The wonder that was india

The above five kingdoms, which emerged in the wake of the

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extinction of the Bahmanid kingdom, were not satisfied with the boundaries inherited from the Bahmanid provincial divisions. They were constantly involved in wars both amongst themselves and against the neighbouring kingdoms. The situation was further exacerbated by the different backgrounds of the rulers of the three most powerful states; Ahmadnagar, Bijapur, and Golkonda. Ahmad's father, Nizamu'1-Mulk Hasan Bahri of Ahmadnagar, was an Islamicized Hindu who had risen from a slave to a leading commander. On the other hand, the ancestors of the rulers of Bijapur and Golkonda were foreigners. From the very beginning of his reign Yusuf 'Adil Shah of Bijapur declared Shl'ism as the state religion. The Qutb Shahis were also Shi'is. These sectarian and racial antagonisms aggravated the Afaqi and Dakhini feuds among the nobles in all three states.

Although the border disputes of the Deccan states were derived from their Bahmanid origins, their attempts at aggrandizement at the expense of neighbouring states were influenced by both the scramble for more territory between the sultans and the court intrigues of the ambitious nobles. Two larger states generally combined against the third, and the smaller states sided with whoever offered the best safeguards to themselves. Matrimonial alliances were made between them to promote political interests, but sometimes instead of cementing friendship they bred enmity.

In Berar, 'Ala'u'd-Din 'Imad Shah refused to surrender Pathri, north of the river Godavari, which was the home town of Burhan Nizam Shah's (1510-33) Hindu ancestors, even on favourable terms. Consequently Burhan seized it by force in 1518. Then in 1525 the rulers of Berar, Bidar, and Ahmadnagar invaded Bijapur, but the mounted archers of Bijapur defeated them. Burhan Nizam was determined to retain Pathri at all cost; he also took Mahur from 'Imad Shah and, aided by Band, ravaged Berar, which had formed an alliance with Khandesh. The defeated rulers appealed to Bahadur Shah of Gujarat, who promptly invaded Ahmadnagar, and for at least three years Nizam Shah owed suzerainty to Gujarat.62

After Krishnadeva Raya's death, Isma'Il 'Adil Shah of Bijapur (1510-34) recaptured Raichur and Mudgal from Vijayanagara after a three-month siege. Then Sultan Quli of Golkonda seized the interior districts north of Krishna and coastal areas as far north as Rajamundri on the Godavari from Vijayanagara. After Isma'il's death, however, Achyuta Raya of Vijayanagara regained Raichur and Mudgal from Bijapur.

Around the early 1540s the political rivalries between Bijapur and Ahmadnagar assumed a new dimension when their respective

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rulers changed their sectarian beliefs. The Shi'i, Ibrahim 'Adil Shah (1535-58) of Bijapur, embraced the Sunni faith, while the Sunni, Burhan Nizam Shah of Ahmadnagar, adopted Shi'ism. Towards the end of 1542 Ibrahim recaptured Sholapur from Ahmadnagar. At Burhan Nizam Shah's instigation an alliance was made between Ahmadnagar, Golkonda, and Vijayanagara against Bijapur. Invaded from three different directions, Ibrahim of Bijapur had to cede Sholapur to Ahmadnagar and make friends with Vijayanagara.

About 1545 Ibrahim unleashed a reign of terror and persecution upon his army officers, whom he suspected of treachery. His own son, Prince 'Abdu'llah, took refuge with the Portuguese in Goa.63 They refused to surrender him despite Ibrahim's persistent demands, but the Prince was forced in 1548 to relinquish his claim to Salsette and Bardez ports. Then in 1574 Murtaza Nizam Shah annexed Berar to his Ahmadnagar kingdom.

