Bahmani Kingdom

Last updated

Bahmani Kingdom
1347–1527
Map of the Bahmani Sultanate.png
The Bahmani Sultanate at its greatest extent in 1473 under regent Mahmud Gawan [3] [2]
Status Sultanate
Capital
Official languages Persian [4]
Common languages Marathi
Deccani
Telugu
Kannada
Religion
Sunni Islam [5]
Shia Islam [5] [6]
Sufism [7]
GovernmentMonarchy
Sultan  
• 1347–1358
Ala-ud-Din Bahman Shah
• 1525–1527
Kalim-Allah Shah
Historical era Late Medieval
• Established
3 August 1347
• Disestablished
1527
Currency Taka
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Delhi Sultanate Flag.svg Delhi Sultanate
Bijapur Sultanate Blank.png
Golconda Sultanate Blank.png
Ahmadnagar Sultanate Blank.png
Berar Sultanate Blank.png
Bidar Sultanate Blank.png
Today part of India

The Bahmani Kingdom [a] or the Bahmani Sultanate was a late medieval kingdom that ruled the Deccan plateau in India. The first independent Muslim sultanate of the Deccan, [8] the Bahmani Kingdom came to power in 1347 during the rebellion of Ismail Mukh against Muhammad bin Tughlaq, the Sultan of Delhi. Ismail Mukh then abdicated in favour of Zafar Khan, who established the Bahmani Sultanate.

Contents

The Bahmani Kingdom was perpetually at war with its neighbours, including its rival to the south, the Vijayanagara Empire, which outlasted the sultanate. [9] The Bahmani Sultans also patronized architectural works. The Mahmud Gawan Madrasa was created by Mahmud Gawan, the vizier regent who was prime minister of the sultanate from 1466 until his execution in 1481 during a conflict between the foreign (Afaqis) and local (Deccanis) nobility. Bidar Fort was built by Ahmad Shah I (r. 1422–36), who relocated the capital to the city of Bidar. Ahmad Shah led campaigns against Vijayanagar and the sultanates of Malwa and Gujarat. His campaign against Vijayanagar in 1423 included a siege of the capital, ending in the expansion of the Sultanate. Mahmud Gawan would later lead campaigns against Malwa, Vijayanagar, and the Gajapatis, and extended the sultanate to its maximum extent.

The sultanate began to decline under Mahmood Shah. Through a combination of factional strife and the revolt of five provincial governors (tarafdars), the Bahmani Sultanate split up into five states, known as the Deccan sultanates. The initial revolts of Yusuf Adil Shah, Malik Ahmad Nizam Shah I, and Fathullah Imad-ul-Mulk in 1490 and Qasim Barid I in 1492 saw the end of any real Bahmani power, and the last independent sultanate, Golkonda, in 1518, ended the Bahmanis' 180 year rule over the Deccan. The last four Bahmani rulers were puppet monarchs under Amir Barid I of the Bidar Sultanate, and the kingdom formally dissolved in 1527. [10] [11]

Origin

The Bahmani Kingdom was founded by Zafar Khan, who was of either Afghan or Turk origin. [12] [13] [14] [15] Encyclopedia Iranica states him to be a Khorasani adventurer, who claimed descent from Bahrām Gōr. [16] According to the medieval historian Ferishta, his obscurity makes it difficult to track his origin, but he is nonetheless stated as of Afghan birth. [17] Ferishta further writes, Zafar Khan had earlier been a servant of a Brahmin astrologer at Delhi named Gangu, giving him the name Hasan Gangu, [18] [19] and says that he was from North India. [20] Historians have not found any corroboration for the legend, [21] [22] but Barani, who was the court chronicler of Sultan Firuz Shah, as well as some other scholars have also called him Hasan Gangu. [23] Another theory of origin for Zafar Khan is that he was of Brahmin origin, [24] and that Bahman (his given name following the establishment of the sultanate) is a corrupted personalized form of Brahman, [25] with Hasan Gangu being a Hindu Brahman who became Muslim. [26] [24] However this view has been discredited by S.A.Q. Husaini, who considers the idea of a Brahmin origin or Zafar Khan originally being a Hindu convert to Islam from Punjab untenable. [27]

History

Ziauddin Barani, the court chronicler of Sultan Firuz Shah, states that Hasan Gangu, the Bahmani Sultanate's founder, was "born in very humble circumstances" and that "For the first thirty years of his life he was nothing more than a field laborer." [28] He was made a commander of a hundred horsemen by the Delhi Sultan, Muhammad bin Tughluq, who was pleased with his honesty. This sudden rise in the military and socio-economic ladder was common in this era of Muslim India. [29] Zafar Khan or Hasan Gangu was among the inhabitants of Delhi who were forced to migrate to the Deccan, to build a large Muslim settlement in the region of Daulatabad. [30] Zafar Khan was a man of ambition and looked forward to the adventure. He had long hoped to employ his body of horsemen in the Deccan as the region was seen as the place of bounty in Muslim imagination at the time. He was rewarded with an Iqta for taking part in the conquest of Kampili. [31]

Rise

Before the establishment of his kingdom, Hasan Gangu (Zafar Khan) was Governor of Deccan and a commander on behalf of the Tughlaqs. On 3 August 1347, during the rebellion by the Amirs of the Deccan, Ismail Mukh, the leader of the rebellion (whom the rebel amirs of the Deccan placed on the throne of Daulatabad in 1345), abdicated in favor of Zafar Khan, resulting in the establishment of the Bahmani Kingdom. The Sultan of Delhi had besieged the rebels at the citadel of Daulatabad. As another rebellion had begun in Gujarat, the Sultan left and installed Shaikh Burhan-ud-din Bilgrami and Malik Jauhar and other nobles in charge of the siege. Meanwhile, as these nobles were unable to stop the Deccani amirs from pursuing the imperial army, Hasan Gangu, a native of Delhi, then being pursued by Governor of Berar Imad-ul-Mulk, the leader to whom the Deccani Amirs had re-assembled against, attacked and slew the latter and marched on towards Daulatabad. Here Hasan Gangu and the Deccani amirs put to flight the imperial forces which had been left to besiege. The rebels at Daulatabad had the sense to see Hasan Gangu as the man of the hour, and the proposal to crown Hasan Gangu, entitled Zafar Khan, was accepted without a dissentient voice on 3 August 1347. [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] His revolt was successful, and he established an independent state on the Deccan within the Delhi Sultanate's southern provinces with its headquarters at Hasanabad (Gulbarga), where all his coins were minted. [33] [38]

