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CHAPTER – I

INTRODUCTION

The true history of a country does not consists in the

endless procession of kingdoms, despots, the court intrigues, the

interminable wars waged by the kings and the suppression of

rebellions, but in the life of people in its different aspects.

A study of administrative institution of an empire of the

daily activities of the people, their religious and economics

progress is at least as important as its political history. A study

of political history is important as V.A. Smith rightly opined,

“The more attractive story of the development of Indian thoughts

as express in religion and philosophy, literature, art and science

cannot be written intelligibly unless it is built on the solid

foundation of dynastic history, which alone can furnish the

indispensable, chronological basis”.

In one scene the history of the world is the history of the

empires. The world has witness, rise, growth and decay of many

empires such as the Egyptians, the Babylonians and the

Assyrian, similarly India was the home of the empires, the

Nandas, the Mauryas, the Guptas, the Cholas, the Bahmani and

the Vijayanagara, have left behind valuable traces of their

existence which keeps green in our memory even till this day. It

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is in this background an attempt is made to study the history

and culture of Bidar from 14th century to 1948 A.D to examine

and compare under the Bahmanis that once ruled the

significance portion of the South India known as Deccan, still

better known as the history of Hyderabad-Karnataka during the

medieval times.

Aims and Objectives of the Study:

Establishment of Bahmani kingdom marks the beginning

of the development of Indo-Islamic culture in the Deccan, though

there had been Muslim settlement in different parts of the

peninsula, but they could not have till then made a systematic

and over all contribution to Indian culture and society.

As research is an activity to be undertaken to bring out

something new to extend the horizon of knowledge and to

contribute some original ideas. The aims and objectives of the

study are infact an academic pursuit of a researcher to know

categorically about something on the basis of new findings. They

are as follows:

* At the outset to study, the origin, growth and development of

the Bahmani kingdom in the Medieval Deccan.

* To ascertain and analyze the contribution of the Bahmani

kingdoms to the eventful and colourful history of the Bidar.

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* Bidar under Bahmani rule.

* Khwaja Mahmud Gawan’s contribution.

* Disruption of Bahmani kingdom.

* Bidar - Bijapur relation.

* Bidar - Vijayanagara relation

* Aurangzeb’s conquest of Bidar.

* History of Asaf Jahi dynasty.

* Status of Bidar under Nizams.

Significance of the Study:

The present study is aimed at examining and comparing

the political history of rulers. The study of political history has

been neglected. The present study falls in the area of

administration during the medieval period under Bahmanis. The

area of political history was exhausted that there was little scope

for further contribution. It is in this background that the

researcher wants to examine the multidimensional manifestation

of Bidar culture, the different elements, which have been

observed from different sources and assimilation to produce final

results. Hence an humble attempt is made by the researcher to

study the history and culture of Bidar.

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Nature and Scope of the Study:

The researcher working on the thesis or dissertation is

expected to define the nature, the scope and the extent of the

study. As far as the nature of the present study is concern, it

may be described as the imperial study. It has been shown

earlier that no independent research, analyzing the different

facet of history and culture of Bidar has been undertaken.

The primary sources comprising of manuscripts and

inscriptions like literary sources in the Arabic, Urdu and Persian

languages, the account of foreign travelers like, Paes, Fernao

Nuniz, Abdur Razzaque, Barbosa, Nikitin and others stands a

testimony.

The scope of the study may be determined in the different

aspects. Here an attempt is made to study the different phases

in the history of Bahmani kingdom from its foundation in 1347

A.D to its disintegration giving rise to the five independent

kingdoms. The Imad Shahi of Berar, the Adil Shahi of Bijapur,

the Nizam Shahi of Ahmednagar, the Qutub Shahi of Golconda,

and the Barid Shahi of Bidar, will be practically difficult to cover

the entire political history of above dynasties. Therefore the

present study will attempt to examine interrelationship among

the three dynasties, i.e, Bahmanis, the Barid Shahis and the

Nizams.

