Beed is a historical town of possibly medieval origin, in Maharashtra, India.
Historical accounts
The first historical mention of the town came in the Tārīkh-e-Firishta (original name Gulshan-e-Ibrahimi) compiled by Muhammad Qasim Firishta (1560–1620), a 17th-century Persian-Indian historian. Famous English translation of this book History of The Rise of Mahomedan Power in India by John Briggs has been published several times in India and abroad. Firishta has given little but valuable information about the town of his time. He has also mentioned the famous Kankaleshwar temple in detail. In 1317 AH (1898), Qazi Muhammad Qutbullah, a resident and Qazi of Beed wrote a detailed history of Beed town (Tārīkh-e-Bīr) in Urdu based on the accounts available at that time. Copy of this book, now can only be found in the State Archives, Library of Salar Jang Museum and Library of Osmania University; all in Hyderabad. However, first detailed history of the town Riyāz-ul-Abrār (Garden of the Virtuous) was written by Qazi Muhammad Fakhruddin in 1152 AH (1739). Unfortunately this book is not available in the libraries for reference. However, Qutbullah has quoted this book in his Tārīkh-e-Bīr (History of Beed) and also has referred for the accounts. In 1361 AH (1942) Syed Basit Ali, a resident of Beed, who was a student of intermediate in the City College of Hyderabad, wrote a brief history Tārīkh-e-Bīr in Urdu. Its copies can be found in the library of Osmania University. In recent times Abdul Hamīd Nathapuri wrote Zila Bīr Kī Tārīkh (history of Beed district) in Urdu which is published in 1998 from Mumbai. His book gives accounts of mainly Beed town and is largely based on Qutbullah's accounts and oral traditions. Some historical accounts can also be found in the gazette of Beed district published in 1969 by the Gazetteers Department of Beed district. This Gazette is now out of print but available online at the government of Maharashtra website. The Imperial Gazetteer of India, compiled during the British rule also gives some important details of the town and the district.
Foundation and name
The history of the foundation of the town is unknown. According to legend, Beed was an inhabited place in the period of Pandavas and Kurus as Durgavati. Its name was subsequently changed to Balni. Champavati, who was sister of Vikramaditya, after capturing it renamed as Champavatinagar. After that the town fell to Chalukya, Rashtrkuta and Yadava dynasties before felling to the Muslim rule. However, some scholars say that it was possibly founded by the Yadava rulers of Devagiri (now Daulatabad). Tārīkh-e-Bīr (history of Beed) mentions that Muhammad bin Tughluq named it Bir (Arabic ‘Well’) after building a fort and several wells in and around the town. Until recent times, wells were abundant in the town. Because of modern facilities of water supply they became less important and subsequently most of them were filled. It is unclear that as to how the present name Beed came into use. There are at least two different traditions. The first tradition says that since the district is situated at the foot of Balaghat Range as if it is in a hole, it was named as Bil (Marathi for hole) which in course of time corrupted to Bid. According to the second tradition a Yavana ruler of ancient India, named it Bhir (Persian for Water) after finding water at a very low depth and Bhir might have become Beed in course of time. The first tradition seems to be untrue, because with no angle, the entire district can be called a ‘hole’. Only north eastern part of the district is at lower heights and a vast area of 10,615 km2 can not be called a ‘hole’ just because of slight depression. Furthermore, Bil (hole) in Marathi is spoken for a deep and narrow hole not for a slight depression. The second tradition though, have some distortion, appears to be true and in accord with Tārīkh-e-Bīr of Quazi Muhammad Qutbullah (1898). The word ‘Yavana’ in early Indian literature meant a Greek or any foreigner. At a much later date it was frequently applied to the Muslim invaders of India. It is quite possible that Muhammad bin Tughluq may have been referred in this tradition as Yavana ruler. Muslims invaded and ruled the Deccan for centuries and almost all Muslim rulers had Persian as their court language. It seems that Arabic 'Bir' was eventually pronounced ‘Bhir’ in the Indian languages and the people mistakenly took this Arabic word as Persian for the court language of the rulers was Persian. Until recent times after independence, the town was called ‘Bir’ and ‘Bhir’ in the official documents.
Historical events
According to legend, when Ravana, demon king of Lanka (Sri Lanka), abducted Sita (wife of Hindu deity Rama) and was taking her to Lanka, Jatayu (eagle) tried to stop him. Ravana cut its wings and wounded Jatayu fell on the ground. When Rama reached there in search of his beloved wife, Jatayu told him the whole story and died. The place where he died is said to be in Beed town and Jatashankar temple is standing at the place, which is; according to scholars, possibly built by Yadavas of Devagiri. Another legend also narrates that Beed was called Durgavati in the period of Pandavas and Kurus who fought a devastating war of Mahabharata.
