Sultanate of Golconda قطب شاهیان
1518[1]–1687[2]
Flag of the Qutb Shahis
Golconda map published in 1733 Germany[3]
Capital	Golconda (1519–1591) Hyderabad (1591–1687)
Common languages	Persian (official)[4] Telugu (official after 1600)[5] Deccani Urdu
Religion	State religion: Shia Islam Other: Other religions in South Asia
Government	Monarchy
Sultan
• 1518–1543	Sultan Quli Qutb-ul-Mulk
• 1543–1550	Jamsheed Quli Qutb Shah
• 1550–1550	Subhan Quli Qutb Shah
• 1550–1580	Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah
• 1580–1612	Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah
• 1612–1626	Sultan Muhammad Qutb Shah
• 1626–1672	Abdullah Qutb Shah
• 1672–1687	Abul Hasan Qutb Shah
History
• Established	7 December 1518[1]
• Disestablished	22 September 1687[2]
Currency	Mohur, Tanka
Preceded by Succeeded by Bahmani Kingdom Gajapati Empire Vijayanagara Empire Hyderabad Subah
Today part of	India

TheSultanate of Golconda (Persian:سلطنت گلکنده;Urdu:سلطنت گولکنڈه) was anearly modern kingdom insouthern India, ruled by thePersianate,^[6]Shia IslamicQutb Shahi dynasty^[a] ofTurkoman origin.^[7][8] After the decline of theBahmani Sultanate, the Sultanate of Golconda was established in 1518^[9] byQuli Qutb Shah, as one of the fiveDeccan sultanates.

The kingdom extended from parts of the modern-day Indian states ofKarnataka,Andhra Pradesh,Odisha andTelangana.^[10] The Golconda sultanate was constantly in conflict with theAdil Shahis andNizam Shahis, which it shared borders with in the seventeenth century to the west and northwest.^[11] In 1636,Mughal emperorShah 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 sultanAbul Hasan Qutb Shah, when the Mughal rulerAurangzeb arrested and jailed Abul Hasan for the rest of his life inDaulatabad, incorporating Golconda into the Mughal empire.^[12][13][11]

The Qutb Shahis were patrons ofPersianate Shia culture.^[13][14] The official and court language of the Golconda sultanate during the first 90 years of its existence (c. 1518 – 1600) was also Persian. In the early 17th century, however, theTelugu language was elevated to the status of the Persian language, while towards the end of the Qut Shahis' rule, it was the primary court language with Persian used occasionally in official documents. According toIndologist Richard Eaton, as Qutb Shahis adopted Telugu, they started seeing their polity as the Telugu-speaking state, with the elites of the sultanate viewing their rulers as "Telugu Sultans".^[15]

The dynasty's founder,Sultan Quli Khawas Khan Hamdani was born inHamadan, Iran. He belonged to theQara Qoyunlu, aTurkmen Muslim tribe and therefore a descendant ofQara Yusuf.^[16][17] In the 16th century, he migrated toDelhi with his uncle, Allah-Quli, some of his relatives and friends. Later he migrated south, to theDeccan and served theBahmani sultan,Mahmood Shah Bahmani II, who was ofDeccani Muslim ethnicity.^[18][19] He declared the independence of Golconda after the disintegration of the Bahmani Sultanate into the fiveDeccan sultanates.^[19] He took the titleQutb Shah, and established the Qutb Shahi dynasty of Golconda. He was assassinated in 1543 by his son,Jamsheed, who assumed control of the sultanate.^[19] Jamsheed died in 1550 from cancer.^[20] Jamsheed's young sonSubhan Quli Qutb Shah reigned for a year, at which time the nobility brought back and installedIbrahim Quli Qutb Shah as sultan.^[20]

Golconda, and with the construction of theChar Minar, laterHyderabad, served as capitals of the sultanate,^[19] and both cities were embellished by the Qutb Shahi sultans. The dynasty ruled Golconda for 171 years, untilAurangzeb, in his campaigns in theDeccan, conquered the Sultanate of Golconda in 1687 with the completion of hissiege of Golconda.^[21] The sultante's last ruler,Abul Hasan Qutb Shah, was imprisoned inDaulatabad Fort, and the territory of the Golconda Sultanate was made into a Mughal imperial province,Hyderabad Subah.^[22][23]

