The early life & administration of Muhammad Shah I

Ala-ud-Din Hasan was succeeded by his elder son, Muhammad Shah I. The latter organised the different branches of his government like the ministry, household troops and provincial administration. He was busy all his life in fighting against the rulers of Warangal and Vijayanagar.

Although the Hindus fought with courage and determination, they were defeated. Their territory was plundered. Temples were razed to the ground. The immediate cause of a war with Vijayanagar was that a massenger who had been sent to demand money from the ruler of Vijayanagar was insulted.

The ruler of Vijayanagar himself marched into the territory of the Bahmani kingdom and lay waste the country lying between the Krishna and theTungabhadra. The fort of Mudgal was captured and the Muslim garrison was put to the sword.

Muhammad Shah took a vow that he would not stop fighting until he had taken the lives of 1, 00,000 Hindus. He personally led the attack on Vijayanagar. The Hindus were defeated and there was a terrible carnage in which even women and children were not spared. Ultimately peace was made.

Muhammad Shah was ruthless in carrying out his domestic policy. He ordered all public distilleries to be closed and he put down lawlessness with a heavy hand. He died in 1375. It is contended that the acts of cruelty in which Muhammad Shah took delight and the disgraceful orgies and revels which was a common feature of court-life at Gulbarga, do not entitle Muhammad Shah I to the praise showered on him by Ferishta.

According to Prof. Sherwani, “Muhammad Shah was one of the greatest rulers of the Bahmani dynasty. His father had no time to put the institutions of the kingdom on a sound basis and it was left to him to make the state perfect so far as administrative institutions were concerned.

By his campaigns in the East and the South, he finally demonstrated to his neighbours the power of the new Sultanate and suppressed with an iron hand the only rebellion of his reign, that of Brahram Khan Mazendarani. His strategical worth is to be seen in his campaign against Vijayanagar where he not only used the new fire-arms to his advantage but also routed an enemy far superior to him in numbers. In his own court, he knew no distinctions and even made his father-in-law, the chief minister Malik Saif-ud-Din Ghori, stand at the foot of the throne.

Shaikh Zainu’d-Din’s episode, however, shows how a King of those days of the caliber of Muhammad Shah I, had to bow before the force of superior character and he could forsake evil when called upon to do so. He was always ready to listen to the superior direction of the Divines and always counted on the prayers of Shaikh Siraj-ud-Din Junaidi whenever he set out on a campaign.

When a prince, he had been taught the gentlemanly vats of archery and fencing and although prone to drink, there is nothing known against him so far as private morality is concerned. When he died, he was at peace with Telingana, with Vijayanagar, with his subjects both Hindu and Muslim and with his God.

It is said that he treated his soldiers and the civilians, officers and subjects, with kindness and concern. He always sought the company of the learned and it was due to this that men like Shaikh-ul-Mashai, Zain-ud-Din Daultabadi, Ainu-ud-Din Bijapuri, Maulana Nizam-ud-Din Barani. Hakim Zahir-ud-Din Tabrizi crowded his capital and made the Deccan the ‘centre of the learned and the envy of all parts of India’.”