Mohammed Adil Shah - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Muhammad Adil Shah was the ruler of Bijapur

Bijapur, Karnataka

Bijapur Urdu:بیجاپور city is the district headquarters of Bijapur District of Karnataka state. Bijapur city is well known for its historical monuments of architectural importance built during the rule of Adil Shahi dynasty...

, ascending the throne in 1627 at the comparatively young age of sixteen years. This was accomplished with the help of two Bijapuri nobles – Daulat Khan (later entitled as Khawas Khan) and Mirza Muhammad Amin Lari (later entitled as Mustafa Khan).

Muhammad’s glorious reign of thirty years witnessed some momentous historical events.

Bijapur became partner with the Mughals

Mughal Empire

The Mughal Empire ,‎ or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...

in the extinction of Ahmednagar. Muhammad maintained friendly relations with Shah Jahan

Shah Jahan

Shah Jahan Shah Jahan (also spelled Shah Jehan, Shahjehan, , Persian: شاه جهان) (January 5, 1592 – January 22, 1666) Shah Jahan (also spelled Shah Jehan, Shahjehan, , Persian: شاه جهان) (January 5, 1592 – January 22, 1666) (Full title: His Imperial Majesty Al-Sultan al-'Azam wal Khaqan...

and made the peace treaty of 1636, after the extinction of Ahmednagar. And by a farman of Shah Jahan

Shah Jahan

he got assurances for the security of the independence of Bijapur

Bijapur, Karnataka

from the Mughal aggression. Due to his good relations, Shah Jahan

Shah Jahan

formally recognized Muhammad’s sovereignty and bestowed on him the title of SHAH

Shah

Shāh is the title of the ruler of certain Southwest Asian and Central Asian countries, especially Persia , and derives from the Persian word shah, meaning "king".-History:...

in 1648, the only ruler of Bijapur to receive such recognition from the Mughals.

The Treaty of 1636, with the Mughals

Mughal Empire

The Mughal Empire ,‎ or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...

sealed the expansion of Bijapur in the north. So Muhammad Adil Shah extended his dominations westwards into Konkan

Konkan

The Konkan also called the Konkan Coast or Karavali is a rugged section of the western coastline of India from Raigad to Mangalore...

, Pune

Pune

Pune , is the eighth largest metropolis in India, the second largest in the state of Maharashtra after Mumbai, and the largest city in the Western Ghats. Once the centre of power of the Maratha Empire, it is situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula ...

, Dhabul (present Mumbai

Mumbai

Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

), southwards into Mysore, and eastwards into Karnataka

Karnataka

Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...

, present south Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...

and Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...

. During his reign, the kingdom attained its greatest extent, power and magnificence, and his dominious stretched from the Arabian Sea

Arabian Sea

The Arabian Sea is a region of the Indian Ocean bounded on the east by India, on the north by Pakistan and Iran, on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, on the south, approximately, by a line between Cape Guardafui in northeastern Somalia and Kanyakumari in India...

to the Bay of Bengal

Bay of Bengal

The Bay of Bengal , the largest bay in the world, forms the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. It resembles a triangle in shape, and is bordered mostly by the Eastern Coast of India, southern coast of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to the west and Burma and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to the...

.

Besides territorial expansions, Bijapur also attained peace and prosperity during Muhammad’s reign. His kingdom yielded an annual revenue of seven crore eighty four lakh rupees, besides five and half crores of tributes were vassal rulers and zamindar

Zamindar

A Zamindar or zemindar , was an aristocrat, typically hereditary, who held enormous tracts of land and ruled over and taxed the bhikaaris who lived on batavaslam. Over time, they took princely and royal titles such as Maharaja , Raja , Nawab , and Mirza , Chowdhury , among others...

s. Cultural activities like poetry, painting and architecture also received a great impetus. Muhammad Adil Shah did his best to emulate the glorious traditions left to him by his versatile father

Ibrahim Adil Shah II

Ibrahim Adil Shah II , of the Adil Shahi dynasty, was the king of Bijapur Sultanate.-Early life:Ali Adil Shah's father, Ibrahim Adil Shah I's had divided power between the Sunni nobles, the Habshis and the Deccanis...

. Diffusion of general education and religious teachings were one of his chief concerns, and he did his utmost to improve the socio-economic and educational standards of the people.

The colossal mausoleum of Muhammad Adil Shah, now named Gol Gumbaz

Gol Gumbaz

Gol Gumbaz is the mausoleum of Mohammed Adil Shah, Sultan of Bijapur. The tomb, located in Bijapur, Karnataka in southern India, was completed in 1656 by the architect Yaqut of Dabul...

depicts even to this day, after a lapse of four centuries, the glory that Muhammad’s reign had attained. It is the greatest structural triumphs of Indo-Perso-Ottoman architecture of Adil Shahi period.

Muhammad was the first ruler of Adil Shahi dynasty to make a departure from the injunctions against figure and portraint painting that was scrupulously adhered to till his father’s reign. He introduced fresco paintings and portraits, the examples of which are the walls of Asar Mahal

Bijapur, Karnataka

, pavilion at Kumatgi and Sat Manzil

Bijapur, Karnataka

.

Muhammad’s reign witnessed revolt of Shahaji

Shahaji

Shahaji Raje Bhosle was an early exponent of guerilla warfare. He was the eldest son of Maloji Bhosale of Verul . He brought the house of Bhosle into prominence. The princely states of Tanjore, Kolhapur and Satara are Bhosle legacies...

and then, the rise of Shivaji to eminence and his founding of an independent Maratha

Maratha

The Maratha are an Indian caste, predominantly in the state of Maharashtra. The term Marāthā has three related usages: within the Marathi speaking region it describes the dominant Maratha caste; outside Maharashtra it can refer to the entire regional population of Marathi-speaking people;...

State, which was initially carved out from the Bijapur Kingdom. In spite of the glory and power that Muhammad achieved he failed to check the rise of Maratha

Maratha

s to independence.

His Tomb

He was buried in the Gol Gumbaz

Gol Gumbaz

Gol Gumbaz is the mausoleum of Mohammed Adil Shah, Sultan of Bijapur. The tomb, located in Bijapur, Karnataka in southern India, was completed in 1656 by the architect Yaqut of Dabul...

, near the tomb of his spiritual teacher Hazrat Hashimpeer Dastageer. Hazrath Hashimpeer arrived in Bijapur at the rule of Ibrahim Adil Shah II. Hazrath Hashimpeer influenced the rulers of Bijapur to give up their un-Islamic and heretic practices. Gol Gumbaz, located near the shrine the of Hazrath Hashimpeer, owes its completion to the 10 years of life that Hazrath Hashimpeer granted to his disciple Sultan Mohammed Adil Shah.

The Gol Gumbaz dome is the second largest in the world, 124 feet in diameter 44 m in diameter. The Gol Gumbaz complex includes a mosque, a Naqqar Khana (a hall for the trumpeters) (Now it is used as museum) and the ruins of guest houses.

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