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Evaluation of Sources and Methodology:

The study is historical as well as analytical and it is fully

based on the historical records which consist of primary,

secondary, contemporary and others unpublished works which

will be of great help. The history of a country is the record of

incidents. Every incidents of a country cannot said to be of a

historical important. Consequently it is the secret duty of

researcher to present before the readers only those facts which

are historically important and present them in their true

perspective.

Renowned scholars like Prof. H.K. Sherwani, S.K. Sinha,

Dr. S.A.Q. Hussain, Dr. P.M. Joshi, Dr. T.N. Devare, Dr. K.K.

Basu, Dr. K.R. Basavaraj, Sir W. Heague, K.A. Shastri, and

others, have brought to light many new materials on the history

of the Bahmani kingdom, through their numerous articles on

new inscriptions published by them. The account of foreign

travelers constitutes valuable source on the history of the

Bahmani kingdom. The sources are rich in volume, variety and

interest and gives details about the life, customs, and traditions

of the people under the Bahmani rule.

Concerned to the subject a large number of original

unpublished and published sources are available in Persian,

Marathi (Modi), Urdu and English. In this research work an

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extensive use of such sources is made. In addition, the study is

supplemented also by an epigraphic, the numismatic and the

secondary sources.

Regarding the nature of sources concerned they are

scattered and not exclusively meant for present topic. This is

same in respect of all ruling powers of Bidar. The scattered

sources are properly studied and channelised, as the bees gather

honey. This has been realized only by travelling widely,

researcher have tapped the sources from the several Libraries,

Museums, Archives and Archaeological Survey of India offices of

different states. In accordance with the ruling powers of Bidar

the evolution of the sources is made. It is as under:

Gulshan-i-Ibrahimi or Nauras Nama or Tarikh-i-Ferishtah:

The author of this celebrated chronicle was Muhammad

Qasim Hindu Shah Ferishtah. He was born at Astarabad, on the

borders of the Caspian Sea, about A.D 1570. Ghulam Ali Hindu

Shah, his father, left the country of his birth and came over to

the court of Murtuza Nizam Shah where he was appointed tutor

of Prince Miran Hussain. He, however, died shortly after leaving

Ferishtah in his early youth. Ferishtah was able to find out a

place for himself in the court. He became confidential councilor

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of Murtuza Nizam Shah and held the office of captain of the

Guard.

After the murder of Prince Miran Hussain, Ferishtah

withdrew to Bijapur in the year 1589 A.D and was kindly

received by Dilawar Khan, the regent, who presented him to

Ibrahim Adil Shah-II. He fought on the side of Bijapur in the

battle which preceded the downfall of the regent and was taken

prisoner by Jamal Khan, the general of Ahmednagar. He,

however, effected his escape shortly and was again introduced to

the king by Inayat Khan of Shiraz about the year 1593 A.D.

Ibrahim Adil Shah-II gave him a copy of Rauzat-us-Safa and

remarked that no competent had written a general history of the

Muslims in India, except Nizamuddin, and even his work was too

brief and imperfect as regards the Deccan. He was then

entrusted the task of writing a general history of India in detail,

particularly of the Deccan, based on facts and devoid of

falsehood and flattery.

In A.D 1594 Ferishtah escorted Princess Begum Sultana

from Bijapur to Ahmednagar and was present at her nuptials

with Prince Daniyal Mirza at Mungi Paitan. He attained her up to

Burhanpur in Khandesh. He was also deputed on a mission to

the Emperor Jahangir whom he met near Lahore in 1606 A.D.

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Ferishtah continued to write his history till 1612 A.D,

although his account of the history of Bijapur goes only upto

1596 A.D where it ends abruptly.

Ferishtah named his book first as Gulshan-i-Ibrahimi

and after making some changes re-named it as Nauras Nama.

The former name is connected with Ibrahim Adil Shah-II and the

latter with the new capital, Nauraspur, founded by his patron.

But his work is universally known as Tarikh-i-Ferishtah. The

first draft of the work was submitted to Ibrahim Adil Shah-II in

A.D 1606, but he continued to revise the work during the rest of

his life.

The work is divided into twelve chapters besides

introduction and conclusion. The work commences from the

early Islamic period, the history of which Ferishtah says he

compiled from thirty five different histories.

