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Muhammad Shah Bahmani

Type Figure Region Bidar Time c. 1435–1463 Also known as Bahmani sultan Muhammad Shah

A Bahmani sultan of the Deccan active in the mid-15th century, ruling from Bidar amid rivalry with Vijayanagara during a flourishing of Islamic cultu…

Timeline

  1. c. 1435–1450Bidar (capital of the Bahmani Sultanate) · KarnatakaMuhammad Shah was born into the Bahmani sultan's royal family, growing up at the Bidar court and receiving training in Islamic classics, Persian literature and warfare. The Bahmani Sultanate was founded by Hasan Gangu in 1347 with Bidar as its capital, and was the main Islamic power in the Deccan opposing the Vijayanagara Empire.
  2. 1451–1460Bidar · DeccanIn the 1450s Muhammad Shah reigned (or stood at the center of power), directing diplomacy and military standoff with the neighboring Vijayanagara Empire while advancing the Deccan's Islamic administrative system. Persian and Central Asian scholars, merchants and craftsmen kept arriving in Bidar, enriching court culture. Mahmud Gawan had by now entered the sultan's court, in an early stage of his rise to the chancellorship. Tensions between regional governors and the center, and periodic conflict with Vijayanagara, were the main axis of political life in this period.
  3. 1461–1463Bidar · DeccanIn Muhammad Shah's later years, succession disputes and noble factional struggles within the sultanate grew increasingly intense. Around 1463 his rule ended and the throne passed to the next sultan, while Mahmud Gawan gained greater power under the succeeding ruler, eventually rising to chancellor.

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