Berar Sultanate, also called as Imad Shahi Sultanate was one of the Deccan sultanates, which was founded by an Indian Muslim. It was established in 1490 following the disintegration of the Bahmani Sultanate.

History

Background

The origin of the name Berar or Warhad (वऱ्हाड) as it is spelled in Marathi, is not known. The first authentic records show it to have been part of the Andhra or

Satavahana The Satavahanas (''Sādavāhana'' or ''Sātavāhana'', IAST: ), also referred to as the Andhras in the Puranas, were an ancient Indian dynasty based in the Deccan region. Most modern scholars believe that the Satavahana rule began in the la ...

empire. On the fall of the

Chalukya The Chalukya dynasty () was a Classical Indian dynasty that ruled large parts of southern and central India between the 6th and the 12th centuries. During this period, they ruled as three related yet individual dynasties. The earliest dynasty ...

s in the 12th century, Berar came under the sway of the

Yadavas of Deogiri The Seuna, Sevuna, or Yadavas of Devagiri (IAST: Seuṇa, –1317) was a Medieval Indian dynasty, which at its peak ruled a kingdom stretching from the Narmada river in the north to the Tungabhadra river in the south, in the western part of t ...

, and remained in their possession until the Muslim invasions at the end of the 13th century. On the establishment of the Bahmani Sultanate in the Deccan (1348), Berar was constituted one of the five provinces into which their kingdom was divided, being governed by great nobles, with a separate army. The perils of this system became apparent when the province was divided (1478 or 1479) into two separate provinces, named after their capitals Gawil and Mahur. The Bahmani dynasty was, however, already tottering to its fall.

Establishment of the Berar Sultanate

During the disintegration of Bahmani sultanate, in 1490

Fathullah Imad-ul-Mulk Fathullah Imad-ul-mulk ( fa, , ruled 1490–1504) was the founder of the Imad Shahi Dynasty and the Berar Sultanate. Originally a Hindu captive from Vijayanagara, Fathullah was brought up a Muslim and rose to command the army of Berar under the ...

, governor of Gawil, who had formerly held all Berar, proclaimed his independence and founded the Imad Shahi dynasty of Berar sultanate. He proceeded to annex Mahur to his new kingdom and had its capital at

Ellichpur Achalpur, formerly known as Ellichpur and Illychpur, is a city and a municipal council in Amravati District in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the second most populous city in Amravati District after Amravati and seventh most populou ...

. Imad-ul-Mulk was by birth a

Kanarese Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native sp ...

Hindu, but had been captured as a boy in one of the expeditions against the

Vijayanagara Empire The Vijayanagara Empire, also called the Karnata Kingdom, was a Hindu empire based in the region of South India, which consisted the modern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa and some parts of Telangana and Mahar ...

and brought up as a Muslim.

Gavilgad Gawilghur (also, Gavalgadh, Gawilgarh or Gawilgad, Pronunciation: �aːʋilɡəɖ was a well-fortified mountain stronghold of the Maratha Empire north of the Deccan Plateau, in the vicinity of Melghat Tiger Reserve, Amravati District, Mahar ...

and

Narnala Narnala Fort or Narnala Killa Sarkar, also known as Shahnoor Fort, is a hill fortress in the Satpura Range of Vidarbh, Maharashtra, India, named after the Rajput Solanki Chaulukya Ruler, Raja Narnal Singh, also known as Narnal Singh Swami. ...

were also fortified by him. He died in 1504 and his successor, Aladdin Imad Shah resisted the aggression of Ahmadnagar with the help from Bahadur Shah, sultan of Gujarat. The next ruler, Darya tried to align with Bijapur to prevent aggression from Ahmadnagar, but was unsuccessful. In 1568,

Burhan Imad Shah Burhan Imad Shah ( fa, ), was an infant ruler of Berar. He gained the throne at the age of three, and is known to have been one of the belligerents at the Battle of Talikota but was later overthrown by Tufail Khan. Shortly after the death of Tuf ...

was deposed by his minister

Tufail Khan Tufail may refer to: * Tufail ibn Abdullah, family of Abu Bakr * Tufail Ali Abdul Rehman, Pakistani lawyer * Tufail Mohammad, Pakistani military officer * Mian Tufail Mohammad, Pakistani political leader * Tufail Niazi, Pakistani singer * Ibn Tu ...

, and assumed the kingship. This gave a pretext for the intervention of

Murtaza Nizam Shah Murtaza or Morteza or Mortaza, a Persianate form of the Arabic Murtada or Murtadha ( ar, مرتضى, translit=Murtaḍā, lit=One Pleasing to God, label=none), is a common Muslim name. Pronunciation varies with accent, from native Arabic speakers ...

of Ahmadnagar, who invaded Berar, imprisoned and put to death Tufail Khan, his son Shams-ul-Mulk, and the former-king Burhan, and proceeded to annex Berar into his own dominions of the Ahmadnagar Sultanate.

Sultans of Berar

The Sultans of Berar belonged to the Imad Shahi Dynasty: #

: 1490 – 1504 # Aladdin Imad Shah: 1504 – 1529 #

Darya Imad Shah Darya Imad Shah ( fa, ) was the third Sultan of Berar. He reigned between 1530 and 1561. Darya Imad Shah's attempts to rule peacefully meant dealing diplomatically with the local powers of Bijapur and Ahmadnagar. His daughter Daulat Shah Begu ...

: 1529 – 1562. He developed the city Daryapur on the banks of

Chandrabhaga River The Bhima River (also known as Chandrabhaga River) is a major river in Western India and South India. It flows southeast for through Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Telangana states, before entering the Krishna River. After the first sixty-five ki ...

which today is a municipal council under the Amravati District. #

: 1562 – 1568Michell, George & Mark Zebrowski. ''Architecture and Art of the Deccan Sultanates'' (''

The New Cambridge History of India ''The New Cambridge History of India'' is a major multi-volume work of historical scholarship published by Cambridge University Press. It replaced '' The Cambridge History of India'' published between 1922 and 1937. The new history is being publi ...

'' Vol. I:7), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1999, , p.275 #

(usurper): 1568 – 1572Robert Sewell. ''Lists of inscriptions, and sketch of the dynasties of southern India'' (''The New Cambridge History of India'' Vol. I:7), Printed by E. Keys at the Government Press, 1884, , p.166

References

External links