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Adil Shahi dynasty

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Sultanate of Bijapur
1490–1686
Map of the Adil Shahi dynasty of the Bijapur Sultanate at its greatest extent[1][2]
CapitalBijapur
Common languagesPersian (official)[3] Deccani Urdu,[4] Kannada (since 1535)[5]
Marathi (written only, for local government)[6]
Religion
GovernmentMonarchy
Sultan 
• 1490–1510
Yusuf Adil Shah
• 1510–1534
Ismail Adil Shah
• 1534
Mallu Adil Shah
• 1534–1558
Ibrahim Adil Shah I
• 1558–1579[7]
Ali Adil Shah I
• 1580–1627
Ibrahim Adil Shah II
• 1627–1656
Mohammed Adil Shah
• 1656–1672
Ali Adil Shah II
• 1672–1686
Sikandar Adil Shah
Historical eraEarly modern
• Established
1490
• Disestablished
1686
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Vijayanagara Empire
Bahmani Sultanate
Bidar Sultanate
Mughal Empire
Portuguese India
Maratha Confederacy
Today part ofIndia

The Sultanate of Bijapur was an early modern kingdom in the western Deccan and South India, ruled by its reigning dynasty of the Adil Shahi or Adilshahi.[11] Bijapur had been a taraf (province) of the Bahmani Sultanate prior to its independence and before its political decline in the last quarter of the 15th century and eventual break-up in 1518. It was a member of the Deccan Sultanates, the collective name of the five successor states of the Bahmani Sultanate. The Bijapur Sultanate was fully absorbed into the Mughal Empire on 12 September 1686, after its conquest by Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.[12]

The founder of the Sultanate, Yusuf Adil Shah, was appointed governor of the province of Daulatabad by its Bahmani rulers, and later would seize provincial control of Bijapur following the execution of its former tarafdar, Mahmud Gawan and would shift such that Bijapur province was his only territorial holding. In 1490, he would create 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, first with the conquest of the Raichur Doab following the defeat of the Vijayanagara empire at the Battle of Talikota in 1565. Later campaigns, notably during the reign of Mohammed Adil Shah (1627–1657), extended Bijapur's formal borders and nominal authority as far south as Bangalore. Bijapur was bounded on the West by the Portuguese state of Goa and on the East by the Sultanate of Golconda, ruled by the Qutb Shahi dynasty.

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 (r. 1558–1579) remodelled Bijapur, providing the citadel and city walls, congregational mosque, core royal palaces and major water supply infrastructure. Their successors, Ibrahim Adil Shah II (r. 1579–1627), Mohammed Adil Shah (r. 1627–1656) and Ali Adil Shah II (r. 1656–1672), 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.

Constant warring, both with the Vijayanagara Empire and the other Deccan Sultanates, curtailed the development of the Bijapur state before the Deccan Sultanates allied to achieve victory over Vijayanagara at Talikota in 1565. Bijapur eventually conquered the neighbouring Bidar Sultanate in 1619. The Portuguese Empire exerted pressure on the major Adil Shahi port of Goa, until it was conquered during the reign of Ibrahim II. The Sultanate was thereafter relatively stable, although it was damaged by the revolt of Shivaji, whose father was a Maratha commander in the service of Mohammed Adil Shah. Shivaji 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. Although it was the case that the Mughals destroyed the Adilshahi, it was Shivaji's revolt which weakened the Adilshahi control. Various agreements and treaties imposed Mughal suzerainty on the Adil Shahs, by stages, until Bijapur's formal recognition of Mughal authority in 1636. The demands of their Mughal overlords sapped the Adil Shahs of their wealth until the Mughal conquest of Bijapur in 1686.

History[edit]

A painting of "The House of Bijapur" was completed in the year 1680, during the reign of Sikandar Adil Shah the last ruler of the Adil Shahi dynasty.

The founder of the dynasty, Yusuf Adil Shah, may have been a Georgian slave[13][14] who was purchased by Mahmud Gawan from Iran. Other historians mentioned him of Persian[15] or Turkmen origin.[16][17] According to some subsequent traditions, Yusuf was a son of the Ottoman Sultan Murad II, although this is considered unfounded by modern historians,[18][19] Another theory states he was a Turkman of the Aq-Quyunlu.[20][21][19] According to the historian Mir Rafi-uddin Ibrahim-i Shirazi, or Rafi', Yusuf's full name was Sultan Yusuf 'Adil Shah Savah or Sawah'i (from the ancient town of Saveh, southwest of modern Tehran), the son of Mahmud Beg of Sawa in Iran, (Rafi' 36–38, vide Devare 67, fn 2). Rafi's history of the 'Adil Shahi dynasty was written at the request of Ibrahim Adil Shah II, and was completed and presented to the patron in AH 1017. The Indian scholar T.N. Devare mentioned that while Rafi's account of the Bahmani dynasty is filled with anachronisms, his account of the Adilshahi is "fairly accurate, exhaustive, and possesses such rich and valuable information about Ali I and Ibrahim II" (312). Rafi-uddin later became the governor of Bijapur for about 15 years (Devare 316).[citation needed]

