STATE PROTECTED MONUMENTS OF ISLAMNAGAR

Located 11 km away on the Bhopal-Berasia Road, past the infamous Union Carbide Factory (the poisonous gas leakage causing the worst industrial disaster in1984), Islamnagar is a small village known for the palace of Bhopal's Afghan rulers built by Dost Mohammed Khan. Gardens surround the palace and the pavilion. The pavilion, a synthesis of Hindu and Islamic decorative art, has pillars richly decorated with floral motifs. Other important monuments are the hamam (baths) of the Chaman Mahal and the double-storeyed Rani Mahal Islamnagar was the palace of Bhopal's Afghan rulers and was built by Dost Mohammed Khan. Formal gardens surround the palace and pavilion. The latter, a synthesis of Hindu and Islamic decorative art, has columns lavishly embellished with floral motifs   Islamnagar's earlier name was Jagdishpur and its last ruler Devda Chauhan was a Rajput Chieftain. In 1715 A.D. Dost Mohammad Khan treacherously slaughtered the Chieftain and his soldiers and after capturing Jagdishpur renamed it Islamnagar. By 1719 A.D., the entire Bhopal territory came under him and he came to be known as the founder of Bhopal State. Islamnagar was the capital of Bhopal State prior to the construction of the fort at Bhopal. The second Nawab of the state, Yaar Mohammad Khan reconstructed the palaces here. He died in 1742 A.D. and was buried here. In 1808 A.D. this territory came under the rule of the Scindhias and Islamnagar remained under their possession till 1817 A.D. Nawab Gaus Mohammad Khan's daughter, Gauhar Begum (Qudasia Begum) was married to Nazar Mohammad Khan in 1818 A.D. and their only progeny was Sikandar Jehan Begum. Nazar Mohammad Khan died in November 1819 A.D. in Islamnagar after a pistol went off accidently. In 1835 A.D. Sikandar Jehan Begum, the daughter of Qudasia Begum was married to Jahangir Mohammad Khan, but due to strained relations with the latter Qudasia Begum and Sikandar Jehan Begum left Bhopal and began to stay at Islam nagar. Here Sikandar Jehan Begum gave birth to Shahjahan Begum who was to become the 11 th ruler of Bhopal State. Sikandar Jehan Begum lived here with her mother and daughter till 1844A.D. Most important of the monuments at Islam nagar include Chaman Mahal, Rani Mahal and Gond Mahal. The Chaman Mahal has a royal hammam or bathing place and a very beautiful garden developed in Charbagh style of the Mughals, which is one of the very few Mughal Gardens situated in Central India. The palaces here depict an amalgamation of the Rajput, Mughal and Malwa styles of architecture. The graves of Nawab Yaar Mohammad Khan and Nazar Mohammad Khan are situated across the river. CHAMAN MAHAL Sardar Dost Mohammad Khan built this palace in 1715 A.D. He was an Afghan soldier of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb and was the founder of Bhopal State. This palace is surrounded by an enclosure wall and has two entrances. A Sheesh Mahal with twelve doors is situated near the entrance. A Charbagh pattern garden in Mughal style is situated in the centre of this palace. Facing the garden is a red sandstone platform having a stone latticed screen around it. Arches decorated with floral motifs, pillared baradari, as well as rooms with open courtyard can be seen in front of it. Dost Mohammed Khan is said to have conducted his official business in the baradari. To the north a hammam is built in Mughal style. There is one dressing room in it. The main room can be approached through galleries, where water tanks are constructed on three sides. A copper plate is fixed at the base of one water tank beneath which a furnace is constructed for providing hot water. The second floor of the palace is flat roofed, which has two chhatris on either sides. The architecture of this palace is a mixed form of later Mughal, Rajput and Malwa styles. It has been built by using red sand stone, kakaiya bricks and lime. The style of the dome is particularly distinctive of the monuments of early Bhopal Rulers. CHAR BAGH The Char Bagh of Islmanagar is one of the very few examples of the Char Bagh style of Mughal Gardens in Central India. The tradition of the walled paradise garden goes back to the Persian Empire under Cyrus the Great to Timur of Central Asia, and in India, to Babur, the first