With the support of the influential Indian Chishti Sufi Shaikhs, he was crowned "Alauddin Bahman Shah Sultan – Founder of the Bahmani Dynasty". [39] They bestowed upon him a robe allegedly worn by the prophet Muhammad. The extension of the Sufi's notion of spiritual sovereignty lent legitimacy to the planting of the sultanate's political authority, where the land, people, and produce of the Deccan were merited state protection, no longer available for plunder with impunity. These Sufis legitimized the transplantation of Indo-Muslim rulership from one region in South Asia to another, converting the land of the Bahmanids into being recognized as Dar ul-Islam, while it was previously considered Dar ul-Harb. [40]

Turkish or Indo-Turkish troops, explorers, saints, and scholars moved from Delhi and North India to the Deccan with the establishment of the Bahmanid sultanate. How many of these were Shi'ites is unclear. Nonetheless, there is enough evidence to demonstrate that a number of nobility at the Bahmani court identified as Shi'ites or had significant Shi'ite inclinations. [b] [5]

Succeeding rulers (1358–1422)

Alauddin was succeeded by his son Mohammed Shah I. [42] His conflicts with the Vijayanagar empire were singularly savage wars, as according to the historian Ferishta, "the population of the Carnatic was so reduced that it did not recover for several ages." [43] The Bahmanids' aggressive confrontation with the two main Hindu kingdoms of the southern Deccan, Warangal and Vijayanagara in the First Bahmani–Vijayanagar War, made them renowned among Muslims as warriors of the faith. [44]

The Vijayanagara empire and the Bahmanids fought over the control of the Godavari-basin, Tungabadhra Doab, and the Marathwada country, although they seldom required a pretext for declaring war, [45] as military conflicts were almost a regular feature and lasted as long as these kingdoms continued. [46] Military slavery involved captured slaves from Vijayanagara whom were then converted to Islam and integrated into the host society, so they could begin military careers within the Bahmanid empire. [47] [48]

Ghiyasuddin succeeded his father Muhammad II at the age of seventeen in April 1397, but was blinded and imprisoned by a Turkic slave called Taghalchin, [49] [50] who had held a grudge on the Sultan for the latter's refusal to appoint him as a governor. He had lured the Sultan into putting himself in the former's power, using the beauty of his daughter, who was accomplished in music and arts, and had introduced her to the Sultan at a feast. [51] [52] He was succeeded by Shamsuddin, who was a puppet king under Taghalchin. Firuz and Ahmed, the sons of the fourth sultan Daud, marched to Gulbarga to avenge Ghiyasuddin. Firuz declared himself the sultan, and defeated Taghalchin's forces. Taghalchin was killed and Shamsuddin was blinded. [53]

Taj ud-Din Firuz Shah became the sultan in November 1397. [54] Firuz Shah fought against the Vijayanagara Empire on many occasions and the rivalry between the two dynasties continued unabated throughout his reign, with victories in 1398 and in 1406, but a defeat in 1417. One of his victories resulted in his marriage to the daughter of Deva Raya, the Vijayanagara Emperor. [55]

Firuz Shah expanded the nobility by enabling Hindus and granting them high office. [56] In his reign, Sufis such as Gesudaraz, a Chishti saint who had immigrated from Dehli to Daulatabad, were prominent in court and daily life. [57] He was the first author to write in the Dakhni dialect of Urdu. [58] The Dakhni language became widespread, practised by various milieus from the court to the Sufis. It was established as a lingua franca of the Muslims of the Deccan, as not only the aspect of a dominant urban elite, but an expression of the regional religious identity. [59]

Later rulers (1422–1482)

Firuz Shah was succeeded by his younger brother Ahmad Shah I Wali. Following the establishment of Bidar as capital of the sultanate in 1429, [60] Ahmad Shah I converted to Shi'ism. [5] Ahmad Shah's reign was marked by relentless military campaigns and expansionism. He imposed destruction and slaughter on Vijayanagara and finally captured the remnants of Warangal. [61]

Chand Minar at Daulatabad fort complex Chand Minar.JPG
Chand Minar at Daulatabad fort complex

Alauddin Ahmad II succeeded his father to the throne in 1436. [62] The Chand Minar, a minaret in Daulatabad, was constructed under his reign, and was commemorated in his honour [63] in 1445 [64] for his victory against Deva Raya II of Vijayanagara in 1443, [63] the last major conflcit between the two powers. [65] For the first half-century after the establishment of the Bahmanids, the original North Indian colonists and their sons had administered the empire quite independent of either the non-Muslim Hindus, or the Muslim foreign immigrants. However, the later Bahmani Sultans, mainly starting from his father Ahmad Shah Wali I, began to recruit foreigners from overseas, whether because of depletion among the ranks of the original settlers, or the feelings of dependency upon the Persian courtly model, or both. [66] This resulted in factional strife that first became acute in the reign of his son Alauddin Ahmad Shah II. [67] In 1446, the powerful Dakhani nobles persuaded the Sultan that the Persians were responsible for the failure of the earlier invasion of the Konkan. [68]

