Bahmani Kingdom

Bahmani Kingdom| Indian History

The Bahmani kingdom was founded by Alauddin Hasan in 1347. After his coronation, he assumed the title of Alauddin Hasan Bahman Shah (1347-58), it is from this title that the kingdom was called the Bahmani kingdom. He established his capital at Gulbarga which remained till 1424, after which the capital was shifted to Bidar by Ahmad Shah. In the Gulbarga phase, Taj-ud-din Firoz Shah (1397- 1422) was the greatest Sultan.

The most important step taken by him was the induction of Hindus in the administration on a large scale. Ahmad Shah I was called a saint {wall) on account of his associa­tion with the famous saint Gesu Dara.

Mahammad Shah III (1463-82) put to death his Vakil and Wazir Mahamud Gawan. Entitled Khwaja-i-Jahan he served three Bahmani rulers, Humayun (1457-61), Nizam Shah (minor) (1461-63) and Muhammad Shah III. As a great scholar and patron of learning he founded a magnificent college and a library at Bidar. After Gawan’s execution the Bahamani kingdom began to decline and disintegrates.

Breakup of the Bahmani kingdom:

1. The State of Bijapur was founded by Yusuf Adil Shah in 1489 A.D. Ibrahim (1534-58) was the first Bijapuri ruler to replace Persian by Hindvi (Dakhini Urdu) as the official language. Ibrahim II (1580-1627) was affectionately called Jagadguru by his subjects. Muhammad Adil Shah lies buried in the Gol Gumbaz. Bijapur was annexed by Aurangzeb in 1686.

2. Ahmednagar—The founder of Nizam Shahi dvnasty was Ahmad Bahri in 1490. This was conquered by Shahjahan in 1633.

3. Berar—The Imad Shahi dynasty at Berarwas founded by Fatullah Imad-ul-Mulk in 1490 A.D. This state had the shortest life span as it was annexed by Nizam Shahis in 1574 A.D

4. Golcunda—The Qutub Shahi dynasty was founded by Auli Qutub Shah in 1518. Muhammad Quli was the founder of the city of Hyderabad. Aurangzeb annexed Golcunda in 1687.

5. Bidar—The Barid Shahi dynasty was founded by Ali Barid in 1518. Bidar was later annexed by the Adil Shahis of Bijapur.

*Administration of India under the Bahmani Kingdom 

In this article we will discuss about administration of India under the Bahmani kingdom during medieval period.

The rulers of the Bahmani kingdom accepted Abbasaid-Khalifas as their overlord though, in fact, they were independent rulers and behaved accordingly. The first ruler of the kingdom, Bahman Shah could not get much time to look after the administration as he mostly remained busy in fighting.

Muhammad Tughluq had divided his territories in the Deccan into four provinces. Bahman Shah kept that arrangement as it was except that he appointed his own officers everywhere. Muhammad Shah I divided the kingdom into four Atrafs (provinces) whose capitals were Daultabad, Berar, Bidar and Gulbarga respectively.

Provincial governors called Tarfdars with extensive administrative and military powers were appointed in each of these provinces. Tarfdar collected revenue from his province, organised the provincial army and appointed all civil and military officers of his province. Sometimes Tarfdars were appointed ministers of the king as well.

When the kingdom became further extensive and Mahmud Gavan worked as prime minister, the number of provinces was raised from four to eight. Mahmud Gavan attempted to restrict the powers of provincial governors and, for that purpose, fixed some land as the land of the Sultan in each province which was managed by the officers of the central government. Provinces or Atrafs were divided into Sarkars and Sarkars were divided into Paraganas for the convenience of administration. The lowest unit of the administration was the village.

The head of the state was the Sultan who enjoyed all executive, legislative and judicial powers within the state. There was no legal limit to his powers and some of them called themselves the representatives of God on earth. But, in practice, the powers of the Sultan were limited by the powers and advice of powerful ministers and nobles.

The Sultan was assisted by ministers in the administration. The prime minister was called Vakil-us-Sultanat, the finance minister Amir-i-Jumla and the foreign minister Vazir-i-Asraf. There were two other ministers called the Vazir-i-kul and the Peshwa but their responsibilities were not fixed up.

Sometimes the provincial Tarfdars were also appointed as ministers. The chief judicial officer, after the Sultan, was called the Sadr-i-Jahar. Besides being the judicial officer, he looked after religious affairs and charitable works performed by the state.

The Bahmani kingdom constantly fought against neighbouring Hindu states and therefore, had to keep a large standing army. The head of the army, after the Sultan, was called the Amir-ul-umra. The Sultan kept his personal bodyguards called the Khas-i-Khel. The Bahmani kingdom maintained an artillery as well besides the cavalry, the infantry and war-elephants.