Although it is a general history of the whole country,

provincial dynasties have not been neglected. A detailed account

of some of them is given in the book1.

In short, Ferishtah’s history contains a mass of facts,

figures and dates unsurpassed in the existing chronicles of

Medieval India. The author is reputed as one of the trust

worthiest of oriental historians. His work has come to be

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regarded as a classic and still maintains a high place as an

authority.

Burhan-i-Maathir:

This book was compiled by Sayed Ali-bin-Tabatabai. It is

essentially a history of the Nizam Shahi dynasty of Ahmednagar

and desires its name from Burhan Nizam Shah-II under whose

patronage the work was written. It begins from the Bahmani

kingdom and comes down to the latter part of A.D 1595-96. The

style of the work is more ornate than Ferishtah’s history and in

general completeness is inferior to the latter. It throws light on

the relations between Bijapur and Ahmednagar and serves as

useful complement to the other source material. The part of the

work dealing with history of the Bahmani dynasty was translated

by Major J.S. King and published in 1900 A.D. Sir Wolsley Haig

translated the part dealing with Nizam Shahi dynasty.

Tazkirat-ul-Muluk:2

The author of this work was Mir Rafiuddin-bin-Nuruddin

Taufique Hussain Shirazi. He was born about 1540-41A.D. He

came to Bijapur as a merchant and gyrated into Bijapur service

in the time of Ali Adil Shah-I. He served in different capacities as

royal secretary, minter master, ambassador, governor of Bijapur,

guardian of Fateh Khan (Ibrahim Adil Shah-II’s Son), etc. He

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began to write his Tazkira in 1608 A.D and completed it in 1635

A.D.

In his work he dealt the history of Bahmanis, Adil

Shahis, Nizam Shahis, Safawi Shahs of Persia, Malik Ambar, etc.

His account is most valuable for the reign of Ali Adil Shah-I of

Bijapur, because he was a contemporary and an eye-witness in

many events of history of Bijapur. He was present in the battle of

Talikota (1565). Except some events, Shirazis history is almost

the same as that compiled by Ferishtah.

Tabaqat-i-Akbari:

Tabaqat-i-Akbari written by Khwaja Nizamuddin Ahmed,

the author has styled it Tabaqat-i-Akbar Shahi and it is also

called Tarikh-i-Nizami after the name of the author. But in the

literary circle it is best known by the title of Tabaqat-i-Akbari.

The author was the son of Khwaja Muqim Harawi who held the

office of Diwan of house hold under Babur and had also

subsequently served under Akbar. After his death Khwaja

Nizamuddin was appointed to the office of Bakshi of Gujarat. He

died in 1594 A.D near Lahore.

His work comprises and introduction, nine books and a

conclusion of few lines which is apparently incomplete. His work

is one of the most celebrated histories of India, and India alone

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forms its subject matter. Ferishtah in his introduction says that

of all the histories he consulted it is the only one he found

complete. Mr. Erskine considers Nizamuddin to be perhaps the

best historian of the period, and Col. Lees is unable to conceive

the reason why his work has not attracted more attention.

Book-II which gives the histories of the Bahmanis and Adil

Shahis has been of some use for the present work. The account

of Adil Shahis is very brief but it throws light on some obscure

points and thus supplements the information given by

Ferishtah. It has been translated by Brajendranath. The

translation was completed by Baini Prasad and was published in

Bibliotheca Indica series in 1939 A.D.

Padshah Nama:

This work was written by Abdul Hamid Lahori. Nothing is

known about the birth of the author. Shah Jahan had entrusted

him with the task of compiling the history of his reign. His work

covers the first twenty years of the reign of Shah Jahan. The

author died in 1654 A.D3.

Abdul Hamid Lahori was an admirer of Abul Fazl and

followed his style. His style, therefore, is also verbose, turgid and

fulsome but at times he narrates simple fact in simple language.

It gives the minutest details of all the transactions in which Shah

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Jahan was engaged. The work is voluminous and covers 1662

pages which are divided into two volumes. It gives detailed

information about the Deccan campaigns of the Mughals.