The Sultan, drunk, condoned a large-scale massacre of Persian Shi'a Sayyids by the Sunni Dakhani nobles and their Sunni Abyssinian slaves. [69] A few survivors escaped the massacre dressed in women's clothing and convinced the Sultan of their innocence. [70] Ashamed of his own folly, the Sultan punished the Dakhani leaders who were responsible for the massacre, putting them to death or throwing them in prison, and reduced their families to beggary. [71] The accounts of the violent events likely included exaggerations as it came from the pen of the chroniclers who were themselves mainly foreigners and products of Safavid Persia. [72]

Mahmud Gawan Madrasa, built by Mahmud Gawan to be the centre of religious as well as secular education Complete view of Mahumad Gawan.JPG
Mahmud Gawan Madrasa, built by Mahmud Gawan to be the centre of religious as well as secular education

The eldest sons of Humayun Shah, Nizam-Ud-Din Ahmad III and Muhammad Shah III Lashkari ascended the throne successively, while they were young boys. The vizier Mahmud Gawan ruled as regent during this period, until Muhammad Shah reached age. Mahmud Gawan is known for setting up the Mahmud Gawan Madrasa, a center of religious as well as secular education, [73] as well as achieving the sultanate's greatest extent during his rule. [2] He also increased the administrative divisions of the sultanate from four to eight to ease the administrative burden from previous expansion of the state. Gawan was considered a great statesman, and a poet of repute. [74]

Mahmud Gawan was caught in a struggle between a rivalry between two groups of nobles, the Dakhanis and the Afaqis. The Dakhanis made up the indigenous Muslim elite of the Bahmanid dynasty, being descendants of Sunni immigrants from Northern India, while the Afaqis were foreign newcomers from the west such as Gawan, who were mostly Shi'is. [75] [76] The Dakhanis believed that the privileges, patronage and positions of power in the sultanate should have been reserved solely for them. [77]

The divisions included sectarian religious divisions where the Afaqis were looked upon as heretics by the Sunnis as the former were Shi'as. [78] Eaton cites a linguistic divide where the Dakhanis spoke Dakhni while the Afaqis favored the Persian language. [79] Mahmud Gawan had tried to reconcile with the two factions over his fifteen-year prime ministership, but had found it difficult to win their confidence; the party strife could not be stopped. [2] His Afaqis opponents, led by Nizam-ul-Mulk Bahri and motivated by anger over Mahmud's reforms which had curtailed the nobility's power, fabricated a treasonous letter to Purushottama Deva of Orissa which they purported to be from him. [80] [81] Mahmud Gawan was ordered executed by Muhammad Shah III, an act that the latter regretted until his death in 1482. [74] Upon his death, Nizam-ul-Mulk Bahri, the father of the founder of the Nizam Shahi dynasty became the regent of the Sultan as prime minister. [82] [83]

Decline

Muhammad Shah III Lashkari was succeeded by his son Mahmood Shah Bahmani II, the last Bahmani ruler to have real power. [84] The tarafdars of Ahmednagar, Bijapur, and Berar, Malik Ahmad Nizam Shah I, Yusuf Adil Shah, and Fathullah Imad-ul-Mulk agreed to assert their independence in 1490, and established their own sultanates but maintained loyalty to the Bahmani Sultan. The sultanates of Golconda and Bidar would become in practice independent as well. [10] In 1501, Mahmood Shah Bahmani united his amirs and wazirs in an agreement to wage annual Jihad against Vijayanagara. The expeditions were financially ruinous. [85]

The last Bahmani Sultans were puppet monarchs under their Barid Shahi prime ministers, who were the de facto rulers. After 1518 the sultanate formally broke up into the five states of Ahmednagar, Berar, Bidar, Bijapur, and Golconda. They are collectively known as the Deccan sultanates. [10]

Historiography

Modern scholars like Haroon Khan Sherwani and Richard M. Eaton have based their accounts of the Bahmani dynasty mainly upon the medieval chronicles of Firishta and Syed Ali Tabatabai. [86] [87] Other contemporary works were the Sivatattva Chintamani, a Kannada language encyclopedia on the beliefs and rites of the Veerashaiva faith, and Guru Charitra. Afanasy Nikitin, a Russian merchant and traveler, traveled through the Bahmani Sultanate in his journeys. He contrasts the huge "wealth of the nobility with the wretchedness of the peasantry and the frugality of the Hindus". [88]

Culture

Taj ud-Din Firuz Shah of the Bahmani Sultanate's Firman Farman Of Feroz Shah Bahmani - 14 -05 -1406 A.D.jpg
Taj ud-Din Firuz Shah of the Bahmani Sultanate's Firman

The Bahmani dynasty patronized Indo-Muslim and Persian culture from Northern India and the Middle East. [89] However, the society of the Bahmnanis was dominated prominently by Iranians, Afghans, and Turks. [90] They also had considerable and social influence such as with the celebration of Nowruz by Bahmani rulers. [90] This also comes as Mohammed Shah I ascended the throne on Nowruz. [91] According to Khafi Khan and Ferishta, musicians flocked to the court from Lahore, Delhi, Persia and Khorasan. [92]

The Bahmani Sultans were patrons of the Persian language, culture and literature, and some members of the dynasty became well-versed in the language and composed its literature in the language. [8]

The first sultan, Alauddin Bahman Shah, is noted to have captured 1,000 singing and dancing girls from Hindu temples after he battled the northern Carnatic chieftains. The later Bahmanis also enslaved civilian women and children in wars; many of them were converted to Islam in captivity. [93] [94]

Bidriware

Bidriware is a metal handicraft from the city of Bidar in Karnataka. It was developed in the 14th century during the rule of the Bahmani Sultans. [95] The term "bidriware" originates from the township of Bidar, which is still the chief center of production. [96] The craftspersons of Bidar were so famed for their inlay work on copper and silver that it came to be known as Bidri. [95] The metal used is white brass that is blackened and inlaid with silver. [96] As a native art form, Bidriware obtained a geographical Indications (GI) registry on 3 January 2006. [97]

