Abdullah Qutb Shah

Abdullah Qutb Shah
Contemporary portrait of Abdullah Qutub Shah, dated 1650
7th Sultan of Golconda
Reign9 February 1626 – 21 April 1672
PredecessorSultan Muhammad Qutb Shah
SuccessorAbul Hasan Qutb Shah
Born1614
Died21 April 1672(1672-04-21) (aged 57–58)
Burial
Qutb Shahi tombs, Hyderabad
Issue3 daughters
HouseQutb Shahi dynasty
FatherSultan Muhammad Qutb Shah
MotherHayat Bakshi Begum
ReligionShia Islam
Tomb of Abdullah Qutb Shah in Hyderabad, India.

Abdullah Qutb Shah (1614 – 21 April 1672) was the seventh ruler of the kingdom of Golconda in southern India under the Qutb Shahi dynasty. He ruled from 1626 to 1672.[1]

Abdullah, son of Sultan Muhammad Qutb Shah, was a polyglot, and a lover of poetry and music. He invited to his court and respected Kshetrayya, a famous lyric writer. Kshetrayya is known for his romantic poetry.[2]

Reign

His reign was full of sorrow and trouble. His only success was demolishing the decayed Vijayanagara Empire by capturing Vellore, last capital of it in 1646 with the help of his wazir Mir Jumla. Aurangzeb under the command from Shah Jahan took over Hyderabad by surprise and restricted Abdullah within the Golconda fort. Abdullah worked hard to negotiate reasonable terms of surrender but the Mughals forced him into accepting severe conditions. However, the severe terms were sweetened by a matrimonial alliance between the two families: Abdullah's second daughter, known as Padshah Bibi Sahiba, was married to Aurangzeb's eldest son, Muhammad Sultan Mirza. She was his first wife, so the chances of her progeny becoming Mughal emperor were great. However, it ultimately did not happen. Also, the rise of the Marathas under Shivaji in the Deccan region alarmed Golconda Sultan. Marathas captured all territories vested from Vijayanagara by Bijapur and Golconda. The victory of Marathas over the Bijapur Sultanate made Sultan Abul Hasan Tana Shah, the successor of Abdullah Qutb Shah create an alliance with Marathas, by offering them a large sum and sufficient military resources to fight the Mughals when needed, as the Mughals posed a threat to both Marathas and Deccan sultans. Thus eventually Golconda became a protectorate of the Maratha Empire. He was also quite interested in mathematics that although being a Muslim, he favoured many Europeans who excelled in mathematics.[3]

This unhappy monarch died on 21 April 1672 and was succeeded by his son-in-law, Abul Hasan Qutb Shah.

Cultural activities

Abdullah Qutb Shah was a supporter and writer of Deccani literature. In terms of belles-lettres, Persian seems to have been surpassed by Deccani since the 1620s. Abdullah Qutb Shah supported Iranian poets who wrote in Persian, such Ulfati Savaji, Salik Yazdi, and Mirza Razi Mashhadi, although they did not create any significant works like previous Persian poets, including Muhammad Zuhuri.[4]

Family

Abdullah had three daughters.[5][6]

References

  1. ^ Ahmed, Farooqui Salma (2011). A Comprehensive History of Medieval India: From Twelfth to the Mid-Eighteenth Century. Pearson Education India. ISBN 978-81-317-3202-1.
  2. ^ Nanisetti, Serish (5 January 2020). "Restoration of a Qutb Shahi tomb leads to new discovery". The Hindu.
  3. ^ Qaiser, Ahsan Jan, ed. (1982), "Prologue", Indian response to European technology and culture, Oxford University Press, p. 9
  4. ^ Sharma 2020, p. 410.
  5. ^ Mohd. Ilyas Quddusi (2006). Islamic India: studies in history, epigraphy, onomastics, and numismatics. Islamic Wonders Bureau. ISBN 978-81-87763-33-8.
  6. ^ Sarkar, Jagadish Narayan (1951). The Life of Mir Jumla, the General of Aurangzab. Thacker, Spink. p. 301.

Sources


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