Qutb Shahi dynasty: Difference between revisions

| s1                    = Mughal Empire

| flag_s1                = Alam of the Mughal Empire.svg

| image_map_caption      = Golconda in 1733 CE.<ref>For a map of their territory see: {{cite book |last1=Schwartzberg |first1=Joseph E. |title=A Historical atlas of South Asia |date=1978 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |page=147, map XIV.4 (l)|isbn=0226742210 |url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/schwartzberg/pager.html?object=186}}</ref>

| common_languages      = [[Persian language|Persian]] (<small>official</small>)<ref>Brian Spooner and William L. Hanaway, ''Literacy in the Persianate World: Writing and the Social Order'', (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012), 317.</ref><br /> [[Telugu language|Telugu]]<ref>{{cite journal

|quote = "Ibrahim Qutb Shah encouraged the growth of Telugu and his successor Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah patronized and himself wrote poetry in Telugu and in Dakhni. Abdullah Qutb Shah instituted a special office to prepare the royal edicts in Telugu (dabiri-ye faramin-i Hindavi). While administrative and revenue papers at local levels in the Qutb Shahi Sultanate were prepared largely in Telugu, the royal edicts were often bilingual.'06 The last Qutb Shahi Sultan, Abul Hasan Tana Shah, sometimes issued his orders only in Telugu, with a Persian summary given on the back of the farmans."

| doi=10.1017/s0026749x98002947}}</ref><br />[[Deccani Urdu]]

The '''Qutb Shahi dynasty''' ruled the '''Golconda Sultanate''' in northern [[Deccan Plateau]] ([[Telangana]]) from 1512 AD to 1687 AD, a [[Persianate society|Persianate]]<ref>Farooqui Salma Ahmed (2011). ''A Comprehensive History of Medieval India: From Twelfth to the Mid-Eighteenth Century''. Pearson Education India. pp. 177–179. [[ISBN (identifier)|ISBN]] [[Special:BookSources/9788131732021|<bdi>9788131732021</bdi>]].</ref><ref>Satish Chandra, ''Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals'', Part II, (Har-Anand, 2009), 210.</ref><ref>Christoph Marcinkowski, ''Shi'ite Identities: Community and Culture in Changing Social Contexts'', 169-170;"''The Qutb-Shahi kingdom could be considered 'highly Persianate' with a large number of Persian-speaking merchants, scholars, and artisans present at the royal capital.''"</ref> Shia Islamic dynasty, the Qutb Shahis were descendants of [[Qara Yusuf]] from [[Kara Koyunlu|Qara Qoyunlu]] of Hamadan province of Persia, originally a [[Turkoman (ethnonym)|Turkoman]] Muslim tribe. After the collapse of [[Bahmani Sultanate]], the "Qutb Shahi" dynasty was established in 1512 AD by [[Quli Qutb Mulk]] who assumed the title of "Sultan". In 1636, [[Shah Jahan]] forced the Qutb Shahis to recognize Mughal suzerainty and pay periodic tributes. The dynasty came to an end in 1687 during the reign of its seventh Sultan [[Abul Hasan Qutb Shah]], when the [[Mughal Emperor]] [[Aurangzeb]] arrested and jailed him for the rest of his life in Daulatabad, absorbed Golconda into the Mughal empire.<ref>{{cite book|title=Iran and the Deccan: Persianate Art, Culture, and Talent in Circulation, 1400–1700|year=2020|isbn=9780253048943|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=_yHXDwAAQBAJ|author=Keelan Overton|page=82|publisher=Indiana University Press|access-date=1 July 2020}}</ref><ref name="Farooqi">{{cite book|title=A Comprehensive History of Medieval India: From Twelfth to the Mid-Eighteenth Century|author=Farooqui Salma Ahmed|pages=177–179|publisher=Pearson Education India|year=2011|isbn=9788131732021}}</ref><ref name="Bosworth" /> The kingdom extended from the parts of modern-day states of [[Karnataka]], [[Andhra Pradesh]], [[Odisha]] and [[Telangana]].<ref name="sen2">{{Cite book |last=Sen |first=Sailendra |title=A Textbook of Medieval Indian History |publisher=Primus Books |year=2013 |isbn=978-9-38060-734-4 |pages=118}}</ref> The Golconda sultanate was constantly in conflict with the [[Adilshahi sultanate|Adil Shahis]] and [[Nizam Shahi dynasty|Nizam Shahis]].<ref name="Bosworth">C.E. Bosworth, ''The New Islamic Dynasties'', (Columbia University Press,  1996), 328.</ref>

