Sultanate of Golconda

The dynasty's founder, Sultan Quli Khawas Khan Hamdani was born in Hamadan, Iran. He belonged to the Qara Qoyunlu, a Turkmen Muslim tribe and therefore a descendant of Qara Yusuf.{{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|s2cid=162273460 |url-access=subscription}}{{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}} In the 16th century, he migrated to Delhi with his uncle, Allah-Quli, some of his relatives and friends. Later he migrated south, to the Deccan and served the Bahmani sultan, Mahmood Shah Bahmani II, who was of Deccani Muslim ethnicity.{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=p159EAAAQBAJ&dq=Alauddin+Ahmad+II++Chand+Minar&pg=PT26 |title= Water and Historic Settlements:The Making of a Cultural Landscape |author= Yaaminey Mubayi |date= 2022 |publisher= Taylor & Francis |isbn= 9781000641639 }}George Michell, Mark Zebrowski, Architecture and Art of the Deccan Sultanates, (Cambridge University Press, 1999), 17. He declared the independence of Golconda after the disintegration of the Bahmani Sultanate into the five Deccan sultanates. He took the title Qutb Shah, and established the Qutb Shahi dynasty of Golconda. He was assassinated in 1543 by his son, Jamsheed, who assumed control of the sultanate. Jamsheed died in 1550 from cancer.Masʻūd Ḥusain Khān, Mohammad Quli Qutb Shah, Volume 216, (Sahitya Akademi, 1996), 2. Jamsheed's young son Subhan Quli Qutb Shah reigned for a year, at which time the nobility brought back and installed Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah as sultan.

Golconda, and with the construction of the Char Minar, later Hyderabad, served as capitals of the sultanate, and both cities were embellished by the Qutb Shahi sultans. The dynasty ruled Golconda for 171 years, until Aurangzeb, in his campaigns in the Deccan, conquered the Sultanate of Golconda in 1687 with the completion of his siege of Golconda.Satish Chandra, Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals, Part II, (Har-Anand, 2009), 331. The sultante's last ruler, Abul Hasan Qutb Shah, was imprisoned in Daulatabad Fort, and the territory of the Golconda Sultanate was made into a Mughal imperial province, Hyderabad Subah.{{cite book|title=A Social History of the Deccan, 1300-1761|year=2008|last=Eaton|first=Richard M.|pages=156–158|chapter=Papadu (Fl. 1695–1710)|author-link=Richard M. Eaton|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/iB_in/1-8/page/n166/mode/1up|publisher=Cambridge University press}}{{Cite journal |last=Richards |first=J. F. |date=1975 |title=The Hyderabad Karnatik, 1687-1707 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/311962 |journal=Modern Asian Studies |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=241–260 |doi=10.1017/S0026749X00004996 |jstor=311962 |s2cid=142989123 |issn=0026-749X|url-access=subscription }}

File:Tomb of Sultan Muhammad Qutb Shah 01.jpg in Hyderabad.]]

The Golconda Sultanate was notoriously wealthy. While its primary source of revenue was a land tax,{{Citation|last=Eaton|first=R. M.|title=Ḳuṭb Shāhī|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|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition|publisher=Brill|language=en|access-date=2021-12-26}} 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 and 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.{{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}}{{Cite journal|last=Kanakarathnam|first=N.|title=Maritime Trade and Growth of Urban Infrastructure in Port Cities of Colonial Andhra: A Study of Masulipatnam |date=2014|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44158449|journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress|volume=75|pages=691|jstor=44158449 |issn=2249-1937}}

{{Main|Golconda diamonds}}

File:Wittelsbach Graff Diamond.JPG first discovered by the Golconda sultanate]]

The Golconda Sultanate was known for its diamonds which were dubbed the Golconda diamonds. These diamonds were sought after diamonds long before the Qutb Shahi dynasty came to power, and they continued to supply this demand through European traders.[https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/18/fashion/18iht-acaj-diamonds-18.html The Market for Golconda Diamonds Has Mushroomed], New York Times

Diamonds from mines (especially the Kollur Mine presently in Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh) were transported to the city of Hyderabad to be cut, polished, evaluated and sold. Golconda established itself as a diamond trading centre and until the end of the 19th century, the Golconda market was the primary source of the finest and largest diamonds in the world.{{Cite news|date=2016-11-05|title=Delving into the rich and often bloody history of Golconda Fort|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/Delving-into-the-rich-and-often-bloody-history-of-Golconda-Fort/article16437577.ece|access-date=2021-07-26|issn=0971-751X}}

