page_title: Deccan sultanates
section_title: Golconda
hierarchical_section_title: Deccan sultanates / Cultural contributions / Golconda
caption_attribution_description: This is a photo of ASI monument number&#160; N-AP-78.
context_page_description: The Deccan sultanates were five late-medieval Indian kingdoms—on the Deccan Plateau between the Krishna River and the Vindhya Range—that were ruled by Muslim dynasties: namely Ahmadnagar, Berar, Bidar, Bijapur, and Golconda. The sultanates had become independent during the break-up of the Bahmani Sultanate. In 1490, Ahmadnagar declared independence, followed by Bijapur and Berar in the same year. Golconda became independent in 1518, and Bidar in 1528.
  The five sultanates were of diverse origin: the Ahmadnagar Sultanate was Brahmin-Hindu; the Berar Sultanate was Kanarese-Hindu; the Bidar Sultanate was founded by a former Turkic slave; the Bijapur Sultanate was founded by a Georgian-Oghuz Turkic slave; and the Golconda Sultanate was of Turkmen origin.
  Although generally rivals, the sultanates did ally with each other against the Vijayanagara Empire in 1565, permanently weakening Vijayanagara in the Battle of Talikota. Notably, the alliance destroyed the entire city of Vijayanagara, with important temples such as the Vitthala Temple, being razed to the ground.
  In 1574, after a coup in Berar, Ahmadnagar invaded and conquered it. In 1619, Bidar was annexed by Bijapur.
context_section_description: Qutb Shahi rulers appointed Hindus in important administrative posts. Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah appointed Murari Rao as Peshwa, second to only Mir Jumla (prime minister).
  One of the earliest architectural achievements of the Qutb Shahi dynasty is the fortified city of Golconda, which is now in ruins. The nearby Qutb Shahi tombs are also noteworthy. In the 16th century, Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah decided to shift the capital to Hyderabad, 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) east of Golconda. Here, he constructed the most original monument in the Deccan, the Charminar, in the heart of the new city. This monument, completed in 1591, has four minarets, each 56 metres (184 ft). The construction of the Mecca Masjid, located immediately south of the Charminar, was started in 1617, during the reign of Muhammad Qutb Shah, but completed only in 1693. The other important monuments of this period are the Toli Masjid, Shaikpet Sarai, Khairtabad Mosque, Taramati Baradari, Hayat Bakshi Mosque, and the Jama Masjid at Gandikota.
  The Qutb Shahi rulers invited many Persian artists, such as Shaykh Abbasi and Muhammad Zaman, to their court, whose art made a profound impact on the miniature paintings of this period. The earliest miniature paintings were the 126 illustrations in the manuscript of Anwar-i-Suhayli (c. 1550–1560) in the Victoria and Albert Museum. The illustrations Sindbad Namah in the India Office Library and Shirin and Khusrau in the Khudabaksh Library in Patna most probably belong to the reign of Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah. The 5 illustrations in a manuscript of the Diwan-i-Hafiz (c.1630) in the British Museum, London, belong to the reign of Abdullah Qutb Shah. The most outstanding surviving Golconda painting probably is the Procession of Sultan Abdullah Qutb Shah Riding an Elephant (c. 1650) in the Saltykov-Shtshedrine State Public Library in St. Petersberg. Their painting style lasted even after the dynasty was extinct and evolved into the Hyderabad style.
  The Qutb Shahi rulers were great patrons of literature and invited many scholars, poets, historians and Sufi saints from Iran to settle in their sultanate. The sultans patronized literature in Persian as well as Telugu, the local language. However, the most important contribution of the Golconda Sultanate in the field of literature is the development of the Dakhani language. Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah was not only a great patron of art and literature but also a poet of a high order. He wrote in Dakhani, Persian, and Telugu and left an extensive Diwan (collection of poetry) in Dakhani, known as Kulliyat-i-Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah. Apart from the praise of God and the Prophet, he also wrote on nature, love and contemporary social life. Kshetrayya and Bhadrachala Ramadasu are some notable Telugu poets of this period.
  The Qutb Shahi rulers were much more liberal than their other Muslim counterparts. During the reign of Abdullah Qutb Shah, in 1634, the ancient Indian sex manual Koka Shastra was translated into Persian and named Lazzat-un-Nisa (Flavors of the Woman).
caption: The Charminar built by Mohammed Quli Qutb Shah is a centerpiece of Hyderabad and one of the most important examples of Indo-Islamic architecture.
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