Mahmud Gawan was the greatest administrator of the Decan – Justified!

Mahmud Gawan was, by common consent, the greatest of the Mohammadan administrators of the Deccan. He was a native of Qawan or Gawan in Iran. His ancestors were the Wazir of Shah Gilan. At the age of 45, Mahmud Gawan went to the Deccan for trade. Ala-ud-Din II made him an Amir of his court.

His son Humayun conferred upon him the title of Malik-ul-Tujjar. After the murder of Khwaja Jahan. Muhammad Shah III made Mahmud Gawan the chief authority in the State. Although the new minister was given unlimited powers, he behaved with moderation.

With a singleness of aim which was unparalleled in the history of the Bahmani Empire, he devoted himself to the service of the State. He fought wars, subdued countries and “increased the Bahmani dominions to an extent never reached before.”

Mahmud Gawan was a great administrator. He re-organised the military department of the State and gave the entire control into the hands of the Sultan in order to weaken the position of the nobles.

The mutual dissensions of the Deccanis and the foreigners were a source of great trouble. The natives of the Deccan were less energetic and enterprising than those of the more northern latitudes and being unable to complete with the hardy Arab, the intellectual Persian and the virile Turk, they are obliged to give place to them at court as well as in camp. The quarrels among them were also complicated by sectarian differences.

The natives were all Sunnis but the foreigners were mostly Shias. The conflicts were not confined to mere intrigues for place and power but frequently found expression in pitched battles and bloody massacres.

Mahmud Gawan so completely enjoyed the confidence of the Sultan that he was able to carry out his reforms with success without joining one party or the other. He organised the finances. He improved the administration of justice.

He encouraged public education. In order to make the State demand just and equitable, the village lands were surveyed. Corrupt practices were put down. Those who were guilty were punished. The army was reformed and better discipline was enforced. Prospects of the soldiers were improved.

However, his success aroused the jealousy of the Deccanis and a conspiracy was made to take his life. The keeper of the seals of Gawan was bribed and he was induced to affix the seals to a blank paper on which a letter was written from Mahmud Gawan to the ruler of Vijayanagar containing treasonable matter.

That letter was placed before the Sultan who’s erased already was poisoned by his enemies. The Sultan called Gawan to his private apartmpt. ahcl _put’ him the following question: “If a slave of mine is disloyal to his benefactor and his crime is proved, what should be his punishment?” Without knowing the purpose of the Sultan, Mahmud Gawan replied thus: “The unfortunate wretch who practices treachery against his lord should meets with nothing but the sword.”

The Sultan showed Gawan the letter and the reply of Gawan was Wit¹ although the seals were his, the letter was a forged one. The Sultan did not care to go into the merits of the case and signaled to his slave Jauhar and he cut off the head of Mahmud Gawan.

The last words of Mahmud Gawan were: “The death of an old man like me is of little moment to himself, but to you (Muhamad Shah III) it will prove the ruin of an empire and of your own glory.”

According to Meadows Taylor, the murder of Gawan was the beginning of the end and “with him departed all the cohesion and power of the Bahmani kingdom.” Muhammad Shah also died within a year of the murder of Gawan, “crying out with his last breath that Mahmud Gawan was slaying him.”

The whole of the life of Mahmud Gawan can be summed up in the word ‘devotion’. He was devoted to the interest of the Bahmani kingdom. He was devoted to the ideal of territorial expansion. He was devoted to administrative reforms. He fought wars and brought glory to the Bahmani kingdom.

Although he was at the helm of the affairs of the State, he lived a very simple life. His wants were very few. He slept on a mattress. His food was cooked in earthen vessels. On Friday night, he went from one Parish of the city to another and gave help to the poor and the needy.

He loved scholarship and he possessed a personal library of about 3,000 books. He loved the company of learned men. He was well-versed in mathematics, literature and medicine. According to Ferishta, Gawan was the author of two known as Rauzat-ul-Insha and Diwan-i-Ashr.

However, such a saintly person had one blot on his character. He was very enthusiastic in the persecution of the non-Muslims. He was ferocious and blood-thirsty like his master against the Hindus.

The murder of Gawan at the age of 78 was a calamity and that accelerated the downfall of the Bahmani kingdom.