A Khurasani gift to the Deccan: The story of malik Mahmud Gawan: The Gawan Madrassah: Part III of 3 parts

In the previous part of this article, the life history of Mahmud Gawan was explored from his arrival in India in 1453 till his execution in 1482. This final part shall describe the Madrasa, the first of its kind, that he established at Bidar, the capital of the Bahmani Kingdom. Mahmud Gawan had arrived from Khurasan at a mature age. He had benefited from the educational facilities of northern Persia and was aware of its illuminating effect on the people of that area. During his life, despite the destruction caused by Mongols and Amir Timur, the tradition of education persisted in Khurasan. He found the land of Deccan absolutely barren in scholarship. Having risen to the highest offices in the Bahmani Kingdom, he resolved to remedy the situation. He established a Madrasah in 1472 in Bidar for modern education of general people. To get a perspective of era, note that Ottomans conquered Constantinople in 1453, the year Gawan came to India; Emperor Babur was born in 1483, a year after Gawan was killed; Columbus discovered America in 1492 and Vasco da Gama reached India in 1498, twenty and twenty six years respectively after Gawan established his Madrasa. After the decline of educational institutes in places such as Gandhara civilization in northern Pakistan, Nalanda culture in northern India, and Sangam age in South India, the tradition of education had ceased to exist in the sub-continent. While Alauddin Khilji established a limited Madrasa in Delhi in early 14th century, it was Mahmud Gawan who brought the light of quality education to the wider population of Bahmani Deccan. The details of the Madrasa are well recorded by Farishta in his 'Tarikh'; by Haroon Khan Sherwani in his 'Mahmud Gawan: The great Bahmani wazir', James Burgess in his 'Report in Aniquties of bidar …." and Dr. Ghulam Yazdani in his 'Antiquities of Bidar' I need to recall that Dr Yazdani is the 'Dani' of "Molvi Nazir Ahmed ki kahani, kuch meri kuch unki zabani"; the immortal Urdu biographical note penned by Mirza Farhatullah Beg. They who have not read this booklet, need to do it now. It is accessible on the internet. The Madrasa was a large imposing building in an area of 205 feet by 180 feet, constructed in the architectural style of contemporary Transoxania, and resembled the Madrasa in Samarkand built by Ulugh Beg, grandson of Amir Timur. The structure surrounds a space of 100 feet square in the middle as a courtyard to allow sunlight and fresh air. The walls of the Madrasa measure 242 feet from east to west and 220 feet from north to south. The building is three stories high and divided into apartments comprising a mosque, a library, lecture halls, professors’ quarters and students’ cubicles. In the middle of each of these U shaped three sides, there is a large hall 26 feet wide and 52 feet long, rising to the full height of the building. Each of these halls has a dome on top over an oriel that projects beyond the line of the walls. There were numerous cubicles, 36 rooms for students and 6 suites for the teaching staff. Each room had a wide ventilator over the door. There was a stately minaret at two corners where the walls met. The 100 feet high minarets had octagonal base and a rounded top with two platforms in between. Stairs ran to their top from within while the outside of their lower halves were embellished with multi-coloured enamelled tiles in zigzag arrangement. Top of all the walls was decorated in kashikari style with Quranic verses in Kufic script, as is common in most of the mosques. Gawan was a rich man and spent most of his savings on the construction and upkeep of the Madrasa. Its library must have been generously stocked. Farishta writes that the founder himself donated 3000 volumes to the Madrasa. The subjects taught were science, maths, language, philosophy and Islamic studies; the same subjects that were taught in the Persian schools. It is recorded by Burgess that over 500 students from all over the world were boarded here with free lodging and education. Number of day scholars must also have been significant. Gawan invited some of the greatest men of learning from Iran and Central Asia to deliver lectures here. Gawan himself felt at home in its library and lecture halls. Famed historian Qasim Farishta visited Bidar in late 16th century, over a century after the Madrasa was built and found the building well maintained, "as if only just finished". However, it didn't remain in that immaculate and operational state for long. Bidar was ravaged in 1635 by Prince Aurangzeb's general Khan Dauran. In 1656, Aurangzeb, now the Emperor, captured Bidar after a long siege. He closed the Madrasa and appropriated it for his military. One part of the building was used as barracks for his soldiers and the rest as 'barood khana' -an ammunition depot. An accident caused the Mughal gun powder to explode, incurring a great damage to the building. One minaret came down completely as did one of the domes. The rooms on one side collapsed too. Embroiled in his own destructive enterprises, Aurangzeb never bothered to restore the building or its rightful activities. The Gawan Madrasa ceased to impart education three and a half centuries ago but its ruins remain an attraction for the tourists. A large part of the building survives today as a testimony to its old grandeur and as a reminder of its days of glory when the enlightening winds of Khurasan blew across this land. This article was published in The Friday Times dated 1 Mar 2019. Parvez Mahmood retired as a Group Captain from PAF and is now a software engineer. He lives in Islamabad and writes on historical and social issues. He can be reached at parvezmahmood53@gmail.com