A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON BAHMANI EMPIRE AND VIJAYNAGAR EMPIRE

Introduction

The decline of the Sultanate of Delhi gave birth to two mighty states in South India the Bahmani
Kingdom of Gulbarga and the Vijayanagara Empire. Both these kingdoms arose when the
control of the Sultanate over the Deccan became weak during the reign of Muhammad- bin-
Tughlaq. Both were founded by officers who had rebelled against the Sultanate. The Bahmanis
were Muslim rulers, while the rulers of the Vijayanagar were Hindus.

I. VIJAYNAGAR EMPIRE

Political Condition

The Vijaynagar kingdoms were ruled by Sangam, Suluvu, Tuluva and Aravidu. The kingdom
was initially under influence of Kakatiyas of Warangal. The decline of Hoysala kingdom enabled
them to grow. The kingdom was in conflict with Bahamani kingdoms for Krishna Tungabhadra
doab and Krishna Godavari delta. The Sangama, Saluvu couldn’t win against the Bahamani
kingdom. Then came the Tuluvus.

King Krishna dev raya

He was the most powerful Tuluvu king. He was an able commander. He was the greatest Tuluvu
king. He kept the invading Bahamani army in check. The Bahamani were replaced by the Delhi
sultanate. These were defeated by Vijaynagar army. Krishna dev raya also captured the Raichur
doab and Bidar. He captured whole of Telangana and maintained friendly relations with
Portuguese. The king was a great patron of literature and encouraged Telugu work. He also was a
Vaishnavaite but respected all religions. He built and repaired many temples. But after his death
the forces of Bidar, Golconda, Bijapur and Ahmednagar combined forces and defeated
Vijaynagar. The reason for this was that the king Ramaraya tried to pit one sultan against the
other. They also destroyed the great city. After this the Aravidu dynasty continued the Empire
for another 100 years. 

Administration

1.      The king was the highest authority. Hereditary succession was practised. The king was
assisted by a council.
2.      For efficient administration, the Empire was divided into mandalam, nadu, sthala and gram.
3.      The land revenue was source of income along with customs and taxes.
4.      The punishment system was harsh and mutilation or death by throwing to elephants was
seen.
5.      Well maintained standing army was kept.                                                           
Society

1.      Caste system was prevalent Brahmins enjoyed privileges.

2.      Splendor of houses and buildings was great.
3.      Silk and cotton clothes were used.
4.      Sati and polygamy was seen. Devdasi system was common. Thus women had an inferior
status in society.
5.      Religious freedom was given. Muslims could build mosques and work in the
administration.
 Economic conditions

1.      The agriculture was the most common profession. Kings undertook reforms like irrigation
system for it.
2.   The peculiar feature of Vijayanagar kingdom was Walled cities, multiple layers of walls and
Agriculture fields enclosed inside the walls. This was useful during seiges to ensure regular food
supply.
3.      The internal and overseas trade was carried out and gold coins were used.
4.      Art of shipbuilding was developed. The trade was with Persia, South Africa, East Asian
countries.
 Cultural contributions

1.  Vijayanagar style of temple building had some characteristic style like Gopuram and
Mandapas with carved pillars. The Mandapas were used for seating the deity.
2.      Music, dancing was patronized.
3.      Casting of metal images and metal castings were prominent.
4.      Languages like Sanskrit, Telugu, Kannada, and Tamil flourished in the period.
II. BAHAMANI KINGDOM

Bahmani Kingdom was a parallel kingdom north of Vijayanagar in the same period. It was
founded in 1347 by Allaudin Hassan who claimed himself to be descendent of a famous Iranian
Royal family and assumed title of ‘Bahman Shah’. He also had a Brahmin Guru, Gangu, hence
he is also known as ‘Hassan Gangu’. He made his capital in Gulbarga in Karnataka. Three
important people who played a key role in expanding and consolidating the Bahmani Kingdom:

1. Firoz Shah Bahman (1397-1422) was educated and learned man and knew many languages.
He had wives from different linguistic backgrounds. He built astronomical observatory in
Daulatabad. He married daughter of Dev Raya I. He was later defeated by Dev Raya I He gave
up the power to his brother Ahmad Shah.

2. Ahmad Shah was also known as Wali as he was treated as Sufi Saint. Ahmad Shah shifted the
capital from Gulbarga to Bidar A famous north Indian saint Gesu Daraz (Long Haired) a saint of
Chisti Silsila visited during this period.

