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Bijapur’s urban population as per 2011 census is 3.26 lakhs, perhaps the 9th biggest city in Karnataka. Bijapur Municipal Corporation is the newest(9th) city corporation formed under the KMC act along with Shimoga(10th) (3.22 lakhs) and Tumkur (11th) (3.05 lakhs) city corporations as per 2011 census. The other existing city corporations in Karnataka state in descending order of population are Bengaluru, Hubli-Dharwad, Mysore, Gulbarga, Belgaum, Mangalore, Davangere and Bellary. Administratively, Bijapur district comes under Belgaum division along with Bagalkote, Belgaum, Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri and Uttara Kannada (Karwar) districts.

Ali Adil Shah (1557–1580) built this tank near eastern boundary of Bijapur. When there was large influx of people into Bijapur after the fall of the Vijayanagar empire, and new settlements came up within the walled city raising the need for better infrastructure and providing water supply. This has a storage capacity of 20 million litres. Later it became a model for many other tanks constructed in the city. A grandeur complex came up around it, which was mainly used to house the maintenance staff though members of the royal family occasionally used it for recreation. He named this after his wife “Chand Bibi”.

Built around 1584 by Hyder Khan, is an 80 ft (24 m) high tower standing to the north of Dakhani Idgah in Bijapur. This is a spherical structure with stone steps winding round the outside. Top of the tower offers a commanding view of the city. This is also known as Hyder Burj, Upli Burj. On top of Upli Burj there are two guns of huge size. The parafeet this tower which was used for monitoring purposes has been fenced now. One needs to climb the circular stairs to reach the top. However except for this tower there is very little evidence of the citadel wall in this area due to rampant construction.

This is the most famous monument in Bijapur. It is the tomb of Mohammed Adil Shah (ruled 1627-1657). It is the largest dome ever built, next in size only to St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. A particular attraction in this monument is the central chamber, where every sound is echoed seven times. Another attraction at the Gol Gumbaz is the Whispering Gallery, where even minute sounds can be heard clearly 37 metres away. Gol Gumbaz complex includes a mosque, a Naqqar Khana (a hall for the trumpeters) (Now it is used as museum) and the ruins of guest houses.

The place is an important tourist place in the country, the former capital of the Adilshahi dynasty, situated about 579 km to the north-west of Bangalore. The Hubli-Sholapur railway line traverses via this place. The Kalyana Chalukya kings made it a sub-capital according to an inscription of 1073. It is believed that Jaina Poet Nagachandra, 12th century, had his residence here. The place had old names like Vijayapura, Vidyapura and Mohamudpura. For nearly 200 years from 1489 to1686, this was the seat of the Adilshahi Dynasty.

The city was established in the 10th-11th centuries by the Kalyani Chalukyas and was known as Vijayapura (City of victory). The city was passed to Yadavas after Chalukya’s demise. The city came under the influence of the Khilji Sultanate in Delhi by the late 13th century. In 1347, the area was conquered by the Bahmani Sultanate of Gulbarga. By this time, the city was being referred as Vijapur or Bijapur. Bijapur, Karnataka. Ironically the name Beejpur literally means replete with seeds in Sanskrit, meaning Pomegranate.

Bijapur City is having more than 3 lak population as per census 2011.Whole dist is having more than 21 lak population.Around 20% of people habitation in urban area and 80% of people habitation in ruurl area.Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Bijapur has an average literacy rate of 84%, higher than the national average of 69%; with male literacy of 89% and female literacy of 78%. 12% of the population is under 6 years of age. Kannada is the major language spoken here.

Asar Mahal on the crest of the eastern glacis of the citadel is the Asar Mahal. In about 1646 it was constructed by Muhammad Shah and was earlier called as Adalat Mahal. The walls and ceilings of the rooms bear paintings of landscapes and various designs. The room of the south side of the gilded hall is a gorgeously painted apartment. These paintings had been whitewashed by the orders of Aurangzeb and later restored. There is a big square tank outside in front of the building.

Mosque is standing at the east of the Chini Mahal. The mosque appears to be a Hindu temple originally. An inscription inside the pillar in old Kannada characters dated 1320 A.D. says the name of the builder of the upper part as Ravayya of Salotgi. It is a rectangular enclosure with a fine vestibule in front, the portico of which spreading into wings fills the forepart of the mosque. According to another version, earlier it was a Hindu college, converted into a mosque.

The 85-foot (26 m) tall statue of Lord Shiva installed by the T.K. Patil Banakatti Charitable Trust in Bijapur at Shivapur on Sindagi Road is gradually developing as a pilgrimage place.1,500 tonnes statue considered as the second biggest statue of Lord Shiva in the country was prepared by sculptors from Shimoga for more than 13 months and the civilian design was provided by Bangalore-based architects. The statue weighs around 1,500 tonnes.