Architecture

Gateway to Bidar Fort Gateway to Bidar fort.jpg
Gateway to Bidar Fort

The Bahmani Sultans patronized many architectural works, although many have since been destroyed. [98] The Gulbarga Fort, Haft Gumbaz, and Jama Masjid in Gulbarga, the Bidar Fort and Madrasa Mahmud Gawan in Bidar, and the Chand Minar in Daulatabad are some of their major architectural contributions. [73]

The later Sultans were buried in a necropolis known as the Bahmani Tombs. The exterior of one of the tombs is decorated with coloured tiles. Arabic, Persian and Urdu inscriptions are inscribed inside the tombs. [99] [100]

The Bahmani Sultans built many mosques, tombs, and madrasas in Bidar and Gulbarga, the two capitals. They also built many forts in Daulatabad, Golconda and Raichur. The architecture was highly influenced by Persian architecture, as they invited architects from Persia, Turkey and Arabia. The Persianate Indo-Islamic style of architecture developed during this period was later adopted by the Deccan sultanates as well. [101] [98]

Turquoise Throne

The Turquoise Throne was a jeweled royal throne mentioned by Firishta. It was the seat of the sultans of the Bahmani Sultanate since Mohammed Shah I (r. 1358–1375). It was a gift of Musunuri Kapaya Nayaka, a Telugu King in post-Kakateeya era. [102] It was mentioned by Firishta that on 23 March 1363, [c] this throne replaced an earlier silver throne that the first Bahmani sultan Ala-ud-Din Bahman Shah used.

Gunpowder weapons

The Bahmani Sultanate was likely the first state to invent and utilize gunpowder artillery and firearms within the Indian Subcontinent. Their firearms were the most advanced of their time, surpassing even those of the Yuan Dynasty and the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt. The first recorded use of firearms in South Asia was at the Battle of Adoni in 1368, where the Bahmani Sultanate led by Mohammed Shah I used a train of artillery against the Vijayanagara Empire who was led by Harihara II. [104] [105] Following the initial use of gunpowder weapons in 1368, they became the backbone of the Bahmani army. [106]

The scholar Iqtidar Alam Khan claims, however, that based on a differing translation of a passage of medieval historian Firishta's text Tarikh-i Firishta, in which he describes early use of gunpowder weapons in the Indian Subcontinent, it can be inferred that both the Delhi Sultanate and non-Muslim Indian states had the gunpowder weapons that the Bahmani Sultanate began to use in 1368, and that the Bahmanis had acquired the weapons from the Delhi Sultanate. [107] Contemporary evidence shows the presence of gunpowder for pyrotechnic uses in the Delhi Sultanate, [108] and Alam Khan states that their usage in the Battle of Adoni in 1368 was rather the first military usage of gunpowder-derived objects in the Subcontinent. [109]

List of Bahmani rulers

Titular NamePersonal NameReign
Independence from Sultan of Delhi, Muhammad bin Tughlaq
ShahAla-ud-Din Bahman Shah Ala-ud-Din Bahman Shah I3 August 1347 – 11 February 1358
Shah Mohammad Shah I 11 February 1358 – 21 April 1375
ShahAla-ud-Din Mujahid Shah Mujahid Shah 21 April 1375 – 16 April 1378
Shah Daud Shah Bahmani 16 April 1378 – 21 May 1378
ShahMohammad Shah II21 May 1378 – 20 April 1397
ShahGhiyath-ad-din Shah20 April 1397 – 14 June 1397
ShahShams-ud-Din Shah
Puppet King Under Lachin Khan Turk		14 June 1397 – 15 November 1397
ShahTaj-ud-Din Feroze Shah
 Feroze Shah 24 November 1397 – 1 October 1422
Shah Ahmed Shah Wali Bahmani 1 October 1422 – 17 April 1436
ShahAla-ud-Din Ahmed Shah Ala-ud-Din II Ahmed Shah Bahmani 17 April 1436 – 6 May 1458
ShahAla-ud-Din Humayun Shah Humayun Shah Zalim Bahmani 7 May 1458 – 4 September 1461
Shah Nizam Shah Bahmani 4 September 1461 – 30 July 1463
ShahMuhammad Shah Lashkari Muhammad Shah Bahmani III 30 July 1463 – 26 March 1482
Vira Shah Mahmood Shah Bahmani II
Puppet under Malik Naib, Qasim Barid I, and Amir Barid I 		26 March 1482 – 27 December 1518
ShahAhmed Shah Bahmani III
Puppet King Under Amir Barid I 		27 December 1518 – 15 December 1520
ShahAla-ud-Din Shah Bahmani II
Puppet King Under Amir Barid I		28 December 1520 – 5 March 1522
ShahWaliullah Shah Bahmani
Puppet King Under Amir Barid I		5 March 1522 – 1526
ShahKaleemullah Shah Bahmani
Puppet King Under Amir Barid I		1525–1527
Dissolution of the sultanate into five kingdoms — Bidar, Ahmednagar, Bijapur, Golconda, and Berar

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muslim period in the Indian subcontinent</span> Era in South Asia characterized by Muslim rule

The Muslim period in the Indian subcontinent or Indo-Muslim period is conventionally said to have started in 712, after the conquest of Sindh and Multan by the Umayyad Caliphate under the military command of Muhammad ibn al-Qasim. It began in the Indian subcontinent in the course of a gradual conquest. The perfunctory rule by the Ghaznavids in Punjab was followed by Ghurids, and Sultan Muhammad of Ghor is generally credited with laying the foundation of Muslim rule in Northern India.

