Bahmani Sultanate

Bahmani Sultanate
1347–1527
Bahmani Sultanate, 1470 CE.[1]
Capital	Gulbarga (1347–1425) Bidar (1425–1527)
Common languages	Persian (official),[2] Deccani Urdu, Marathi, Telugu, Kannada
Religion	Sunni Islam[3][4][5][6]
Government	Monarchy
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 Musunuri Nayaks Vijayanagara Empire Bijapur Sultanate Golconda Sultanate Ahmadnagar Sultanate Bidar Sultanate Berar Sultanate Mughal Empire
Today part of	India

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The Bahmani Sultanate (also called the Bahmanid Empire or Bahmani Kingdom) was a Persianate^[7][2] Sunni Muslim empire of the Deccan in South India.^[8] It was the first independent Muslim kingdom of the Deccan,^[9] and was known for its perpetual wars with its Hindu rivals of Vijayanagara, which would outlast the Sultanate.^[10]

The sultanate was founded in 1347 by Ala-ud-Din Bahman Shah. The Kingdom later split into five successor states that were collectively known as the Deccan sultanates, that would eventually sack the Vijayanagar capital after the Battle of Talikota.

History[]

Mahmud Gawan Madrasa was built by Mahmud Gawan, the Wazir of the Bahmani Sultanate as the centre of religious as well as secular education.^[11]

According to an unverified founding myth, Zafar Khan the founder, had earlier been a servant or slave of a Brahmin ruler named Gangu (hence the name Hasan Gangu)^[12][13][14] Before the establishment of his kingdom, he was Governor of deccan and a commander on behalf of Tughlaq's. On 3 August 1347 Nazir Uddin Ismail Shah who had revolted against the Delhi Sultanate stepped down on that day in favour of Bahman Shah, a native of Delhi.^[15] 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) and all his coins were minted at Hasanabad.^[16][17] With the support of the influential Chishti sufi sheikhs, he crowned himself "Alauddin Bahman Shah Sultan – Founder of the Bahmani Dynasty".^[18]

Alauddin was succeeded by his son Mohammed Shah I.^[19]

Ghiyasuddin succeeded his father Muhammad II, but was blinded and imprisoned by a Turkish nobleman called Taghalchin.^[20] 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.^[21]

Taj ud-Din Firuz Shah became the sultan in 1397.^[22] 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 1406, but a defeat in 1419. One of his victories resulted in his marriage to Deva Raya's daughter. He was succeeded by his younger brother Ahmad Shah I Wali.

Bidar was made capital of the sultanate in 1429.^[23]

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 of age. Mahmud Gawan is known for setting up the Mahmud Gawan Madrasa, a center of religious as well as secular education.^[11] Gawan was considered a great statesman, and a poet of repute. Mahmud Gawan was caught in a struggle between the ruling indigenous Muslim elite of the Bahmanids, called the Deccanis, and the foreign newcomers from the west such as Gawan.^[24] He was executed by Muhammad Shah III, an act that the latter regretted until his death in 1482.^[25]

Later rulers and decline[]

Muhammad Shah II was succeeded by his son Mahmood Shah Bahmani II, the last Bahmani ruler to have real power.^[26]

The last Bahmani Sultans were puppet monarchs under their Barid Shahi Prime Ministers, who were de facto rulers. After 1518 the sultanate broke up into five states: Nizamshahi of Ahmednagar, Qutb Shahi of Golconda (Hyderabad), Barid Shahi of Bidar, Imad Shahi of Berar, Adil Shahi of Bijapur. They are collectively known as the "Deccan Sultanates".^[27]

The south Indian Emperor Krishnadevaraya of the Vijayanagara Empire defeated the last remnant of Bahmani Sultanate power after which the Bahmani Sultanate collapsed.^[28]

Historiography[]

Modern scholars^[who?] have based their accounts of the Bahmani dynasty mainly upon the medieval chronicles of Firishta, Syed Ali Tabatabai, etc. Other contemporary works were Sivatatva Chintamani and Guru Charitra. Athanasius Nikitin traveled this kingdom. He contrasts the huge "wealth of the nobility with the wretchedness of the peasantry and the frugality of the Hindus".^[29]

Culture[]

Rulers of the dynasty believed that they descended from Bahman, the mythological figure of Greater Iranian legend and lore. The Bahamani Sultans were patrons of the Persian language, culture and literature, and some members of the dynasty became well-versed in that language and composed its literature in that language.^[9]

Bahmani Tombs in Bidar district

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.^[30][31] The craftspersons of Bidar were so famed for their inlay work on copper and silver that it came to be known as Bidri.^[32]

Architecture[]

Haft Gumbaz

The Persianate Indo-Islamic style of architecture developed during this period was later adopted by the Deccan Sultanates as well.

The Gulbarga Fort, Haft Gumbaz, and Jama Masjid in Gulbarga, Bidar Fort and Madrasa Mahmud Gawan^[11] in Bidar, are the major architectural contributions.

The later rulers are buried in an elaborate tomb complex, known as the Bahmani Tombs.^[33] The exterior of one of the tombs is decorated with coloured tiles. Persian poetry and Quranic verses are inscribed inside the tombs.^[33]

The Bahmani rulers made some beautiful tombs and mosques in Bidar and Gulbarga. They also built many forts at Daulatabad, Golconda and Raichur. The architecture was highly influenced by Persian architecture. They invited architects from Persia, Turkey and Arabia. Some of the magnificent structures built by the Bahmanis were the Jami Masjid at Gulbarga, Chandand Minar and the Mahmud Gawan Madrasa at Bidar.

List of Bahmani Shahs[]

Great Mosque in Gulbarga Fort

• 

  Taj ud-Din Firuz Shah of the Bahmani Sultanate's Firman.

• 

  Ahmad Shah I Wali.

• 

  Tomb of Ahmad Shah I Wali.

See also[]

• Military of Vijayanagara

References[]

Sources[]

• Avari, Burjor (2013), Islamic Civilization in South Asia: A history of Muslim power and presence in the Indian subcontinent, Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-58061-8
• Ansari, N. H. (1988). "Bahmanid dynasty". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. III, Fasc. 5. pp. 494–499.
• Haig, Sir Thomas Wolseley (1925). The Cambridge History of India (Volume III). Cambridge University Press.
• Kulke, Hermann; Rothermund, Dietmar (2004), A History of India (Fourth ed.), Routledge, ISBN 9780415329194
• Meri, Josef W. (2005). Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. pp. 1–1088. ISBN 9781135455965.
• Prasad, Ishwari (1933). History Of Mediaeval India. Allahabad: The Indian Press Ltd.
• Sherwani, Haroon Khan (1946). The Bahmanis of the Deccan.
• Yazdani, Ghulam (1947). Bidar, Its History and Monuments.

External links[]

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Bahmani Sultanate

• Overton, Keelan (2016). "Bahmanī dynasty". In Fleet, Kate; Krämer, Gudrun; Matringe, Denis; Nawas, John; Rowson, Everett (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE. Brill Online. ISSN 1873-9830.
• Library of Congress – A Country Study: India