Yusuf Adil Shah

Founder of the Adil Shahi dynasty

Yusuf Adil Shah
Emir
Painting created c. 1680 in Bijapur. Yusuf Adil Shah, shown seated, is being handed the key of legitimacy by Shah Ismail I of Safavid Iran, symbolizing the unwavering allegiance of the Adil Shahi family to the Shia creed of Islam. All nine Adil Shahi sultans are depicted in the painting in a dynastic assembly probably inspired by Mughal paintings.
1st Sultan of Bijapur
Reign1490–1510[1]
PredecessorPosition established
SuccessorIsmail Adil Shah
Died1509
Koilkonda,Telangana
Burial1510
SpouseBubuji Khanum
IssueIsmail Adil Shah
Mariam Sultan
Khadija Sultan
Bibi Sati
Names
Abul Muzaffar Yusuf Adil Shah Safavi
DynastyAdil Shahi dynasty
ReligionShia Islam

Yusuf Adil Shah (1450–1510[1]), referred as Yusuf Adil Khan or Hidalcão by the Portuguese, was the founder of the Adil Shahi dynasty that ruled the Sultanate of Bijapur for nearly two centuries.[2] As the founder of the Adil Shahi dynasty, Yusuf Adil Shah is credited with developing the town of Bijapur and elevating it to significant status.

Legends of origin

The founder of the dynasty, Yusuf Adil Shah, may have been a Georgian slave[3][4] who was purchased by Mahmud Gawan from Iran.[5][full citation needed] Other historians mentioned him of Persian[6] or Turkmen[7][8] origin, although in the time, it was rumoured that Yusuf was a son of the Ottoman Sultan Murad II,[9][10] but this is considered unfounded by modern historians.[6][9][11][12][13] Another theory states he was a Turkman of the Aq-Quyunlu.[14]

Career

Yusuf's bravery and personality raised him rapidly in the Bahmani sultan's favor, and resulted in his appointment as Governor of Daulatabad. The Bahmani Sultanate's last major sultan, Mahmood Shah Bahmani II, gave him the title Adil Khan for his efforts.[5] He was later widely regarded as Yusuf Adil Khan. He was also the leader of the foreigners, or Afaqis in the conflict between them and the Deccanis (local nobility) which resulted in the murder of Prime minister Mahmud Gawan in 1481.[15] Following his execution, Yusuf vacated his position as Governor of Daulatabad to seize the former territories held by Mahmud Gawan of Bijapur and Belgaum.[16] He would come in great conflict soon after this with his enemy, Malik Naib, leader of the Deccani party.[17]

In 1489, Yusuf took advantage of the decline of Bahmani power to establish himself as an independent sultan at Bijapur. He waged war against the Vijayanagar empire, as also against Bijapur's Muslim neighbours.

Yusuf Adil Shah is personally responsible for building the imposing citadel or Arkilla[18] and the palace named Faroukh Mahal. Yusuf was a man of culture and invited poets and artisans from Persia, Turkey and Rome to his court. He was also an accomplished musician and scholar with deep religious tolerance that was reflected in art and architecture from this time.

Both Yusuf and his son Ismail did not use the title Adil Shah in front of their name, and instead used Adil Khan to respect the Bahmanis, who used Shah in their names. Ibrahim Adil Shah I formally claimed the Bijapur sultanate's independence from the Bahmanis in 1538, although it had been in practice independent since 1490, and became the first ruler in the Bijapur Sultanate to use Adil Shah in his name.[5]

Death

His death occurred shortly after the loss of Goa to the Portuguese governor Afonso de Albuquerque in 1510. He was succeeded by his son Ismail Adil Shah, who being a minor, was aided in his rule by a certain Kamal Khan.[19]

Yusuf left behind a strong if small state, one which persisted through two relatively chaotic centuries in a region rife with political ferment. The Bijapur sultanate he founded was a formidable force for close to two centuries until it succumbed to Maratha power and finally resolved by Aurangzeb in 1686 in an ineffective bid to check Maratha power.[10]

