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Telugu Historyతెలుగు చరిత్ర

Shitab Khan of Warangal

Short-lived Telugu principality of the chief Shitab Khan, or Sitapati, between the fall of the Bahmani power and the rise of Golconda. He was a former officer of the Bahmanis. By his pillar inscription, he took Warangal fort from the Muslims on 21 January 1504. He held it with Khammam, Bellamkonda and other hill forts, and restored the Kakatiya family goddess and a Krishna image to their temples. The Kistna manual thought him a vassal of the Gajapatis of Orissa, with whose prince he fought at Palanchinur. Sultan Quli Qutb Shah of Golconda took his forts. The sources date the conquest of Warangal anywhere from 1512 to 1525.

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145014751500152515501575Nayakas, Reddis & Bahmanis (1323–1518 CE)Nayakas, Reddis & BahmanisVijayanagara & the Qutb Shahis (1336–1687 CE)TelanganaBahmani SultanateVijayanagara EmpireRecherla Velamas (Padmanayakas)Adil Shahis of BijapurGajapatis of OrissaQutb Shahis of GolcondaShitab Khan (Sitapati) of WarangalCoastal AndhraGajapatis of OrissaVijayanagara EmpireBahmani SultanateQutb Shahis of GolcondaRayalaseemaVijayanagara EmpireAdil Shahis of BijapurQutb Shahis of Golconda145014751500152515501575
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Nayakas, Reddis & Bahmanis 1323–1518 CE

Telangana
Bahmani Sultanate (c. 1347–1518 CE) · Recherla Velamas (Padmanayakas) (c. 1361–1475 CE) · Adil Shahis of Bijapur (c. 1489–1686 CE) · Gajapatis of Orissa (c. 1459–1461 CE) · Shitab Khan (Sitapati) of Warangal (c. 1504–1516 CE)
Coastal Andhra
Eastern Gangas of Kalinga (c. 537–1434 CE) · Gajapatis of Orissa (c. 1446–1571 CE) · Vijayanagara Empire (c. 1350–1579 CE) · Reddis of Rajahmundry (c. 1386–1448 CE) · Bahmani Sultanate (c. 1471–1489 CE)
Rayalaseema
Vijayanagara Empire (c. 1336–1646 CE)

Vijayanagara & the Qutb Shahis 1336–1687 CE

Telangana
Bahmani Sultanate (c. 1347–1518 CE) · Vijayanagara Empire (c. 1563–1565 CE) · Recherla Velamas (Padmanayakas) (c. 1361–1475 CE) · Adil Shahis of Bijapur (c. 1489–1686 CE) · Gajapatis of Orissa (c. 1459–1461 CE) · Qutb Shahis of Golconda (c. 1518–1687 CE) · Shitab Khan (Sitapati) of Warangal (c. 1504–1516 CE)
Coastal Andhra
Eastern Gangas of Kalinga (c. 537–1434 CE) · Gajapatis of Orissa (c. 1446–1571 CE) · Vijayanagara Empire (c. 1350–1579 CE) · Reddis of Rajahmundry (c. 1386–1448 CE) · Bahmani Sultanate (c. 1471–1489 CE) · Qutb Shahis of Golconda (c. 1524–1687 CE)
Rayalaseema
Vijayanagara Empire (c. 1336–1646 CE) · Adil Shahis of Bijapur (c. 1568–1686 CE) · Qutb Shahis of Golconda (c. 1579–1687 CE)
Kingdoms and empires Sultanates Uncertain or debated dates Held another region first This page

Family tree

The rulers and the relatives who explain the succession. Every line rests on a cited statement on a person page; the sources are listed below the tree. Select a card to open that page.

