Bahmani Sultanate
1347–1527 · Gulbarga, then Bidar · First independent Muslim sultanate of the Deccan; polyglot court of Persian scholars, Telugu poets and Sufi mystics.
Read moreHome›Dynasties of the Deccan
Qutb Shahi Dynasty
1518–1687 · Golconda, then Hyderabad · Builders of Hyderabad and greatest patrons of Dakhni literature; their diamond trade made them the byword for fabulous wealth.
Read moreBidar Barid Shahi
1489–1619 · Bidar · Successors to the Bahmanis at Bidar; patrons of Bidriware, the silver-inlaid black alloy still made in Bidar today.
Read moreAdil Shahi Dynasty
1490–1686 · Bijapur · Nine sultans of the most cosmopolitan Deccan capital; Ibrahim Adil Shah II, the poet-king, left the Gol Gumbaz and Ibrahim Rauza.
Read moreAsaf Jahi Nizams
1724–1948 · Hyderabad · Seven Nizams ruling the largest princely state in India; Osmania University, the Salar Jung Museum, and the last great court of Dakhni tehzeeb.
Read moreSix dynasties. Six hundred years. One civilisation born in the heart of India — where Persian poetry met Telugu devotion, Sufi wisdom met warrior courage, and the earliest form of Urdu took shape in the Dakhni dialect.
From the Bahmani capital at Gulbarga to the Nizam's court at Hyderabad, the kingdoms of the Deccan plateau shaped a culture that was at once Indian and Islamic, vernacular and cosmopolitan. These five pages trace that arc — the rulers, the cities, the patronage, the wars and the inheritances — that together formed the Dakhni world.
The Five Dynasties
In chronological order of founding
I · The First Kingdom
Bahmani Sultanate
The first independent Muslim sultanate of the Deccan, founded by Alauddin Bahman Shah. For 180 years its polyglot court of Persian scholars, Telugu poets and Sufi mystics laid the cultural foundation for Dakhni civilisation.
Read More II · Founders of HyderabadQutb Shahi Dynasty
The greatest patrons of Dakhni literature, builders of Golconda and founders of Hyderabad in 1591. Their diamond trade made the kingdom a byword for fabulous wealth from Madrid to Edo.
Read More III · Masters of MetalBidar Barid Shahi
Successors to the Bahmanis at Bidar, the Barid Shahis produced one of the most distinctive art forms of the Deccan — Bidriware, the inlaid black-metal craft still made in the lanes of Bidar after five centuries.
Read More IV · Patrons of Dakhni PoetryAdil Shahi Dynasty
Nine sultans of Bijapur, the most cosmopolitan capital of the Deccan. Under the poet-king Ibrahim Adil Shah II it became a city of half a million, leaving behind the Gol Gumbaz and the Ibrahim Rauza.
Read More V · The Last and GreatestAsaf Jahi Nizams
Seven Nizams ruling the largest princely state in the Indian subcontinent. Under the seventh Nizam, named the richest man on earth by TIME magazine, Hyderabad ran its own railway, currency and university.
Read MoreChronology
Key dates across six centuries
- 1347Bahmani founded
- 1489Barid Shahi at Bidar
- 1490Adil Shahi at Bijapur
- 1518Qutb Shahi at Golconda
- 1591Hyderabad founded
- 1687Fall of Golconda
- 1724Asaf Jahi founded
- 1948Hyderabad accedes to India
Six dynasties. Six hundred years. One civilisation.