Yusuf's bravery and personality raised him rapidly in Sultan's favour, resulting in his appointment as the Governor of Bijapur. He built the Citadel or Arkilla and the Faroukh Mahal. Yusuf was a man of culture. He invited poets and artisans from Persia, Turkey, and Rome to his court. He's well known as a ruler who took advantage of the decline of the Bahmani power to establish himself as an independent sultan at Bijapur in 1498. He did this with a military support which has been given to him by a Bijapuri general Kalidas Madhu Sadhwani – brilliant commander and good diplomat, who made quick career by supporting Yusuf Adil Shah and then his son – Ismail Adil Shah. 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.[22] Yusuf married Punji, the sister of a Maratha Raja of Indapur.[23] When Yusuf died in 1510, his son Ismail was still a boy. Punji in male attire valiantly defended him from a coup to grab the throne. Ismail Adil Shah thus became the ruler of Bijapur and succeeded his father's ambition.

Sultan Ali Adil Shah II hunting a tiger, c 1660

Ibrahim Adil Shah I who succeeded his father Ismail, fortified the city and built the old Jamia Masjid[clarification needed]. Ali Adil Shah I who next ascended the throne, aligned his forces with other Muslim kings of Golconda, Ahmednagar and Bidar, and together, they brought down the Vijayanagara empire. With the loot gained, he launched ambitious projects. He built the Gagan Mahal, the Ali Rauza (his own tomb), Chand Bawdi (a large well) and the Jami Masjid. Ali I had no son, so his nephew Ibrahim II was set on the throne. Ali I's queen Chand Bibi had to aid him until he came of age. Ibrahim II was noted for his valor, intelligence and leanings towards the Hindu music and philosophy. Under his patronage the Bijapur school of painting reached its zenith. Muhammad Adil Shah succeeded his father Ibrahim II. He is renowned for Bijapur's grandest structure, the Gol Gumbaz, which has the biggest dome in the world with whispering gallery round about slightest sound is reproduced seven times. He also set up the historical Malik-e-Maidan, the massive gun.[citation needed]

Ali Adil Shah II inherited a troubled kingdom. He had to face the onslaught of the Maratha leader Shivaji on one side and Mughal emperor Aurangzeb on another. His mausoleum, Bara Kaman, planned to dwarf all others, was left unfinished due to his death. Sikandar Adil Shah, the last Adil Shahi sultan, ruled next for fourteen stormy years. Finally on 12 September 1686, the Mughal armies under Aurangzeb overpowered the city of Bijapur.[citation needed]

Administration of Bijapur[edit]

Gol Gumbaz

In the second half of the 16th century, and the 17th century under the aegis of Adil Shahis, the capital city of Bijapur occupied a prominent place among the celebrated cities of India. It was a great centre of culture, trade and commerce, education and learning, etc. It was known for its own culture called, Bijapur Culture. [citation needed] During Bijapur's heyday of glory there was a conflux of different communities and the people. Sometimes in many respects it surpassed the great cities of Delhi and Agra of Mughal India. Before Yusuf Adil Shah, the founder of the Adil Shahis could make Bijapur as capital of his newly carved kingdom; the town occupied a considerable importance. The Khaljis made Bijapur their governor's seat, and after some time Khwajah Mahmud Gawan, the Bahmani premier constituted Bijapur region into a separate province. He owned property in Bijapur called "Kala Bagh". He constructed a mausoleum of Ain-ud-Din Ganj-ul-'ullum. The architecture of the mausoleums of Zia-ud-Din Ghaznavi, Hafiz Husseini and Hamzah Husseini etc. suggests that these edifices belong to the Bahmani period.[24] Thus Bijapur was fairly large town under the early Sultans of Adil Shahi dynasty. The capital progressed slowly, however, its star was in ascendancy since the accession of Sultan Ali Adil Shah I in 1558. His victory in the Battle of Talikota in 1565 and further campaigns in the Krishna-Tunghabhadra regions brought enormous wealth.[a] Hence he began to spend lavishly on its decoration. Under him every year saw some new building, a palace, a mosque, a bastion, or a minaret. His successor Ibrahim Adil Shah II added, so to say, a pearl necklace, Ibrahim Rouza to enhance the beauty of Bijapur, and Mohammed Adil Shah crowned it with a priceless gem called Gol Gumbaz. Thus the Adil Shahi monarchs poured their heart and soul in the capital city. The period between the accession of Ali Adil Shah I in 1558 to the death of Mohammed Adil Shah in 1656, can be called the golden age of the Adil Shahis as the kingdom flourished in all walks of life.[citation needed]

