Mahmud Gawan Madrasa
A fifteenth-century Islamic college built by Bahmani prime minister Mahmud Gawan, once three storeys tall and clad in Persian tilework, one of the earliest centres of higher learning in the Deccan.
Mahmud Gawan, a Persian merchant who rose to become prime minister of the Bahmani Sultanate, endowed this madrasa in Bidar in 1472 as a centre for theology, philosophy, mathematics, and astronomy, modelled on the great colleges of Khorasan and Samarkand. In its prime it reportedly housed a library of thousands of manuscripts and taught scholars drawn from across the Islamic world, making it one of the most ambitious educational institutions built in medieval India.
Architecturally, the madrasa was startling for its time: a soaring three-storey structure faced in glazed Persian tilework in turquoise, yellow, and dark blue, with a large courtyard and corner minarets. Much of the facade was destroyed by a gunpowder explosion and subsequent neglect, but surviving sections of the tilework still convey the scale of its original decoration, and the structure remains one of the finest examples of Persian-influenced architecture in the Deccan.
Getting there: The madrasa stands in Bidar’s old city, within easy reach of the Bidar Post Office.
The site itself
Where to get your stamp cancelled
This may not be next to the site itself — some post offices serve several nearby landmarks.
- Post office
- Bidar Post Office
- Pincode
- 585401
- Address
- Bidar Post Office, Old City, Bidar District, Karnataka
Sources
- Project maintainer transcription of the physical Philately Passport booklet (district/landmark/post office list)