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The 'Adil Shahi', 'Adilshahi' or 'Bijapur Sultanate' were a dynasty of Indian sultans, who ruled the Sultanate of Bijapur from 1490 to 1686. The Adil Shahis were originally provincial rulers of the Bahmani Sultanate, but with the breakup of the Bahmani state after 1518, Ismail Adil Shah established an independent sultanate, one of the five Deccan sultanates that were the successors to the Bahmani Sultanate.
The Bijapur sultanate was located in southwestern India, straddling the Western Ghats range of southern Maharashtra and northern Karnataka. Ismail Adil Shah and his successors embellished the capital at Bijapur with numerous monuments.
The Adil Shahis fought the Hindu empire of Vijayanagar, which lie to the south across the Tungabhadra River, and fought the other sultanates as well. The sultanates combined forces to deliver a decisive defeat to Vijayanagar in 1565, after which the empire broke up. Bijapur seized control of the Raichur Doab from Vijayanagar. In 1619 the Adil Shahis conquered the neighboring sultanate of Bidar, which was incorporated into their realm. In the 17th century, the Marathas, a Hindu clan based in the Western Ghats around Pune, revolted successfully against the Bijapur sultans. Bijapur was conquered by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in 1686, bringing the sultanate and the dynasty to an end.

Contents

Historical overview

Adil Shahi arts and heritage

Works Cited

Adil Shahis of Bijapur

See also

Historical overview

The founder of the dynasty, Yusuf Adil Shah, was likely a Bahmani nobleman of Iranian origin. According to the historian Mir Rafi-uddin Ibrahim-i Shirazi, or ''Rafi', Yusuf's full name was Sultan Yusuf 'Adil Shah Sawa or Sawa-i, the son of Mahmud Beg of Sawa in Iran, (Rafi' 36-38, vide Devare 67, fn 2). Rafi's history of the 'Adil Shahi dynasty was written a the request of Ibrahim Adil Shah II, and was completed and presented to the patron in AH 1017. The Indian scholar T.N. Devare mentioned that while Rafi's account of the Bahmani dynasty is filled with anachronisms, his account of the Adilshahi is "fairly accurate, exhaustive, and possesses such rich and valuable information about Ali I and Ibrahim II" (312). Rafi-uddin later became the governor of Bijapur for about 15 years (Devare 316).
Rafi' account is less well known than that of the popular historian Firishta, the author of the ''Tarikh-i Firishta'', also known as the ''Gulshan-i Ibrahim''. Rafi's account of the life of Yusuf 'Adil Shah directly contradicts a popular myth penned by Firishta. According to Firishta, Yusuf was the son of the Ottoman Emperor Murad II. After the Sultan Murad II's death, and the crown prince's succeeded to the throne, all of the other sons of the emperor were executed. Firishta farbicated a story that Yusuf's mother secretly replaced Yusuf with a slave boy and sent him to Persia. After many romantic adventures, Yusuf reached the court of the Bidar Sultanate. T.N. Devare found that other historians of the time, Mir Ibrahim Lari-e Asadkhani, and Ibrahim Zubayri, the author of the ''Basatin as-Salatin'', favored Rafi's account and rejected this account provided solely by Firishta (Devare 67, fn 2).
Despite the obvious fabrication of Yusuf's Ottoman origin, Firishta's account continues to be very popular today in Bijapur. Devare observed that the work is "a general history of India from the earliest period up to Firishta's time written at the behest of Ibrahim Adil Shah II and presented to him in 1015 AH/1606 CE. It seems however that it was supplemented by the author himself as it records events up to AH 1033 (1626 CE). This is the most widely quoted history of the Adil Shahi, and it is the source of the story that Yusuf was an Ottoman prince" (Devare 272).
Yusuf's bravery and personality raised him rapidly in Sultan's favor, resulting in his appointment as the Governor of Bijapur. He built the Citadel or Arkilla and the Faroukh Mahal. Yusuf was a man of culture. He invited poets and artisans from Persia, Turkey and Rome to his court. He married Punji, the sister of a Maratha warrior. When Yusuf died in 1510, his son Ismail was still a boy. Punji in male attire valiantly defended him from a coup to grab the throne. Ismail Adil Shah thus became the ruler of Bijapur, which till then was a province of Bahamani kingdom.
Ibrahim Adil Shah I who succeeded his father Ismail, fortified the city and built the old Jamia Masjid. Ali Adil Shah I who next ascended the throne, aligned his forces with other Muslim kings of Golconda, Ahmednagar and Bidar, and together, they brought down the Vijayanagar empire. With the loot gained, he launched ambitious projects. He built the Gagan Mahal, Ali Rauza (his own tomb), Chand Bawdi (a large well) and the Jami Masjid. Ali I had no son, so his nephew Ibrahim II was set on the throne. Ali I's queen Chand Bibi had to aid him until he came of age. Ibrahim II was noted for his valor, intelligence and leanings towards the Hindu music and philosophy. Under his patronage the Bijapur school of painting reached its zenith. Muhammad Adil Shah succeeded his father Ibrahim II. He is renowned for Bijapur's grandest structure, the Gol Gumbaz, which has the biggest dome in the world with whispering gallery round about slightest sound is reproduced seven times. He also set up the historical Malik-e-Maidan, the massive gun.
Ali Adil Shah II inherited a troubled kingdom. He had to face the onslaught of the Maratha leader Shivaji on one side and Mughal emperor Aurangzeb on another. His mausoleum, Bara Kaman, planned to dwarf all others, was left unfinished due to his death. Sikandar Adil Shah, the last Adil Shahi sultan, ruled next for fourteen stormy years. Finally in 1686, the Mughal armies under Aurangzeb overpowered the city of Bijapur.

