Bahmani Kingdom

"Bahmani" redirects here. For places in Iran, see Bahmani, Iran.

Bahmani Kingdom
سلطان‌نشین بهمنی
1347–1527
The Bahmani Sultanate at its greatest extent in 1473 under regent Mahmud Gawan[1][2]
The Bahmani Sultanate at its greatest extent in 1473 under regent Mahmud Gawan[1][2]
StatusSultanate
Capital
Official languagesPersian[3]
Common languagesMarathi
Deccani
Telugu
Kannada
Religion
Sunni Islam[4]
Shia Islam[4][5]
Sufism[6]
GovernmentMonarchy
Sultan 
• 1347–1358
Ala-ud-Din Bahman Shah
• 1525–1527
Kalim-Allah Shah
Historical eraLate Medieval
• Established
3 August 1347
• Disestablished
1527
CurrencyTaka
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Delhi Sultanate
Bijapur Sultanate
Golconda Sultanate
Ahmadnagar Sultanate
Berar Sultanate
Bidar Sultanate
Today part ofIndia

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,[7] 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 Bahmani Kingdom was perpetually at war with its neighbours, including its rival to the south, the Vijayanagara Empire, which outlasted the sultanate.[8] The Bahmani Sultans also patronized architectural works. The Mahmud Gawan Madrasa was created by Mahmud Gawan, the vizier regent who was prime minister of the sultanate from 1466 until his execution in 1481 during a conflict between the foreign (Afaqis) and local (Deccanis) nobility. Bidar Fort was built by Ahmad Shah I (r. 1422–36), who relocated the capital to the city of Bidar. Ahmad Shah led campaigns against Vijayanagar and the sultanates of Malwa and Gujarat. His campaign against Vijayanagar in 1423 included a siege of the capital, ending in the expansion of the Sultanate. Mahmud Gawan would later lead campaigns against Malwa, Vijayanagar, and the Gajapatis, and extended the sultanate to its maximum extent.

The sultanate began to decline under Mahmood Shah. Through a combination of factional strife and the revolt of five provincial governors (tarafdars), the Bahmani Sultanate split up into five states, known as the Deccan sultanates. The initial revolts of Yusuf Adil Shah, Malik Ahmad Nizam Shah I, and Fathullah Imad-ul-Mulk in 1490 and Qasim Barid I in 1492 saw the end of any real Bahmani power, and the last independent sultanate, Golkonda, in 1518, ended the Bahmanis' 180 year rule over the Deccan. The last four Bahmani rulers were puppet monarchs under Amir Barid I of the Bidar Sultanate, and the kingdom formally dissolved in 1527.[9][10]

  1. ^ "Schwartzberg Atlas — Digital South Asia Library". dsal.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  2. ^ Chandra, Satish (2014). History of Medieval India 800–1700 A.D. pp. 146–148.
  3. ^ Ansari 1988, pp. 494–499.
  4. ^ a b Khalidi, Umar (1990). "The Shiʿites of the Deccan: An Introduction". Rivista degli studi orientali. 64, Fasc. 1/2, SGUARDI SULLA CULTURA A SCIITA NEL DECCAN GLANCES ON SHI'ITE DECCAN CULTURE: 5.
  5. ^ John Morris Roberts, Odd Arne Westad (2013). The History of the World. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199936762.
  6. ^ Eaton 1978, p. 49.
  7. ^ Ansari, N.H. "Bahmanid Dynasty". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
  8. ^ George C. Kohn (2006). Dictionary of Wars. Infobase Publishing. ISBN 9781438129167.
  9. ^ Haig, 1925, pp. 425–426.
  10. ^ History of The Deccan. Mittal Publications. 1990. p. 15.