Nobility in the Bijapuri Kingdom
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NOBILITY IN THE BIJAPURI KINGDOM ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF ©octor of Pjilosiopljp IN --0 >\\ HISTORY II BY KcnJ ' fl MOHD. TARIQUE ANWAR ~:^ , .-/Y^ Under the Supervision of PROF. TARIQ AHMED CENTRE OF ADVANCED STUDY DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY ALIGARH (INDIA) 2008 ABSTRACT This work proposes the ;.5t.uay of the 'Nobility in Bijapuri Kingdom' from its foundation in 1489 to its final annexation in 1686 by Aurangzeb into the Mughal Empire. The purpose of this study is to analyse the institution of nobility within the territory of Bijapuri Kingdom, which, was extended roughly from the river Bhima to the river Tungabhadra. Two broad questions have led me to study the present theme: Firstly, the studies on this theme so far attempted, appears to be mainly confined either to the chronological narration of political events or to the cultural history of the Adil Shahi Court. This trend of research may be said to be due to two reasons: the source materials so far used have been mostly the court chroniclers written by the court literati and similar scholars; and the modern historians have chiefly been concerned with the idea of the 'history from above' and most of them have concentrated their energy on rulers and the elites and they missed the socio-political setup as a whole. However, the question that has led me to the present study. That is, when the foreign Muslims (afaqi) settled in the Deccan as conquerors, how and through what institutions did they rule over the indigenous people? Thus, an attempt is being made to know the structure of the state during the Adil Shahi period. Secondly, by the middle of the l?^** century, the Maratha power began to emerge on the northwest frontier of the Adil Shahi Sultanate and developed very rapidly into a big kingdom. To account for this rapid rise of the Marathas it may be assumed that certain institutional background must have been prepared during the Adil Shahi period, combined with the favourable political circumstances and the extra ordinary military genius of Shivaji. Therefore, it is important to have the knowledge of the administrative institutions of the Adil Shahi Sultanate, to re-construct the picture of the rise of the Marathas. As we are aware that the trend in Indian historical writings, in which the subject or ruled have largely been neglected and the elite have always been studied and highlighted. But, it is also true that the rulers too have not received enough attention. Though, some impressive biographies of Indian rulers and royal families are available. The rulers represented only a part of the ruling class. So, the remaining members of the ruling class also deserves close attention. These members are invariably called as nobles or officers of the king. Therefore, these nobles are as important as the ruler, and have played a very crucial role in the functioning of the state apparatus or administration in general. One of the objectives of the study of Adil Shahi nobility is, to describe the institutions and traditions that defined its organisation and policies, and the stresses and strains to which it was subjected. The present work shall be elaborating four different aspects of the nobility with an evaluation of sources. These four aspects including the evaluation of sources forms the five chapters of this study. These chapters are : Chapter One Evaluation of Sources Chapter Two Composition of the Nobility Chapter Three The Crown and the Nobility Chapter Four Nobles Role in Defining the Bijapur's relation with Indian States Chapter Five Nobles and Administration Chapter One The thesis is mainly based on primary sources both published and unpublished. A critical evaluation of these sources has been made in this chapter. Though the material on the subject is fairly extensive in several languages, it is mainly based on Persian sources. Almost all the primary sources, relevant to the subject have been used. Archival documents, both in Persian and other languages, have also been used. Epigraphic and numismatic material has been exploited and utilised. Secondary sources, both works and research papers and contributions in various periodicals have been consulted with a view to find out the missing links. The different points of view of the authorities have also been taken into consideration and acknowledged. The sources on the nobility of the Bijapur kingdom is fairly extensive and good in both Persian and non-Persian languages. However, these sources are not as rich as the Mughal sources particularly on this topic i.e. nobility. The Persian sources can be classified under two categories: Chief histories of Adil Shahi Kingdom and the sources of other States giving account relevant to the nobility of the Adil Shahi Kingdom. These sources have been classified under two Categories: (i) Contemporary: Gulshan-i-Ibrahimi by