The Deccan sultanates is a historiographical term referring to five late medieval to early modern Indian kingdoms on the Deccan Plateau between the Krishna River and the Vindhya Range that were created from the disintegration of the Bahmani Sultanate and ruled by Muslim dynasties: namely Ahmadnagar, Berar, Bidar, Bijapur, and Golconda. The five sultanates owed their existence to the declaration of independence of Ahmadnagar in 1490, which was followed by Bijapur and Berar in the same year. Bidar became independent in c. 1492, and Golconda in 1512.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sultanate of Golconda</span> Kingdom in Deccan India

The Sultanate of Golconda was an early modern kingdom in southern India, ruled by the Persianate, Shia Islamic Qutb Shahi dynasty of Turkoman origin. After the decline of the Bahmani Sultanate, the Sultanate of Golconda was established in 1518 by Quli Qutb Shah, as one of the five Deccan sultanates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indo-Persian culture</span> Cultural synthesis of Indian and Persian culture

Indo-Persian culture refers to a cultural synthesis present on the Indian subcontinent. It is characterised by the absorption or integration of Persian aspects into the various cultures of modern-day republics of Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. The earliest introduction of Persian influence and culture to the subcontinent was by various Muslim Turko-Persian rulers, such as the 11th-century Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi, rapidly pushed for the heavy Persianization of conquered territories in northwestern Indian subcontinent, where Islamic influence was also firmly established. This socio-cultural synthesis arose steadily through the Delhi Sultanate from the 13th to 16th centuries, and the Mughal Empire from then onwards until the 19th century. Various dynasties of Turkic, Iranian and local Indian origin patronized the Persian language and contributed to the development of a Persian culture in India. The Delhi Sultanate developed their own cultural and political identity which built upon Persian and Indic languages, literature and arts, which formed the basis of an Indo-Muslim civilization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sultanate of Bijapur</span> Indian kingdom in the Deccan (1490–1686)

The Sultanate of Bijapur was an early modern kingdom in the western Deccan and South India, ruled by the Adil Shahi or Adilshahi dynasty. Bijapur had been a taraf (province) of the Bahmani Kingdom prior to its independence in 1490 and before the former's political decline in the last quarter of the 15th century. It was one of the Deccan sultanates, the collective name of the five successor states of the Bahmani Kingdom. At its peak, the Sultanate of Bijapur was one of the most powerful states in South Asia, second to the Mughal Empire, which conquered it in 1686 under Aurangzeb.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muhammad bin Tughluq</span> Sultan of Delhi

Muhammad bin Tughluq, also named Jauna Khan as Crown Prince, also known by his epithets, The Eccentric Prince, or The Mad Sultan, was the eighteenth Sultan of Delhi. He reigned from February 1325 until his death in 1351. The sultan was the eldest son of Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq, founder of the Tughlaq dynasty. In 1321, the young Muhammad was sent by his father to the Deccan Plateau to fight a military campaign against the Kakatiya dynasty. In 1323, the future sultan successfully laid siege upon the Kakatiya capital in Warangal. This victory over King Prataparudra ended the Kakatiya dynasty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yusuf Adil Shah</span> Founder of the Adil Shahi dynasty

Yusuf Adil Shah, referred as Yusuf Adil Khan or Hidalcão by the Portuguese, was the founder of the Adil Shahi dynasty that ruled the Sultanate of Bijapur for nearly two centuries. As the founder of the Adil Shahi dynasty, Yusuf Adil Shah is credited with developing the town of Bijapur and elevating it to significant status.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gujarat Sultanate</span> Late medieval kingdom in India (1394–1573)

The Gujarat Sultanate or Sultanate of Guzerat was a late medieval Islamic Indian kingdom in Western India, primarily in the present-day state of Gujarat. The kingdom was established in 1394 when Muzaffar Shah I, the Governor of Gujarat, declared independence from the Tughlaq dynasty of Delhi.

Prof Haroon Khan Sherwani (1891–1980) was an Indian historian, scholar, and author. Maulana Azad National Urdu University had created Centre for Deccan Studies in his honor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ala-ud-Din Bahman Shah</span> Founder of the Bahmani Sultanate

Ala-ud-Din Hasan Bahman Shah whose original name was Zafar Khan or Hasan Gangu, was the founder of the Bahmani Sultanate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ahmadnagar Sultanate</span> Deccan Indian kingdom (1490–1636)

The Sultanate of Ahmednagar was a late medieval Indian Muslim kingdom located in the northwestern Deccan, between the sultanates of Gujarat and Bijapur, ruled by the Nizam Shahi dynasty. It was established when Malik Ahmed, the Bahmani governor of Junnar, after defeating the Bahmani army led by general Jahangir Khan on 28 May 1490, declared independence and established the Ahmadnagar Sultanate.

Mahmud Gawan (1411–1481) was a Persian statesman who served as the chief minister, or Peshwa of the Bahmani Sultanate from 1458 and de facto ruler as prime minister from 1466 until his death in 1481. Mahmud Gawan, from the village of Gawan in Persia, was well-versed in Islamic theology, Persian, and the sciences and was a poet and a prose writer of repute.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taj ud-Din Firuz Shah</span> Royalty in India

Taj ud-Din Firoz Shah, also known as Firoz Shah Bahmani, was the ruler of the Bahmani Sultanate from 16 November 1397 to 22 September 1422. Firuz Shah is considered an important ruler of the Bahamani Sultanate. He expanded his kingdom and even succeeded in conquering the Raichur Doab from Vijaynagara kingdoms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deccanis</span> Ethnoreligious community in India

The Deccanis or Deccani people are an Indo-Aryan ethno-religious community of Deccani-speaking Muslims who inhabit or are from the Deccan region of South India. The community traces its origins to the shifting of the Delhi Sultanate's capital from Delhi to Daulatabad in 1327 during the reign of Muhammad bin Tughluq. Further ancestry can also be traced from immigrant Muslims referred to as Afaqis, also known as Pardesis who came from Central Asia, Iraq and Iran and had settled in the Deccan region during the Bahmani Sultanate (1347). The migration of Muslim Hindavi-speaking people to the Deccan and intermarriage with the local Hindus who converted to Islam, led to the creation of a new community of Hindustani-speaking Muslims, known as the Deccani, who would come to play an important role in the politics of the Deccan. Their language, Deccani, emerged as a language of linguistic prestige and culture during the Bahmani Sultanate, further evolving in the Deccan Sultanates.