Mughal ruler. The gardens are characterised by a geometrically laid out format with flowering and fruit trees, shrubs and flowers in precise symmetrical plots with a water course, meant not just to irrigate, but to cool and please the onlooker. In India, the famed Mughal Gardens of Kashmir are Nishat Bagh, Shalimar, Chashma Shahi, Verinag and Acchabal. The other known ones are in Pinjore (near Chandigarh), Delhi, Agra, Ajmer, Jdaipur and Aurangabad. And then there are the gardens of Lahore, Kabul, Samarkand, Bukhara, Isfahan, Herat and Shiraz. Spain (Cordoba, Seville and Granada), Morocco (Marrakesh) and Sicily are smong other paradise garden sites in Europe and North Africa.   Chaman Mahal draws from the long tradition of Mughal gradens with which Dost Mohammed would have been well acquainted. Set in the classical grid format of the Char Bagh, it is characteristically laid out into compartments with small pools through which water flows with a downward pressure, irrigating shrubs and flower beds at ground devel via systematically laid out channels and runnels. Fountains spray and cool the air. All this is traceable to the Central Asian and Persian origins described earlier. Although Chaman Mahal is a very small graden compared to the legendary Mughal gardens of Kashmir, it is nevertheless a unique representation in ths part of the country of a glorious tradition going back to more than 2000 years. GOND MAHAL This is the oldest palace at site, which was under possession of Gond Rulers till the beginning of 18th century. At that time this place was known as Jagdishpur. The last ruler of this place was a Chauhan Chieftain Narsingh Devara. Presently the palace stands in ruins. It has been built in a combination of Gond and Malwa architectural styles. Its main entrance gate is east facing in front of which stands a huge bastion. This triple storeyed building is divided into two parts. The first part consists of an open courtyard in the centre, arched verandahs, residential rooms, pillared meeting hall and a small temple. The second part consists of a recreation room, hammam, waterpump, gaushala, stable, stud farm, tanks with fountain, a rectangular garden and floral layouts. The floor opens out in the north and south to gardens. There is a water storage tank constructed on the third floor. It has arches with floral motifs, decorated pillars and latticed openings. They are made up of wood. kakaiva bricks and lime mortar. RANI MAHAL   This palace was constructed by Dost Mohammad khan in the year 1720 to serve as a residence of his queens. Shades of the Rajput, Mughal and the Malwa styles of architecture are evident here. Its west facing entrance gate is made of wood. Nearby is an open courtyard. The arched verandahs and four rooms are built on either sides of this courtyard. This three storeyed building is entered through a small entrance gate. A rectangular courtyard is situated in the centre. Small and big residential rooms, decorated with arches and pillars, are built on the first floor. A baradari is also situated to the north of the courtyard, which is decorated with arches of floral motifs. Their ornate columns have voluted multi­foil arches bearing leaf and floral decorations in the Rajput and Mughal fusion style. The multi-foil arches and the cusps of the lotuses seen on the wall also show an impressive amalgamation of this style. These architectural motifs are notable as is the utilitarian edifice of the hammam in Chaman Mahal. There are open verandahs and four rooms on the second floor. One chhatri is built on the third floor, which has a domed roof, while the other two FORTIFICATION WALL This fortification wall was built by the Gond Rulers in about 15th century A.D., when this place was known as Jagdishpur. This fortification wall served the purpose of the protection of the fort as well as of the city. This fortification wall is 1.2 meters thick and covers an area of 3.25 hectares. Hexagonal and octagonal bastions of 5 meters diameter are built at certain intervals. These bastions are three storeyed. Guards always used to be posted there for security purposes. The rooms were also used for the storage of arms and ammunitions. There are three entrance gates to this place, where soldier chaukis are built.   Top of the page