on the
ramparts of this city, said to have been cast on the 13th December 1585 at Ahmadnaggur, by a European, whom tradition styles Rumi Khan. It weighs 41 tons. Bijapur fell to Aurangzeb after a siege. AlgIciugh they had an inner fort much stronger thin the outer works, the garrison were so want of provisions, that they were co gelled to surrender about . the 15th October 1686. Shirzi Khan concluded the terms through Ghazi-ud-Din, to whom the emperor, agreeably to custom, when he received such proposals through any of his officers, was pleased to assign the nominal honour of the conquest. Bijapur thenceforth ceased to be a capital, and was soon after deserted. The ruins occupy a space of about thirty miles in circumference, and are exceedingly grand. The great Mahomedan historian Ferishta is supposed to have died here, during a pestilence that swept away a multitude of the people, but this is uncertain. A Buddhist or Jaina temple, under ground, the several beautiful mosques and mausolea, and the huge gun on the ramparts, into which a full-grown man can creep, all merit attention.Brigge Nizam.