Off the beaten path
Sath Kabar (60 tombs) Vijayapura
(Bijapur), Karnataka, India
Vijayapura (formerly known as Bijapur) is a district town
about 550 kms north of Bengaluru.
Vijayapura is famous for the Gol Gumbaz and other historical
monuments.
Hidden in the thick shrubs, away from the familiar tourist
path is a lesser known place called 60 Tombs.
It is located approximately 7 kms from Gol Gumbaz. The last
1.5 kms will be trek through thick shrub jungle.
Below is the location map
He consults astrologers on the possible outcome of the war
and is given the bad news that he will get killed by Shivaji.
Afzal Khan had 66 wives and does not want them to re-marry
in case he dies.
He takes all his wives to this spot and drowns them in the
well one after the other. He kills 63.
Photo of the well is below
The last 3 wives get a wind of what is happening and escape.
Afzal orders them to be killed by his soldiers. He builds a mausoleum
for the 3 wives in the spot they are killed which close by is what I was told.
63 wives were burried here on this platform
This is a very sad story but is part of our country’s turbulent
history.
My mother is a history buff and tells stories of how women
helped shaped India across the centuries inspite of all odds.
She wanted to visit this place and we finally made the trip
in Oct 2014.
I always had apprehensions of visiting such a dark ‘tourist’
spot and even hesitated to take photos initially after reaching the spot and
was the last to go near the well. It took me more than a year to write this
post though I had sat down to write about it many times earlier.
Few more photos