3. Mahmud Gawan was not king but Wazir-e-Sultanate under Muhhammad Shah III, who was
weak and was merely a puppet in hands of Mahmud Gawan. Gawan brought Bahmani kingdom
to its Zenith and its boundaries touched Orissa. He divided the kingdom into 8 Atraf (provinces),
each headed by a Governor. He built a madrasa at Bidar known as Mahmud Gawan Madrasa
which attracted students from India and Central Asia. Delhi, Jaunpur and Bidar became three
important headquarters of Islamic religion. In his period there was a clash of Deccani and
Afaquis in the court. Local population was known as Deccani and Afaquis were basically
outsiders, generally from north (from India, Persia and Central Asia). Deccanis themselves were
outsiders but had settled earlier than the Afaquis. Gawan an Afaqui himself was killed by
Deccanis After his death the kingdom was divided into five kingdoms, which though were not
large, but very strong.

The Five Kingdoms

Muhammad Shah-III died in 1482. His successors were weak and the Bahmani Kingdom
disintegrated into five kingdoms namely: 1. Bijapur 2. Ahmednagar 3. Bera 4. Golconda 5. Bidar

Administration

 The Sultans followed a Feudal type of administration.

 Tarafs – The kingdom was divided into many provinces called Tarafs
 Tarafdar or Amir – Governor who controlled the Taraf.
Contribution to Education
  The Bahmani Sultans gave great attention to education.
 They encouraged Arabic and Persian learning.
 Urdu also flourished during this period 
Art and Architecture
 Numerous mosques, madrassas and libraries were built.

 The Juma Masjid at Gulbarga The Golconda Fort

 The Golgumbaz at Bijapur
 The Madrasas of Muhammad Gawan

Bahmani Empire and Vijayanagar Empire had almost parallel existence. These two kingdoms
fought for almost 200years over three regions:

1. Raichur Doab (Between Krishna and Tungabhadra) 2. Area between Krisha and Godavari
Delta

3. Marathwada Region

Raichur Doab was battle ground and the main bone of contention between these Kingdoms. In
1565 in battle of Talicotta also known as battle of Banihatti, or Rakkasa Tangdi, Vijaynagar was
defeated. They fought over trade, economy, commerce as well as agriculture, but in case if any
one of five Bahmani kingdoms had to fight with Vijayanagar Empire, they united to fight against
it. AdilShahi, NizamShahi and Qutub Shahi were important and stronger than the other two
kingdoms. These kingdoms had great contribution in literature especially Urdu literature which
had no scope to flourish in north India as Persian was there official language. In South Urdu was
facing Telugu, Kanadda and Marathi. Urdu became a lingua franca and was official language of
Bahmani Kingdoms, thereby providing support and benefits to the language and enabled it to
flourish. Quli Qutub Shah is regarded as first Urdu poet, his collection of poems is knowns as
Diwan-e-Qutub-eShahi Wali Deccani was another famous Urdu poet in Bahmani Kingdom.

A few additional points about Bahmani Kingdoms

Bijapur: Gol Gumbaj was a biggest dome in India built by Bijapur. Golconda: City of Hyderabad
and Charminar were built by Golconda empire. Ahmad Nagar Kingdom: The last decade of 16th
century witnessed the rise of Chand Bibi, the daughter of Hussain Nizam Shah I, as the defacto
ruler of Ahmed Nagar. She fought against the Moghul army valiantly but was killed in 1600 C.E.
by her own general. She was the only women ruler of the Deccan sultanate in the medieval
period. Berar stayed away from the confederate of Deccan sultans against Vijay Nagar Empire in
the battle of Talikotta in 1565 C.E., Berar was annexed by Ahmed Nagar Empire in 1572 C.E. In
1618 C.E., Sultan Ibrahim Adil Shah II invaded Bidar and annexed it to Bijapur kingdom.

Decline of Bahmani Kingdom

 There was a constant war between the Bahmani and Vijayanagar rulers.
 Inefficient and weak successors after Muhammad Shah III.
 The rivalry between the Bahmani rulers and foreign nobles.

Conclusion

The above narrative of two important kingdoms that ruled over a period of two centuries
preceding the establishment of the Mughal state throws some light on the broad features of the
polity of this period. It is characterised as a polity headed by a strong ruler, supported by a
hierarchically organised administrative machinery and legitimized by the authority of religion.
Although one cannot completely ignore the religious dimension particularly in the case of
conflict between the Vijayanagara and the Bahmani kingdoms but it was mainly for
considerations like control over the Tungabhadra doab for economic resources which had a
major contribution in precipitating conflicts between these states. Despite constant wars and
dissensions amongst the ruling elites the period in no way can be portrayed as a period of
political decadence, rather this period showed the remarkable strength and stability of regional
polity.