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Bijapur

City in Karnataka, India

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  • 8 chapters
clockwise from top: Gol Gumbaz, Shivpuri Monument, Bara Kaman, Jama Masjid Bijapur. The montage is made of four images, all copyright-free and on Wikimedia commons. They images are File:GolGumbaz2.jpg
Montage of several images · CC BY-SA 4.0

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The city was established in the 10th–11th centuries during the time of Kalyani Chalukyas and was known as Vijayapura (city of victory). The city was passed to Yadavas after Chalukya's demise. In 1347, the area was conquered by the Bahmani Sultanate. After the split of the Bahmani Sultanate, the Bijapur Sultanate ruled from the city. Relics of the Sultanates' rule can be found in the city, including the Bijapur Fort, Bara Kaman, Jama Masjid, and Gol Gumbaz.

Bijapur, one of the popular heritage cities in Karnataka, is also one of the top ten populated cities in Karnataka. Bijapur city was declared as one of the corporations in the state of Karnataka in 2013. Bijapur urban population as per 2011 census was 326,000, perhaps the 9th biggest city in Karnataka. Vijayapura Mahanagara Palike (VMP) is the newest Municipal Corporation formed under the KMC act, along with Shimoga and Tumkur Municipal Corporations. Administratively, Bijapur district comes under Belgaum division, along with Bagalkote, Belgaum, Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri and Uttara Kannada (Karwar) districts.

Civic administration of the city is managed by the Bijapur City Corporation and office of Deputy Commissioner in Bijapur. The office of Deputy Commissioner has the responsibility for rural areas in Bijapur, while the corporation administers the city of Bijapur. Effective administration of the heritage city of Bijapur is the main purpose of the Vijayapura City Corporation.

History

Early history

The Bijapur district is historically, traditionally and legendarily, one of the richest districts in the state. Evidence found here reveals that it was an inhabited place since the Stone Age. The history of this district is divided into four periods, from the Chalukya acquisition of Badami till the Muslim invasion.

The early Western Chalukya period lasted from about 535 to about 757; the Rastrakuta period from 757 to 973; the Kalachuri and Hoysala period from 973 to about 1200; the Devagiri Yadava period from 1185 to the Muslim conquest of Devagiri in 1312.

Bahmani and Bijapur Sultanates

Bijapur first came under the influence of Alauddin Khalji, the Sultan of Delhi, towards the end of the 13th century, and then under the Bahmani Sultanate in 1347. In 1347, when the Bahamani Sultanate was established, it included the southern and eastern parts of Bijapur district. The Sultanate was divided into several provinces, (tarafs) including Bijapur. The capital of the province was Bijapur, with boundaries extending to present parts of North Karnataka south and west of Maharashtra including the Konkan, and was a centre for trading overseas. The supremacy of the Bahmanis and authority over its provinces ceased by 1490. At that time five dynasties were born, and one of them was the Adil Shahi dynasty. In 1518, the Bahmani Sultanate formally split into five splinter states known as the Deccan sultanates, ruled by the aforementioned five dynasties. The sultans of the Bijapur Sultanate ruled from 1490 to 1686. The city of Bijapur owes much of its greatness to Yusuf Adil Shah, the founder of the independent state of Bijapur, sultan Ali Adil Shah I, who fortified the city and grew its working class population, and Ibrahim Adil Shah II of Bijapur. At its peak under the Bijapur Sultanate in the early 17th century, half a million to a million people were estimated to have inhabited the city.

The Mughal emperor Aurangazeb conquered Bijapur from the Adil Shahis in 1686 and had two years prior turned Bijapur into a subah. Disease and other natural events resulting in large-scale death following the Mughal conquest significantly reduced the city's population. Bijapur was under Mughal rule up to 1723. In 1724 the Nizam of Hyderabad State established his independence in the Deccan and included Bijapur within his dominion. However, his acquisition on this portion was of brief duration, and in 1760 it went into the hands of the Maratha Confederacy.

British Colonial period

After the 1818 defeat of the Peshwa by the British in the Third Anglo-Maratha War, Bijapur passed into the hands of the British East India Company, and was assigned to the Maratha princely state Satara.

In 1817, war broke out between the British and the Marathas. By 1818, the whole of Bijapur was occupied by the British and was included in the territory assigned to the Raja of Satara. In 1848 the territory of Satara was obtained through the failure of heir and the British rule started. Till 1884, the Bijapur district had headquarters at Kaladagi. Bijapur was made headquarters in 1885.

Post-Independence

After Independence, the movement for re-organisation of States gained further momentum and on 1 November 1956 a separate "Mysore State" was formed. By the wish of the people it was renamed as "Karnataka". Thus, the district Bijapur along with other Kannada speaking areas became a part of "Karnataka State" on 1 November 1956.

Central government had approved the request to rename the city in October 2014 from Bijapur to "Vijayapura" on 1 November 2014.

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