Adil Shahi arts and heritage

The contribution of the Adil Shahi kings to the architecture, painting, language, literature and music of Karnataka is unique. Bijapur (Kannada form of the Sanskrit ''Vidyapur'' or ''Vidyanagari'') became a cosmopolitan city, and it attracted many scholars, artists, musicians, and Sufi saints from Turkey, Persia (Iran) Iraq, Turkey, Turkestan, etc.
The unfinished Jami Masjid, started in 1565, has an arcaded prayer hall with fine aisles supported on massive piers has an impressive dome. The Ibrahim Rouza which contains the tomb of Ibrahim II Adil Shah, is a fine structure with delicate carvings. Persian artists of Adil Shahi court have left a rare treasure of miniature paintings, some of which are well-preserved in Europe's great museums.
The Dakhani language, an amalgam of Persian-Arabic, Gujarati, Marathi, and Kannada, developed into an independent spoken and literary language. Under the Adil Shahis many literary works were published in Dakhani. Ibrahim Adil Shah II's book of poems and music, Kitab-e-Navras is in Dakhani. The ''Mushaira'' (poetic symposium) was born in the Bijapur court and later traveled north. The Dakhani language, which was growing under the Bahamani kings, later came to be known as Dakhan Urdu to distinguish it from the North Indian Urdu. Adil Shah II played the sitar and ud and Ismail was a composer.

Works Cited

Devare, T. N. ''A short history of Persian literature; at the Bahmani, the Adilshahi, and the Qutbshahi courts.'' Poona: S. Devare, 1961.

Adil Shahis of Bijapur

:''Main Article: List of Adil Shahi Emperors''

★ Yusuf Adil Shah (1490-1510)

★ Ismail Adil Shah (1510-1534)

★ Mallu Adil Shah (1534)

★ Ibrahim Adil Shah I (1534-1558)

★ Ali Adil Shah I (1558-1580)

★ Ibrahim Adil Shah II (1580-1627)

★ Mohammed Adil Shah (1627-1657); his mausoleum is the Gol Gumbaz, Bijapur

★ Ali Adil Shah II (1657-1672)

★ Sikandar Adil Shah (1672-1686)

See also

★ Chand Bibi