Kalyana-Karnataka — Sultans, Soil and Survival

A Region With a New Name and an Old Story

This corner of Karnataka — Bidar, Kalaburagi, Yadgir, Raichur, Koppal, Ballari and Vijayanagara districts — is now officially called Kalyana-Karnataka, a name adopted in recognition of the region's distinct history: it was part of the former princely state of Hyderabad, merged into India in September 1948, and joined what became Karnataka only in 1956. Older references still call it Hyderabad-Karnataka, and both names point to the same place — a large, historically Deccan-Sultanate-ruled belt whose GI story is shaped as much by that political history as by soil and climate.

Bidar's Bidriware carries the region's Bahmani Sultanate history directly into a living craft, still practised using a Persian-derived technique brought here six centuries ago. Kalaburagi's two GI products tell a more recent, more agricultural story — a pulse crop so central to the region's economy that Kalaburagi is nicknamed "the land of toor dal," and a banana variety so labour-intensive to grow that one of its remaining farmers frames the work explicitly as conservation rather than business.

Quick Overview

Bidriware — A Closer Look

A Persian Craftsman's Legacy, Named and Dated

Bidriware's origin is unusually well documented for a centuries-old craft: Sultan Ahmad Shah I Wali, who ruled the Bahmani Sultanate from 1422 to 1436 and was known as a significant patron of arts and culture, brought Persian artisans to Bidar, among them a metalworker named Abdullah bin Kaiser. Kaiser is credited as the master craftsman behind the technique of inlaying zinc alloy with silver and gold, which he developed further working alongside local artisans. Production is believed to have properly taken hold under Kaiser's patron's successor, Alauddin Ahmad Bahmani II, who actively encouraged artisans from Bijapur to settle in Bidar. The earliest surviving visual evidence of the craft appears in a Deccani painting dated to around 1625, depicting a Bidri-technique hookah.

Koftagiri: The Technique Behind the Name

The craft's inlay method is called koftagiri. A base object is cast from an alloy of zinc and copper, engraved with a design, and inlaid with pure silver wire or sheet worked into the engraved grooves. The piece is then treated with a specific local soil-based compound, unique to the Bidar region, that oxidises the base alloy to a deep, permanent black — while the silver inlay remains untouched, creating the craft's signature stark contrast. This is technically classified as a form of damascening, and the process is entirely manual from casting through to final polishing.

From Royal Courts to a Fragile Present

At its height, Bidriware was exported well beyond the Deccan — to the Mughal court, Rajput courts in Rajasthan, and Maratha kingdoms — and by the 18th and 19th centuries the technique had spread to royal courts as far as Bihar, Bengal and Lucknow. Royal patronage declined along with the Barid Shahi dynasty in the late 17th century, and British colonial rule further eroded the market through the 19th century. A 20th-century revival, supported by artisan cooperatives and NGOs such as Sahayog in Bidar, has kept the craft alive, though it remains economically fragile — many artisans earn little relative to the skill required, and prolonged close work has caused documented eyesight problems among practising craftsmen, a genuine human cost behind the finished pieces.

Bidriware — FAQs

Kalaburagi's Pulse and Fruit — A Closer Look

A GI Won After a Genuine Crisis

Gulbarga Tur Dal's GI application was filed in September 2017 by the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS) Raichur together with the Karnataka Red Gram Development Board, with additional support from ICRISAT and the Intellectual Property Facilitation Center in Hyderabad. It was formally granted on 14 August 2019 — becoming only the second pigeon pea variety in India to receive GI protection, after Maharashtra's Navapur Tur Dal, and the 49th type of good from Karnataka to earn a GI tag overall. The push for recognition came against a genuinely difficult backdrop: in 2018, over 300 tur dal processing mills in Kalaburagi reportedly shut down amid industry hardship, underscoring how much was riding on formal protection and identity for the crop.

What the Soil Actually Does

Kalaburagi district — nicknamed "the land of toor dal" — cultivates red gram across roughly 3.7 lakh hectares, accounting for 41% of Karnataka's total red gram acreage and around 60% of the state's tur dal production. Researchers at the Agriculture Research Station in Kalaburagi found the region's soil carries notably higher calcium and potassium content than elsewhere — 3.6g/100g calcium and 0.1g/100g potassium, compared to just 0.135g/100g and 0.045g/100g respectively in Bengaluru soil samples — a measurable, science-backed explanation for the dal's distinctive taste, aroma and longer shelf life. In 2022, an attempt to sell the region's tur dal under a new government-created brand name, "Bhima Pulse," ran into a legal snag: scientists pointed out that GI protection applies specifically to the name "Gulbarga Tur Dal," and produce can't simply be rebranded and still claim that legal protection — a small but real illustration of how specifically a GI tag ties to a name.

A Banana Grown Almost as a Cause

The Kamalapur Red Banana is grown specifically in and around Kamalapur village, requiring far heavier compost input than standard banana cultivation — a cost estimated at around ₹50,000 per acre, against a potential income of roughly ₹3 lakh per acre when the crop succeeds. Farmer Suraj Patil, one of the variety's committed growers, has described his motivation less in commercial terms and more as active conservation of a traditional variety his family has grown for generations — work recognised through his nomination for the Dr Marigowda Memorial Horticultural Award. The fruit is distinguished by its red skin, creamy pulp, and high Vitamin C and B6 content, and is mostly sold into Bangalore and Mumbai markets rather than locally, reflecting its premium positioning.

Gulbarga Tur Dal & Kamalapur Red Banana — FAQs