Muhammad Shah III Lashkari or Shamsuddin Muhammad Shah III was the sultan of the Bahmani Sultanate from 1463 to 1482. During his reign, he successfully invaded Orissa and made their Gajapati Purushottam Deva to surrender. He also made his brother Hamvira Deva surrender by besieging Kondavidu fort.

The Turquoise Throne or Takht-i-Firoza was a famous jewel-studded royal throne of the Bahmani Sultans of Deccan in India. It was a gift by Musunuri Kapaya Nayaka, then king of Warangal, during the Bahmani-Vijayanagar War, where the Bahmanis defeated the latter. Over some time, this throne became one of the most important icons of the Bahmani royalty and heritage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alau'd-din Ahmad Shah</span> 10th Bahmani Sultan

Alau’d-din Ahmad Shah was the tenth sultan of the Bahmani Sultanate. He was considered a benevolent ruler, albeit weak in administration. His reign is marked by rebellions.

Alauddin Humayun Shah Bahmani was the sultan of the Bahmani Sultanate, who reigned between 1458 and 1461. Also known as Humayun Shah Zalim, he is described as a cruel ruler, known for executing people in torturous ways.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gunpowder weapons in the Bahmani Sultanate</span>

The Bahmani Sultanate was the first Indian polity to use gunpowder weapons. Their firearms were the most advanced of their time, surpassing even those of the Yuan dynasty, the Mamluks of Egypt, and even European kingdoms during the same era. The first recorded use of firearms in South Asia occurred at the Battle of Adoni in 1368. In the Deccan, the Bahmani Sultanate, led by Mohammed Shah I, employed a train of artillery against the Vijayanagara Empire under Harihara II. Due to the efficient artillery of the Bahmani Sultanate, they achieved exemplary victory against the Vijayanagara Empire, which was still using outdated weapons. Gunpowder weaponry, including muskets, hand cannons, cannons, and war mortars, were employed by the Bahmani Sultanate in South India during the 14th to the 15th centuries.

Malik Hasan Bahri or Nizam-ul-Mulk Bahri was a noble of the Bahmani Sultanate in India who served as the prime minister from 1481 until his murder in 1486. He was the father of Malik Ahmad Nizam Shah I, founder of the Ahmadnagar Sultanate, one of the secessionist kingdoms from the Bahmani Sultanate, and its ruling dynasty's primogenitor.

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Persian: سلطان‌نشین بهمنی
  2. ↑ Stephen F. Dale refers to the Bahmanis as Shi'i Muslims. [41]
  3. ↑ Firishta mentioned that Sultan Bahman Shah first sat on the new throne (i.e. the Takht-e-Firoza) on Nowruz, the Persian new year, following the autumnal solstice in 764 AH. [103]

