FORTS OF INDIA(Bidar)
LEGEND has it that Bidar is the short form of Viduranagar, an ancient city named after Vidura, the legendary figure of Mahabharata. Archeological finds have revealed that Bidar, situated 740 km north of Bangalore, is located at a site where in the 10th century there existed a fort. An inscription reads that Bidar was a part of the Chalukya empire. Subsequently it passed into the hands of Yadavas of Devagiri and later to the Kakatiyas of Warangal.
It was against these Kakatiyas that theTughluq Prince Ulugh Khan laid siege, and according to the historian Barni, he succeeded in occupying outer defences which made his task easier. Later when Ulugh Khan ascended the Delhi throne as Mohammed Bin Tughluq in 1341, he conferred Bidar on one of his nobles, Nusrat Khan. But Nusrat Khan does not appear to have been a wise man, for within no time he created conditions of revolt. In 1347 one Zafar Khan with 20,000 horse and with the support of the Raja of Warangal, who had not for- gotton his loss, appeared before Bidar and defeated Nusrat Khan. Zafar Khan was unanimously elected as the Sultan. He ruled from Gulbarga and divided his empire into four provinces, Bidar being one of these. Zafar Khan assumed the title of Alauddin Bahmani and after him his dynasty came to be known as Bahmani.
It did not take the Bahmani rulers long to realise that Gulbarga being nearer to their rival Vijayanagar was not too secure a place for the capital. Com paratively Bidar was more secure and also climatically better. In 1429 Ahmed Shah Wall shifted the Bahmani capital to Bidar. The old fort was renovated. It has also been surmised that he built a new fort after demolishing the old fort. Another view is that he incorporated the old fort in the new fortifications. Whatever that be, one thing is certain that new additions were made so that cannons could be mounted on the fort. A large palace was also constructed.
The Bahmanis were good rulers but with the passage of time their administration deteriorate and after Mohammed Shah II they proved mere weaklings. Bidar became the capital of the Bidarshahi dynasty. But the Bidarshahi Sultans were mere puppets in the hands of their ministers, Baridis. In 1529 when Ismail Adil Shah of Bijapur invaded Bidar and laid siege to the fort, Amir Barid entrusted the defence of Bidar citadel to his eldest son. Adil Shah was so disgusted with the insolence of the Barids that he declined to heed to the intercession of Sultan Alauddin Imdad Shah of Berar and he accused Amir Barid of having inflicted unpardonable injustices on Bijapur. A conflict ensued in which Barid was taken prisoner and sent to Bijapur. Barid s son evacuated the garrison from the Bidar Fort after which Shah entered the fort. He distributed jewels among his nobles and Bidar be- ceme a part of Adilshahi territory. The Bijapur Sultan repaired the fort of Bidar and gave attention to its defences.