  • parent and child
  • marriage
  • adoption
  • the sources disagree (see below)
  • order of succession
Family tree: Shitab Khan of WarangalNagaLeader of the Bhogafamily; grandfather ofShitab KhanMana (Manaya)Archer and duellist;father of Shitab KhanGaurambaMother of Shitab KhanShitab Khan(Sitapati)c. 1504–1516 CE1DevambikaSenior wife of ShitabKhanAnumambaSecond wife of ShitabKhanAvadhuta KhanElder son of DevambikaPurantakaYounger son of Devambika;praised as a warriorAmaraBhogiRamaSons of Anumamba; Amarawas killed in battle

  1. Generation 1

    • NagaLeader of the Bhoga family; grandfather of Shitab Khan

  2. Generation 2

    • GaurambaMother of Shitab KhanWife of Mana (Manaya)
    • Mana (Manaya)Archer and duellist; father of Shitab KhanSon of NagaHusband of Gauramba

  3. Generation 3

    • DevambikaSenior wife of Shitab KhanWife of Shitab Khan (Sitapati)
    • 1Shitab Khan (Sitapati)c. 1504–1516 CESon of Mana (Manaya) and GaurambaHusband of DevambikaHusband of Anumamba
    • AnumambaSecond wife of Shitab KhanWife of Shitab Khan (Sitapati)

  4. Generation 4

    • Avadhuta KhanElder son of DevambikaSon of Shitab Khan (Sitapati) and Devambika
    • PurantakaYounger son of Devambika; praised as a warriorSon of Shitab Khan (Sitapati) and Devambika
    • Amara, Bhogi, RamaSons of Anumamba; Amara was killed in battleSons of Shitab Khan (Sitapati) and Anumamba
Sources for every line of the tree

A line from one parent only means that the cited sources name no other parent.

Shitab Khan's stone hall seen from the north-west: a tall arched end wall and a long side of pointed arches, on a terrace behind a rubble wall.
Shitab Khan's stone hall seen from the north-west: a tall arched end wall and a long side of pointed arches, on a terrace behind a rubble wall. · Archaeological Department, H.E.H. the Nizam's Dominions (G. Yazdani, Director) (opens in a new tab) · Public domain

Between the decline of the Bahmani sultanate and the rise of Golconda, a Telugu chief, Shitab Khan, held the old Kakatiya capital of Warangal for some years. The Golconda chronicle calls him Sitapati, the Raja of Khammam. Hirananda Sastri edited his inscription for the Nizam’s government in 1932.1 He wrote that Shitab Khan “was the governor of Warangal under the Baihmanids originally”.1 He added that “he succeeded in carving out for himself an independent principality which probably comprised Khammameth, Warangal and Nalgonda”.1 See Shitab Khan (Sitapati), the Bahmanis and the Qutb Shahis.

The sources

The main source is the Sanskrit and Telugu inscription on a red sandstone pillar in front of the Sambhuni-gudi in Warangal fort.23 Sastri published it with a translation and plates.23 He also gathered the Persian chronicles, the Telugu kaifiyats (village histories) of the Mackenzie collection and two Telugu poems.23

The History of Sultan Quli Qutb Shah, in Briggs’s translation of 1829, tells of the war with Sitapati.4 The Kistna district manual (1883) retells it.5 Sastri warned that the kaifiyats “have mixed up matters”.6 They “did not distinguish the Shitab Khan of the reign of Humayun, the Cruel, from the Shitab Khan of the time of Ibrahim Qutb Shah”.6

Robert Sewell’s Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (1932) lists the Warangal record among those of 1503.7 It notes E. Hultzsch’s comment that the chief praised in it seems to have been a Hindu, though he bore a Muslim title.7 See the inscription.

Origins

The Burhan-i Ma’asir names a Shitab Khan among the amirs (nobles) of the Bahmani Sultan Humayun Shah who “fled for his life”.826 The Sultan had tortured these men’s women in public.826 Sastri dated the episode to about 1461, and took this amir for the later chief of Warangal.26

According to his inscription, Shitab Khan took Warangal from the Muslims on the fifth day of the bright fortnight of Magha in Saka 1425 (Saka is an Indian way of counting years).9 Sastri reckoned this date as 21 January 1504.9 The Burhan-i Ma’asir also says that in 1497 Sultan Quli “added to his former possessions the towns of Warangal and Kovilkonda with their dependencies”.9 Sastri concluded that Shitab Khan “must have wrested it in the year 1504 A.C. from Quli Qutb Shah … when he had not yet proclaimed his independence”.9

The Hyderabad archaeological report for 1925–26 calls him “the Governor of Warangal under the Baihmanids at the close of the 15th century”.1011 It says that he later allied himself with the “Warangal Kings”.1011 See Humayun Shah and Sultan Quli.

