Taj ud-Din Firuz Shah

Taj ud-Din Firoz Shah (died 1422), also known as Firoz Shah Bahmani, was the ruler of the Bahmani Sultanate from 16 November 1397 to 22 September 1422. Firuz Shah is considered an important ruler of the Bahamani Sultanate. He expanded his kingdom and even succeeded in conquering the Raichur Doab from Vijaynagara kingdoms.

Firuz Shah fought against the Vijayanagara Empire on many occasions and the rivalry between the two dynasties continued unabated throughout his reign, with victories in 1398 and 1406, but a defeat in 1419.

Early life and background
He was the son of Daud Shah, the fourth sultan, and a grandson of Ala-ud-Din Bahman Shah, the first sultan. He, along with his brother Ahmed, was raised by Muhammad Shah II. Muhammad II married his daughters off to the two brothers. Firuz was deemed the heir presumptive to the throne.

After the birth of Ghiyas-ud-din, Muhammad deemed him the successor to the throne. Firuz swore fealty to the new sultan. However, Ghiyas-ud-din was blinded and imprisoned by a Turkish nobleman who installed Shams-ud-din as a puppet ruler. Firuz and Ahmed marched to Gulbarga and Firuz declared himself the sultan. Taghalchin was killed and Shams-ud-din was blinded.

Reign


At the beginning of his reign, Harihara II of the Vijayanagar Empire had advanced as far as the Raichur Doab and posed a threat to the Bahmanis. This threat was thwarted by a calculated and incisive attack by Firuz.

In 1406, he defeated the Vijayanagara Empire. A peace treaty was signed and the daughter of Deva Raya was married off to him.

During his reign, Firuz was successful in integrating Hindus into the Bahmani office and army. He also formed alliances with Telugu warriors.

He was determined to make the Deccan region the cultural centre of India. Each year he sent ships from his kingdom’s two principal western seaports, Goa and Dabhol, to the Persian Gulf to recruit talented men of letters, administrators, soldiers, and artisans.

Expedition to Kherla and construction of Firozabad
Firuz led a successful expedition against Narsingh Rai of Kherla who had to surrender forty elephants and married his daughter to Firuz.

During the period of peace following the expedition, Firuz embarked on building a new city which was named Firozabad, a few kilometers south of Gulbarga.

War of the Goldsmith's Daughter
In 1406, Deva Raya I of the Vijayanagara empire attempted to kidnap a daughter of a Goldsmith from Mudgal due to the rejection of the marriage proposal. He marched with his army to the Bahmani territories where the Goldsmith and his family took refuge. Knowing this, Firuz Shah with his allies marched to Vijayanagar and plundered their territories. Atlast, Deva Raya sued for peace and he was forced to give his daughter for marriage to Firuz Shah.

Defeat at Pangal and later rule
In 1420, an attack on Pangal, which had been taken by Vijayanagar, proved disastrous. Firuz was trounced by Vijayanagar and he retreated, surrendering the southern and eastern districts of his kingdom. This defeat had a deep impact on his morale and he was henceforth a broken man. He spend his final two years in asceticism and piety. The administration of the kingdom was delegated to two manumitted slaves, Hushyar and Bidar, who were given the titles of 'Ain-ul-mulk and Nizam-ul-mulk.

Succession
In 1422, Firuz, on the advice of Hushyar and Bidar, ordered Ahmad to be blinded, in order to secure the succession for his eldest son Hasan Khan. Ahmad, along with his son Alauddin and his supporters, fled the capital and was pursued by a force of three or four thousand horse, led by Hushyar and Bidar. In the ensuing battle, Ahmad's army defeated the army of Hushyar and Bidar, as they fell back to Gulbarga with Ahmad in pursuit.

As Ahmad laid siege to Gulbarga, Firuz, now extremely ill, was carried to the battlefield. Rumours of his death caused many in his army to defect to Ahmad's camp. The citadel was surrendered and Firuz abdicated in favour of Ahmad.

Death and burial
Firuz Shah died on 1 October 1422 in Gulbarga. He was buried in a large tomb in the Haft Gumbaz, that was constructed during his lifetime.

Personality
Firuz Shah was particularly an intellectual king. He was compared to Muhammad Tughluk in this aspect. He was well versed in Quran and Islamic jurisprudence, took philosophical leanings in Sufism and proficient in several languages and took three days off in a week to give lectures on subjects like mathematics and Euclidean geometry. He was also a master of several languages like Persian, Arabic, Canarese, Telugu, Marathi and many other languages. He also was poet and wrote under the name of Firozi. His interest in astronomy is quite evident when he instructs to build an observatory in Daulatabad which would get completed after his death. He was also respectful of other faiths, and read the Christian and Jewish scriptures. He also maintained a vast harem consisting of inmates from different parts of the world. He would also contract temporary marriages known in the Shi'ah doctrine as mutāh so as to not conflict with his strict Islamic observerence.