Meanwhile in Bijapur, Ibrahim's son and successor, 'Ali 'Adil Shah (1558-80), adopted Shi'ism and elevated the Afaqis to high positions. At about this time in Golkonda, Ibrahim Qutb Shah (1550-80), who had succeeded Sultan Quli Qutbu'1-Mulk, began to encourage the local Telugu culture. His policy of awarding land grants to brahman and Hindu temples and not realizing jizya earned him the support of the neighbouring brahman chiefs.64

'Ali 'Adil Shah of Bijapur now signed a treaty with Vijayanagara in order to recover Kalyani and Sholapur from Husayn Nizam Shah of Ahmadnagar (1553-65). During 1559-61 Bijapur and Vijayanagara were allied on one side, against Ahmadnagar on the other, sometimes supported by Berar, sometimes by Golkonda. This made Ramaraja, regent of the Vijayanagara kingdom, sole arbiter of the Muslim principalities. In 1561 he proposed a humiliating treaty, which Husayn Nizam Shah was forced to sign. It involved the restoration of Kalyani to Ali' Adil Shah, who had earlier in 1558 requested Ramaraja's aid in securing it, and also Husayn's personal submission before Ramaraja. After complying with Ramaraja's conditions, Husayn made one more effort to capture Kalyani but was beaten off by the allies. Although 'Ali 'Adil Shah was the victor he was disgusted at Ramaraja's game of playing one kingdom against the other, and at his suggestion hostilities ceased in 1563. Then 'Ali 'Adil Shah had to cede Itgir (Yadgir) and Bagalkot to Ramaraja, while Ibrahim Qutb Shah gave him Kovilkonda and Panagal district in return for Vijayanagara's previous assistance. Raichur doab had already been secured by Ramaraja. Vijayanagara's territorial expansion, brought about

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largely by their personal jealousies and feuds, alarmed the Muslim sultans. Husayn Nizam Shah made an alliance with Ibrahim Qutb Shah and then persuaded him to combine with him against Vijayanagara. Husayn strengthened the alliance by marrying his daughter, Chand Bibi, to Prince 'All of Bijapur, while 'All's sister was married to Husayn's son. Sholapur fort, for which much blood had been shed from the very inception of the two kingdoms, was handed over to Bijapur as Chand Bibi's dowry.65 Later, Band Shah also joined the confederacy. Next 'Ali 'Adil wrote asking Ramaraja to return the districts ceded by Bijapur and Golkonda to their original owners. Ramaraja refused, and the Muslim envoys of all principalities left Vijayanagara for home. On 24 December 1564 the combined armies of the four sultans encamped twenty-two miles north of the Krishna near Tallkota. They crossed the only ford separating them from the Vijayanagara army, and on 23 February 1565 a fierce battle took place near Banihatti. The sultans' armies were at first overwhelmed by Vijayanagara's numerical superiority, but then the artillery, under the Turk Rumi Khan, broke Ramaraja's attacks. Ramaraja himself was picked up by a mahout on one of Nizam Shah's war elephants and was executed. The victory was decisive. Vijayanagara was sacked and devasted by the sultans.66

Five months later, when the four sultans left Vijayanagara laden with massive booty, their feuds once again erupted with renewed vigour. In June 1566 Husayn Nizam Shah died and was succeeded by Murtaza Nizam Shah (1565-88). In 1570 Murtaza Nizam Shah of Ahmadnagar and 'Adil Shah of Bijapur joined forces to expel the Portuguese from their coastal possessions. The Zamorin also joined them. They decided to attack the Portuguese simultaneously at each port. Murtaza Nizam Shah invaded Chaul, and Goa was besieged by 'Adil Shah's army. The siege dragged on, but the Portuguese main fleet first defeated the Zamorin at Malabar and then besieged Dabol. Treachery and corruption were rampant in the 'Adil Shahi's camp, and at Chaul the Nizam Shahls lost 3,000 men in one day. Murtaza's minister, Chinglz Khan, entered into an offensive and defensive alliance with the Portuguese in order to save the kingdom from further loss. In 1571 'Adil Shah also concluded a treaty with the Portuguese, which was finalized four years later. 'Adil Shah was allowed to buy horses at Hurmuz and transport them through Goa without paying the Portuguese extra duty. The Portuguese Viceroy gave an undertaking neither to molest Bijapur ships sailing with the Portuguese cartazas (permits) nor to convert Bijapur subjects forcibly to Christianity.67

In April 1574 Murtaza Nizam seized Berar, but by this time the

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Mughal invasion from the north, which destroyed all the Muslim sultans of the Deccan, was imminent.