The Golconda Sultanate was notoriously wealthy. While its primary source of revenue was a land tax,^[24] 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 theKrishna andGodavari deltas, giving it access to craft production in the villages of the area, where goods like textiles were produced. The town ofMasulipatnam 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.^[25][26]

The Golconda Sultanate was known for its diamonds which were dubbed theGolconda 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.^[27]Diamonds from mines (especially theKollur Mine presently inGuntur district,Andhra Pradesh) were transported to the city ofHyderabad 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.^[28]

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.^[29] Golconda had a strong trading relationship with Ayutthaya Siam.^[30]

The Qutb Shahis were patrons ofPersianate Shia culture.^[13][14] 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.^[15] Quli Qutb Mulk's court became a haven for Persian culture and literature.^[11] In early 17th-century, with SultanMuhammad 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".^[15][31]

SultanMuhammad Quli Qutb Shah (1580–1612) wrote poems in Dakhini Urdu, Persian and Telugu.^[14] Subsequent poets and writers, however, wrote in Urdu, while using vocabulary from Persian, Hindi and Telugu languages.^[14] During the reign ofAbdullah Qutb Shah in 1634 AD, an ancient Sanskrit text on love and sexRatirahasya by Kokkoka was translated intoPersian and namedLazzat-un-Nisa (Flavors of the Woman).^[32]

The Qutb Shahi architecture wasIndo-Islamic, a culmination of Indian and Persian architectural styles.^[33] Their style was very similar to that of the otherDeccan Sultanates. The Qutb Shahi rulers built theChar Minar.^[14]

Some examples of Qutb Shahi Indo-Islamic architecture are theGolconda Fort,tombs of the Qutb Shahis,Char Minar and theChar Kaman,Makkah Masjid,Khairatabad Mosque,Hayat Bakshi Mosque,Taramati Baradari and theToli Mosque.^[33][34]

Thetombs of the Qutb Shahi sultans lie about one kilometre north ofGolkonda'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.^[34]

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. ThePeshwa (Prime Minister) was the highest official of the sultanate. He was assisted by a number of ministers, includingMir Jumla (finance minister),Kotwal (police commissioner), andKhazanadar (treasurer).^{[citation needed]}

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.^[29] 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% permensem much to the despair of Hindus.^[29]

The Sultanate had 66 forts, and each fort was administered by aNayak.^[35] 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 theKamma,Velama,Kapu, andRaju warrior castes.^[36] 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.^[37][36][38]

South Asia
1525 CE

DELHI

SULTANATE
(LODIS)

TIMURID EMPIRE
(Babur)

SHAH MIR
SULTANATE

KANGRA

PHAGMODRUPAS

KHANDESH
SULTANATE

BERAR
SULTANATE

MALWA
SULTANATE

ARGHUNS

MAKRAN
SULTANATE

LANGAH
SULTANATE

AMARKOT

JAISALMER

SHEKHAWAT

BUNDI

BIKANER

GUJARAT
SULTANATE

MEWAR

MARWAR

AMBER

KARAULI

MEWAT

SIROHI

VAGAD

DIMASA

TRIPWA

AHOM

KAMATAS

SUGAUNAS

BENGAL
SULTANATE

GAJAPATI
EMPIRE

GONDWANA

AHMADNAGAR
SULTANATE

VIJAYANAGARA
EMPIRE

BIJAPUR
SULTANATE

BIDAR
SULTANATE

GOLKONDA
SULTANATE

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The Golconda Sultanate and main South Asian polities circa 1525 AD, on the eve of the establishment of theMughal Empire.^[39]

The sultanate in 1670 comprised 21sarkars (provinces) which in turn were divided into 355parganas (districts).^[40][41]

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.^[42][43]

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 theBhadrachalam Temple of Rama onRama Navami.^[44]

The eightsultans in the dynasty were:

• Hyderabad State
• Battle of Talikota

• Majumdar, R.C. (1974). "The Five Sultanates of the Deccan".The Mughul Empire. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.
• Sherwani, Haroon Khan (1967). "Qutub Ul Mulk".Mohammad Qutub Quli Shah, Founder of Hyderabad. Asian Publishing House.
• Sherwani, Haroon Khan (1973).History of Medieval Deccan (1295–1724) : Volume I. 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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