The Museum Day is celebrated the world over on May 18. Museums in India are great heritage resources because they have a long history, excellent collections and very great expertise in some cases. The museums in Calcutta, Madras and Delhi are among the earliest of modern museums in the world, but are in varying degrees of transition. But very few people know that Bijapur’s museum housed in the Naqqaur Khana of Golgumbaz complex is one of the earliest site museums that were established in India.

Bijapur, referred in inscriptions as Vijayapura, attained political prominence during the rule of the Adilshahi sultans. The history of Bijapur is traced back to sixth century AD. It was then a part of the kingdom of the Chalukyas of Badami. Subsequently, it came under the control of the Rashtrakutas, Kalyana Chalukyas, Kalachuris, Yadavas, Khiljis and the Bahamanis.

Yusuf Adilkhan, a military governor under the Bahamanis declared himself independent and founded the Adilshahi rule in the year 1489 AD.

A number of religious, secular and defence structures built during the Adilshahi period are located in and around Bijapur. The historic building in which the museum is functioning forms part of Golgumbaz complex and is called Naqqar Khana (The Trumpet House). It is a rectangular double storied structure, constructed during the sixth regnal year i.e. in AD 1631 of Mohammad Adilshah. Originally, it was intended to be a guarded southern passage to the Golgumbaz with drums and trumpets to be blown to indicate the royal presence in the complex. It is in the typical Adilshahi style with solid arches raised over massive piers within closed walls. The external elevations in the front and the rear are pierced by arches.

This museum, established in 1892, grew to be a District Museum in 1912. Later, in 1962, Archaeological Survey of India took over from the State Government of Mysore for developing it into a site museum. Thus it is one of the earliest site museums established in India.

The museum has six galleries. It houses a majority of movable cultural property of a time span ranging from sixth century AD to late 18th century AD with a special emphasis on Adilshahi art objects. Select specimen displayed in the six galleries include, Brahmanical sculptures (gallery-I), Jaina sculptures (gallery-II), inscriptions of Arabic, Persian, Sanskrit and Kannada languages (gallery-III), arms, armoury, weapons and other metal wares (gallery-IV), miniature paintings, smaller metal objects (gallery-V) and Arabic and Persian manuscripts, Chinese porcelain wares etc (gallery-VI).

Stone slabs bearing inscriptions in excellent calligraphy, illustrated paper manuscripts of the Quran, well attired torso of a royal person, photo enlargement of excellent specimens of Adilshahi miniatures, translides of kings and queens and world’s famous monuments comparable with Golgumbaz are some of the main attractions in the museum. Of these, outstanding ones are described here.

Mahakuta Pillar Inscription of Mangalesha (AD 601-602): This 22 feet high, 16 sided monolithic sand stone pillar crowned by an amalaka, was originally installed in front of the Mahakuteshwara temple, Mahakuta near Badami. It was shifted to this museum in around 1890. It is a dharma jaya-stambha, (religious victory pillar) installed by Mangalesha (AD 596-609), in his fifth regnal year AD 601-02. A Sanskrit inscription of 16 lines, in sixth -seventh century AD Kannada characters, is engraved on it. It gives the genealogy of the Chalukya kings from Ranaraga upto Mangalesha and grant of 10 villages for the worship of Mahakuteshwara in the presence of queen Duralbhadevi, wife of Pulakeshin-I.

Town Map: This unique map  of 18th century is one of the earliest examples of a town plan in India. Drawn on long strips of handmade paper, the drawing is mainly in jet black Indian ink and the illustrations are in different shades of red, blue, yellow and black.

The museum is one of its kind in Karnataka and next to the Salar Jung Museum at Hyderabad in showcasing the multifaceted Islamic heritage of the deccan.