THE VIJAYANAGARA KINGDOM

In 1335 Sultan Muhammad bin Tughluq had marched to crush the rebellion by the Ma'bar Sultan, but a severe outbreak of plague in his camp forced him to return to Delhi. The Sultan's retreat encouraged Kapaya Nayaka or Krishna Nayaka of the coastal districts of Andhra, who had already been acknowledged their leader by the influential Nayaka brahmans of the region, to seize Warangal. He assumed the title Andrades'adhis'vara (Supreme Lord of Andhra Countries), and Hindu domination was restored in coastal and central Andhra. The movement to overthrow Tughluq rule spread as far as the Krishna—Tungabhadra doab. In Kampili the people rose against the Tughluq governor, Malik Maqbul, who fled for shelter to a fortress. Sultan Muhammad bin Tughluq therefore released the two Telugu chiefs Harihara and Bukka, the sons of Sangama, the ruler of Kampili, hoping they would restore the province to him. These brothers had originally served the Kakatiya King Prataparudra but had fled to Kampili after its capture by Ulugh Khan. When Kampili was annexed to the Tughluq empire in 1327, they were imprisoned and taken to Delhi, where they later became Muslims. Sultan Muhammad now appointed Harihara his new governor in the Kampili region. A modern scholar disputes their Islamicization, although, with slight variations, both Persian and Sanskrit sources reiterate the story. According to this authority, Sangama belonged to the Karnataka province, and his son, Harihara, was in the service of the Hoysala king, Ballala III of Dvarasamudra. As one of the heads of the liberation movement, he overthrew Tughluq rule and founded the Vijayanagara kingdom in the mixed Kannada-Telegu-speaking region.68 These arguments are not conclusive, for Islamicized chiefs such as Sukhapala, grandson of Jayapala, had in the past been appointed governors only to recant later. Harihara founded his capital on the southern banks of the Tungabhadra and named it Vidyanagara after the famous Vedic scholar Vidyaranya, who was the guru (mentor and teacher) of the two princes. The dynasty was known as the Sangama, after its founder. The empire was called Karnataka Samrajya (the Karnataka, or the 'Kannada-speaking country'). Vidyanagara or, as it was later more frequently called, Vijayanagara, was its capital. The Vijayanagara kingdom, extending

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The Sultanates of the Deccan and the Hindu kingdom of Vijayanagar in the sixteenth century

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from the Tungabhadra to the southern reaches of the Kaveri, lay within the declining Hoysala dominions, and the setting up of the new kingdom was more a threat to the Hoysalas than to the Muslims.

Harihara had four brothers who staunchly supported him in consolidating and extending his territory. In 1346 the Vijayanagara kingdom annexed the Hoysala principalities, which were now exhausted from their continuous wars against Madurai.69

Bukka I (1356-77), who succeeded his brother Harihara as king, patronized many Vedic pandits. During his reign Hindu society enjoyed a renaissance. Temples were rebuilt, and works on religion, philosophy, and law were written. Vaishnavas and Jainas were urged to reconcile their differences and live in amity.70 Bukka meanwhile ordered his son, Kumara Kampana, to exterminate the Ma'bar sultanate while he took the field against the Bahmanids. Vijayanagara was still fighting them when the, King died. The two brothers succeeded in rolling back the tide of Muslim aggression from the Bhima to the Indian Ocean.

During the reign of Bukka's son, Harihara II (1377-1404), Bahmani rule lost its vigour, and Hanhara's army seized Goa, Chaul, and Dabol on the northern Konkan from them. The Kenara, Karnataka, Trichinopoly, and Kanchi regions were also captured. The income from the ports naturally made the principality affluent. The last years of Harihara's reign were very peaceful.

After his death his three sons fought a war of succession for two years. The winner, Devaraya I (1406-22), crowned himself king. The early years of his reign were, like those of his predecessors, devoted to wars against the Bahmam sultans, and the countryside in both kingdoms was devastated. He later constructed a dam across the Tungabhadra in order to provide the city with canals and also dammed the Haridra river to irrigate the countryside.

