The Nizam-Shahi kingdom of Ahmadnagar

Compiled By: Syed Ali Shahbaz
On 3rd of the Islamic month of Rajab in 895 AH, Ahmad Nizam ul-Mulk Bahri defeated Sultan Mahmud Shah II of the declining Bahmani kingdom of the Deccan in south-central India, to establish the Nizam-Shahi kingdom of Ahmadnagar (comprising parts of present day Maharashtra), and took the title of Ahmad Nizam Shah.
He was the son of Hassan Nizam ul-Mulk Bahri, a Kanarese Brahmin who embraced the truth of Islam and was appointed as governor of the northern parts of the Bahmani kingdom of Iranian origin. Although two years later Ahmad Nizam Shah died, the dynasty he founded continued to rule with fluctuating fortunes for over 125 years, until its annexation by the Mughal Empire of the northern Subcontinent. The second king of the dynasty, Burhan Nizam Shah, became a follower of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad, because of the influence of Iranian migrant religious scholar, Seyyed Shah Taher Hussaini.
The Nizam-Shahis, like the other two Shi’ite Muslim sultanates of the Deccan – the Adil Shahis of Bijapur and the Qutb-Shahis of Golconda-Haiderabad – maintained cordial relations with the Safavid Emperors of Iran, exchanging ambassadors, hosting Iranians of various walks of life, and patronizing Persian literature, art, and architecture.