The Qutb Shahis were patrons of [[Persianate]] Shia culture.<ref name="Farooqi"/><ref name="Chandra" /> Over the first 90 years of their rule (c. 1512 – 1600), their official edicts and court language was in Persian only. In early 17th-century, these were in both Persian and Telugu. Towards the end of the dynasty, these were primarily in Telugu with a summary in Persian. As they adopted Telugu, they saw their territory as the Telugu speaking region, states Indologist Richard Eaton, with their elites considering the rulers as "Telugu Sultans".<ref name="Eaton" /> The ruling elites, court officials, the police and the army of the Sultanate were predominantly Muslims in a region whose population was predominantly Hindu. The exception were last two Sultans, when Brahmin Hindus such as [[Madanna and Akkanna]] rose to be ministers, with their portfolio being tax collection and the exchequer. In the 1680s, a Muslim general of the dynasty defected to the Mughal empire, which then attacked the Golconda Sultanate, Madanna and Akkanna were beheaded by Muslim soldiers, the Sultan thereafter imprisoned, thus ending the Qutb Shahi dynasty.<ref name=Kruijtzer>Gijs Kruijtzer (2002), ''Madanna, Akkanna and the Brahmin Revolution: A Study of Mentality, Group Behaviour and Personality in Seventeenth-Century India'', Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, Vol. 45, No. 2, pp. 231-267, {{JSTOR|3632842}}</ref><ref name=aiyangar1>S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, "Abul Hasan Qutub Shah and his Ministers, Madanna and Akkanna." Journal of Indian History (August 1931): 91-131</ref>

The dynasty's founder, [[Sultan Quli Qutb-ul-Mulk]] was a descendants of [[Qara Yusuf]] (from [[Kara Koyunlu|Qara Qoyunlu]], a [[Turkoman (ethnonym)|Turkic]] Muslim tribe). He migrated to [[Delhi]] with his uncle, Allah-Quli, some of his relatives and friends in the beginning of the 16th century, from [[Hamadan Province]]—(now in [[Iran]] then it was ruled by his ancestral Turkic tribe).<ref name="jstor1">{{cite journal|title=The Qara-qoyunlu and the Qutb-shāhs (Turkmenica, 10)|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/609229|volume=17|year=1955|pages=50–73|publisher=Cambridge University Press|jstor = 609229|access-date=20 November 2020|last1 = Minorsky|first1 = V.|journal = Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London|issue = 1|doi = 10.1017/S0041977X00106342}}</ref><ref name="Masud">{{cite book|title=Mohammad Quli Qutb Shah|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v4UKJFLZVcEC|year=1996|page=2|first=Masud Husain|last=Khan|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=9788126002337|access-date=20 November 2020}}</ref> Later he migrated south, to the [[Deccan Plateau|Deccan]] and served the [[Bahmani Sultanate|Bahmani sultan]], [[Mahmood Shah Bahmani II]].<ref name="Michell">George Michell, Mark Zebrowski, ''Architecture and Art of the Deccan Sultanates'', (Cambridge University Press, 1999), 17.</ref> He conquered Golconda, after the disintegration of the Bahmani Kingdom into the five [[Deccan sultanates]].<ref name="Michell" /> Soon after, he declared independence from the Bahmani Sultanate, took the title ''Qutub Shah'', and established the Qutb Shahi dynasty of Golconda. He was later assassinated in 1543 by his son, [[Jamsheed Quli Qutb Shah|Jamsheed]], who assumed the sultanate.<ref name="Michell" /> Jamsheed died in 1550 from cancer.<ref name="Khan">Masʻūd Ḥusain K̲h̲ān̲, ''Mohammad Quli Qutb Shah'', Volume 216, (Sahitya Akademi, 1996), 2.</ref> Jamsheed's young son reigned for a year, at which time the nobility brought back and installed Ibrahim Quli as sultan.<ref name="Khan" />  