Devaraya's two sons each ruled for a few months. They were succeeded by Devaraya II (1423-46), who waged constant but inconclusive wars against the Bahmanids, although he succeeded in capturing Kerala. In 1443 'Abdu'r Razzaq, the ambassador of Timur's son Shah Rukh of Hirat (1405-47), was given a warm welcome by Devaraya. The envoy was highly impressed with the capital and the personalities of Devaraya and his nobles.71

Devaraya was convinced that the reason for the Bahmanids' continued military superiority, when he himself possessed immense resources in men and materials, was the quality of their archers and horses. To remedy these deficiencies, he recruited about 2,000 Muslim archers and gave them land-tax assignments. He also built a mosque in the city and had a copy of the Qur'an placed before his

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throne on a richly carved desk, so that the Muslims could kiss it while performing the ceremony of obeisance in his presence.72 His army now comprised 80,000 horse, 200,000 foot, 2,000 Muslim archers, and 6,000 Hindu archers.

After his death, the Sangama dynasty began to decline. Its last king, Virupaksha II (1465-85), was a cruel ruler. In 1496 he slaughtered about 10,000 Muslims in Bhatkal as a reprisal for the sale of horses to the Bahmani Sultan. He had no military skill and eventually lost Goa to the Bahmanis.73 When finally one of his nobles, Saluva Narasimha (1485-1506), overthrew him, the Sangama dynasty came to an end.

Narasimha was involved in wars against Bijapur, Bidar, Madurai, and Srirangapattanam. He paid extravagant prices to Arab merchants to bring the best-quality stallions from Aden and Hurmuz. Shortly after his death, his commander's son, Vira Narasimha, deposed his worthless son and heir and crowned himself king.

This new dynasty, called the Saluva, ruled from 1486 to 1570. Vira Narasimha spent his short reign crushing the rebel chieftains. His younger brother Krishna Devaraya (1509-29) was a great warrior, shrewd statesman, profound scholar, and generous patron of intellectuals. He was the greatest ruler of the Vijayanagara dynasty; some scholars assert that he was the greatest of the Indian rulers. Barbosa says: 'the King allows such freedom that every man may come and go and live according to his own creed without suffering any annoyance and without enquiring whether he is a Christian, Jew, Moor or Heathen. Great equity and justice is observed to all, not only by the ruler but by the people to one another.'74

Krishna Devaraya had only just ascended the throne when an envoy arrived from Albuquerque to seek his assistance against the Zamorin and to ask for the grant of a site to build a factory between Bhatkal and Mangalore. In return, Albuquerque promised to help Krishna reconquer Goa and to give him exclusive rights to import horses. By January 1510 Krishna had defeated Yusuf' Adil Shah of Bijapur. Although the Portuguese had by then captured Goa without his help Krishna assured them that he would help them to keep it. In his own territories Krishna Devaraya defeated various rulers from the south and then delivered a crushing defeat on the Sultan of Bijapur, near Raichur.75

Krishna Devaraya was succeeded by his half-brother Achyuta Raya (1530-42), but he was unable to control the political factions in his kingdom, who were engaged in a fierce power struggle. The neighbouring Muslim states seized the chance to exact vengeance.