Citations

  1. "Schwartzberg Atlas — Digital South Asia Library". dsal.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 Chandra, Satish (2014). History of Medieval India 800–1700 A.D. pp. 146–148.
  3. ↑ "Schwartzberg Atlas — Digital South Asia Library". dsal.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  4. ↑ Ansari 1988, pp. 494–499.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Khalidi, Umar (1990). "The Shiʿites of the Deccan: An Introduction". Rivista degli studi orientali. 64, Fasc. 1/2, SGUARDI SULLA CULTURA A SCIITA NEL DECCAN GLANCES ON SHI'ITE DECCAN CULTURE: 5.
  6. ↑ John Morris Roberts, Odd Arne Westad (2013). The History of the World. Oxford University Press. ISBN   9780199936762.
  7. ↑ Eaton 1978, p. 49.
  8. 1 2 Ansari, N.H. "Bahmanid Dynasty". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
  9. ↑ George C. Kohn (2006). Dictionary of Wars. Infobase Publishing. ISBN   9781438129167.
  10. 1 2 3 Haig, 1925, pp. 425–426.
  11. ↑ History of The Deccan. Mittal Publications. 1990. p. 15.
  12. ↑ Jenkins, Everett (2015). The Muslim Diaspora (Volume 1, 570–1500): A Comprehensive Chronology of the Spread of Islam in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas, Volume 1. McFarland. p. 257. ISBN   9781476608884. Zafar Khan alias Alauddin Hasan Gangu ('Ala al-Din Hasan Bahman Shah), an Afghan or a Turk soldier, revolted against Delhi and established the Muslim Kingdom of Bahmani on August 3 in the South (Madura) and ruled as Sultan Alauddin Bahman Shah.
  13. ↑ Kulke, Hermann; Rothermund, Dietmar (2004). A History of India. Psychology Press. p. 181. ISBN   9780415329200. The Bahmani sultanate of the Deccan Soon after Muhammad Tughluq left Daulatabad, the city was conquered by Zafar Khan, a Turkish or Afghan officer of unknown descent, had earlier participated in a mutiny of troops in Gujarat.
  14. ↑ Wink, André (2020). The Making of the Indo-Islamic World C.700–1800 CE. Cambridge University Press. p. 87. ISBN   9781108417747. Finally, and more importantly, the independent Bahmani dynasty of the Deccan was founded in 1348 by Zafar Khan, probably an Afghan who broke away from Delhi with the support of Afghan and Mongol "New Muslims"
  15. ↑ Kerr, Gordon (2017). A Short History of India: From the Earliest Civilisations to Today's Economic Powerhouse. Oldcastle Books Ltd. p. 160. ISBN   9781843449232. In the early fourteenth century, the Muslim Bahmani kingdom of the Deccan emerged following Alauddin's conquest of the south. Zafar Khan, an Afghan general and governor appointed by Sultan Muhammad bin Tughluq, was victorious against the troops of the Delhi Sultanate, establishing the Bahmani kingdom with its capital at Ahsanabad (modern-day Gulbarga).
  16. ↑ "ḤASAN GĀNGU". Encyclopædia Iranica.
  17. ↑ Wink, Andre (1991). Indo-Islamic society: 14th – 15th centuries. BRILL. p. 144. ISBN   9781843449232.
  18. ↑ Bhattacharya, Sachchidananada. A Dictionary of Indian History (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1972) p. 100
  19. ↑ Cathal J. Nolan (2006). The Age of Wars of Religion, 1000–1650: An Encyclopedia of Global ..., Volym 1. Greenwood Press. p.  437. ISBN   978-0-313-33733-8.
  20. ↑ Chopdar (1951). The History and Culture of the Indian People: The Delhi sultanate. p. 248.
  21. ↑ Chandra 2004, p. 177.
  22. ↑ Majumdar 1967, p. 248.
  23. ↑ Chopdar (27 February 1967). History and Culture of the Indian People, Volume 06,The Delhi Sultanate. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. p. 248.
  24. 1 2 Jayanta Gaḍakarī (2000). Hindu Muslim Communalism. p. 140.
  25. ↑ McCann, Michael W. (15 July 1994). Rights at Work: Pay Equity Reform and the Politics of Legal Mobilization. University of Chicago Press. ISBN   978-0-226-55571-3.
  26. ↑ Suvorova (2000). Masnavi: A Study of Urdu. Oxford University Press. p. 3. ISBN   978-0-19-579148-8.
  27. ↑ Husaini (Saiyid.), Abdul Qadir (1960). Bahman Shāh, the Founder of the Bahmani Kingdom. Firma K.L. Mukhopadhyay. pp. 60–63.
  28. ↑ Gribble (1896). A History of the Deccan: Volume 1. Luzac and Company. p. 16.
  29. ↑ J.D.E 1990, p. 16.
  30. ↑ A. Rā Kulakarṇī; M. A. Nayeem; Teotonio R. De Souza (1996). Mediaeval Deccan History: Commemoration Volume in Honour of Purshottam Mahadeo Joshi. Popular Prakashan. p. 34. ISBN   9788171545797.
  31. ↑ Eaton 2005, p. 41.
  32. ↑ Schwartzberg, Joseph E. (1978). A Historical atlas of South Asia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 39, 147. ISBN   0226742210.
  33. 1 2 Mahajan, V.D. (1991). History of Medieval India, Part I, New Delhi:S. Chand, ISBN   81-219-0364-5, pp.279–80
  34. ↑ Bhattacharya. Indian History. p. 928
  35. ↑ Thomas Wolseley Haig (1919). Historic landmarks of the Deccan. Pioneer Press.
  36. ↑ Ahmed Farooqui, Salma (2011). Comprehensive History of Medieval India: From Twelfth to the Mid-Eighteenth Century. Pearson. p. 150. ISBN   9789332500983.
  37. ↑ Ibrahim Khan (1960). Anecdotes from Islam. M. Ashraf.
  38. ↑ Sen, Sailendra (2013). A Textbook of Medieval Indian History. Primus Books. pp. 106–108, 117. ISBN   978-9-38060-734-4.
  39. ↑ Burjor Avari (2013). Islamic Civilization in South Asia: A History of Muslim Power and Presence in the Indian Subcontinent. Routledge. p. 88. ISBN   9780415580618.
  40. ↑ Richard M. Eaton (2019). India in the Persianate Age: 1000–1765. Penguin Books Limited. ISBN   9780141966557.
  41. ↑ Dale, Stephen F. (2009). The Muslim Empires of the Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals. Cambridge University Press. p. 31. ...may have contributed to the decision by a group of Shi'i Muslims from the Deccan, the Bahmani, to proclaim the new Muslim Sultanate there.
  42. ↑ Prasad 1933, p. 417.
  43. ↑ Abraham Elahy (2015). the Age of Wrath:A History of the Delhi Sultanate. Penguin Books Limited.
  44. ↑ Blair, Sheila S.; Bloom, Jonathan M. (25 September 1996). The Art and Architecture of Islam 1250–1800. Yale University Press. p. 159. ISBN   0300064659.
  45. ↑ E. J. Brill (1993). E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam. Brill. p. 1072. ISBN   9789004097940.
  46. ↑ MEDIEVAL INDIA UPSC PREPARATION BOOKS HISTORY SERIES. Mocktime Publication. 2011.
  47. ↑ Eaton 2005, p. 126.
  48. ↑ Roy S. Fischel (2020). Local States in an Imperial World. p. 72. ISBN   9781474436090.
