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,[6] second to the Mughal Empire, which conquered it in 1686 under Aurangzeb.
The founder of the sultanate, Yusuf Adil Shah, after emigrating to the Bahmani Sultanate, rose his position within the state and was appointed governor of the province of Bijapur. In 1490, he created a de facto independent Bijapur state, before becoming formally independent with the Bahmanis' collapse in 1518.
The Bijapur Sultanate's borders changed considerably throughout its history. Its northern boundary remained relatively stable, straddling contemporary southern Maharashtra and northern Karnataka. The Sultanate expanded southward, its first major conquest the Raichur Doab following the defeat of the Vijayanagara Empire at the Battle of Talikota in 1565. Later campaigns in the Karnatak and Carnatic extended Bijapur's formal borders and nominal authority as far south as Tanjore. Bijapur, for most of its history, was bounded on the west by the Portuguese state of Goa, on the east by the Sultanate of Golconda, to the north by the Ahmednagar Sultanate and to the south by the Vijayanagara Empire and its succeeding Nayaka dynasties.
The sultanate clashed incessantly with its neighbours. After the allied victory over Vijayanagara at Talikota in 1565, the state further expanded through its conquest of the neighbouring Bidar Sultanate in 1619. The sultanate was thereafter relatively stable, although it was damaged by the revolt of Shivaji, who founded an independent Maratha Kingdom which went on to become the Maratha Confederacy. The greatest threat to Bijapur's security was, from the late 16th century, the expansion of the Mughal Empire into the Deccan. Various agreements and treaties imposed Mughal suzerainty on the Adil Shahs, by stages, until Bijapur's formal recognition of Mughal authority in 1636. The influence of their Mughal overlords, in combination with continual strife with the Marathas, sapped the state of its prosperity until the Mughal conquest of Bijapur in 1686.
The former Bahmani provincial capital of Bijapur remained the capital of the sultanate throughout its existence. After modest earlier developments, Ibrahim Adil Shah I and Ali Adil Shah I remodelled Bijapur, providing the citadel and city walls, and a congregational mosque. Their successors, Ibrahim Adil Shah II, Mohammed Adil Shah and Ali Adil Shah II, further adorned Bijapur with palaces, mosques, a mausoleum and other structures, considered to be some of the finest examples of Deccani and Indo-Islamic architecture.
History
India and the Deccan sultanates in 1525, the Sultanate of Bijapur in center-left
The founder of the dynasty, Yusuf Adil Shah, may have been a Georgian slave[7] who was purchased by Mahmud Gawan.[8] Other historians have mentioned him of Persian[9] or Turkmen origin.[10][11] According to the narrative presented by contemporary historian Firishta, Yusuf was a son of the Ottoman Sultan Murad II, although this is considered unfounded by modern historians.[12][13] Another theory states he was a Turkman of the Aq-Quyunlu.[14][15][13]
Founding and consolidation (1490–1580)
Yusuf's bravery and personality raised him rapidly in Bahmani SultanMuhammad Shah III's favour, resulting in his appointment as the Governor of Bijapur.[16][12] In 1490, Yusuf took advantage of the decline of Bahmani power to establish himself as an independent sultan at Bijapur, pursuing the same goal Malik Ahmad Nizam Shah I had the same year.[12][17] In 1503 he proclaimed Shia Islam to be the official religion of his territorial holdings,[17][18] following the lead of Shah Ismail of the Safavid dynasty.[19] He conquered and annexed the Bahmani taraf of Gulbarga in 1504.[20][18] Shortly after, he reinstated his decree of Shia practice a year after he had been forced to revoke it under threat of invasion.[19] A colonial expedition of the Portuguese Empire, led by Afonso de Albuquerque, exerted pressure on the major Adil Shahi port of Goa and conquered it in 1510;[21] Yusuf retook the settlement two months later, however, but the Portuguese again conquered it in November of that year.[22]
Yusuf died in 1510, between these two clashes with the Portuguese,[22] when his son Ismail Adil Shah[c] was still a boy. Ismail's regent at the time, Kamal Khan, staged a coup against him, but was unsuccessful and was killed. Ismail thus became the absolute ruler of Bijapur.[24] In 1514 a dispute over Gulbaraga province led the rulers of the Ahmednagar, Golconda, and Bidar Sultanates to invade the provinces of Ismail Adil Shah, but they were deterred and Ismail emerged victorious.[25] In 1520, Krishnadevaraya laid siege to the Bijapuri fort of Raichur. The siege would continue for three months until the emperor's encounter with Ismail, who attempted to relieve the siege. Ismail was defeated by Krishnadevaraya there in the Battle of Raichur; though initially successful and having an advantage in artillery,[26] the first major appearance of which in a South Asian battle,[27] Ismail was routed by the Vijayanagara forces in a surprise counter-attack, scattering much of his forces.