ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses a key concern for conservation in Indian historic cities with particular emphasis on Bijapur. It argues that conservation initiatives must be value-led, considering both social as well as physical conditions in culturally and religiously diverse historic urban settings. Value-led conservation initiatives may trigger the impetus for partnerships and collective responsibility both between different local communities and between them and the agencies concerning the historic urban environment. In the Indian context, the government may be claiming Islamic cultural heritage sites as national treasures, ancient masterpieces created many centuries ago by cultures totally different from their own and whose descendents may even be considered to be their cultural opponents. Bijapur's Islamic cultural heritage sites derive from the Adilshahi regime and comprise essentially public buildings, which are both secular and religious. While the cultural landscape approach largely provides an overall conceptual framework, a values approach becomes a useful way of understanding the contexts and socio-cultural aspects of heritage conservation.
