Kan: ಬೀದರ್ bīdar
‘Halting Place’ City/District, Karnataka (Kar)
From Kan: bīḍāra, ‘halting or dwelling place’, ‘camp’.
Bidri metal working started here in 14-15thC. It uses a blackened alloy of copper, lead, tin, and zinc as a base for gold and silver inlay. It is an art form used for making and engraving objects such as cups, decanters, vases, lampshades and pens.
Some suggest Bidar gets its name from its famous craft; others that it is associated with the Vidarbha kingdom (although scholars now prefer to locate this in Berar); others that it is named after Vidura (or Bidar), the half-brother of Dhritarashtra and Pandu in the Mahabharata.
Bidar Fort, located in the old city, dates back to the rebuilding of the older fort in 1432 by Sultan Ahmad Shah I of the Bahmanid dynasty when he moved his capital from Gulbarga.
For related place names see Indian Place names and Karnataka place names.
