New History of the Marathas v1.c5.94

v1.c5.94

8. Saints and writers of Maharashtra.—As a reaction to Muslim aggression in India, the spirit of revolt rapidly spread throughout the land and paralysed all the energy of Muhammad Tughlak. Mahārāshtra was not slow to follow in the footsteps of Vijayanagar, but here the revolt took a different shape. Husain Zafar Khan, a trusted commandant whom the Tughlak Sultan despatched to quell the rebellions in the south, himself assumed the lead of the rebels, and declared his own independence at Gulburga, assuming the royal title of Ala-ud-din Bahman Shah and founded in 1347 what came to be known in history as the Bahamani Kingdom. This Muslim ruler was shrewd enough to realize that it was no use exasperating the Hindus by interfering with their religion. They readily accepted his new tolerant rule though alien in faith. During the next two hundred years this Bahamani Kingdom, like its sister of Vijayanagar, went on flourishing side by side, although between them a spirit of rivalry and mutual aggression continued all the time. Towards the end of the fifteenth century, the Bahamani Kingdom broke up into five separate branches, of which three, namely those of Bijapur, Ahmadnagar and Golkonda became fairly powerful after absorbing the other two of Bidar and Berar. These three have become known to history as the Adil Shahi, Nizam Shahi, and Qutb Shahi, from the names of their respective founders. We are not here concerned with the internal administration of the original Bahamani kingdom or of its later branches, except in so far as they contributed to the Maratha rise.