The airport will feature a terminal building of 2500 square metres, with a handling capacity of 100 passengers at peak hour. Its runway will have an area of 51,000 square metres, which would be sufficient room to support a variety of aircraft. Other features included in the airport will be hangars, aprons, taxiways, parking lots, ground support equipment, a fuel form, a fire station, and air traffic control tower 15 metres high.

Bijapur is connected by a broad gauge railway (Gadag-Hotgi railway line) to Hotgi junction near Solapur and Kurduvadi on Central Railway towards the north and to Bagalkot and Gadag junction on South Western Railway towards the south. Bijapur is connected with direct trains to Solapur, Bagalkot, Gadag, Dharwad, Bellary, Yeshwantpur (Bengaluru), Hubli, Mumbai, and Ahmedabad.Bijapur is under South Western Railway (SWR)

It is a highly revered temple situated on the west centre of the citadel on the inner most under a papal tree. It is being popularly called as Narasoba or Narasimha temple. The chief object of worship is a shapeless black stone in the form of Dattareya. A pair of sandals or padukas said to belong to Saint Narasimha Saraswathi are worshipped there. It is said to be frequented by Ibrahim Adil Shah II.

Andu Masjid stands a little away from the citadel to the west of the jumnal road. It is a two-storeyed structure, upper floor being a prayer chamber while the ground is a hall. There is no pulpit in the mosque and probably it was restricted to the prayer of women. A Persian inscription here quotes that the mosque was constructed in 1608 by Itbar Khan, one of the nobles in the Court of Adil Shai II.

First womens university in the state of Karnataka is located at Bijapur. Various post-graduate courses like MBA, MCA are conducted here. Additionally Bijapur boasts of the only Sainik school in the whole state. This is a residential school preparing cadets for the Defence forces. And there many private computer training institutes providing good computer education like NIIT,Aptech,ISCT etc.

Bijapur city is the district headquarters of Bijapur District of Karnataka state. It is also the headquarters for Bijapur Taluka. Bijapur city is well known for its historical monuments of architectural importance built during the rule of the Adil Shahi dynasty. Bijapur is located 530 km northwest of Bangalore and about 550 km inland from Mumbai, and 384 km west of the city of Hyderabad.

Bijapur Airport is an airport that will serve the city of Bijapur in Karnataka, India. Under a public-private partnership agreement, the airport will be built on 727-acre (2.94 km2) plot of land at Madabhavi village near Bijapur. The Karnataka government has contracted MARG Limited, a diversified construction business, to develop the airport.

Bijapur is emerging as a hub for professional education. Previously (i.e. before 1980s) there were very few professional educational institutions. Along with the professional colleges there are many colleges which provide under-graduate and post-graduate degrees in the faculty of applied science, pure science,social-sciences and humanities.

Air – The nearest airport is at Belgaum (205 km). Indian and Jet airways flight operators connect Bijapur to the rest of India. A new airport which can accommodate ATR’s & Airbus 320(expansion afterwords) is currently being built by Karnataka government through PPP mode . Land has already been acquired & construction has already started.

This is the tomb of Ibrahim Adil Shah II (ruled 1580-1627), the fifth king of the dynasty and, like the Mughal emperor Akbar, known for religious tolerance. Built on a single rock bed, it is noted for the symmetry of its features. It is said that the design for the Ibrahim Rauza served as an inspiration for that of the famous Taj Mahal.

The great gun of Bijapur, is placed to the north of Phatka gate in a tower. This is the biggest gun in Bijapur, weighing about 55 tons and was cast at Ahmednagar in 1549 by a Turkish Officer in the service of Burhan Nizamshah and this information is engraved on it. The muzzle is fashioned into the form of the head of a lion or dragon.

Ali Adil Sha II’s tomb is located to the north-west of the citadel, and is housed in a big square roofless structure consisting of incomplete arches in dark basalt. This incomplete structure is 215 feet (66 m) square and on the raised platform stand the incomplete arches. In the centre on the elevated platform are the tombs.

A mausoleum of Ali Roza built in 1672. It was previously named as Ali Roza, but Shah Nawab Khan changed its name to Bara Kaman as this was the 12th monument during his reign. It has now seven arches and the tomb containing the graves of Ali, his queens and eleven other ladies possibly belonging to the Zenana of the queens.

About 3 km from the city near the dargah is a basadi of Parshwanath. The black stone idol is about 3 feet (0.91 m) high and of beautiful workmanship. A serpent with 1008 small hoods spread over the deity as umbrella is delicately carved. Some years back while digging a mound, the figure is stated to have been unearthed.