[28] Not long after Ismail's retreat, Krishnadevaraya captured the fort of Raichur.[29] In a later diplomatic conflict, the emperor occupied the capital of Bijapur for an extended period through the sultan's insistence to not see Krishnadevaraya.[30] Ismail invaded the territory of Amir Barid I of Bidar in 1529, and laid siege to his capital. Aladdin Imad Shah of Berar attempted to intervene in the conflict to seek mediation, but was unsuccessful.[31] Amir Barid, in exchange for his life following his capture, gave up the fort of Bidar, which was subsequently looted by Ismail and his troops. Another campaign the following year saw Ismail recapture Raichur and Mudgal from Vijayanagara, whose monarch Krishnadevaraya had recently died.[32] Amir Barid, as he was present at the engagement, there agreed with Ismail to cede him the forts of Kalyani and Qandhar in exchange for Ismail's relinquishment of Bidar.[33]
Ismail was succeeded by Mallu Adil Shah in 1534, whose reign was short-lived. He was installed by a prominent Bijapuri noble, Asad Khan, and is noted for his lack of competence. His indifference to taking care of the responsibilities of his role as sultan led Vijayanagara to invade the sultanate and seize the Raichur Doab from the Adil Shahis. Mallu Adil Shah was soon blinded and removed from power.[34][35]
Ibrahim Adil Shah I, the son of Ismail, succeeded Mallu in 1535.[35] He reestablished the state religion as Sunnism,[34] and made drastic anti-Westerner[d] court changes by abolishing the use of the Persian language in certain administrative tasks, though retaining it as the official language of the sultanate[38] and expelling many of the Westerners and replacing them with the opposing faction, the Deccanis.[37][34] Ibrahim also invaded the Vijayanagara Empire in his reign; he pillaged multiple cities and besieged their capital, Vijayanagara, but did not seize any territory in the long-term and returned home only with non-territorial rewards.[39] In another conflict with the Portuguese, Ibrahim was forced to cede two ports in the fear that trade through Goa might be cut off from the Adil Shahis.[39] His kingdom was invaded four times by the forces of the Ahmednagar Sultanate in his reign, who were the sultanate's greatest adversary; Sultan Burhan Nizam Shah I allied himself initially with Bidar in his first invasion, which saw no territorial losses for Bijapur, but Bidar, ruled by Ali Barid Shah I, later allied itself with Bijapur in the second invasion. This saw a quadruple alliance of Ahmednagar, Jamsheed Quli Qutb Shah of Golconda, Vijayanagara, and Darya Imad Shah of Berar.[40] The war comprised numerous invasions by the belligerents of their opponents' states, and was a defeat for the Bijapuri–Bidar side, who were forced to cede one of the northern districts of the Bijapur Sultanate to Ahmednagar. Burhan and Ibrahim agreed to a policy of allowing Ahmednagar freedom to expand in the territory of Bidar provided Bijapur could have the same freedom to annex lands from Vijayanagara; thus Ibrahim imprisoned Ali Barid Shahi of Bidar despite their former alliance, though he was later freed by Jamsheed out of his yearning for a buffer state in the Deccan.[41] Burhan Nizam Shah four times laid siege to the Bijapuri city of Solapur throughout these conflicts,[42] but did not successfully retain it until a third invasion, where territory on the southern border was additionally occupied. Burhan advanced in a fourth invasion in 1553 with Vijayanagara almost to the Bijapuri capital, but retreated due to his failing health.[43]
Page from the Nujum-ul-Ulum, a manuscript on astrology and metaphysics completed under the reign of Ali Adil Shah I
Ali Adil Shah I, who next ascended the throne in 1558, reestablished Shiism as the state religion.[45] He inquired of Hussain Nizam Shah I that he may be given back Solapur and Kaliyani, both of which had been taken from the sultanate in past Ahmednagari invasions, given the domestic and foreign strife Ahmednagar had been facing, but was declined.[46] He subsequently invaded the Nizam Shahi kingdom, with assistance from Rama Raya, then de facto ruler of Vijayanagara, and Ibrahim Qutb Shah, and laid siege to Ahmednagar and other cities in the kingdom. Hussain sued for peace in 1561, and in return was forced to submit to Rama Raya and return Kaliyani to Ali Adil Shah.[47][48] In 1563 Hussain attempted to regain Kaliyani and again laid siege to it. Another conflict ensued with the same belligerents; Ahmednagar was besieged by Ali, but his forces voluntarily raised the siege; Hussain too was forced to abandon his siege of Kaliyani, and the only profiteer of the conflict was Vijayanagara, who gained territory from an invasion of Golconda.