← Explore on the interactive map
Fragmentation of the Bahmani Sultanate (1460s)
In the 1460s the Bahmani Sultanate nominally remained unified, but provincial governors (tarafdars) grew powerful and Deccani-Afghan noble tensions w…
Timeline
- 1461–1463Bijapur · KarnatakaIn the early 1460s the governors of Bijapur, Berar, and Golconda already controlled local taxation and troops; the central court's grip on the provinces visibly weakened, and each province was effectively semi-independent.
- 1463–1467Bidar · KarnatakaIn 1463 the child sultan Muhammad Shah III acceded, and the Persian minister Mahmud Gawan became chief minister, carrying out land surveys and administrative reforms in an attempt to restore central authority and ease noble factional tensions.
- 1468–1470Golconda · TelanganaBetween 1468 and 1470, Deccani Muslim nobles and Afghan nobles from Iran and Central Asia clashed repeatedly over appointments and fief allocations. Regional strongmen expanded their autonomy, central reforms could not penetrate, and the sultanate's unity existed in name only.
Sources
- The Cambridge History of India, Volume III: Turks and Afghans — Wolseley Haig (1928)
- Medieval Deccan History: A Bibliographic Study — H. K. Sherwani (1968)