Bahmani Sultanate

Mahmud Gawan Madrasa was built by Mahmud Gawan, the Wazir of the Bahmani Sultanate as the centre of religious as well as secular education.[14]

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)[15][16][17] 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.[18] 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.[19][20] With the support of the influential Chishti Sufi sheikhs, he crowned himself "Alauddin Bahman Shah Sultan – Founder of the Bahmani Dynasty".[21]

Alauddin was succeeded by his son Mohammed Shah I.[22]

Ghiyasuddin succeeded his father Muhammad II, but was blinded and imprisoned by a Turkish nobleman called Taghalchin.[23] 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.[24]

Taj ud-Din Firuz Shah became the sultan in 1397.[25] 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.[26]

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.[14] 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.[27] He was executed by Muhammad Shah III, an act that the latter regretted until he died in 1482.[28]

Modern scholars like Sherwani, Eaton have based their accounts of the Bahmani dynasty mainly upon the medieval chronicles of Firishta, and Syed Ali Tabatabai. 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".[32]

Rulers of the dynasty believed that they descended from Bahman, the mythological figure of Greater Iranian legend and lore.[33] 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.[12]

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.[34][35] The craftspersons of Bidar were so famed for their inlay work on copper and silver that it came to be known as Bidri.[36]

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[14] in Bidar, are the major architectural contributions.

The later rulers are buried in an elaborate tomb complex, known as the Bahmani Tombs.[37] The exterior of one of the tombs is decorated with coloured tiles. Arabic, Persian and Urdu inscriptions are inscribed inside the tombs.[38][37]

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.

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.

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• Javji Bamble
• Military of Vijayanagara

• 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.

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