Maasir-i-Alamgiri:4

This is an official history of Emperor Aurangzeb compiled

by Muhammad Saqi Mustaid Khan in a chronological order from

the court circulars and secret correspondence made between the

court and the news writers, posted at all important places in the

Empire. The author had held a number of offices and also acted

as Waqai Navis. The work of this chronicle was completed in

1710 A.D, which is extremely valuable for the reign of

Aurangzeb, his Deccan campaigns, against Bijapur, Golconda

and the Marathas. It gives in details Aurangzeb’s diplomacy, his

military movements, fall of Bijapur, organization of

administration of Bijapur Subaa, its Subedars, Mughal conquest

in ex-kingdom of Bijapur, etc. This work is just like a day to day

record of Aurangzeb’s reign.

Afnasy Nikitin:

He was a Russian traveller, came to India in 1468 A.D and

remained here upto 1472. He met Khwaja Mahmud Gawan, the

Bahmani minister, and traveled through the Bahmani kingdom.

His account throws light on the prodigal way of life of the ruling

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class and on the extreme poverty of the general people who were

not even able to get a square meal daily. He mentions the

diamond mines had a number of superstitious customs. His

account is very valuable for the social history of the Deccan. It

has recently been published by the Indo-Soviet cultural society

in Russian, Hindi and English.

Sakhawi:

A part from the letters from Khwaja Mahmud Gawan which

will be dealt with latter, we have the voluminous dictionaries of

the biography of eminent of the 15th century A.D. written by a

famous contemporary of the Mahmud Gawan, Shamsuddin

Muhammad Ibn-i-Abdur Rahman-us-Sakhawi. He was born in

1428 A.D living upto 1497 A.D and thus his life corresponds

almost exactly with that of the Mahmud Gawan. The work

contains a fairly long notice on Mahmud Gawan’s life with quite

useful information about him. A part from given the names of his

father and grandfather as well as his brother Shihabuddin, he

mentions the date of his birth as 1411 A.D and thus contradicts

Ferishtah’s 1406 A.D. which seems to be a latter mistake

Sakhawi further throws some light on the itinerary of the

Mahmud Gawan from Gilan to India and corroborates the

numismatic evidence that the full name and little of Humayun

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Shah’s father Alauddin Ahmed-II. Moreover the circumstances

under which the Mahmud Gawan was murdered are related

differently by Sakhawi to those found in Ferishtah and Burhan.

We must remember that Sakhawi lived in Mahmud Gawan’s life

time and was at Mecca when the news of his death reached

there, so that we should give the work all the credence it

deserves.

Abdur Razzaque:

Abdur Razzaque was also a contemporary of Khwaja

Mahmud Gawan, Timurid Sultan Shah Rukh’s ambassador to

Vijayanagara, Abdur Razzaque, has left a short note on his

connection with his description of the kingdom Sultan Alauddin

of Gilan. Writing in 1471 A.D i.e. in Mahmud Gawan’s life time,

he cites him as an instance of the great men that Gilan had

produced. He says that the Mahmud Gawan was “Like a Mid-day

sun in the world in general and India in particular”, and also

outwardly he was the chief of the nobles of the kingdom of the

Deccan, his inner self was full of the life of the mysterious”. He

gives us full name of his father and tells us the fact that Resht

was not a kingdom as suggested by Ferishtah but only a

“Wilayat” or province of the kingdom of Gilan. His book

demonstrates that Mahmud Gawan had already created a

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special place for himself in the world of learning in his own life

time.

Muntakhab-ul-Lubab:

Muhammad Hashim Khafi Khan produced this valuable

contemporary source of Mughal history. This work is very useful

to the study the Mughal-Bijapur relations, the aggressive policies

of Aurangzeb and the causes for the fall of Bijapur. He also deals

with the history of the Deccan from the invasions of Alauddin

Khilji to the Bahmanis and its successive states. From this

source we can glean some important events occurred in the

Mughal Subaa of Bijapur. A part from Maasir-i-Alamgiri, this

work is a chief authority on the history of the Mughals in the

Deccan ending in 1733 A.D.

