Taj ud-Din Firuz Shah

Taj ud-Din Firuz Shah was the ruler of the Bahmani Sultanate from 1397 to 1422.^[1]

Life

The Persian historian Firishta describes him as the greatest of Bahmani Kings. Firuz was engaged in warfare against the Vijayanagara Empire on many occasions and the rivalry between the two dynasties continued unabated throughout his 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, which forced Harihara to retreat to his capital after his son was killed.

Firuz led a successful expedition against Narsingh Rai of Kherla who had to surrender forty elephants and his daughter to Firuz. In 1420, an attack on Pangal, which had been taken by Vijayanagar, proved disastrous. Firuz was trounced by Vijayanagar and Firuz 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.

His younger brother Ahmad forced him to abdicate and won the support of the imperial army in 1422. Firuz died a few days later, possibly poisoned by Ahmad.

Firuz was determined to make the Deccan region the cultural centre of India. He inducted a large number of Hindus into his administration. Firuz Shah paid much attention to the ports Chaul and Dhabol, which attracted trade ships from the Persian Gulf and Red Sea.

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