Karnataka > Adilshahis of Bijapur (1489-1686)
Of the five Shahi Kingdoms that rose from the ruins of the Bahamanis, the Adilshahis of Bijapur ruled over the greater part of Karnataka. It was founded in 1489 by Yusuf Adil Khan, a commander and governor under the Bahamanis. The Adilshahis were great patrons of art and men of letters. Yusuf has been called "a powerful and prosperous king" by Varthema, the Italian Visitor. His son Ismail (1510-35) was recognised as a ruler by the Shah of Iran and he sent an embassy to Bijapur. Ismail's grandson, Ali (1557-80) was in friendly terms with Ramaraya of Vijayanagara who had adopted Ali as his son. But other Shahi Sultans forced Ali to join the confederacy against the Vijayanagara Empire, whose army was defeated in 1565. The Jami Mosque at Bijapur with a wonderful design was raised by him.
Ibrahim II (1580-1626), Ali's nephew is the greatest Adilshahi king. He captured and merged the Baridshahi Kingdom of Bidar in 1619. He was a tolerant ruler and was nicknamed 'Jagadguru'. He built the temple of Narasimha Saraswati (Dattatreya) in the citadel of his fort. A lover of Hindu music, he had 300 singers in his court. He composed Kitab-e-Nauras in Urdu and thereby succeeded in introducing Hindu music to Muslims. The book begins with an invocation to Goddess Saraswati. He patronised great historians like Ferishta and Shirazi, and raised beautiful buildings like Ibrahim Rauza, Malika Jahan Masjid and Anand Mahal. His son Muhammad (1626-56) extended the kingdom in the south upto Bangalore and in the South-East upto Vellore. Bangalore and the surrounding regions were granted as jahgir to Shahji Bhosle, Shivaji's father. The Marathas retained Bangalore till 1686. It is this prince who has built the magnificient Gol Gumbaz at Bijapur. The Adhilshahi kingdom was annexed by Aurangzeb in 1686. Adilshahi buildings at Bijapur like Asar Mahal and Ibrahim Rauza have paintings. Ragmala paintings and personal portraits of members of the royal family including Chand Bibi are preserved in the Bijapur Museum. Some of the Bijapur rulers were Shiahs and celebration of Moharram by installing tabuts became common in Karnataka. A form of Urdu called Deccani Hindi also developed in their court.
The Mughals extended their territory to the South. They conquered Bangalore in 1686 and leased it out to Chikkadevaraya of Mysore. They made Sira in Karnataka and Arcot in Tamilnadu their important administrative centres. Sira has some fine Mughul buildings. The Nawabs of Savanur, Sira and Advani administered the Kannada territories under the Mughuls, and some Kannada districts were also administered by the Nizam of Golkanda another feudatory of the Mughuls.
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