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 export consumption. High-quality plain and patterned cloth made of muslin and calico was produced. Plain cloth was available in white or brown colour, in bleached or dyed variety. This cloth was exported to Persia and European countries. The 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. Golconda had a strong trading relationship with Ayutthaya Siam.{{Cite web |last=Marcinkowski |first=Christoph |title=Persians and Shi'ites in Thailand: From the Ayutthaya Period to the Present |url=https://www.iseas.edu.sg/images/pdf/nscwps15.pdf |access-date=8 May 2022 |archive-date=15 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231215224411/https://www.iseas.edu.sg/images/pdf/nscwps15.pdf |url-status=dead }}

File:Finch, Poppies, Dragonfly, and Bee India (Deccan, Golconda).jpg

The Qutb Shahis were patrons of Persianate Shia culture. Over the first 90 years of their rule (c. 1518 – 1600), they championed Persian culture. Their official edicts and court language were in Persian only. Quli Qutb Mulk's court became a haven for Persian culture and literature. In early 17th-century, with Sultan Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah (1580–1612) a change began. He began to patronize the Telugu language and culture as well. Edicts began to be issued both in 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".Richard M. Eaton (2005), A Social History of the Deccan, 1300-1761: Eight Indian Lives, Vol. 1, Cambridge University Press, 142-143{{cite book |last1=Richards |first1=John F. |title=Mughal administration in Golconda |date=1975 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford |isbn=9780198215615}}

Sultan Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah (1580–1612) wrote poems in Dakhini Urdu, Persian and Telugu. Subsequent poets and writers, however, wrote in Urdu, while using vocabulary from Persian, Hindi and Telugu languages. During the reign of Abdullah Qutb Shah in 1634 AD, an ancient Sanskrit text on love and sex Ratirahasya by Kokkoka was translated into Persian and named Lazzat-un-Nisa (Flavors of the Woman).{{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}}

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

Some examples of Qutb Shahi Indo-Islamic architecture are the Golconda Fort, tombs of the Qutb Shahis, Char Minar and the Char Kaman, Makkah Masjid, Khairatabad Mosque, Hayat Bakshi Mosque, Taramati Baradari and the Toli Mosque.{{Cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5573/|title=The Qutb Shahi Monuments of Hyderabad Golconda Fort, Qutb Shahi Tombs, Charminar - UNESCO World Heritage Centre|last=Centre|first=UNESCO World Heritage|website=whc.unesco.org|language=en|access-date=2018-09-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180201205635/https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5573/ |archive-date=1 February 2018 |url-status=live}}

{{main|Qutb Shahi Tombs}}

The tombs of the Qutb Shahi sultans lie about one kilometre north of Golkonda's outer wall. These structures are made of beautifully carved stonework, and surrounded by landscaped gardens. They are open to the public and receive many visitors.

File:The Bahmani Kingdom, Kandesh, and the Five Sultanates.jpg

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).{{citation needed|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, and the highest bidder used to get the Governorship. While the Governors enjoyed a luxurious lifestyle, they had to bear the brunt of severe punishments for default, consequently, they were harsh on the people. 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.

According to Moreland, in the earlier system, the Persian-origin Muslims were paid the highest, then the other Indian Muslims. In early 17th century, the Persian origin Muslims became rich by lending money on high interest (usury) of 4-5% per mensem much to the despair of Hindus.{{Cite book|last=Moreland|first=W.H.|title=Relation of Golconda in the Early Seventeenth Century|publisher=Halyukt Society|year=1931|pages=78, 89}}

The Sultanate had 66 forts, and each fort was administered by a Nayak.{{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}} In the second half of the 17th century, the Qutb Shahi Sultan hired many Hindu Nayaks. According to Kruijtzer, these were mainly Brahmins. According to another account, these were mainly from the Kamma, Velama, Kapu, and Raju warrior castes.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] 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.{{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}}{{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}}

{{South Asia in 1525 CE|right|The Golconda Sultanate and main South Asian polities circa 1525 AD, on the eve of the establishment of the Mughal Empire.{{cite book |last1=Schwartzberg |first1=Joseph E. |title=A Historical Atlas of South Asia |date=1978 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |page=39, 147|isbn=0226742210 |url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/schwartzberg/pager.html?object=076}}|{{Annotation|130|168|47px}}}}