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Semi-independent principalities were carved out of Madurai, Thanjavur, and Jinji. After Achyuta's death, power fell into the hands of Ramaraja, the son-in-law of Krishna Raya. Achyuta's son, who was still a minor, ruled for a few months, but then Ramaraja raised Krishna Devaraya's nephew, Sadasiva (1543-70), to the throne. Ramaraja was a dynamic leader. His victories over Bijapur prompted him to take the offensive against the Muslim princes to offset their attacks on Vijayanagara. His diplomatic manceuvrings aggravated the disagreements between the Ahmadnagar and Bijapur kingdoms, and he succeeded in negotiating a commercial treaty with the Portuguese which deprived Bijapur of its horse supply. Subsequently the Vijayanagara army, now allied with Ahmadnagar, defeated Bijapur in three successive battles.76 Ahmadnagar annexed KalyanI and Sholapur, while Vijayanagara took possession of Raichur and Mudgal. Ramaraja, however, was not a rigid statesman. As soon as the new ruler of Ahmadnagar invaded Bljapuri territory again in alliance with Golkonda, realizing the threat to himself, he rushed to the rescue of the Bijapuri Sultan. Ahmadnagar and Golkonda were forced to withdraw. Until 1564 Ramaraja constantly changed sides in order to prevent a confederacy of the three powerful Deccan sultans. Early in 1565, however, a confederacy of Muslim princes in the Deccan delivered a death blow to the Vijayanagara kingdom at the battle of Banihatti (Tallkota).77 The Vijayanagara kingdom survived within a reduced boundary until 1664.

The emergence of the Vijayanagara kingdom, like the Muslim provincial dynasties, was facilitated by Muhammad bin Tughluq's bid to impose central control over the distant south. It did not mirror Hindu reaction to Muslim rule, although it did protect Hindu faith and culture and helped to preserve ancient Hindu ideals of kingship, law, and justice.

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III THE AFGHANS AND THE MUGHALS

THE LODIS

The inhabitants of the Sulayman mountains to the west of the Indus were known as Afghans. Expert horse-breeders, they often served in the army of the Turkic rulers, sometimes rising to the level of commander and even governor. In their own homeland their tribal rivalries were responsible for unceasing feuds, but as soldiers they were well disciplined. Of these the Lodi tribe was most prominent.

During Muhammad bin Tughluq's reign many leading Afghan tribal heads left their mountain home for Delhi. Some of them, under Malik Shahu Lodi, the governor of Multan, later rebelled against Muhammad bin Tughluq. They were unsuccessful and many subsequently returned to their homeland, which Barani calls Afghanistan (the land of the Afghans).1

In Delhi, Khizr Khan, who later became the first Sayyid Sultan, appointed another Afghan, Malik Sultan Shah Lodi, governor of Sirhind, giving him the title Islam Khan. He also promoted Malik Shah's four brothers to high positions. One of them, Malik Kala, had a son called Bahlul. After his father's death Bahlul was brought up by his uncle, Islam Khan, who not only married his daughter to him but, passing over his own sons, declared Bahlul his successor. Islam Khan's sons, however, repudiated their father's will and combined to fight Bahlul. They were defeated. The successful Bahlul consolidated his position and then invaded Delhi twice but each time failed to conquer it. Finally, on 19 April 1451, he captured Delhi by a coup and ascended the throne. The Sayyid Sultan, 'Ala'u'd-Din, had already retired to Bada'un. The new ruler successfully crushed the Sharql Sultan's bid to seize Delhi and subdued the Muslim Langah, ruler of Multan, but his invasion of Malwa failed. Although Bahlul encouraged the Afghan tribesmen to migrate to India, he was cautious about awarding them positions and promotions. The senior offices were reserved for his loyal Afghan supporters, and the important governorships were given to the royal princes. Muslims of non-Afghan origin were given minor positions. Historians writing about Bahlul during the reigns of

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Akbar and Jahangir try to show that his monarchy resembled a tribal confederation, but like his predecessors he was in fact a despot. Before his death at the age of eighty, the Lodi sultanate was firmly established from the Panjab to the borders of Bihar.

The senior Afghan leaders usually favoured those of pure Afghan stock, but one of Banjul's wives, who was a Hindu goldsmith's daughter, won their support for her son Nizam Khan. Nizam adopted the title Sultan Sikandar (1489-1517) when he ascended the throne. The Sultan crushed Husayn Shah Sharqi of Jaunpur, liquidated the Rajput uprisings in the neighbouring region, and forced the Raja of Tirhut to agree to pay tribute. Bihar was also seized, and the Sultan of Bengal signed a treaty with Sikandar. Dholpur, a Gwalior dependency, was sacked. Gwalior itself was surrounded by a chain of forts built by the Tomar rulers. Its king, Raja Man Singh (1486-1517), was popular with both Hindus and Muslims. Sikandar seized the small forts surrounding Gwalior one by one and cut off its food supply from Rajasthan. From 1506 to 1517 the Sultan devoted all his energies to capturing Gwalior, but his gains were not worth the energy he spent. Although in 1514 he captured Chanderi, Gwalior and Malwa remained unconquered. He died in 1517.