  49. ↑ The Cambridge Shorter History of India. CUP Archive. p. 285.
  50. ↑ Sherwani 1946, p. 129.
  51. ↑ Ramesh Chandra Majumdar (1951). The History and Culture of the Indian People: The Delhi sultanate. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.
  52. ↑ Sherwani 1946, p. 93.
  53. ↑ Sherwani 1946, p. 132.
  54. ↑ Prasad 1933, p. 423.
  55. ↑ Majumdar 1967, p. 255.
  56. ↑ John Stewart Bowman (2000). Columbia Chronologies of Asian History and Culture. Columbia University Press. p. 275. ISBN   9780231110044.
  57. ↑ Jamal Malik (2020). Islam in South Asia: Revised, Enlarged and Updated Second Edition. Brill. p. 168. ISBN   9789004422711.
  58. ↑ Annemarie Schimmel (1975). Classical Urdu Literature from the Beginning to Iqbāl. Harrassowitz. p. 132.
  59. ↑ Roy S. Fischel (2020). Local States in an Imperial World:Identity, Society and Politics in the Early Modern Deccan. ISBN   9781474436090.
  60. ↑ Yazdani, 1947, pp. 23.
  61. ↑ Bowman, John; Bowman, John Stewart (2000). Columbia Chronologies of Asian History and Culture. Columbia University Press. p. 275. ISBN   9780231110044.
  62. ↑ Majumdar 1967, p. 259.
  63. 1 2 Manohar, Mohit (2021). "A Victory Tower Built by a Slave: The Chand Minar at Daulatabad in Deccan India". Muqarnas Online. 38 (1): 57–65. doi:10.1163/22118993-00381P03.
  64. ↑ Mitchell, George; Zebrowski, Mark (1999). Architecture and Art of the Deccan Sultanates (The New Cambridge History of India Vol. I:7). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 64–65. ISBN   0-521-56321-6.
  65. ↑ Allan, John (1964). The Cambridge Shorter History of India. S. Chand. p. 283.
  66. ↑ Eaton 1978, p. 42.
  67. ↑ Sir Wolseley Haig (1907). Historic Landmarks of the Deccan. Pioneer Press. p. 4.
  68. ↑ John Bowman (2000). Columbia Chronologies of Asian History and Culture. Columbia University Press. ISBN   9780231500043.
  69. ↑ Annemarie Schimmel (2022). Islam in the Indian Subcontinent. Brill. ISBN   9789004492998.
  70. ↑ Shanti Sadiq Ali (1996). The African Dispersal in the Deccan: From Medieval to Modern Times. Orient Longman. p. 46. ISBN   9788125004851.
  71. ↑ Journal of the Research Society of Pakistan: Volumes 2–3, Issues 1–2. Research Society of Pakistan. 1965. p. 10.
  72. ↑ Muhammad Suleman Siddiqi (1990). "Sufi-State Relationship Under the Bahmanids (A.d. 1348–1538)". Rivista Degli Studi Orientali. 64 (1/2): 91. JSTOR   41880628. Firishta and Tabatabai, presents a very grim picture of the locals and refer to them as permanent enemies of the Sadat. There is some exaggeration in their account but one must not forget that these accounts of unfortunate affairs are all from the pen of the aliens, who are the products of Safavid Persia.
  73. 1 2 3 Yazdani, 1947, pp. 91–98.
  74. 1 2 Yazdani, 1947, pp. 10.
  75. ↑ Jamal Malik (2020). Islam in South Asia: Revised, Enlarged and Updated Second Edition. Brill. p. 168. ISBN   9789004422711.
  76. ↑ Burjor Avari (2013). Islamic Civilization in South Asia: A History of Muslim Power and Presence in the Indian Subcontinent. Routledge. p. 89. ISBN   9780415580618.
  77. ↑ Indian History. Allied Publishers. 1988. p. 137. ISBN   9788184245684.
  78. ↑ Wilhelm von Pochhammer (2005). India's Road to Nationhood: A Political History of the Subcontinent. Allied. p. 219. ISBN   9788177647150.
  79. ↑ Sanjay Subrahmanyam (1996). Merchant Networks in the Early Modern World. Variorum. p. 75. ISBN   9780860785071.
  80. ↑ Haig, 1925, pp. 418–420.
  81. ↑ Satish Chandra (2004). Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals-Delhi Sultanat (1206–1526) – Part One. Har-Anand Publications. p. 187. ISBN   9788124110645.
  82. ↑ Haig, 1925, pp. 421–422.
  83. ↑ Radhey Shyam (1966). The Kingdom of Ahmadnagar. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 17. ISBN   9788120826519.
  84. ↑ Yazdani, 1947, pp. 10–11.
  85. ↑ John Bowman (2000). Columbia Chronologies of Asian History and Culture. Columbia University Press. p. 276.
  86. ↑ Eaton 2005, p. 2.
  87. ↑ Sherwani 1946, pp. 10–12.
  88. ↑ P. M. Kemp (1958). Bharat-Rus: An Introduction to Indo-Russian Contracts and Travels from Mediaeval Times to the October Revolution. ISCUS. p. 20.
  89. ↑ Victor Lieberman (2003). Strange Parallels: Volume 2, Mainland Mirrors: Europe, Japan, China, South Asia, and the Islands. Cambridge University Press. p. 730. ISBN   9780521823524.
  90. 1 2 N.H 1988.
  91. ↑ N.H, Ansari (1988). "BAHMANID DYNASTY". Encyclopædia Iranica. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  92. ↑ Annual Report. Archaeological Survey of India. 1916. p. 138.
  93. ↑ Haig, 1925, pp. 391, 397–398.
  94. ↑ Sewell, Robert. A Forgotten Empire (Vijayanagar) pp.57–58.
  95. 1 2 "Proving their mettle in metal craft". The Times of India . 2 January 2012. Archived from the original on 8 May 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
  96. 1 2 "Karnataka tableau to feature Bidriware". The Hindu. 11 January 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  97. ↑ "Innovative designs help revive Bidriware". The Hindu. 26 March 2008. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  98. 1 2 Datta, Rangan (6 June 2023). "Bidar Fort in Karnataka: A treasure trove of south Indian heritage". The Telegraph. My Kolkata. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  99. ↑ Yazdani, 1947, pp. 114–142.
  100. ↑ Sara Mondini (2016). "The Use of Quranic Inscriptions in the Bahmani Royal Mausoleums The Case of Three Tombstones from Ashtur". Eurasiatica. 4. doi:10.14277/6969-085-3/EUR-4-12.
  101. ↑ Yazdani, 1947, p. 24.
  102. ↑ Sherwani 1946, pp. 77–78.
  103. ↑ Sherwani 1946, p. 102.
  104. ↑ Singh, Jagjit (2006). Artillery: The Battle-Winning Arm. Lancer Publishers, New Delhi. ISBN   978-8176021807.
  105. ↑ "The Official Home Page of the Indian Army". www.indianarmy.nic.in. Archived from the original on 26 June 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  106. ↑ Khan 1981, p. 155.
  107. ↑ Khan 1981, p. 157.
  108. ↑ Roy, Kaushik (22 May 2014). Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400-1750: Cavalry, Guns, Government and Ships. A&C Black. p. 21. ISBN   978-1-78093-813-4.
  109. ↑ Khan 1981, p. 164.

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.