The sultanate in 1670 comprised 21 sarkars (provinces) which in turn were divided into 355 parganas (districts).{{Cite book |last=Nayeem |first=M. A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V48MAQAAMAAJ |title=The Heritage of the Qutb Shahis of Golconda and Hyderabad, Volume 1 |date=2016 |publisher=Hyderabad Publishers |isbn=9788185492230 |pages=22 |chapter=MARITIME TRADE AND GROWTH OF URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE IN PORT CITIES OF COLONIAL ANDHRA: A STUDY OF MASULIPATNAM}}{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aoYgAAAAMAAJ|title=History of the Qutb Shāhī Dynasty|author=Haroon Khan Sherwani|publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers|date=1974|page=655}}

The Qutb Shahi dynasty, like many Deccan Islamic dynasties, was a Shia Muslim 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 the Golconda Sultanate. It was Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah who first reversed this policy, and allowed Hindus to practice their festivals and religion in the open.Annemarie Schimmel, Classical Urdu Literature from the Beginning to Iqbāl, (Otto Harrassowitz, 1975), pp. 141-152Islam in South Asia: Practicing tradition today, Karen G. Ruffle, South Asian Religions: Tradition and Today, ed. Karen Pechilis, Selva J. Raj, (Routledge, 2013), 210.

In the final decades of their rule, the Qutb Shahi dynasty rulers patronized Shia, Sufi, and Sunni Islamic traditions, as well as Hindu traditions. Before their end, Tana Shah advised by Madanna and Akkanna –his Brahmin ministers, began the tradition of sending pearls to the Bhadrachalam Temple of Rama on Rama Navami.{{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}}

The eight sultans in the dynasty were:

{{Chart top|width=100%|collapsed=no|House of Qutb-Shahi}}

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{{Tree chart| | | | | | A01 | | | | | |

|A01=Sultan-Quli
Qutb-Shah
{{r.|1518|1543}}

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{{Tree chart| | A01 | | A02 | | | | | |

|A01=Jamshid-Quli
Qutb-Shah
{{r.|1543|1550}}

|A02=Ibrahim-Quli
Qutb-Shah
{{r.|1550|1580}}

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|boxstyle_ A02 =border-color:#FFD700

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{{Tree chart| | |!| | | |)|-|-|-|.| | |}}

{{Tree chart| | A01 | | A02 | | A03 | |

|A01=Subhan-Quli
Qutb-Shah
{{r.|1550|1550}}

|A02=Muhammad-Quli
Qutb-Shah
{{r.|1580|1612}}

|A03=Muhammad-Amin

|boxstyle_ A01 =border-color:#FFD700

|boxstyle_ A02 =border-color:#FFD700

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{{Tree chart| | | | | | A01 |m| A02 | |

|A01=Hayat-Bakhshi

|A02=Muhammad
Qutb-Shah
{{r.|1612|1626}}

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{{Tree chart| | | | | | A01 | | | | | |

|A01=Abdullah
Qutb-Shah
{{r.|1626|1672}}

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{{Tree chart| | A01 |P| A02 | | | | | |

|A01=Abu'l-Hasan
Qutb-Shah
{{r.|1672|1687}}

|A02=Padishah

|boxstyle_ A01 =border-color:#FFD700

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{{Portal bar|Hyderabad|History}}

• Hyderabad State
• Battle of Talikota

{{notelist}}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book |last=Majumdar |first=R.C. |year=1974 |title=The Mughul Empire |chapter=The Five Sultanates of the Deccan |publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan |author-link=R.C. Majumdar|url=https://archive.org/details/mughal-empire-r.-c.-majumdar-1974}}
• {{Cite book|title=Mohammad Qutub Quli Shah, Founder of Hyderabad|last=Sherwani|year=1967|first=Haroon Khan|chapter=Qutub Ul Mulk|publisher=Asian Publishing House|url=https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.46692|author-link=Haroon Khan Sherwani}}
• {{cite book|first=Haroon Khan|last=Sherwani|year=1973|title=History of Medieval Deccan (1295–1724) : Volume I|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.142905|publisher=Government of Andhra Pradesh}}

• Chopra, R. M., The Rise, Growth And Decline of Indo-Persian Literature, 2012, Iran Culture House, New Delhi.
• Jawed Vashisht, Ghizal-e Raana (A selection of Quli Qutab Shah's ghazals)
• Jawed Vashisht, Roop Ras (Romantic poems of Quli Qutab Shah)
• Jawed Vashisht, Mohammed Quli aur Nabi ka Sadka
• Jawed Vashisht, Dakhni Darpan

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Category:States and territories established in 1518

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Category:Deccan sultanates