During the reign of Ibrahim Adil Shah II the population of Bijapur is estimated to have reached 984,000.[citation needed] Under Mohammed Adil Shah the population further increased. From different parts of the world many envoys, merchants, and travellers visited Bijapur in its heyday of magnanimity and grandeur, and they left behind accounts of past grandiosities of Bijapur. In 1604–1605 the Mughal Emperor Akbar sent one of grandees of his court to Bijapur for diplomatic dealings. He wrote his account called, "Haalat-e-Asad Baig or Wakiat-e-Asad Baig",[26] and cites in it his impression of the city through the grandeurs of the Adil Shahi court and its customs the grandeur of the city of Bijapur. Before the Muslims could establish their rule in Bijapur, it was a great centre of learning in South India. It is evident from the bilingual Marathi–Sanskrit inscription, which is inscribed just under the Persian epigraph in the Karimuddin mosque 16 that the city of Bijapur is given the title of "Banaras of the South". Since ancient times, Banaras in northern India was a celebrated centre of learning.[10] During the Adil Shahis' administration of Bijapur, they promoted learning and education in the city.[27][28]

Culture[edit]

Music[edit]

The Adil Shahi monarchs were great lovers of music; some of them attained high order.[clarification needed] Yusuf Adil Shah played ‘'Tambur'’(Tambourine) and ‘'Ud'’ (lute). Ismail Adil Shah had high admiration for Central Asian music. Music received greater encouragement under Ibrahim Adil Shah II. He was the greatest musician of his age. He was poet and singer and maintained an inordinately a large number of musicians and minstrels (three or four thousand) at his court. The band of musicians was known as Lashkar-e-Nauras (army of Nauras) they were paid by the government regularly. At Nauraspur he constructed Sangeet Mahal and residential mansions for songsters, minstrels and dancing girls. With great pomp the festival of Nauras (musical concert) was celebrated during his time. In a number of paintings Ibrahim Adil Shah II was depicted playing musical instruments like ‘'Tambur'’, ‘'Sitar'’, ‘'Veena'’ and ‘'Guitar'’. Emperor Jahangir, and Mirza Asad Baig the Mughal envoy considerably praised Ibrahim Adil Shah II's love for music.[29]

Art and architecture[edit]

The Adil Shahi Sultans had concentrated their energies almost exclusively on architecture and the allied arts, each Sultan endeavouring to excel his predecessor in the number, size, or splendor of his building projects. The architecture of Bijapur is a combination of Persian, Ottoman Turkish and Deccani styles. It is amazing to note mat in Ibrahim Rouzah, Dilkusha Mahal (Mahatar Mahal), Malikah-e-Jahan Mosque, Jal Mahal, etc. the Bijapur sculptors have carved beautiful designs in stones, as the carpenters do in wood. The stucco plaster designing in some monuments is superb.[30]

Asar Mahal[edit]

Asar Mahal

Historian Firishta wrote that in the year 1599–1600, Mir Mohammed Swaleh Hamadani came to Bijapur. He had with him hair of the Muhammad ("Mooy-e-Mubarrak"). Sultan Ibrahim Adil shah heard of this and rejoiced. Met Mir Swaleh Hamdani, the King saw the hair and gave priceless gifts to Mir Sahab. Mir Sahab gave two strands of the hair to Sultan Ibrahim Adil Shah. At first, they were kept in Gagan Mahal, but during the reign of Adil Shah a huge fire burned down Gagan Mahal. Everything there burnt up, except the two boxes in which two strands of hair were kept. In the midst of the conflagration, a Sufi Saint named Syed Saheb Mohiuddin braved the flames, entered and carried the boxes out on his head; the Sultan then kept these boxes in Asar Mahal. The custody of "Mooy-e-Mubarrak" has been given to the saint Noor Muhammad Mushraff issued by AdliShahi Diwan.

It is said that in the year 1729–30 Adil Shah used to frequently view these strands of hair. On one occasion he asked all the Sufis of that time to come and see them. So Hashim Husaini and Sayyad Shah Murtuza Quadri came there and asked to open the boxes; they were opened in front of the nobles. But as they were opened a bright light flooded the place. Nobody could bear the brightness of the ray and they all fell unconscious. Everywhere there was a perfume and then everybody saw the hair. After that period it is said that the boxes were neither opened nor had a privilege.[8]

List of rulers[edit]

Main article: List of Sultans of Bijapur
Genealogy of Yusuf Adil Shah

See also[edit]