The early Qutb Shahi sultans prohibited Hindus from observing their religious festivals, states [[Annemarie Schimmel]] – a scholar of Islamic studies. During the reign of Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah (1580–1611), who was a more tolerant ruler, the Hindus were allowed to observe their religious festivals like [[Diwali]] and [[Holi]] in open.<ref>Annemarie Schimmel, ''Classical Urdu Literature from the Beginning to Iqbāl'', (Otto Harrassowitz, 1975), 143; Quote: "[Muhammad Quli ... was an enlightened and tolerant ruler...] Hindus enjoyed good positions at court and were again allowed to celebrate some of their religious festivals, such as Holi and Diwali, prohibited by the previous Muslim kings" – Annemarie Schimmel</ref> Later Sultans such as Tana Shah, appointed Brahmin Hindus such as [[Madanna and Akkanna]] as ministers in charge of tax collection and exchequer. However, this led to significant factionalism between the Muslim elites and the rising power of the Brahmin Hindus. The Muslim faction reached out to Aurangzeb, who sent a regiment led by his son to attack Golconda. They beheaded Madanna and Akkanna, along with plundering the property and killing many more Hindus in administrative positions of the Qutb Shahi dynasty. Shortly thereafter, the last Sultan of dynasty was jailed in Daulatabad by Aurangzeb, and the Qutb Shahi dynasty came to an end.<ref name=Kruijtzer/><ref name=aiyangar1/>

Golconda, and with the construction of the [[Charminar|Char Minar]], later [[Hyderabad, India|Hyderabad]], served as capitals of the sultanate,<ref name="Michell" /> and both cities were embellished by the Qutb Shahi sultans. The dynasty ruled Golconda for 171 years, until the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] emperor [[Aurangzeb]] conquered the [[Deccan Plateau|Deccan]] in 1687.<ref name="Chandra2">Satish Chandra, ''Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals'', Part II, (Har-Anand, 2009), 331.</ref>

The Golconda Sultanate was notoriously wealthy. While its primary source of revenue was land tax,<ref>{{Citation|last=Eaton|first=R. M.|title=Ḳuṭb S̲h̲āhī|date=2012-04-24|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/kutb-shahi-SIM_4584?s.num=47&s.f.s2_parent=s.f.book.encyclopaedia-of-islam-2&s.start=40&s.q=deccan|work=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition|publisher=Brill|language=en|access-date=2021-12-26}}</ref> the sultanate greatly profited from its monopoly on diamond production from mines in the southern districts of the kingdom. The sultanate also had control over the [[Krishna Delta|Krishna]] and [[Godavari Delta|Godavari deltas]], giving it access to craft production in the villages of the area, where goods like textiles were produced. The town of [[Masulipatnam]] served as the Golconda Sultanate's primary seaport for the export of diamonds and textiles. The kingdom reached the peak of its financial prosperity in the 1620s and 1630s.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Eaton|first=Richard Maxwell|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/58431679|title=A social history of the Deccan, 1300-1761 : eight Indian lives|date=2005|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0-521-25484-1|location=Cambridge, UK|pages=157|oclc=58431679}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kanakarathnam|first=N.|date=2014|title=MARITIME TRADE AND GROWTH OF URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE IN PORT CITIES OF COLONIAL ANDHRA: A STUDY OF MASULIPATNAM|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44158449|journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress|volume=75|pages=691|issn=2249-1937}}</ref>

During the early seventeenth century, a strong cotton-weaving industry existed in the Deccan region. Large quantities of cotton cloth were produced for domestic and exports consumption. High quality plain and patterned cloth made of muslin and calico was produced. Plain cloth was available as white or brown colour, in bleached or dyed variety. This cloth was exported to Persia and European countries. Patterned cloth was made of prints which were made indigenously with indigo for blue, chay-root for red coloured prints and vegetable yellow. Patterned cloth exports were mainly to Java, Sumatra and other eastern countries.<ref name=":2" />

Sultan [[Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah]] (1580–1612) wrote poems in Dakhini Urdu, Persian and Telugu.<ref name="Chandra" /> Subsequent poets and writers, however wrote in Urdu, while using vocabulary from Persian, Hindi and Telugu languages.<ref name="Chandra" /> During the reign of [[Abdullah Qutb Shah]] in 1634 CE, an ancient Sanskrit text on love and sex ''[[Ratirahasya]]'' by Kokkoka was translated into [[Persian language|Persian]] and named ''Lazzat-un-Nisa'' (Flavors of the Woman).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/lazzat-un-nisa-hyderabads-own-kamasutra-back-in-focus/articleshow/67391978.cms|title=Lazzat-Un-Nisa: Hyderabad's own Kamasutra back in focus - Times of India|last=Akbar|first=Syed|date=2019-01-05|website=The Times of India|access-date=2019-01-05}}</ref>

