Deccan sultanates

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

Meaning

The Deccan sultanates were five kingdoms, Bijapur, Golconda, Berar, Ahmednagar and Bidar. They were formed when the Bahmani Sultanate broke up, between 1490 and 1518 [3]. They often fought Vijayanagara, but sometimes allied with it. In 1565 three of them, Bijapur, Ahmadnagar and Golconda, joined forces and defeated Vijayanagara.

They matter because they ruled the Deccan for over a century. Their joint victory in 1565 ended Vijayanagara's power. Later, Mughal and Maratha politics in the Deccan grew out of their world.

Explanation

Background: the Bahmani Sultanate breaks up

• The Bahmani Sultanate was set up in 1347 by Alauddin Bahman Shah. Army commanders who had rebelled against the Sultan of Delhi backed him [3].
• Its capitals:
• Ahsanabad (now Gulbarga), 1347–1425

• then Muhammadabad (now Bidar) [3]

• Each province was run by a tarafdar (a provincial governor of the Bahmani state).

• How the break-up happened:
• The tarafdars grew strong in their own provinces.
• They stopped obeying the Bahmani centre.
• Each one turned his province into a separate kingdom. This happened between 1490 and 1518 [3].

The five sultanates and their ruling families

Sultanate	Ruling family (textbook name)
Bijapur	Adil Shahi
Ahmednagar	Nizam Shahi
Golconda	Qutb Shahi
Berar	Imad Shahi
Bidar	Barid Shahi

• Berar and Bidar were small and did not last long. Larger neighbours later took them over: Ahmednagar took Berar, and Bijapur took Bidar.
• Bijapur, Ahmednagar and Golconda were the three strong ones that lasted.

Relations with Vijayanagara: rivals and sometimes allies

• What they fought over:
• Fertile river valleys, above all the Raichur doab (the land between the Krishna and the Tungabhadra). It gave grain, tax and soldiers.

• Overseas-trade revenue from ports, especially the horse trade, which brought cash and war-horses.

• According to popular tradition, the Deccan Sultans were called ashvapati ("lord of horses"). This title shows their strength in cavalry (soldiers on horseback). The rayas of Vijayanagara were called narapati ("lord of men") and the Orissa rulers Gajapati ("lord of elephants").

• The alliances kept changing:
• The sultanates also fought each other.
• Vijayanagara's chief minister Rama Raya tried to play one Sultan against another. He joined first one side, then the other.

• In the end the Sultans combined against him.

• The two sides shared culture. Even while at war, they borrowed architectural ideas from each other. This shows the conflict was about land and money, not only religion.

Results: 1565 and after

• 1565: Battle of Rakshasi-Tangadi (also called Talikota). The combined armies of Bijapur, Ahmadnagar and Golconda defeated Rama Raya.
• The armies looted the city of Vijayanagara, and soon it was abandoned.

• Vijayanagara's power moved south and grew weaker.

• The sultanates did not stay united. They soon went back to fighting each other.

• They then lost to the Mughals:
• Ahmednagar fell to the Mughals in stages in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

• Aurangzeb conquered Bijapur (1686) and Golconda (1687).

• Link to the Marathas: Many Maratha warrior families served the sultanates. Shahji Bhonsle, Shivaji's father, served Ahmadnagar and Bijapur. Shivaji's early state was carved out mainly from Bijapur land.

Time, place and evidence

• Period: c. 1490–1518 (when they formed [3]) to the late 17th century (when the Mughals conquered them).
• Region: the Deccan plateau, north of the Krishna–Tungabhadra line. Vijayanagara lay to the south and the Gajapatis of Orissa to the east.
• Capitals: Bijapur, Ahmednagar, Golconda, Bidar, and Berar in the north-east Deccan. Bidar had earlier been the Bahmani capital [3].
• Key people: Alauddin Bahman Shah (founded the Bahmani state) [3]; Rama Raya of Vijayanagara (defeated in 1565); Aurangzeb (conquered Bijapur and Golconda).
• How we know:
• Court chronicles of the sultanates.
• Inscriptions on stone and copper plates.
• Accounts by foreign visitors to the Deccan. Visitors from Arabia, Italy, Portugal and Russia wrote about Vijayanagara [2].
• Surviving buildings, such as forts, mosques and tombs at the sultanate capitals.

Don't confuse with

• Bahmani Sultanate: the parent state. It was one kingdom, set up in 1347 with capitals at Gulbarga and then Bidar [3]. The five sultanates came out of it c. 1490–1518.
• Gajapatis of Orissa: set up in 1435 on Vijayanagara's eastern side. They were a separate rival, not one of the five sultanates.
• Battle of 1565 (Rakshasi-Tangadi/Talikota): only three sultanates fought it (Bijapur, Ahmadnagar, Golconda). The question "all five sultanates fought" is a trap.
• Bidar (sultanate) vs Bidar (Bahmani capital): the same city. It was the Bahmani capital from 1425 [3] and later the seat of one of the five sultanates.

Prelims Hooks

• The five Deccan sultanates: Bijapur, Golconda, Berar, Ahmednagar, Bidar. They broke away from the Bahmani state between 1490 and 1518 [3].
• The breakaway Bahmani governors were called tarafdars.
• Ruling families: Bijapur – Adil Shahi; Ahmednagar – Nizam Shahi; Golconda – Qutb Shahi; Berar – Imad Shahi; Bidar – Barid Shahi.
• Correct order: Bahmani Sultanate (1347) → Gajapatis (1435) → break-up into five sultanates (1490–1518) → Rakshasi-Tangadi/Talikota (1565).
• The Deccan Sultans were called ashvapati (lord of horses). Gajapati was the title of Orissa's rulers and narapati that of the rayas.
• Aurangzeb annexed Bijapur in 1686 and Golconda in 1687.

Mains Points

• The wars were over resources, not religion. The sultanates and Vijayanagara fought for the Raichur doab and for trade and horse-trade revenue. The alliances crossed religious lines: Rama Raya joined one Sultan against another. Both sides also shared architectural ideas. So a simple Hindu-versus-Muslim reading of Deccan history does not hold.
• Breaking up made them weak. The sultanates were born when Bahmani governors broke away. They then kept fighting each other. They united only once, in 1565, and that was enough to defeat Vijayanagara. Their quarrels later made it easier for the Mughals to conquer them one by one.
• They shaped later Deccan history. Maratha families like Shahji's gained military and administrative experience in sultanate service. Shivaji built his state on the edges of Bijapur. Aurangzeb's long Deccan campaigns, which included conquering Bijapur and Golconda, drained Mughal resources.

Related concepts

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

Read more

• Foundation and the Deccan political setting