Twilight of the Sultanate c8.s4.4

c8.s4.4

For the study of these kingdoms, the plan of Rushbrook Williams, of starting from the south, working upwards and finally concentrating on the Sultanate of Delhi, would suit best.⁹⁸ For well-nigh two centuries the empire of Vijāyanagar remained united and helped preserve the Hindu religion and culture from the onrush of the Islamic ideas and forces in the south. The Bahmanī kingdom suffered from all the weaknesses of a Muslim ruling dynasty—uncertainty of succession, intrigues of the nobles, political murders, excessive drinking, multi-marriages (with consequent over-growth of population)⁹⁹ and zeal for aggressive wars against neighbouring "infidel kings". Of the eighteen rulers of the Bahmanī dynasty, five were murdered, three were removed from the throne and two died of intemperance. And towards the close of fifteenth century the kingdom had broken up into a number of small principalities—Ahmadnagar, Golkunda, Bījāpur, Bidar and Berār. Their constant internecine wars gave the Deccan peninsula a distinct character and kept the Sultans of Delhi free from anxiety. The Bahmanī kingdom was also too close to Malwa and Gujarat, a fact which these two states could ill afford to forget. That is why whenever Gujarat, and more so Malwa, tried to take advantage of the Delhi-Jaunpur wars, the restraining influence of the Bahmanī kingdom did not let either of them become so powerful as to be tempted to attack the Sultanate of Delhi, at least never in full force.