The Qutb Shahi architecture was [[Indo-Islamic architecture|Indo-Islamic]], a culmination of Indian and Persian architectural styles.<ref name="Farooqui1">Salma Ahmed Farooqui, ''A Comprehensive History of Medieval India: From Twelfth to the Mid-Eighteenth Century'', (Dorling Kindersley Pvt. Ltd, 2011), 181.</ref> Their style was very similar to that of the other [[Deccan sultanates|Deccan Sultanates]]. The Qutb Shahi rulers built the [[Charminar|Char Minar]].<ref name="Chandra">Satish Chandra, ''Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals'', Part II, (Har-Anand, 2009), 210.</ref>  

The Qutb Shahi Kingdom was a highly centralized state. The sultan enjoyed absolute executive judicial and military powers. When he was away, a regent carried to carry on the administration on behalf of the king. The ''Peshwa'' (Prime Minister) was the highest official of the sultanate. He was assisted by a number of ministers, including ''Mir Jumla'' (finance minister), ''Kotwal'' (police commissioner), and ''Khazanadar'' (treasurer).{{cn|date=September 2021}}

For most of their reign, the Qutb Shahi sultanate had a system of jagirs, who would provide troops as well as collect taxes. They were allowed to keep a portion of the taxes and give the sultan the rest. Tax collection was through auction farms, the highest bidder used to get the Governorship. While the Governors enjoyed luxurious life style, they had to bear the brunt of severe punishments for default, consequently they were harsh on the people.<ref name=":2" /> Tana Shah – the last Sultan, with advice from his Brahmin ministers responsible for tax collection, introduced a reform whereby all taxes were collected by civil professionals for a region. The soldiers, government workers, court officials and all the Muslim elites were paid allowances from the Sultan's treasury. These reforms brought a large increase in revenues.<ref>Gijs Kruijtzer (2002), ''Madanna, Akkanna and the Brahmin Revolution: A Study of Mentality, Group Behaviour and Personality in Seventeenth-Century India'', Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, Vol. 45, No. 2, pp. 231-267, {{JSTOR|3632842}}</ref>

The Sultanate had 66 forts, and each fort was administered by a ''Nayak''.<ref>{{cite book|title=Prince;Poet;Lover;Builder: Mohd. Quli Qutb Shah - The founder of Hyderabad|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4B_iDQAAQBAJ|author=Narendra Luther|publisher=Publications Division Ministry of Information & Broadcasting|year=1991|isbn=9788123023151|access-date=13 January 2020}}</ref> In the second half of the 17th-century, the Qutb Shahi Sultan hired many Hindu Nayaks. According to Kruijtzer, these were mainly Brahmins.<ref name=Kruijtzer/> According to another account, these were mainly from the [[Kamma (caste)|Kamma]], [[Velama]], [[Kapu (caste)|Kapu]], and [[Raju]] warrior castes.<ref name=":1">Chapter III: Economics, Political, Economic, and Social Background of Deccan 17th-18th Century, p.57 [https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/25652/10/10_chapter%203.pdf Deccan under late 17th-century Qutb Shahi]</ref> They served as civil revenue officers. After the Mughals dismissed the Qutb Shahi dynasty in 1687, these Hindu Nayaks were also dismissed and replaced with Muslim military commanders.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zdqxsas05NMC|title=Proceedings of Seminar on Industries and Crafts in Andhra Desa, 17th and 18th Centuries, A.D.|date=1996|publisher=Department of History, Osmania University|pages=57|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qJXXAAAAMAAJ|title=Readings In Society And Religion Of Medieval South India|last=Reddy|first=Pedarapu Chenna|date=2006-01-01|publisher=Research India Press|isbn=9788189131043|pages=163|language=en}}</ref>

The Qutb Shahi dynasty, like many Deccan Islamic dynasties, was a Shia Islam dynasty with roots in Persia (modern Iran). Initially they were very strict and they persecuted the Hindus who constituted the vast majority of the population. Open practice of Hindu festivals was forbidden in Golconda Sultanate. It was Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah who first reversed this policy, and allowed Hindus to practice their festivals and religion in open.<ref>Annemarie Schimmel, ''Classical Urdu Literature from the Beginning to Iqbāl'', (Otto Harrassowitz, 1975), pp. 141-152</ref><ref>''Islam in South Asia: Practicing tradition today'', Karen G. Ruffle, '''South Asian Religions: Tradition and Today''', ed. Karen Pechilis, Selva J. Raj, (Routledge, 2013), 210.</ref>  