Early history
Early history of the town is obscure until it came under Tughluq rule. If the town was founded in Yadava era then possibly it happened in king Singhana's (1210–47) period, when Yadava dynasty reached its height. He may have built the town and Kankaleshwar temple as well. Beed came under Muslim rule for the first time in 1317 when Qutb-ud-Din Mubarak Shah (1316–20), the last Khalji, captured Devagiri and Yadava dynasty was annexed to Khalji dynasty. Beed remained under Khaljis until 1320 when Ghiyas-ud-Din Tughluq (1320–25) took over. In 1327 Muhammad bin Tughluq (1325–51) made Daulatabad his capital. Tughluq and his army camped in the town in 1341 (AH 742 Islamic calendar) while on the journey back to Daulatabad from Warangal. The emperor lost one of his teeth here, which he ordered to be buried with much ceremony and a tomb was constructed at the place. The tomb is still present in very poor condition near the village Karjani about 13 km south of the town. Juna Khan one of the governors of Tughluq empire is said to have resided in Beed for quite some time and introduced many reforms for the welfare of the ruled. He diverted the course of Bendsura from west to east by constructing a protection wall around the town. Before his time there was no such protection for the town and it was situated on the eastern bank of the river. After that the population was largely shifted to the western part. In 1347 Beed came under Bahmanid rule when Hasan Gangu (1347–58), founder of Bahmanid Sultanate, rebelled against Tughluq rule and ascended throne of Daulatabad as Ala-ud-Din Bahman Shah. Muhammad Tughluq acted vigorously and came to Deccan to subdue the rebels. He recaptured the province of Daulatabad, of which, Beed was a part. Hasan Gangu and other insurgents fled to Bidar and Gulbarga. Before the matter is fully settled a rebel broke in Gujarat and the sultan approached to Gujarat appointing Imad-ul-Mulk as governor in Deccan. Meanwhile, Hasan Gangu attacked Daulatabad and marched towards Beed and captured it. After that the town remained under Bahmanid rule and is said to be flourished under Firuz Shah Bahmani's (1397–1422) rule. During the reign of Humayun Shah Bahmani (1451–61), famous as Zālim (cruel), his brother Hasan Shah rebelled and came to Beed. A Jagirdar (feudatory) of Beed, Habibullah Shah was his supporter. Humayun Shah sent an army and after a fierce fighting in the grounds of Kankaleshwar temple, the rebellion armies defeated Humayun's army. Humayun became furious and sent another force to defeat the rebels. This time rebels were defeated, Habibullah Shah was killed and captured Hasan Shah was taken to the capital and was put before a hungry lion.
1600 CE to 1858 CE
After the decline of Bahmanid Sultanate town fell to Nizam Shahi rulers of Ahmadnagar. Several wars were fought in Beed between Nizam Shahi and Adil Shahi rulers of Bijapur to take the control of Beed. In 1598 Mughals captured Beed from Chand Bibi of Ahmadnagar. A year later Nihang Khan retook it but soon it fell again to Mughals. Mughal army camped here for some time. During the reign of Jahangir (1569–1627), Jan Sipar Khan was administering Beed town. He constructed Jama Masjid of Beed in 1036 AH (1627). Aurangzeb (1658–1707), appointed Haji Sadar Shah in Beed as Naib-e-Subadar (assistant of governor). Sadar Shah did some good changes and constructions in the town. He built Eid Gah (place of Eid prayer) in 1702 and a new habitation on the heights in the eastern part as Ghazi Pura (now Islam Pura) in 1703. The remains of it are still visible. He also constructed a small citadel (1703) inside the old large citadel which was worn out after standing for several hundred years, from Tughluq period. A stone plate in Persian script at the main entry of Jama Masjid sets the year of construction of citadel by Haji Sadar Shah in the year 1115 AH (1703). In his period economy of the town also flourished. Chhagal (water container made of leather), Gupti (hidden sword in wooden stick) etc. made in Beed were popular in the region.
Beed was a town during Bahmanids and Mughals. Tārīkh-e-Bīr mentions many gardens and amenities of these periods. Until the 1960s there were two well maintained gardens in the town. In 1724 Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah founded Asaf Jahi kingdom, seizing Deccan against the rule of Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah (1719–48). In Nizams' era no major addition or construction was done to the citadel because the old building was serving the purpose and the citadels were losing importance with the advent of modern fighting techniques. Maratha ruler of Gwalior, Mahadji Scindia (1761–94) was defeated and severely injured and was missing in the third war of Panipat in 1761. His wife, who is said to be from Beed, went to a Muslim Sufi of Beed Mansur Shah and told him to prey for the return of Mahadji. After return to Gwalior Mahadji called Mansur Shah to Gwalior but he refused and sent his son Habib Shah instead. Mahadji remained thankful to Mansur Shah for all his life. His tomb is in eastern Beed. Reign of sixth Nizam Mir Mahbub Ali Khan (1869–1911) proved eventful in the history of Beed. Rebels, great famine and floods happened in his reign. Jagirdars were replaced by Awwal Taluqdars (Collectors) in his father's reign and Jivanji Ratanji came as the first collector of Beed in 1865. Districts were created and Beed district was formally settled in 1883. He constructed one habitation and market Mahbub Gunj (now Hiralal Chowk) on the eastern bank of Bendsura, remains of that can still be seen. After a very scarce rainfall in three successive years 1897–99, great famine occurred in Beed in 1900. Thousands of cattle and Hundreds of humans died of starvation and thousands migrated to the neighbouring parts of the country. The census in 1901 reported remarkable decrease of 150,464 in the population of Beed district.