Family

Yusuf Adil Shah married Poonji (Punji), the sister of a Maratha lord Mukundrao Kadamba, later renamed Bubuji Khanum.[10] By this marriage he had a son and three daughters:[20][21][22]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Farooqui, A Comprehensive History of Medieval India 2011, p. 174.
  2. ^ Sen, Sailendra (2013). A Textbook of Medieval Indian History. Primus Books. p. 119. ISBN 978-9-38060-734-4.
  3. ^ Chaurasia, Radhey Shyam (2002). History of Medieval India: From 1000 A.D. to 1707 A.D. p. 101.
  4. ^ Subrahmanyam, Sanjay (2012). Courtly Encounters: Translating Courtliness and Violence in Early Modern Eurasia. p. 101.
  5. ^ a b c History of Karnataka by H.G. Rajesh
  6. ^ a b Meri, Josef W. (January 2006). Medieval Islamic Civilization, Volume 1 An Encyclopedia. Routledge. p. 108. ISBN 978-0-415-96691-7. In 1481, Yusuf 'Adil Khan, a Persian slave who claimed to descend from the Ottoman sultan Murad III, became the governor of Bijapur.
  7. ^ Vernon O. Egger (2016). A History of the Muslim World since 1260: The Making of a Global Community. ISBN 9781315511078.
  8. ^ Clifford Edmund Bosworth (2007). Historic Cities of the Islamic World. p. 55. ISBN 978-9004153882.
  9. ^ a b Nikki R. Keddie,Rudi Matthee (2011). Iran and the Surrounding World: Interactions in Culture and Cultural Politics. University of Washington Press. p. 25. ISBN 9780295800240.
  10. ^ a b c Farooqui, A Comprehensive History of Medieval India 2011, p. 174
  11. ^ International Dictionary of Historic Places: Asia and Oceania, ed. Trudy Ring, Robert M. Salkin, Sharon La Boda, page 125
  12. ^ Bolar, Varija R (2012). "Turks in Karnataka" (PDF). International Journal of Social Studies 4 (1): 423-424
  13. ^ Devare, T. N. A short history of Persian literature; at the Bahmani, the Adilshahi, and the Qutbshahi courts. Poona: S. Devare, 1961, pp. 67, 272, 312-317
  14. ^ Bolar, Varija R (2012). "Turks in Karnataka" (PDF). International Journal of Social Studies 4 (1): 423.
  15. ^ Haig 1925, p. 416.
  16. ^ Haig 1925, p. 421.
  17. ^ Haig 1925, pp. 422–423.
  18. ^ Ahammad, Mustak (2013). Military Architecture under the Adilshahis of Bijapur. p. 2.
  19. ^ Farooqui, A Comprehensive History of Medieval India 2011, p. 175.
  20. ^ Hari Narain Verma, Amrit Verma, Indian Women Through the Ages (1976), p. 29
  21. ^ Abraham Eraly, Emperors of the Peacock Throne: The Saga of the Great Moghuls (2007), chp. 11
  22. ^ K.K Basu, Career of Yusuf Adil Shah of Bijapur, Indian Culture, Vol. III, Issue I (1937), p. 117

Bibliography

  • Farooqui, Salma Ahmed (2011), A Comprehensive History of Medieval India: Twelfth to the Mid-Eighteenth Century, Pearson Education India, ISBN 978-81-317-3202-1
  • Haig, Wolseley (1925). Cambridge History Of India Vol. 2. Cambridge University Press.
  • Nilakanta Sastri, K. A. (1958) [first published 1955], A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar (Second ed.), New Delhi: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-560686-8 – via archive.org

Further reading

  • "Bijawar" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 928.
  • India History
  • Wakiyate Mamlakate Bijapur by Basheeruddin Dehelvi.
  • Tareekhe Farishta by Kasim Farishta
  • External Relation of Bijapur Adil Shahis.
  • Devare, T. N. A short history of Persian literature; at the Bahmani, the Adilshahi, and the Qutbshahi courts. Poona: S. Devare, 1961.
Preceded by
Founder of the Dynasty
 Adil Shahi Rulers of Bijapur
1489–1511 		Succeeded by