History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v2.c30.6

v2.c30.6

As mentioned above, the Bahmanî dynasty of Kulbarga maintained the struggle against the Hindû principalities of the south for nearly a century and a half, with very little assistance from either the central power at Delhi or their cognate states in the Dekhan. Before the end of the 15th century, however, they began to feel that decay inherent in all Eastern dynasties; and the Hindûs might have recovered their original possessions, up to the Vindhya at least, but for the appearance of a new and more vigorous competitor in the field in the person of Yûsuf ’Âdil Khân, supposed to have been the son of Sultân Murâd II. of Anatolia. He was thus a Turk of pure blood, and born in Constantinople, though his mother was forced to send him thence while he was still an infant. After a varied career he was purchased for, and found service in the body-guard of Amîr Barîd at Bîdar, and soon raised himself to such pre-eminence that on the defeat of Dastûr Dînâr, in 1501, he was enabled to proclaim his independence and establish himself as the founder of the ’Âdil Shâhî dynasty of Bijâpûr.