Shihabuddin Ahmad I introduced Mansabdari system in the army wherein the military officers were assigned jagirs according to their mansabs or ranks to meet the expenses of the armies raised by them. The civilian officers were also assigned mansabs with a view to fix up their salaries.

However, the Jagirdars were required to submit the statement of their income and expenditure to the Central government. The officers incharge of forts, Kiledars were also directly responsible to the central government.

Sultans, mansabdars and the nobles enjoyed all sorts of luxuries which was a proof that the Bahmani kingdom was prosperous. However, no evidence is available regarding condition of ordinary people. Probably, as in other parts of India, the common people led a simple life.

The Bahmani kingdom helped in the growth of Muslim culture in south India. Followers of Islam from north India and foreign countries established themselves in the Bahmani kingdom. Different rulers patronized Muslim scholars and religious preachers.

Even after the disintegration of the Bahmani kingdom, the rulers of those states which arose on the ruins of it patronized Muslim saints, scholars, artists, etc., and constructed madarsas and several other buildings, and, thus, participated in spreading the Muslim culture in south India.

The conflict with Hindu rulers of south India also forced the rulers of the Bahmani kingdom to provide political and cultural leadership to Islam in the South. Thus, the Bahmani kingdom contributed towards the politics and culture of south India for a long time.

*The Rise and Fall of the Bahamni Kingdom

The emergence of Bahamni Kingdom was the outcome of the fantastic policies of Muhammad Tughalq which failed and became responsible for weakening his hold over the distant areas of his empire.

Taking advantage of the weak rule of the Tughlaq empire, Hasan, an erstwhile Afghan Officer in his service founded the Bahamni dynasty in 1347 A.D. Along with Bahamni, Vijayanagara Kingdom also came into being.

Hasan’s earlier name was Zafar Khan. He along with several Afghan Amirs had been deployed by Muhammad Tughlaq to exercise control in the Deccan.

However in due course, the emperor had begun to suspect their royalty and they revolted and defeated the army sent by the emperor to subdue them.

According to Ferishta, Hasan had served a Brahmn astrologer named Gangu and he named the dynasty Bahamni after assuming his personal name Bahamn out of gratitude for his Brahamn master. After sometimes he added the name Gangu after Hasan.

According to another version, Hasan claimed his descent from an early Persian King Bahaman Shah.

On ascending the throne, Hasan assumed the title of Ala-ud-Din Hasan Bahaman Shah.

The Bahamni empire under Hasan extended from Daultabad in the west to Bhongir in Tellinga in the east and from the Warrangal river to the north of Krishna in the South. Debhal was an important sea port.

Hasan ruled for eleven years from 1347 to 1358.

For administrative purposes, he divided his empire into four parts and appointed governor for each part.

According to Ferishta, Hasan was very generous. He followed a policy of goodwill.

Isamai has stated that he was the first Muslim ruler of India who ordered that ‘Jaziya’ should not be levied on the Hindus.

Hasan allowed all agricultural produce to be imported in his Kingdom without any duties.

Fall of the Bahamni Kingdom:

The Bahamni Kingdom lasted for about 180 years. Of the eighteen rulers of this kingdom, five were murdered, three were deposed, two died of excessive drinking and another two were blinded. Most of the rulers were tyrants and mostly remained busy in fighting among themselves and with the neighbouring Hindu Kingdoms particularly Vijayanagara.

The following five Kingdoms came into being after the break-up of the Bahamni Kingdom:

1. Imad Shahi Kingdom of Berar, founded by Ullah Imad Shah in 1488.

2. Adil Shahi Kingdom of Bijapur, founded by Malik Ahmad in 1489.

3. Nizam Shahi Kingdom of Ahmednagar, founded by Malik Ahmad in 1490.

4. Qutab Shahi Kingdom of Golkunda, founded by Qutab Shah in 1512.

5. Barid Shahi Kingdom of Bidar, founded by Kasim Barid in 1526.

These five Muslim states of South India fought against each other but their primary enemy remained the Hindu Kingdom of Vijayanagara. In 1565, the four states barring Berar formed a confederacy and fought against Vijayanagara in the battle of Talikota and gave a crushing defeat to it. Thereafter Ahmednagar conquered Berar in 1574 and Bijapur annexed Bidar in 1618-1619. The Mughal emperor Akbar occupied a part of Ahmednagar and the rest of it was occupied by Shah Jahan. The states of Bijapur and Golkunda were finally annexed by Aurangzab.