Muhammad Qasim Ferishta; Tadhkirat-ul-Muluk (Ms.) by Rafiuddin S'hirazi; Futuhat-i-Adil Shahi (Ms.) by Fuzuni Astrabadi; Muhammad Noma (Ms.) by Mulla Zuhur; Tarikh-i-Ali Adil Shahiyah by Qazi Nurullah. (ii) Non-Contemporary: These sources includes Ahwal-i-Salatin-i- Bijapur (Ms.) by Muhiuddin Pirzada and Basatin-us-Salatin by Ibrahim Zubairi. Extensive use has been made of the correspondences that were exchanged between 'Adil Shahi court and the courts of other Indian States and Iran. The two types of archival documents have been utilised: the Mughal documents and the Adil Shahi farmans, which throws a flood of light on the activities of the nobles. Non-Persian Sources like Sanskrit, Marathi, Portuguese records and several other innumerable numbers of documents relevant to the nobles activities in relation to Bijapur have been utilized. Chapter Two In this chapter the analysis of the composition of the nobility has been made with a background of the nobility of the Bahmani Kingdom as, the Adil Shahi's have inherited everything from its parental state. The Adil Shahi nobility was theoretically the creation of the Sultan. It was he alone who could confer, increase, diminish or resume the position of any of his nobles. The nobles or officers were not only public servants, but also the richest class in the Sultanate and a close aristocracy and entrance into this class was not easily available to everyone. They were appointed on the basis of heredity, but slightly a large number of persons who did not belong to these families were also holding offices. Then there were nobles and high officers of other states, who were given a place in the Adil Shahi nobility on account of their experience, status and influence. Thus, the kingdom had become an El Dorado for the nobles, where the fortunes could rapidly be made. Due to military necessity a large number of nobles and officers of the independent states, both in times of peace and war, be won over to the Bijapuri side. The Bijapuri nobility consists of certain well-recognised racial groups. These were the Deccanis, the Afaqis, the Habashis, the Afghans, and the Marathas and were incorporated into the states service largely as a result of historical circumstances, but party (specially the Marathas) as a result of planned imperial policy. The Adil Shahi Sultans followed the policy of integrating all these elements into a single imperial service, not only this they were also motivated by a desire to employ elements of diverse religious beliefs such as, Sunnis, Shias and Hindus and to prevent sectarian differences among them, from interfering with their loyalty to the throne. Thus, there was diversity in unity but this diversity has also produced tension, there existed a certain amount of jealousy among the various sections of the nobility and had inherited both the tradition of internal rivalry and distrust as well as the dominant spirit of unity engendered by a common loyalty to the throne. Since, Bijapur was a theocratic, multi-racial, and dynastic state. So, these various factions played a major role in shaping the destiny of the kingdom. The alternation of Sunni and Shia doctrines with the change of ruler too had its repercussions on the nobles, who were the virtual pillars of the kingdom. Therefore, the religious groups too had their say in the Adil Shahi Sultanate as they were too powerful to have their influence over the King as well as in the society. The Sultan followed a consciously planned policy towards the various sections of the nobility and the changes in the strength of each of them reached upon the solidarity and cohesion of the nobility and the Sultanate as a whole, and we find a bitter elite-non-elite cleavage between the Afaqis and the Deccanis that has weakened and ultimately destroyed the internal stability of the Sultanate. Chapter Three Adil Shahis were not very different from the general setup of other Muslim governments of that period. Here too, the nobles holding important positions and has occupied a significant place in the administrative setup of the government and as advisors to the Crown in determining the policy related to the State. The relationship of the Crown and the nobility could be summed up in the words of Rafi'uddin Shirazi, who was in the service of kingdom writes : "Husain Nizam Shah than perceived that his interest lay in making friendship with 'Ali 'Adil Shah and Ibrahim Qutb Shah to form an alliance against their enemies". However, at various occasion we have seen the betrayal of trust by the Bijapuri nobles with the king, which had greatly benefited the neighbouring states. At one occasion, where Aurangzeb had won over many of the 'Adil Shahi officers by systematic bribery, and even Khan Muhammad, the Prime Minister of Bijapur, seems to have been won over by him, which created dissensions at the Court as there were some 8 nobles who suspected Khan Muhammad's pro-Mughal tendencies and wanted to drive him out of office and power.