Anand Mahal Is to the west of Gagana Mahal and in the premises of the citadel stands this two-storeyed mansion. This was constructed by Ibrahim Adil Sha II in 1589, exclusively for music and dance. The roof was ornamented with stucco work. The Ananda Mahal presently is being used by the State for Government offices.

It’s stands about 75 yards north of Bukhara Mosque. It is a peculiar combination of Hindu-Muslim architecture. The roof is borne not on arches but on eight-sided columns with Hindu pedestals and capitals. The construction is in Hindu style except the central dome and the western mihrab.

Ark-Killa the citadel is at the centre of the city. It is also most important part of Bijapur. Yusuf Adilshah chose it as the site for his fort. The present citadel is nearly circular. Its defenses are a strong wall with several bastions of considerable strength on the south and east.

Torvi is located merely 5 km from Bijapur.The Narasimha temple, which is built underground is very close to Adil Shahi’s Sangeeth mahal. Nearby this temple, another Hindu temple of Devi Lakshmi is located.The people of Bijapur have a trend to visit these temples every Saturday.

It is about 260 yards to the south of the Jumma Masjid-Ark-killa road. Actually it is not a palace but an ornamental gateway which leads to a mosque and garden. Its flat stone roof has been a puzzle to engineers, which is supported by delicately carved stone brackets of birds.

Chini Mahal or Faroukh Mahal is an edifice that consists of a big lofty durbar hall in the centre and series of rooms in the wings. Yusuf Adil Shsh constructed it. For its sheer size and loftiness none of the hall in any other palace of Bijapur can be compared with it.

Among the other historical attractions at Bijapur, some notable ones are the Anand Mahal, Jod Gumbaz, Jumma Mosque, Sat Manzil, and Jal Manzil. Also among old houses at Bijapur, the most famous is Elavia House ( Nauzer Elavia) which is more than 100 years old.

The Bijapur district is known for its mosques, structural monuments, art and architectural heritages, archaeological sites and cave temples. With the objective to spread education in this area, Karnatak University opened its Post-Graduate Centre in 1993.

Ain-ul-mulk’s tomb and mosque Lies on the eastern outskirts of the city and is the solid structure in square, surrounded by a fair proportioned dome. The tomb belongs to Ain-ul-mulk. Close by is the much adorned mosque and the building is plastered.

Road – The main stand in Bijapur is near the southwestern side of the citadel, near the city center. Bus services to Badami (2 hours), Belgaum (5 hours), Gulbarga (4 hours), Bidar (7 hours), Hubli (4Â½ hours), and Sholapur (2 hours) are frequent.

Landa Kasab Gun Lies in the middle of the southern fort of the City. It weighs about 46.5 tons, and there is another small gun on the same bastion. Though unprotected for 300 years from the rig ours of climate, these guns show no signs of decay.

Many of colleges except professional are affiliated to Rani Chennamma University Belagavi viz, B.L.D.E.A’S A.S.PATIL COLLEGE OF COMMERCE(Autonomous)MBA Programme, Bijapur. Rani Chennamma University has a Post-Graduation Centre at Bijapur also.

Bijapur has IGNOU regional center,There are 7 districts under its jurisdiction(Districts Bagalkote, Bijapur, Bidar, Gulbarga, Koppal Raichur and Yadgir).The newly created Bijapur Regional Centre would cater to seven northern districts.

VRL Logistics, a major logistics company in India headquartered at Hubli, also runs premium to affordable bus services to various parts of the country. Namely, around 15 buses to Bengaluru, 5 buses to Mumbai on a daily basis etc.

Ali Adilshah I’s tomb lies in the south-west part of the City. Ali Adilshah’s Tomb is a simple modest building containing an outer row of five arches surrounding a central chamber and is the earliest royal mausoleum in Bijapur.

Chand Bavadi is a well constructed by Ali Adil Shah I in honor of his wife Chand Bibi in the year 1579. It is at the west corner of the town. The entrance is spanned by a single arch, approached by a descending flight of steps.

Amin Dargah Is considered as the most sacred in the city and is situated about 1.5 km to the west of Bijapur. The tomb of Amin-ud-din is on the high ground and conspicuous landmark for considerable distance round about.

It is part of the mansion that now remains to the west of the citadel. In this dilapidated five-storeyed building are traces of painting, and stucco work has been executed on the ceiling of the different floors.

Bijapur City was also held by Aurangzeb, the Nizam, Savanur Nawab, Satara Chatrapati and finally the British. Foreign travelers like Duarte Barbosa, Varthema, Poser, Mandeslo and Travernier visited this place.

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