India, Jan. 18 -- In northern Karnataka, far from the state's familiar tourist circuits, Bijapur - officially Vijayapura - still feels like a medieval capital shaped by an older sense of power and scale. Domes rise higher than expected, gateways feel purposeful rather than decorative, and streets follow an inherited logic of procession and pause, earning the city its name as the 'City of Domes'.

I first encountered Bijapur in school textbooks, through the Adil Shahi dynasty positioned between the Mughals and the Vijayanagara Empire. Once the seat of a Deccan sultanate, the city grew through trade, diplomacy, and courtly culture before receding from prominence. Today, even as it functions as a modern urban centre, those layers remain visi...