[49][50] Vijayanagara additionally gained land from Bijapur through persuasion; this included the cities of Yadgir and Bagalkote.[50] Wary of the growing power of Vijayanagara, Ali aligned his forces with the Sultans of Golconda, Ahmednagar and Bidar, despite their past conflicts, and together brought down the Vijayanagara Empire in 1565 in the decisive Battle of Talikota. Rama Raya was beheaded after being captured by the Deccani side. Vijayanagara and nearby cities were sacked and looted, the former city for a period of five to six months,[51][52] which historian Hermann Goetz states prompted the emigration of much of Vijayanagara's populace to Bijapur.[53] The entire Raichur Doab and the surrounding area were returned to Bijapur. The Vijayanagara military was demolished, and the power of the kingdom had been significantly diminished from the effects of the battle and as such was a shell of its former self.[54][55] With this victory, Ali I then fortified Bijapur with a city wall, which facilitated the further centralization of authority. Subsequent architectural projects gave way to the growth of the city and its skilled class.[56] Another conflict between Ahmednagar and Bijapur arose in 1567; Ali invaded the former and his forces occupied multiple forts, but the war ended up inconclusive.[57] In 1570, a conflict with the Portuguese began in the hopes of expelling them completely from India; this did not go according to plan, however, and Ali was defeated after multiple encounters in 1571.[58][59] He subsequently annexed more land from Vijayanagara in a campaign lasting until 1575, in which he conquered Adoni and much of the Carnatic;[60] Ali embarked on a monarch-transcending campaign to capture and subjugate all of the Karnatak as well the same year,[61] where his zealotry for Shiism was put on display; Richard M. Eaton writes that his "armies destroyed two to three hundred Hindu temples" and that he replaced many of these with Shia religious buildings.[62] By 1576, the land gained under Ali I's reign had doubled the sultanate's holdings.[63] Ali furthermore commenced diplomatic relations with the Mughals, Ottomans, and Safavids in his reign, and Eaton opines that these actions brought the sultanate into the dar al-islam.[64]
Ali I had no son, so his nephew Ibrahim II was set on the throne, then only nine years of age in 1580.[66] Control of the regency was constantly fought over in the years following his accession; there were many years when his regent was the influential Kamal Khan,[67][66] while later in his minority absolute control was wielded by the Habshi Dilawar Khan, who reverted the official sect of the sultanate to Sunni Islam, the final change in creed the state would undergo. Dilawar's supremacy ended with his deposition by Ibrahim II in 1590.[68] Ibrahim's ensuing unhindered rule was one of prosperity and patronage;[69][70]Sufism thrived under his reign, with its adherents and many people of talent flocking to Bijapur,[71][72] largely due to his own talent as a musician and poet.[73]Syncretism, both cultural and religious, additionally reached its zenith under Ibrahim's rule, while the capital became one of the most prosperous in India;[74] population estimates of the city in the latter half of Ibrahim's rule range as high as one million,[75] and contrasting accounts from a Jesuit in Ali I's rule and a Mughal diplomat in the same period of Ibrahim's rule show the increase of wealth of the commoners and city.[74] In 1594, Ibrahim suppressed a rebellion of his brother Ismail, who had been aided in his efforts by Burhan II of Ahmednagar.[76] In 1597, despite their past quarrels, the Adil Shahis formed an alliance with Ahmednagar and Golconda to deter further Mughal advance in the Deccan, who had recently conquered Berar from Ahmednagar. Their alliance, led under a Bijapuri general, was defeated in their attempts to defeat the Mughal forces despite outnumbering them three to one.[77][78] Ahmednagar fully fell to Mughal sovereignty in 1600,[79] but Ibrahim continued to support the later successful revival efforts of Malik Ambar for the greater cause of pushing back the Mughals.[80] Ibrahim II also founded the city of Nauraspur in 1599, three kilometers west of Bijapur[81] as a planned great center of learning and art, but it was never fully completed[67] and was destroyed in 1624 by Malik Ambar's forces.[19] In 1618, the sultan lost the fortress of Janjira to the independent Habshi state of western India.[67] The following year, Bijapur conquered the neighbouring Bidar Sultanate,[82] although effective control over the state had been achieved as early as 1580.[83] This was preceded by an agreement between the rulers of Bijapur and the Ahmednagar Sultanate, where they divided their spheres of influence such that the latter was let to conquer the Berar Sultanate, provided the Adil Shahis could expand southwards into the territory of the decaying Vijayanagara Empire without the hindrance of the Nizam Shahis.[84][61] However, as Bidar did not fall under either of these spheres of influence, Malik Ambar, then de facto ruler of Ahmednagar, grew irate, and invaded Bijapur, reaching the capital relatively unopposed, but later withdrew.[67] The sultan, in addition to his work on Nauraspur, constructed many architectural works near Bijapur which composed the Ibrahim Rauza.[67]