Territory

The Golconda chronicle says: “This Raja possessed the strong forts of Cummamett, Belumconda, Wurungole, and others”.4 From this Sastri inferred that “he must have governed the tracts between Warangal and Guntur on both sides of the Krishna river”.2

His inscription says that he took “the important and impregnable hill forts of Rajadri and others”.12 Sastri identified Rajadri with Rajakonda.13 The Kistna manual says that “Bellamkonda was at this time held by a Raja named Sitapati who also held Varangal and Kammamet and who seems to have been a vassal of Orissa”.5 See Khammam and Rachakonda.

Government and army

The chronicle credits him with “twelve thousand infantry, noted as good marksmen”.4 Their fire “withstood several charges of the Mahomedan cavalry” before they broke.4

The Telugu poem Chitra-Bharatamu is dedicated to his minister Inumulapalli Peddanna.14 It calls the minister “expert in managing the kingdom of the great king (Chitapa Khana)”.14 It says that one of the minister’s brothers commanded a fort and “was a great foe of the Musalmans”.14 This brother received from Shitab Khan the royal honours of the chauri (fly-whisk), palanquin and white umbrella.14

The Telugu Raya-vachakamu tells of the time when Krishnadeva Raya invaded the Gajapati country.3 It says that “Chitapa-Khana (Shitab Khan), with sixty thousand archers” held the passes against him for a time.3 See Krishnadeva Raya.

Religion and the Kakatiya past

His inscription presents him as a Hindu restorer of the Kakatiya city.1516 It calls Warangal “the beautiful city of Ekasilapuri, which was formerly ruled by a number of virtuous kings belonging to the family of Kakati”.1516 It says that he put back on its throne the image of Krishna as Panchalaraya, “removed from his place by the strength of the wicked”.1516 He also reinstalled the goddess who “was the Lakshmi of the throne of the Kakati kingdom”.1516

Sastri read the respectful mention of the Kakatiyas as a sign “that some scion of that ancient house was alive”.1 He thought this descendant was “possibly, recognised to be the de jure owner of Warangal”, that is, its lawful owner.1

A kaifiyat says the opposite.617 It says that he pulled down Kakatiya temples, including the thousand-pillared temple, to finish the stone fort.617 Sastri thought this might be explained if the temples were already ruined.617 See the Kakatiyas and Warangal Fort.

Buildings and works

A great hall in Warangal fort, near the western gateway of the central temple, bears his name.110 The Hyderabad Archaeological Department repaired it and called it “the audience-hall of Shitab Khan”.110 It thought the hall “seems to have been constructed about that time”, the turn of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.110

The Chitra-Bharatamu praises him for building “Pakala and other lakes which can be compared with oceans”.14 A tradition credits him with repairing the breaches in the dam of the Pakhal lake.1418 At the centre of the dam the Imperial Gazetteer (1909) noted “the ruins of a small pavilion known as the chabutra of Shitab Khan”.18 See Shitab Khan’s hall and Pakhal.

The Gajapatis and the end

According to the chronicle, Sultan Quli took Bellamkonda by storm and beat Sitapati in the field.41920 Sitapati then called on the neighbouring rajas, “such as those of Condapilly, Indraconda, Warapully, and Etgeer”, to form a league at Khammam.41920 When that too was broken, he “fled, and took protection with Ramchundur Dew”.41920 Sultan Quli stormed Khammam, “then one of the strongest forts in Tulingana”.41920 He spared only “the females of the family of Seetaputty, who were reserved for the King’s seraglio” (harem).41920

Sitapati told Ramachandra, “the son of Gujputty, who held his court at Condapilly”, that Sultan Quli would next invade his country.202122 The Gajapati prince gathered a vast army, in which Sitapati commanded on the left with Hari Chandra.202122 This army was routed near “Palunchinoor”.202122 After that a treaty made the Godavari the boundary between Golconda and Orissa.202122

Sastri quotes a Persian manuscript about the fall of the fort.23 It says that when “such a strong fort was conquered” the victors seized “the treasure and jewellery which Shitab Khan and his villainous forebears had amassed”.23 It says that his temples were destroyed and mosques built in their place.23 See Kondapalli and the Gajapatis.

