Muhammad Shah III Lashkari or Shamsuddin Muhammad Shah III was the sultan of the

Bahmani Sultanate The Bahmani Kingdom or the Bahmani Sultanate was a late medieval Persianate kingdom that ruled the Deccan plateau in India. The first independent Muslim sultanate of the Deccan, the Bahmani Kingdom came to power in 1347 during the rebellio ...

from 1463 to 1482. During his reign, he successfully invaded Orissa, compelling its ruler Purushottam Deva to surrender. He also made his brother

Hamvira Deva Hamvira Deva was an Odia prince of the Gajapati Empire in India and Gajapati ruler for a brief period. He was the eldest son of Kapilendra Deva, founder of the Gajapati Empire. He played a vital role in the military expansion of the Gajapati E ...

surrender by besieging

Kondavidu Kondaveedu Fort is a historically significant ancient hill fortress located in Kondaveedu, a village in the Chilakaluripet constituency of Palnadu district, Andhra Pradesh, India. The site is located 16 miles west of the city of Guntur. Apart f ...

fort.

Ascension

Muhammad Shah III was between 9–10 years old when he ascended the throne on 30 July 1463 after the death of his brother,

Nizam-Ud-Din Ahmad III Nizam al-Din Ahmad III or Nizam Ahmed Shah or Nizam Shah Bahmani was the sultan of the Bahmani Sultanate from 1461 to 1463. During his reign, the administration of the sultanate was mainly handled by the Persian prime minister Mahmud Gawan. Re ...

Reign

Mahmud Gawan Mahmud Gawan (1411 – 5 April 1481) was a Persian statesman who served as the chief minister, or Peshwa of the Bahmani Sultanate in the Deccan plateau in India from 1458 and ''de facto'' ruler as prime minister from 1466 until his death in 1481. ...

was appointed

vizier A vizier (; ; ) is a high-ranking political advisor or Minister (government), minister in the Near East. The Abbasids, Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was at first merely a help ...

and served as one of the regents under Makhduma-e-Jahan Nargis Begum. With Gawan, Muhammad Shah subjugated most of the

Konkan The Konkan is a stretch of land by the western coast of India, bound by the river Daman Ganga at Damaon in the north, to Anjediva Island next to Karwar town in the south; with the Arabian Sea to the west and the Deccan plateau to the eas ...

and defeated the

Gajapati Kingdom The Gajapati dynasty refers to the ruling dynasty from the region of modern Odisha in the Indian subcontinent, whose monarch carries the regnal title of Gajapati. The institution of Gajapati dynasty or lordship was founded by the monarchs of t ...

in 1470, thus securing the west coast trade until the arrival of the Portuguese. At the same time, standard measurements and valuations of agricultural land were introduced, along with other policies to unify the sultanate. Unfortunately, these actions upset many powerful people who convinced Muhammad Shah III to execute Mahmud Gawan in 1481.

Invasion of Orissa

The Bahmani invasion of Orissa in the 15th century unfolded through a series of conflicts and diplomatic maneuvers between the Gajapati Empire and the Bahmani Sultanate. In 1475, a Bahmani rebel officer named Bhimraj initiated a revolt at

, a Bahmani territory, leading to a complex alliance among the

Gajapatis The Gajapati dynasty refers to the ruling dynasty from the region of modern Odisha in the Indian subcontinent, whose monarch carries the regnal title of Gajapati. The institution of Gajapati dynasty or lordship was founded by the monarchs of t ...

and chiefs of

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

and Jajnagar. The Sultan successfully defeated them and forced Purushottam Dev to surrender. Tensions heightened in 1478 when Muhammad Shah III invaded Orissa. Alarmed by the invasion, Purushottam Dev expressed his willingness to pay homage, offering to disarm and present gifts. The Sultan accepted this homage, confirming Purushottam as the ruler of his patrimony. Subsequently, Muhammad Shah III besieged Hamvira Deva, the brother of the Gajapati, successfully ending his career in tragedy. These events, including the earlier revolt at Kondavidu, became integral aspects of Muhammad Shah III's engagement with the Gajapati Empire, shaping the historical narrative during his reign.

Succession

Soon after the death of Gawan, the sultan himself died of remorse on 26 March 1482. He was succeeded by his son,

Mahmood Shah Bahmani II Mahmood Shah or Shihab-Ud-Din Mahmud was the sultan of the Bahmani Sultanate from 1482 until his death in 1518. His long rule is noted for the disintegration of the sultanate and the creation of the independent Deccan sultanates. Reign Ma ...

References

Citations

Sources

* {{Bahmani Sultanate Sultans 15th-century births 1482 deaths 15th-century Indian Muslims 15th-century Indian people Bahmani sultans