Karnataka seeks heritage tag for Deccan Sultanate icons

Hassan: Karnataka could have more monuments declared World Heritage Sites besides the Hampi ruins and the seventh and eighth century Hindu and Jain temples at Pattadakallu. The department of archaeology, museums and heritage has submitted a  dossier of monuments and forts of the Deccan Sultanate spread across  Bidar, Vijayapura, Kalaburagi to the Archaeological Survey of India, New Delhi for forwarding to the World Heritage Centre of  UNESCO in France for its consideration.

The monuments and forts of the Deccan Sultanate have been on the tentative list of World Heritage Sites since 2014. Executive director of the Indian Heritage Cities Network Foundation, K S Raiker told Deccan Chronicle that the nomination dossier was submitted to the ASI, New Delhi on September 28, but  there was still a  lot of process to go through before these monuments could become  World Heritage Sites.

The tag would get these monuments not only worldwide recognition, but also encourage tourism and bring in more investments, he explained. Besides the monuments in Karnataka , the tag has also been recommended for the Qutb Shahi Monuments of Hyderabad in Telangana. 

Officials of the department of department of archaeology, museums and heritage, Mysuru, point out that while the monuments in Bidar are not  encroached on in a big way, those in Vijayapura and Kalaburagi have been encroached upon heavily. "Recognising these monuments as world heritage sites will give them much better protection," they say.

The Deccan Sultanate monuments in  Kalaburagi belong to the Bahmani dynasty and include a fort and a magnificent  mosque  dating back to the 14th century. The Bidar fort is an irregular, circular fort with a six-mile long  wall strengthened with 37 bastions. There are also 12 tombs of the Bahmani rulers in the district's Ashtur village.