The Adilshahi Sultans of Bijapur (1489-1686 C.E.) continued the Bahamani tradition of patronage to education by constructing masjids and makhtabs. Among this dynasty of rulers, Yusuf Adilshah the founder (1499-1510 C.E.) was educated at Sava (in Persia) and had a taste for poetry and music. He could play two to three instruments and composed spontaneous songs. Many master musicians and learned men were invited by him from Persia, Turkistan and Rome. Ismail Adil Shah (1510-1534 C.E.) was also a patron of scholars and poets. He knew several languages, and was adept in drawing, painting and making arrows. Ali Adil Shah I (1535-1558 C.E.) had a philosophical bent of mind and invited Hindu, Muslim and Christian saints for religious discussions and called himself “Adilshah Sufi.” He had a great liking for books and collected a huge number on a variety of subjects, and carried boxes of books with him during many journeys. The royal library lodged in Asari Mahal at Bijapur had its beginning during his rule.

Music, the Dakhani language, painting and crafts received a lot of encouragement during the Adilshahi reign in Karnataka. Calligraphy grew in all its grace and elegance. The Persian script renders itself beautifully to an artist’s imagination and skill. An artist or a sensitive calligraphist can give flowing touches, flowery flourishes or long and short joints to letters. Islamic calligraphy developed into seven styles at a later date. The kufi style was employed for religious sayings or quotations from the Koran, the nasq for simple forms in everyday correspondence and the tulup was used for epitaphs of heroes and martyrs. Nastaliq and jughra were the other two styles, even more in vogue. The tughra was used to avoid the evil eye (an Indian belief analogous to the western scarecrow) and were to be found in forts and fortresses of the Deccan Region.

As the use of paper became increasingly popular, calligraphists grew in demand. Khasnavis was an expert in calligraphy. Hindus and Muslims were equally adept in handwriting. Books on poetry, biography and history were illustrated with the choicest handwriting, with beautiful borders of gold, red and blue flowers.

Ibrahim Adilshah II (1580-1627 C.E.) is remembered as the greatest king, for trying to bring in cultural harmony through music and other fine arts. His book, “Kitab-E-Navras” (book of nine flavours) in the Dakhani language is a collection of 59 poems and seventeen couplets. According to his court poet Zuhuri, Ibrahim Adilshah wrote the book to introduce the theory of nine juices (which occupies the most important place in Indian aesthetics) to people who had only a Persian background. The book starts with a prayer to Sarasvati, the goddess of learning. He composed verses on Ganapati, the god of learning, as well. He proudly claimed that his father was the divine Ganapati, and his mother the holy Sarasvati. For him, the tanpura (a musical instrument) personified learning, and it was said that "Ibrahim the Tanpurawala became learned due to the grace of God, by living in the city of learning i.e., Vidyanagari." Vidyanagari was the earlier name of Bijapur.

Ibrahim II publicly declared that all he wanted was vidya , or learning, music, and guruseva (service of the guru.) He was a devotee of Hazrat Banda Nawaz, the Sufi saint. He composed a prayer to his teacher, requesting him to bestow vidya and a charitable disposition.

To provide a constructive shape to his interpretation of the rasas, he founded the new township of Navraspur. He had a temple built for Sarsawti within the precincts of the palace, which still stands and is known as "Narasimha Sarasvati Mandir." The record of encouragement he provided to music and musicians is amazing, considering that mainstream Islam does not recognize music as a path of devotion. Ibrahim himself had mastered music and wanted his subjects to cultivate a love for it. His creation of the Eid-e-Navras and the Lashkar-e-Navras is unique. They are described below.

On every Thursday, Eid-e-Navras (festival of music) was held in Bijapur. Singers, players of various musical instruments, and dancers from different parts of the kingdom assembled for the festival. The assembly of elite musicians was known as Lashkar-e-Navras. Men and women of noble birth aspired to participate in this Eid. Well-known musicians and dancers thought it a unique privilege to come to Bijapur and perform before the king, as he himself was a master of the subject.

