Sultanate of Bijapur | |||||||||||||
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1490–1686 | |||||||||||||
![]() Map of the Adil Shahi dynasty of the Bijapur Sultanate at its greatest extent[1] | |||||||||||||
Capital | Bijapur | ||||||||||||
Official languages | Persian | ||||||||||||
Common languages | |||||||||||||
Religion |
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Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||||
Sultan | |||||||||||||
• 1490–1510 | Yusuf Adil Shah (first) | ||||||||||||
• 1672–1686 | Sikandar Adil Shah (last) | ||||||||||||
Historical era | Early modern | ||||||||||||
• Established | 1490 | ||||||||||||
• Disestablished | 1686 | ||||||||||||
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Today part of | India |
The Sultanate of Bijapur was an early modern kingdom in the western Deccan and South India, ruled by the Adil Shahi or Adilshahi dynasty.[5] Bijapur had been a taraf (province) of the Bahmani Sultanate prior to its independence in 1490 and before the former's political decline in the last quarter of the 15th century. It was a member of the Deccan Sultanates, the collective name of the five successor states of the Bahmani Sultanate. At its peak, the Sultanate of Bijapur was one of the most powerful states in South Asia,[6] second to the Mughal Empire, which conquered it on 12 September 1686 under Aurangzeb.[7]
The founder of the Sultanate, Yusuf Adil Shah, was appointed governor of the province of Daulatabad by its Bahmani rulers, and later seized provincial control of Bijapur following the execution of its former tarafdar, Mahmud Gawan, and would shift his sole governorship to be that of Bijapur. In 1490, he would create a de facto independent Bijapur state, before becoming formally independent with the Bahmanis' collapse in 1518.
The Bijapur Sultanate's borders changed considerably throughout its history. Its northern boundary remained relatively stable, straddling contemporary Southern Maharashtra and Northern Karnataka. The Sultanate expanded southward, first with the conquest of the Raichur Doab following the defeat of the Vijayanagara empire at the Battle of Talikota in 1565. Later campaigns in the Karnatak and Carnatic, notably during the reign of Mohammed Adil Shah (r. 1627–1656), extended Bijapur's formal borders and nominal authority as far south as Tanjore. Bijapur, for most of its history, was bounded on the west by the Portuguese state of Goa, on the east by the Sultanate of Golconda, and to the north by the Ahmednagar Sultanate.
The former Bahmani provincial capital of Bijapur remained the capital of the Sultanate throughout its existence. After modest earlier developments, Ibrahim Adil Shah I and Ali Adil Shah I (r. 1558–1579) remodelled Bijapur, providing the citadel and city walls, and a congregational mosque. Their successors, Ibrahim Adil Shah II (r. 1579–1627), Mohammed Adil Shah (r. 1627–1656) and Ali Adil Shah II (r. 1656–1672), further adorned Bijapur with palaces, mosques, a mausoleum and other structures, considered to be some of the finest examples of Deccani and Indo-Islamic architecture.
Incessant conflicts with the Sultanate's neighbours curtailed the development of the Bijapur state. The Deccan Sultanates allied to achieve victory over Vijayanagara at Talikota in 1565. The state would further expand through its conquest of the neighbouring Bidar Sultanate in 1619. The Sultanate was thereafter relatively stable, although it was damaged by the revolt of Shivaji, who would found an independent Maratha Kingdom which went on to become the Maratha Confederacy. The greatest threat to Bijapur's security was, from the late 16th century, the expansion of the Mughal Empire into the Deccan. Although it was the case that the Mughals destroyed the Adilshahi, it was Shivaji's revolt which weakened the Adilshahi control. Various agreements and treaties imposed Mughal suzerainty on the Adil Shahs, by stages, until Bijapur's formal recognition of Mughal authority in 1636. The demands of their Mughal overlords sapped the Adil Shahs of their wealth until the Mughal conquest of Bijapur in 1686.
The Adil Shahi rulers of Bijapur used written Marathi for local government, including revenue collection and judicial matters, as did the Nizam Shahis.
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