Ala-ud-Din Bahman Shah

Ala-ud-Din Bahman Shah
Ala-ud-Din Hasan Bahman Shah (died 10 February 1358) whose original name was Zafar Khan or Hasan Gangu, was the founder of the Bahmani Sultanate.
Ancestry and early life
According to Gordon Kerr and Andre wink, Zafar Khan was of Afghan origin. Mughal-era historian Ferishta states that Zafar Khan's origins are too obscure to be traced, but places him as of Afghan origin, while Herman writes that Zafar Khan was a Turk or an Afghan of unknown descent. Richard Eaton identifies the descendants of families who migrated to the Deccan with part-Turkish ancestry as North Indian immigrants that spoke an early form of Hindavi or Urdu.
Nothing can be traced definitively in the early history of Hasan Gangu, the founder of the dynasty because of the obscurity of his background, except that he was of humble origin. Historians have not found any corroboration for the legend, but Barani, a contemporary of Hasan Gangu as the court chronicler of Sultan Firuz Shah, as well as some other scholars have also corroborated his surname as Gangu, which points out his Hindu cognomen. His ancestry is known, but detractors inspired by the prejudices of the partisan advocate of the Adil Shahi dynasty have claimed that his ancestry is unknown. Furthermore, there is a legend regarding him narrated by the 17th century poet Ferishta, which says that he was a servant of a Brahmin astrologer named Gangu of Delhi and he was himself called Hasan Gangu. Historians have not found any corroboration for the legend, but Barani also corroborates the fact that Alauddin's original name was Hasan Gangu. Ferishta mentions that later poets "who wanted to flatter him" called Hasan Gangu a descendant of Bahman, but considers it implausible.
It is possible that Bahman is a corrupted persianized form of Brahman, and Hassan Gangu might have been born as a Hindu.
In 1339, Zafar Khan participated in an uprising against the Tughluqs. This turned out unsuccessful; he and his allies were exiled to Afghanistan the same year. He managed to return to the Deccan, and in 1346 he participated in a siege of Gulbarga, at the time under Tughluq control. The siege proved successful.
He was made a governor. Zafar Khan rose to power during the Rebellion of Ismail Mukh and In 1347 he was made commander of an army in Daulatabad. On 3 August 1347, the Afghan noble Nasir-ud-Din Ismail Shah, also known as Ismail Mukh, whom the rebel amirs of the Deccan placed on the throne of Daulatabad in 1345) abdicated in favor of Zafar Khan, resulting the establishment of the Bahmani Kingdom with its headquarters at Hasanabad (Gulbarga).
He was in charge of a three city Jahangir, with his main rule at Miraj.
Reign
Upon establishing an independent kingdom, Zafar Khan took the title of Abu'l-Muzaffar Ala-ud-din Bahman Shah. He gave Ismail Mukh a jagir near Jamkhandi and later conferred to him the highest title of his kingdom, Amir-ul-Umara. But Narayana, a local Hindu chieftain still succeeded in turning Ismail against Bahman Shah for a short period before he poisoned Ismail.
Bahman Shah led his first campaign against Warangal in 1350 and forced its ruler Kapaya Nayaka to cede to him the fortress of Kaulas. His kingdom was divided into four provinces and he appointed a governor for each province. During his reign Hasan fought many wars with Vijayanagara. By the time of his death the kingdom stretched from north to south from the Wainganga River to Krishna and east to west from Bhongir to Daulatabad.
He was succeeded by his son Mohammed Shah I after his death in 1358.
References
Sources
1358 deaths
Bahmani Sultans
1290s births
Year of birth uncertain