Berar Sultanate

The Berar Sultanate¹ was an early modern sultanate located in the Deccan, ruled by the Imad Shahi dynasty.²³ One of the five Deccan sultanates, it was established in 1490 following the disintegration of the Bahmani Sultanate by Fathullah Imad-ul-Mulk, who was of Kanarese origin.⁴ It was annexed by the Ahmadnagar Sultanate in 1574 following an invasion.

History

On the establishment of the Bahmani Sultanate in the Deccan in 1347, Berar was constituted as one of the five provinces into which the kingdom was divided, being governed by a tarafdar, with a separate army. The perils of this system became apparent when the province was divided (1478 or 1479) into two separate provinces, named after their capitals Gawil and Mahur.

In 1490, Fathullah Imad-ul-Mulk, who had been appointed governor of Berar by Mahmud Gawan after assisting him in his campaigns,⁵ proclaimed his independence amidst the civil unrest in the Bahmani Sultanate and founded the Imad Shahi dynasty of Berar.⁶ He proceeded to annex Mahur to his new kingdom and had its capital at Ellichpur. Imad-ul-Mulk was by birth a Hindu, but had been captured as a boy in one of the expeditions against the and brought up as a Muslim. and were also fortified by him.