In the final decades of their rule, the Qutb Shahi dynasty rulers patronized Shia, Sufi, Sunni Islamic traditions, as well as the Hindu traditions. Prior to their end, Tana Shah advised by Madanna and Akkanna – his Brahmin ministers, began the tradition of sending pearls to the [[Sita Ramachandraswamy temple, Bhadrachalam|Bhadrachalam Temple]] of Rama on [[Rama Navami]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IQtuAAAAMAAJ|title=Glimpses of our past--historical researches: festschrift in honour of Prof. Mukkamala Radhakrishna Sarma, former emeritus fellow|last1=Sarma|first1=Mukkamala Radhakrishna|last2=Committee|first2=Osmania University Dept of Ancient Indian History, Culture & Archaeology Felicitation|last3=History|first3=Osmania University Dept of|date=2004|publisher=Felicitation Committee, Dept. of Ancient Indian History, Culture, and Archaeology & Dept. of History, Osmania University|pages=326|language=en}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" border="1"

| ''Quli Qutb Shah''<br />قلی قطب شاہ

* Second Son of [[Quli Qutb Mulk|Quli Qutb Shah]]

* Younger Son of [[Quli Qutb Mulk|Quli Qutb Shah]]

{{Tree chart/start}}

{{Tree chart| | | | | | | |YUS| | | | | | |YUS=[[Qara Yusuf]]<br />Ruler of the [[Kara Koyunlu|Qara Qoyunlu]]<br />1410-1420}}

 

{{Tree chart| | |,|-|-|-|-|-|^|-|-|-|-|-|.| | | | | | | |}}

{{Tree chart| | ISK| | | | | | | | | | JAH |ISK=[[Qara Iskander]]<br />Ruler of the [[Kara Koyunlu|Qara Qoyunlu]]<br />''First Reign''<br />1420-1429<br />''Second Reign''<br />1431-1436|JAH=[[Jahan Shah]]<br />Ruler of the [[Kara Koyunlu|Qara Qoyunlu]]<br />1436-1467}}

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{{Tree chart| | ALV| | | | | | | | | | YUS |ALV=[[Alvand Mirza (Kara Koyunlu)|Alvand Mirza]]|YUS=[[Mirza Yusuf]]<br />Ruler of the [[Kara Koyunlu|Qara Qoyunlu]]<br />1468-1469}}

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{{Tree chart| |PIR| | | | | | | | | | KHA |PIR=Pir Quli Beg|YUS=[[Mirza Yusuf]]|KHA=Khadija Khatun}}

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{{Tree chart| | | | | | | |UWA| | | | | | |UWA=Uways Quli Beg}}

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{{Tree chart| | | | | | | |QUL| | | | | | |QUL=1.<br />'''[[Quli Qutb Mulk]]'''<br />[[Sultan]] of [[Golkonda]]<br />1512-1543}}

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{{Tree chart| | |:| | | | |IBR| | | | JAM |IBR=4.<br />''' [[Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah Wali]]'''<br />[[Sultan]] of [[Golkonda]]<br />1550-1580|JAM=2.<br />'''[[Jamsheed Quli Qutb Shah]]'''<br />[[Sultan]] of [[Golkonda]]<br />1543-1550}}

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{{Tree chart| | |:| | |AMI| |MUH| | SUB |AMI=Mirza Muhammad Amin|MUH=5.<br />'''[[Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah]]'''<br />[[Sultan]] of [[Golkonda]]<br />1580-1611|SUB=3.<br />'''[[Subhan Quli Qutb Shah]]'''<br />[[Sultan]] of [[Golkonda]]<br />1550}}

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{{Tree chart| | |:| | |SUL| |HAY

|SUL=6.<br />'''[[Sultan Muhammad Qutb Shah|Muhammad Qutb Shah]]'''<br />[[Sultan]] of [[Golkonda]]<br />1611-1626

|HAY=[[Hayat Bakshi Begum]]}}

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{{Tree chart| | |:| | | | |ABD| | | | | | |ABD=7.<br />'''[[Abdullah Qutb Shah]]'''<br />[[Sultan]] of [[Golkonda]]<br />1626-1672}}

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{{Tree chart| |ABU| | | |BAD| | | | | | |ABU=8.<br />'''[[Abul Hasan Qutb Shah]]'''<br />[[Sultan]] of [[Golkonda]]<br />1672-1687 |BAD= Badshah Bibi}}

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