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, followed by Bijapur and Berar in the same year. Bidar became independent in c. 1492, and Golconda in 1518.
DaulatabadFort originally DeogiriFort, is a historic fortified citadel located in Daulatabad village near Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, Maharashtra, India. It was the capital of the Yadavas, for a brief time the capital of the Delhi Sultanate (1327–1334), and later a secondary capital of the Ahmadnagar Sultanate (1499–1636).
The Bahmani Kingdom or the Bahmani Sultanate was a late medieval kingdom that ruled the Deccan plateau in India. The first independent Muslim sultanate of the Deccan, 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.
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 Sultanate 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 Sultanate. 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.
Malik Ambar was a military leader and statesman who served as the Peshwa of the Ahmadnagar Sultanate and its de facto ruler from 1600 until his death in 1626.
The Berar sultanate was an early modern Indian kingdom in the Deccan, ruled by the Imad Shahi dynasty. It was one of the Deccan sultanates, and was established in 1490 following the disintegration of the Bahmani Sultanate by Fathullah Imad-ul-Mulk. It was annexed by the Ahmadnagar Sultanate in 1574 following an invasion.
The Sultanate of Bidar was an early modern Indian polity that ruled a territory in the central Deccan centred at Bidar. As one of the Deccan sultanates, the sultanate's initial territory corresponded to that of one of the five provinces of the Bahmani Sultanate, and under the rule of Qasim Barid I in 1492 assumed de facto control of state affairs of the Bahmani Sultanate. Leadership passed to his sons; Amir Barid I in 1504 and Ali Barid Shah I in 1542. Starting from the 1580s as a result of Ali's death, a wave of successions occurred in the rulership of the dynasty which ended in 1609 under the last sultan, Amir Barid III. He was eventually defeated in 1619 by Ibrahim Adil Shah II of the Sultanate of Bijapur, who annexed the territory of the Bidar Sultanate into his realm.
The Farooqi dynasty or the Farooq Shahi was the ruling dynasty of the Khandesh Sultanate from its inception in 1382 till its annexation by the Mughal emperor Akbar in 1601. The founder of the dynasty, Malik Ahmad participated in a rebellion against the Bahmani ruler Muhmmad Shah I in his early years. When he was compelled to flee from Deccan, he established in Thalner on the Tapti River. After receiving the grant of the fiefdoms of Thalner and Karanda from Firuz Shah Tughluq in 1370, he conquered the region around Thalner, which later became known as Khandesh. By 1382, he started ruling independently.
Narnala Fort or Narnala Qila Sarkar, also known as Shahnoor Fort, is a hill fortress in the Satpura Range of Vidarbh, Maharashtra, India, named after the Rajput Solanki Chaulukya Ruler, Raja Narnal Singh, also known as Narnal Singh Swami. It was renamed as "Shahnoor" by Islamic rulers but again acquired, rebuilt and got its name "Narnala" by ruler Rao Rana Narnal Singh Solanki, who migrated from Patan in Gujarat.
The Sultanate of Ahmednagar or the Nizam Shahi Sultanate was a late medieval Indian Muslim kingdom located in the northwestern Deccan, between the sultanates of Gujarat and Bijapur, ruled by the Nizam Shahi or Bahri 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.
The Bijapur Fort is located in the Bijapur city in Bijapur District of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bijapur fort has a plethora of historical monuments of architectural importance built during the rule of Adil Shahi dynasty.
Deccani architecture, particularly the architecture of the Bahmani and Deccan Sultanates, is the architecture of the Deccan Plateau, and is a regional variant of Indo-Islamic architecture. It was influenced by the styles of the Delhi Sultanate and later Mughal architecture, but sometimes also influenced from Persia and Central Asia. Hindu temple architecture in the same areas had very different styles.
Naldurg Fort is a historic fort in Naldurg town of Dharashiv district in Maharashtra state of India. Naldurg Fort is named after Nalraja who built the fort in medieval architectural style. The unique feature of the fort is that it encloses a knoll of basalt rock which juts out into the valley of the small Bori River and a long fortification wall with many bastions. The Naldurg fort is one of the important ground forts in the Marathwada region.
Nanded Fort, also known as Nandgiri Fort is a fort located 4 km on the banks of Godavari river from Nanded city. it is build by Muhammad Bin Tughlakh, Nanded is connected by rail, air, and road to major cities in India. The fort is about 3 km (1.9 mi) from the Nanded Railway Station.
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.
The Siege of Daulatabad (1633) was a conflict between the Mughal Empire and the Ahmadnagar Sultanate, wherein the fort-city of Daulatabad was besieged by a Mughal force for several months and successfully captured. The Bijapur Sultanate also participated in the conflict against the Mughals, sending a large army to the aid of the fort's garrison. The conflict took place after several Mughal victories securing other minor forts in Ahmadnagar control, but was distinguished by the political significance of Daulatabad to the Ahmadnagar Sultanate. This event marked Mughal victory in the ongoing war between the Mughals and the Ahmadnagar Sultanate; it ended the Nizam Shahi dynasty and concluded the Sultanate, marking another step in the Mughal advance over the Deccan region. The victory did not fully quell resistance to Mughal authority in the Western Deccan; a year later, Maratha commander Shahji Bhonsle attempted a bid for power using a puppet ruler of the Nizam Shahi house.
Malik Hasan Bahri or Nizam-ul-Mulk Bahri was a noble of the Bahmani Sultanate 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.
Fath Khan, also written as Fateh Khan, was a 17th-century political figure of the Ahmadnagar Sultanate, a historical principality spanning the Western Deccan region in the Indian subcontinent. He was the eldest son of Malik Ambar, the Peshwa of the Ahmadnagar Sultanate. He succeeded his father as the Sultanate's de facto ruler after the latter's death in 1626, and served as Peshwa until his imprisonment in 1633. His tenure, lasting less than a decade, spanned the eclipse days of the kingdom; it was characterised by internal strife and political pressure from the Mughal Empire. He played a key role in the kingdom's collapse by defecting to the Mughal Empire, and killed the ruler Burhan Nizam Shah III in the name of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. His political career came to an end with the Siege of Daulatabad, after which he submitted to the Mughal emperor and became his pensioner.
The Siege of Parenda (1634) was a 17th-century military conflict between the Mughal Empire and the Adil Shahi dynasty of the Bijapur Sultanate over Parenda Fort, wherein Mughal forces besieged the Adil Shahi fort for four months. The siege took place during the reigns of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan and Bijapur Sultan Muhammad Adil Shah. It was the second Mughal siege of the fort following a failed attempt in 1631, and was part of a string of Mughal military campaigns in the Western Deccan. The siege was led by Mughal general Mahabat Khan, governor of the Deccan, though the young prince Shah Shuja was its nominal commander. The siege lasted four months and was unsuccessful, with the fort remaining in Adil Shahi control.
