Mahmud Gawan Madrasa

Mahmud Gawan Madrasa is a 15th-century Islamic seminary located in Bidar, Karnataka, built by Mahmud Gawan, the prime minister of the Bahmani Sultanate. Situated near Bidar Fort, it is renowned for its Persian-style Indo-Islamic architecture, glazed tile work, arches and minarets. Once a renowned centre of learning housing a large library, it is now a partially ruined Archaeological Survey of India protected monument and a major heritage attraction in Bidar.

Visitors can expect a large ruined madrasa complex built in Persian-influenced Indo-Islamic style with a central courtyard, arched halls, lecture rooms, mosque area, and remains of two minarets. The exterior and interior show glazed tile work in blue, green and white, calligraphy and arches. The structure is partially collapsed but retains its monumental facade, allowing exploration of the courtyard, corridors and prayer hall surroundings in an open, historic setting near Bidar Fort.

Built between 1460 and 1472 by Khwaja Mahmud Gawan, the Persian-born prime minister of the Bahmani Sultanate under Sultan Muhammad Shah III. It served as a renowned residential university for Islamic and secular learning with a library of thousands of manuscripts, modelled on Persian madrasas. The building exemplifies Bahmani architecture with Persian influences and was damaged by lightning and gunpowder explosion in the late 17th century, leaving it in a partially ruined state.

Represents the Bahmani Sultanate's patronage of education and Persian-influenced Indo-Islamic architecture in the Deccan. As a historic centre of Islamic learning that attracted scholars from Persia and Arabia, it reflects Bidar's cultural importance as a medieval capital and remains an important heritage and educational landmark of Karnataka.