Musicians were divided into three categories: huzuris or great masters who had direct access to the king, darbaris were versatile musicians, but could not match the genius of the Huzuris. In the third category, shaharis had a sound musical background and were diligent learners. New ragas and compositions came into existence with the king in the assembly, and were passed on to the darbaris and shahari. All musicians received a salary, land and residential quarters in accordance with their status.

It is difficult to assess the long-standing effect of Ibrahim's encouragement to popularize music during his time, but he was a great patron of learning as a whole. Bijapur attracted poets, musicians, painters and Sufi philosophers. The Ibrahim Roza, a royal sepulcher he built for himself, is an architectural wonder today, although Navraspur -- his dream city, was destroyed by Malik Ambar, a Mogul general.

Ibrahim called himself jagadguru (world teacher). He sent several presents to emperor Akbar through Asad Beg, the emperor’s emissary, and this included items considered sacred by Hindus and gold coins called navras sikka. The inscriptions on the coins were “Navras Muhar Adilshahi Jagadguru dad Ilahi”, which meant, “Navras coin of Adilshah, the god-bestowed world preceptor.” The reaction of Akbar to these presents and Ibrahim’s self-proclaimed world preceptorship is not known. But Asad Beg’s report only confirms Ibrahim’s love for Indian culture and his obsession with the Navras theory.

Under the Adilshahis, the Dakhini Urdu became more broad-based and received recognition and court patronage8. It is believed that Bijapur is the birthplace of the mushaira, an immensely popular soiree of poetic composition of later times. The new language became popular not only with kings and nobles but with scholars, teachers and commoners as well, and mushairas helped the spread of literature, along with sophisticated entertainment. Participation of the audience is a strong point of the mushaira even today. Poets are encouraged by the audience at the completion of every line with exclamations like “Wah!”, “Khub!”, “Suban!”, “Marhaba!”, and “Mukharrar!” For a long time, Persian continued as the court language and Urdu as the spoken language. Under the Adilshahis, Urdu replaced Persian as a medium for literary and communicative purposes.

The Asari Mahal grew into a magnificent library of Persian,Urdu and Arabic classics over the years. It is said that Aurangzeb took all the most valuable manuscripts away in cartloads after he conquered Bijapur in 1686 C.E. When James Fergusson visited Asari Mahal in the 1890s, the remnants were still there, “precious to the persons in charge of the building, who show them with mournful pride and regret.

Education of Women in Karnataka Under Islamic Rulers

Except for Ibn Batuta's account, we do not have any records of Muslim women attending public schools, but they certainly received the necessary basic education at homes in mohallas of the rich, as was the practice in medieval times. Elderly moulvis and nurses were employed to teach them. Daughters of nobles were taught reading and recitation of holy texts, embroidery, painting, indoor games and calligraphy.

Palace-women received all essential training befitting royalty. Persian and Arabic, arithmetic, music, painting, drawing and Unani medicine were some of the subjects taught. Chivalrous Chand Bibi, the princess of Ahmednagar and queen of Ali Adil Shah I, (1557-1580 C.E.) received military training like any of the Muslim princes. This enabled her to fight the Mughal army. She also knew Arabic, Persian and Turkish. She played sitar, and painting flowers was her hobby. She learned Marathi and Kannada and played a very important role as a regent during the childhood of Ibrahim Adil Shah II.

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References
Jotsna Kamat
1. M. M. Zuhuruddin Ahmad. Present Day Problems of Indian Education, p. 21.
2. N. N. Law. Promotion of Learning in Muslim India, p. 81.
3. Ibid, pp. 84-90.
4. H. K. Sherwani and P. M. Joshi. History of Medieval Deccan, Vol. II, pp. 187-188.
5. G. Yazdani. Bidar, Its History and Monuments, p. 24 ff.
6. N. N. Law. Promotion of Learning in Muslim India, p. 89.
7. N. N. Law. Promotion of Learning in Muslim India, p. 81; H. K. Sherwani and P. M. Joshi. History of Medieval Deccan, Vol. I, p. 397.
8. H. K. Sherwani and P. M. Joshi. History of Medieval Deccan, Vol. II, p. 81.
9. T. T. Sharma. Charitrika Dakhalegalu, p. 140.