Part of a series on the
History of Karnataka
Topics
Polities
Categories
Part of a series on Islam
Sufism
Tomb of Abdul Qadir Gilani, Baghdad, Iraq
Ideas
Practices
Sufi orders
List of sufis
Topics in Sufism
Islam portal

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ With help of Maratha general Ghorpade[25]

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ Schwartzberg, Joseph E. (1978). A Historical atlas of South Asia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 147, map XIV.4 (k). ISBN 0226742210.
  2. ^ S.k.sinha (1968). Medieval History Of The Deccan. p. 171."the Adil Shahis was a sizeable state comprising of the whole of Karnataka, some Marati speaking districts, Sholapur and Osmanabad, Tanjore and Madura of the Tamilnad and some of the Zamindaris of the present Kerala State extending up to Cochin."
  3. ^ Baqir, Muhammad. "BĪJĀPŪR – Encyclopaedia Iranica". iranicaonline.org. Encyclopedia 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.
  4. ^ Satish Chandra, Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals, Part II, (Har-Anand, 2009), 210.
  5. ^ 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. S2CID 146630389.
  6. ^ Sheikh, Samira (2021). "Persian in the Villages, or, the Language of Jamiat Rai's Account Books". Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient. 64 (5–6): 704. doi:10.1163/15685209-12341551. The Adil Shahi rulers of Bijapur used written Marathi for local government, including revenue collection and judicial matters, as did the Nizam Shahis.
  7. ^ a b Footnote in Page 2 of Translator's preface in the book Tohfut-ul-mujahideen: An Historical Work in the Arabic Language written by Zayn al-Dīn b. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al- Malībārī (Translated into English by Lt. M.J. Rowlandson)
  8. ^ a b Muhammad Qasim Firishta's Tarikh-e-Firishta.
  9. ^ Busateenus-Salateen a Persian Manuscript of Mirza Ibrahim Zubairi.
  10. ^ a b Mirza Ibrahim Zubairi, Rouzatul Auliya-e-Bijapur.
  11. ^ Sen, Sailendra (2013). A Textbook of Medieval Indian History. Primus Books. p. 119. ISBN 978-9-38060-734-4.
  12. ^ The Peacock Throne by Waldemar Hansen. ISBN 978-81-208-0225-4. p. 468.
  13. ^ Chaurasia, Radhey Shyam (2002). History of Medieval India: From 1000 A.D. to 1707 A.D. p. 101.
  14. ^ Subrahmanyam, Sanjay (2012). Courtly Encounters: Translating Courtliness and Violence in Early Modern Eurasia. p. 101.
  15. ^ Meri, Josef W. (January 2006). Medieval Islamic Civilization, Volume 1 An Encyclopedia. Routledge. p. 108. ISBN 978-0-415-96691-7. In 1481, Yusuf 'Adil Khan, a Persian slave who claimed to descend from the Ottoman sultan Murad III, became the governor of Bijapur.
  16. ^ Vernon O. Egger (2016). A History of the Muslim World since 1260: The Making of a Global Community. Routledge. ISBN 9781315511078.
  17. ^ Clifford Edmund Bosworth (2007). Historic Cities of the Islamic World. BRILL. p. 55. ISBN 978-9004153882.
  18. ^ Haig 1925, p. 416.
  19. ^ a b Nikki R. Keddie,Rudi Matthee (2011). Iran and the Surrounding World: Interactions in Culture and Cultural Politics. University of Washington Press. p. 25. ISBN 9780295800240.
  20. ^ Bolar, Varija R (2012). "Turks in Karnataka" (PDF). International Journal of Social Studies 4 (1): 423.
  21. ^ Salma Ahmed Farooqui, A Comprehensive History of Medieval India: From Twelfth to the Mid-Eighteenth Century, (Dorling Kindersley, 2011), 174.[1]
  22. ^ Anwar, M. Siraj (1991). "The Safavids and Mughal Relations with the Deccan States". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 52: 255–262. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44142611.
  23. ^ Studies in Indology and Medieval History Prof. G. H. Khare Felicitation Volume, page 178
  24. ^ John Cornforth, Mausoleums and Minarets, Bijapur, India-II, Country Life, March-11, 1982.
  25. ^ Gier, Nicholas F. (2014). The Origins of Religious Violence: An Asian Perspective. Lexington Books. p. 13.
  26. ^ Mirza Asad Baig, Wakiyat-e-Asad Baig or Halaat-e-Asad Baig, Asad Baig’s Mission to Bijapur, 1959.
  27. ^ Zahuri Bin Zahur, Mohammad Namah,
  28. ^ Dr.Davare, T.N., A short History of Persian Literature.
  29. ^ Nooruddin Mohammad Jahangir, Tuzuk-e-Jahangiri.
  30. ^ Shaikh Muhammad Aslam Razvi.

Sources[edit]

Further reading[edit]

  • 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.

External links[edit]

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