Bahmani Sultanate

Also called: Bahmani kingdom · Topic: Vijayanagara and the Deccan · NCERT: Class 8, Ch 2 "Reshaping India's Political Map"; Class 12, Ch 3 "An Imperial Capital: Vijayanagara"

Meaning

The Bahmani Sultanate (also called the Bahmani kingdom) was a sultanate in the Deccan. It was set up in 1347 by Alauddin Bahman Shah, with the backing of army commanders who had rebelled against the Sultan of Delhi [3]. Between 1490 and 1518 it broke up into the five Deccan Sultanates [3].

It matters because it was Vijayanagara's main rival in the north for almost two centuries. The kingdoms that grew out of it kept fighting the rayas after it was gone.

Explanation

Background: born from the same revolt as Vijayanagara

• In the 14th century, Delhi lost its hold over the Deccan.
• Delhi Sultanate armies had conquered the Kakatiya and Kampili kingdoms [2].
• Muhammad bin Tughlaq could not keep these far-off lands under control.

• Local governors and commanders took the chance to set up states of their own.

• Vijayanagara came first, in 1336. It was founded by Harihara and Bukka, who had been governors under Muhammad bin Tughlaq and threw off Delhi's authority.

• The Bahmani state followed in 1347, eleven years later. Alauddin Bahman Shah founded it with help from other commanders who rebelled against the Sultan of Delhi [3].
• So both states were products of the same crisis. Both were set up by men who broke away from Delhi.

Main features

• Capitals [3]:
• Ahsanabad (now Gulbarga), from 1347 to 1425.

• Muhammadabad (now Bidar), from 1425 onwards.

• Rule through provincial governors. The kingdom was divided into provinces. Each was run by a tarafdar (a provincial governor of the Bahmani state).

• Military identity. In popular tradition the Deccan Sultans were called ashvapati ("lord of horses"), because their strength was cavalry (soldiers on horseback). NCERT marks this title as popular tradition.

Wars with Vijayanagara: why they fought

• Prize 1: fertile river valleys.
• The Raichur doab (the land between the rivers Krishna and Tungabhadra) was the main prize.

• It gave grain, tax and soldiers.

• Prize 2: income from overseas trade.

• Ports, and the goods passing through them, brought cash.

• The horse trade mattered most. Both sides needed war-horses for their armies.

• The wars were about money and land, not just religion. All the rival states wanted the same valleys and the same trade income.

• War did not stop cultural borrowing. NCERT notes that the rival states shared architectural ideas even while they were at war.

Results: break-up into five Deccan Sultanates

• The tarafdars gradually turned their provinces into kingdoms of their own.
• According to Britannica, the break-up took place between 1490 and 1518 [3].
• Five successor states came out of it: Bijapur, Golconda, Berar, Ahmednagar, Bidar.
• These five Deccan Sultanates went on fighting Vijayanagara for the same doab and trade.

Time, place and evidence

• Period: from 1347 until its break-up between c. 1490 and 1518 [3].
• Region: the northern Deccan, north of the Krishna–Tungabhadra line. Its southern neighbour was Vijayanagara, and the Gajapatis of Orissa (set up in 1435) lay to the east.
• Named sites: Gulbarga (Ahsanabad) and Bidar (Muhammadabad), the two capitals [3].
• Key people:
• Alauddin Bahman Shah, the founder [3].
• The tarafdars, the governors who broke the kingdom up.

• The rival rulers to the south: Harihara and Bukka of the Sangama dynasty of Vijayanagara [2].

• How we know:

• NCERT Class 8, Ch 2 and Class 12, Ch 3 set it in the Deccan political setting.
• Britannica [3] gives the founding, the capitals and the dates of the break-up.

Don't confuse with

• Five Deccan Sultanates: these were the successors of the Bahmani kingdom (Bijapur, Golconda, Berar, Ahmednagar, Bidar), not the Bahmani kingdom itself. Bidar is a trap: it was the second Bahmani capital and one of the five successor sultanates.
• Vijayanagara (Sangama dynasty): founded in 1336 by Harihara and Bukka, south of the Tungabhadra. The Bahmani kingdom came 11 years later (1347), to the north.
• Gajapatis of Orissa: set up in 1435 on the eastern side. Their title was gajapati (lord of elephants), while the Deccan Sultans were ashvapati (lord of horses).
• Battle of Rakshasi-Tangadi (Talikota), 1565: this battle was fought between Vijayanagara and the later Deccan Sultanates, not the Bahmani kingdom, which had broken up decades earlier.

Prelims Hooks

• Bahmani Sultanate: 1347, founded by Alauddin Bahman Shah [3].
• Capitals in order: Gulbarga (Ahsanabad), 1347–1425 → Bidar (Muhammadabad) [3].
• Chronology: Vijayanagara (1336) → Bahmani (1347) → Gajapatis of Orissa (1435).
• Tarafdars = Bahmani provincial governors who broke away and founded their own kingdoms.
• The five successor sultanates: Bijapur, Golconda, Berar, Ahmednagar, Bidar. They split off between 1490 and 1518 [3].
• Title trap: ashvapati = Deccan Sultans; gajapati = Orissa; narapati = the rayas of Vijayanagara (popular tradition).

Mains Points

• Twin products of one crisis. The collapse of Tughlaq control over the Deccan, after the Kakatiya and Kampili conquests, left a power gap.
• Harihara and Bukka filled it in the south in 1336.
• Alauddin Bahman Shah and the rebel commanders filled it in the north in 1347 [3].

• The Deccan's rival states were born from breakaways from Delhi, not from old local dynasties.

• Resources, not religion. The Bahmani–Vijayanagara wars were fought over the Raichur doab and overseas-trade income, especially horses. The shared architectural ideas across enemy lines weaken a simple Hindu-versus-Muslim reading of Deccan history.

• Built-in weakness of provincial rule. Giving large provinces to tarafdars made governors strong enough to break away. Between 1490 and 1518 one sultanate became five [3], and the old rivalry with Vijayanagara now ran through these five states.

Related concepts

• Vijayanagara Empire
• Harihara and Bukka
• Vidyaranya
• Alauddin Hasan Bahman Shah
• Afaqis and Dakhnis
• Mahmud Gawan
• Bahmani madrasa, Bidar
• Deccan sultanates
• Adil Shahi dynasty
• Ibrahim Adil Shah II

Read more

• Foundation and the Deccan political setting