Paper short abstract:

The paper's purpose is to analyse the grave of Ahmad Shah Bahmani in Ashtur (Bidar) tracing how its perception, frequentation and veneration have changed converting the grave in a shared sacred space, today worshipped by Muslims and Hindus.

Paper long abstract:

In Deccan, during the XIV and XV century, the relations between temporal power and the Sufi tariqas characterized the first stage in the history of the Bahmani dynasty and the complex make-up of the local social fabric.

The emergence of Sufism led flourishing the cult of saints and rooted the development of their dargahs, but in many cases the boundary between the ritual practices connected to the frequentation and veneration of dargahs and the importance attributed to royal mausoleums was labile.

An emblematic epilogue of this processes is to be found in the celebrations launched for the 'urs of the Bahmani sovereign Ahmad Shah I (r.1422-1436) in the first stage of the history of Bidar. To this day, the celebrations for this rule continue to attract large Hindu and Muslim crowds. This extreme development is revealing of both the sharing of power by saints and rulers and - in a way - of the ambiguity and mutual interchangeability of their roles. Moreover, the Ahmad Shah mausoleum - which local inhabitants have always respected and frequented - represents an intricate case of re-interpretation and "appropriation" of the sultan's grave and of a series of material objects (today associated to the grave) worshipped by Muslim and Hindu faithful.

In the light of these considerations, the paper's purpose is to identify the political and religious symbolism of the Ahmad Shah grave, the rituals performed on the occasion of the sovereign's 'urs, observing how its perception has changed during the centuries and trying to understand how and why it is currently daily visited and venerated both by Muslims and Hindus.