Sawan-i-Dakhan:

The author of this work is Munim Khan Hamdani

Aurangabadi. He was in service of Nizam Ali. He composed this

work in 1782-83 A.D. He worked as Faujdar and latter governor

(Killedar) of the Fort of Gulbarga (1774) of Darul-Zafar of the

Nizams. In his work, first he dealt with the six subaas of the

Deccan. He was then taken up each subaa with its total revenue.

The sarkars of each subaa have been described along with their

revenue. The sarkars heve been divided into Mahals or

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Parganahs. Lastly, the number of villages under each Mahal has

been recorded along with the revenue of that Mahal. This work

also included history of the Nizams from Asaf Jah-I to Nizam Ali,

and biographies of prominent Amirs (nobles) of the period.

Munim Khan’s treatment of the subject is fuller and more

detailed. Probably he utilized Deh-ba-Dehi, an anonymous work

of the last years of Aurangzeb’s reign.

Maasir-i-Nizami:

Lala Mansaram who was a secretary of religious

establishment during the rule of Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah, wrote

a biographical account of his master. This work includes

anecdotes of the Nizam, which throw new light on various

aspects of his character and the general conditions prevailing in

the Deccan.

Tuzuk-i-Asafi:

The author, Tajjali Shah completed this work in 1794. He

accompanied the Nizams in some of the battles fought against

the Marathas. He covers the history of the Nizams from the rise

of Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah to 1800 A.D. He also discusses the

events leading to the battle of Udgir and the Nizam-Maratha

relations. This work also contains some political events occurred

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in the subaa of Bijapur. Its lithograph was printed in 1892-93 at

Hyderabad.

Hadiquat-ul-Alam:

Probably Mir Abu Turab Mir Alam compiled this work some

time in 1807. He was a minister and trusted adviser of Nizam

Ali. His work is divided into two parts the first deals with the

history of the Qutub Shahis and the Second with that of the

Nizams of Hyderabad. The account of Asaf Jah-I is useful for the

study of the internal conditions prevailing in the Deccan at that

time. In addition, in the second part the author has mentioned

events concerning the subaa of Bijapur. In 1849 A.D the

lithograph of this work was published at Hyderabad.

Research Design:

The present work comprises nine chapters, the nine

chapters divided into two sections -A and B.

Section A is political history covering three chapters,

Section B is cultural history covering six chapters. The rest of

chapters in both section represent the truer events or various

aspects of the erstwhile ruling powers of Bidar. The details of

Chapterisation are as under:

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Section A

Political History

Chapter-I Introduction

Aims and Objectives

Significance of the Study

Nature and Scope of Study

Evaluation of Sources and Methodology

Research Design

Chapter-II Extension of Bahmani rule at Bidar Ahmed

Shah Wali to Kalimullah

Chapter-III Genesis and Growth of Barid Shahis in Bidar

A. Factor responsible for Barid Shahi rule

B. Brief Political history of Barid Shahi Sultans

Chapter-IV Establishment of Barid Shahi Rule

Bidar - Bijapur relation

Bidar - Vijayanagara relation

Aurangzeb’s conquest of Bidar

Asaf Jahi rule in Bidar

Status of Bidar under Nizams

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Section B

Cultural History

Chapter-V Administration

Military

Judiciary

Revenue

Chapter-VI Economic conditions

Agriculture and Irrigation

Trade and Commerce

Transportation

Chapter-VII Social condition

Caste and Class

Education and Learning

Fairs and Festivals

Chapter-VIII Cultural synthesis

Hinduism

Buddhism & Jainism

Sufism

Sikhism

Christianity

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Chapter-IX Art and Architecture

Secular

Palaces and Darbars

Religious

Masjid, Maktabs, Madrasahs, Temples, Churches and

Gurudwara

Defence

Fort, Bastions, Gunpowder Magazine and Cannons

Conclusion

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References:

1. Dr. Nayeem, M.A., The external Relations of the Bijapur

kingdom, Hyderabad

2. Verma, D.C., History of Bijapur, New Delhi, 1974, p.272

3. Lahori, Abdul Hameed, Badshah Nama, Hafiz Press, Lahore,

Pakistan, p.3

4. Saqi, Mustaid Khan, Maasir-i-Alamgiri, (Tran’s by Sir Jadunath

Sarkar), Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal, Calcutta,