Muhammad Adil Shah succeeded his father Ibrahim II in 1627. Under Muhammad's reign, the Sultanate of Bijapur reached its peak, territorially and in power and economic prosperity.[85][6] The first invasion of the Sultanate of Bijapur by the Mughal Empire took place under Muhammad's rule in 1631 by Shah Jahan, who reached and besieged Bijapur but was ultimately unsuccessful.[86] In 1636, Bijapur was forced to sign a treaty after a defeat against the Mughals requiring them to pay tribute to the Mughal emperor[87] and acknowledge Mughal authority.[88] As a reward for this gesture, the recent Mughal conquest of Ahmednagar was partitioned between the two states.[89] This treaty ushered in a period of relative peace with the Mughals, allowing for attention to be focused on continued southern conquests.[90][91] As a result, Bijapur reached its territorial peak, with its borders stretching from the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal. The Sultanate of Bijapur came however into rapid decline halfway through Muhammad's reign,[92] primarily due to the strain in relations with nobles and landholders, many of whom later deserted to work for the Mughal bureaucracy,[93] and the revolt of then governor of Pune, Shivaji,[94] whose father was a Maratha commander in the service of Muhammad Adil Shah who had been employed in the Karnatak campaigns.[95][96] Muhammad Adil Shah died in 1656, though was effectively powerless in the last decade of his life from a paralyzing illness which first affected him in 1646.[97]
Ali Adil Shah II inherited a troubled kingdom. His state was invaded by Mughal forces in 1657, under then viceroy Aurangzeb, who captured Bidar, multiple other forts, and reached Bijapur, though were forced to retreat before they could lay siege to the city; Aurangzeb was nevertheless able to annex much of the occupied territory, including Bidar.[98][94] The stability of the Bijapur Sultanate was again affected by further troubles with the Marathas, who persisted with raids and rebellions.[94]Afzal Khan, a Bijapuri general, was sent to subdue Shivaji in 1659, but his expedition ended a disaster, as he was murdered and his home fort of Pratapgarh was captured in a confrontation with Shivaji.[99] Despite further Maratha advances in the north, Ali continued his southern campaigns in the Karnatak and Carnatic, in which he captured Thanjavur and other cities from the Nayakas from 1659–63.[100]
Sikandar Adil Shah, the last Adil Shahi sultan, ruled next for fourteen troublesome years. His reign saw multiple civil wars and much internal strife and unrest, particularly over who should be his regent, as he was only four at the time of his accession.[101] Khawas Khan, Sikandar's initial regent and leader of the Deccani faction,[102] took control of the state, though was removed from power in place of his enemy.[94] Shivaji formally founded an independent Maratha Kingdom, which went on to become the Maratha Confederacy, in 1674, and by then had de facto control over much of the Adil Shahis' original territory in the Deccan. He in the following years undid almost all of the southern Bijapuri conquests, annexing this territory into his own state, while also attempting to capture Bijapur itself.[94] Throughout this period the Mughals had been continuously encroaching upon the Adil Shahis' territory,[103] and with Shivaji's death in 1680, a more concerted effort to conquer the remaining Muslim Deccan states was launched.[94] In April 1685, Mughal forces, led by Aurangzeb, began their siege of Bijapur,[103] and with its conclusion on 12 September 1686,[104] the Sultanate of Bijapur came to an end.[105] The capital and its surrounding territory were annexed into an eponymous subah,[94] while Sikandar was sent into Mughal captivity.[106]
The architecture of the Sultanate of Bijapur, as a subset of Deccani architecture, was a variant of Indo-Islamic architecture, influenced by that of the Middle East.[107] Adil Shahi architecture was of high sculptural quality, attained through its localized and unique nature. Characteristic of Adil Shahi architecture was large domes and dargahs, complex turrets,[108] geometric and Arabic or Persian calligraphic designs,[107][109] and decorated friezes of tholobates.[110]