Sikandar Lodi enhanced the prestige of the sultanate without alienating the Afghan nobility. Iqta's were granted to the Afghans, but the loyal Hindu chiefs were not neglected. Sikandar tightened the espionage system, and his leading nobles were shocked to find that even minor family incidents were reported to the Sultan. He also took a keen interest in the development of agriculture and regularly examined the price schedules for the markets. Persian histories enthusiastically relate stories of the Sultan's bigotry and zeal to destroy Hindu temples; nevertheless the Sultan and his nobles were deeply interested in Hindu culture and institutions.2

At the beginning of the reign of his son, Sultan Ibrahim Lodi (1517-26), the leading Afghan nobles again made strong efforts to undermine the Sultan's autocracy. They forced Ibrahim to make his younger brother Jalal the independent ruler of the Jaunpur region, formerly ruled by the Sharqis. This unrealistic scheme of dual monarchy, however, was opposed by Ibrahim's favourite noble, Khan-i Jahan Lodi, who persuaded Ibrahim to change his mind. Jalal refused to accept this reversal, and civil war broke out between the two brothers. Jalal lost. He was imprisoned in the Hans! fort and later beheaded. Meanwhile the civil war had provided Rana Sanga of Mewar with the opportunity to make inroads into the Lodi territories as far as Bayana near Agra. Ibrahim marched personally against Rana Sanga, but the Afghan

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centrifugal tendencies enabled the Rana to capture Chanderi.

The Sultan embarked upon building the superstructure of his power on the loyal nobles and the leaders of the younger generation, to whom he gave the senior commands once held by the old guards. The Sultan even sought support from the Indian Muslims. The persecution of the senior commanders from Sikandar's reign lit the fire of rebellion in Bihar. The Sultan summoned Dawlat Khan LodI, who had governed the Panjab for about twenty years, to help him. Instead of coming himself, however, and pretending to be ill, the Khan sent his son, Dilawar Khan. Dilawar Khan was alarmed at the persecution of the dismissed Afghan leaders and reported it to his father. Finding no other way out of the impasse, Dawlat Khan wrote to Babur, the ruler of Kabul, asking him to save them from annihilation.3

BABUR AND HUMAYUN

Zahiru'd-Din Muhammad Babur, the founder of the Mughal empire in India, was descended on his father's side in the fifth generation from Timur and through his mother in the fifteenth degree from ChingTz Khan. Although popularly known as 'Mughals' or the descendants of Mongols, Timur's descendants preferred to call themselves the Chaghatayids, originating from ChingTz's second son, Chaghatay, who ruled Transoxiana.

Babur was born on 14 February 1484 and succeeded his father, 'Ulmar Shaykh Mirza, as ruler of Farghana in June 1494. For twenty years Babur endured severe hardship whilst attempting to gain command of the country between the Oxus and the Jaxartes which comprised the cultural and commercial centres of Samar-qand and Bukhara. The people of Samarqand loved him, and initially his surprise invasion of the country in 1500 was successful; but in 1501 ShaybanI Khan Uzbek, a descendant of Chingiz Khan's eldest son, Jochi, rose to power in the region and defeated him. Although this reduced Babur to a mere fugitive, in June 1504 he took Kabul from one of his uncles. Babur pacified the Afghan tribes there and collected tribute from them with great tact and patience. He also married the daughter of a Yusufza'I leader in order to strengthen his friendship with the tribe. In December 1510 Shah Isma'il SafavI of Iran defeated and slew ShaybanI and sent his sister, who had been married to ShaybanI, to Babur. In October 1511 Babur seized Samarqand as Shah Ismail's vassal, promising to issue coins in the Shah's name and to adopt the Shi'i life-style.