Yusuf Adil Shah, the first sultan, began his work by expanding on two dargahs at Gulbarga commemorating Sufis, and added minarets to them.[111] The first building to fully employ the characteristics of Adil Shahi architecture was a Jama Masjid built during the reign of Ibrahim Adil Shah I.[110] The primary Jami Masjid of Bijapur, however, was built under the rule of Ali I, and was commissioned in 1576.[112] The largest of any structure of its type in the Deccan at its inception,[113]Eaton calls it "one of the most imposing and magnificent" in the region.[56] Under Ibrahim II, the sultanate's most prolific patron,[114] the aspects of Adil Shahi architecture evolved to focus on intricate carvings and detail[115] and adopted a style of Hindu–Muslim syncretism;[116] this change is seen in the Malika Jahan Begum mosque built by the sultan in 1586. His most notable commissioned work though was the eponymous Ibrahim Rauza, completed in 1626, comprising a mosque built in honour of his wife and a mausoleum for his dynasty.[115]Mohammed Adil Shah facilitated the creation of the Gol Gumbaz, his own mausoleum and one of the greatest monuments in Bijapur. It is supported by large arched recesses and a massive dome,[117] the largest in the Islamic world[118] upon its near-completion at Muhammad's death in 1656.[117] The last main Adil Shahi architectural project was the unfinished mausoleum of Ali Adil Shah II, the Bara Kaman, which stopped construction with his death in 1672.[119]
The Adil Shahis partook in miniature painting through the Bijapur school of Deccani painting. Miniature painting was virtually nonexistent in the Bijapur Sultanate prior to the reign of Ali I, but became widespread under his rule and flourished under the rule of Ibrahim II and his successors.[44][120] The Bijapur school of painting was rooted in Persian miniature painting and culture and was usually baroque in style.[121] In contrast to North Indian contemporary painting, it seldom depicted events and scenes of war, and rather focused on atmospheres and picturesque fantasies and dreams, straying away from logic in general.[107]
The Adil Shahi sultans promoted the development of writing in the Deccani language, and Bijapur was one of the centers for its early literary evolution.[122] Ibrahim II was a skillful writer of Deccani Urdu literature,[123] and one of its earliest proponents. Ibrahim himself wrote the Kitab-i Nauras, a Deccani musical poetry work,[124] and patronized many poets and their works of art. His poet laureate, Persian Muhammad Zuhuri,[125][73] wrote the Saqinama, a collection of lyric poetry.[73] Another employed by the sultan was Firishta, who after entering Ibrahim's service in 1604 and gaining his trust, on the sultan's suggestion wrote his history of the medieval Deccan, the Tarikh-i Firishta, which serves as the basis for much of the modern historiography on the region and period.[126][127] The later Nusrati, one of the foremost Deccani poets, wrote the romance work Gulshan-i 'Ishq under the patronage of Ali Adil Shah II, and a narrative of the sultan's conquests.[128]
List of rulers
Nine sultans ruled the Sultanate of Bijapur from 1490 to 1686, their title being the Sultan of Bijapur.[129]
↑ Yusuf and his son, Ismail, generally used the title Adil Khan. 'Khan', meaning 'Chief' in various Central Asian cultures and adopted in Persian, conferred a lower status than 'Shah', indicating royal rank. Only with the rule of Yusuf's grandson, Ibrahim Adil Shah I (r.1534–1558), did the title of Adil Shah come into common use. Even then, Bijapur rulers recognized Safavid Persian suzerainty over their realm.[23]
↑ The "Westerners", alternatively the gharibs or afaqis, were a faction within the Deccani and Bahmani courts which included anyone not native to the subcontinent (hence "west" of it), and were typically Persian-speaking and of the Shi'a faith.[36][37]
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↑ Satish Chandra, Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals, Part II, (Har-Anand, 2009), 210.
↑ Alam, Muzaffar (1998). "The pursuit of Persian: Language in Mughal Politics". Modern Asian Studies. 32 (2). Cambridge University Press: 317–349. doi:10.1017/s0026749x98002947. S2CID146630389.
↑ Baqir, Muhammad. "BĪJĀPŪR". iranicaonline.org. Encyclopædia Iranica. Retrieved 8 February 2017. The official language of the court at Bījāpūr during the ʿĀdelšāhī period and until the end of Mughal rule in 1274/1858 was Persian. Indeed, Yūsof ʿĀdelšāh (895–916/1489–1510) and his son Esmāʿīl themselves wrote poetry in Persian, Esmāʿīl under the pen name Wafāʾī. The ʿĀdelšāhīs established Shiʿism in Bījāpūr and actively encouraged the immigration of Persian writers and religious figures.
Chapter on "Persian Literature in Bijapur Sultanate" in The Rise, Growth And Decline of Indo-Persian Literature by R.M. Chopra, Iran Culture House, New Delhi, 2012.
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