Where the sources disagree

  • The date of his fall. Sastri thought that Sultan Quli took Warangal after defeating Ala-ud-din Imad Shah in 1512, giving Shitab Khan “not … more than six or seven years”.9 The Hyderabad report for 1925–26 says that Sultan Quli “took possession of Warangal between 1513 and 1516”.11 The Kistna manual places the war after the peace of 1516 between Krishnadeva Raya and the Gajapati.245 Bilgrami says that Sultan Quli was busy defeating Shitab Khan between 1519 and 1525.25 Sewell compared the chronicle with Vijayanagara and Portuguese sources.26 He thought that its campaigns covered “a period of at least twenty-one years” from 1512 and could not be dated in detail.26
  • His religion. From the inscription, Sastri held that “Shitab Khan was a Hindu and not a Musalman”, and the Persian writers call him an infidel.179 Glimpses of the Nizam’s Dominions called him “the first Mahomedan conqueror of Warangal”.179 A kaifiyat makes him a destroyer of Hindu temples.179
  • Whose officer. Sastri and the 1925–26 report make him a former Bahmani governor.910 Bilgrami makes “Shitab Khan one of the officers of Ibrahim”, who took Warangal for Golconda after Talikota.27 The kaifiyats give him a career in the service of the Gajapati Mukundadeva at Rajahmundry.286 Sastri gave that career to a later Shitab Khan.286
  • Two Shitab Khans. The chronicle of Ibrahim Qutb Shah has a “Seetaputty” holding Pentapoor and Rajapudi and helping to defend Rajahmundry in 1571–72.29 Sastri argued that the amir of about 1461 would by then have been “about 130 or 135 years” old.6 So, he said, this must be “a different Shitab Khan”.6

Footnotes

  1. Hirananda Sastri, Shitab Khan of Warangal (Hyderabad Archaeological Series No. 9, 1932), p. 2 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  2. Sastri, Shitab Khan of Warangal (1932), p. 3 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  3. Sastri, Shitab Khan of Warangal (1932), p. 12 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  4. John Briggs (tr.), History of the Rise of the Mahomedan Power in India, Vol. III (1829), p. 360, “History of the Kootb Shahy Dynasty” (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  5. Gordon Mackenzie, A Manual of the Kistna District (1883), p. 25 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  6. Sastri, Shitab Khan of Warangal (1932), p. 9 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12

  7. Robert Sewell, The Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (1932), p. 234, A.D. 1503, No. 108 of 1902 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  8. J. S. King, The History of the Bahmani Dynasty, founded on the Burhan-i Ma’asir (1900), p. 88 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  9. Sastri, Shitab Khan of Warangal (1932), p. 15 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  10. Annual Report of the Archaeological Department of H.E.H. the Nizam’s Dominions, 1925–26 (1928), p. 11 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  11. Hyderabad Archaeological Report, 1925–26 (1928), p. 12 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  12. Sastri, Shitab Khan of Warangal (1932), p. 22, translation of verse 19 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  13. Sastri, Shitab Khan of Warangal (1932), p. 13 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  14. Sastri, Shitab Khan of Warangal (1932), p. 11 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  15. Sastri, Shitab Khan of Warangal (1932), p. 23, translation of verse 27 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  16. Sastri, Shitab Khan of Warangal (1932), p. 24, translation of verses 33–34 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  17. Sastri, Shitab Khan of Warangal (1932), p. 10 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  18. Imperial Gazetteer of India, Provincial Series: Hyderabad State (1909), p. 91 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  19. Briggs, Rise of the Mahomedan Power, Vol. III (1829), p. 361 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  20. Briggs, Rise of the Mahomedan Power, Vol. III (1829), p. 362 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  21. Briggs, Rise of the Mahomedan Power, Vol. III (1829), p. 363 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  22. Briggs, Rise of the Mahomedan Power, Vol. III (1829), p. 364 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  23. Sastri, Shitab Khan of Warangal (1932), p. 14 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  24. Mackenzie, Kistna District (1883), p. 24 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  25. Syed Ali Asgar Bilgrami, Landmarks of the Deccan (1927), p. 195 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  26. Robert Sewell, A Forgotten Empire (Vijayanagar) (1900), p. 135 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  27. Bilgrami, Landmarks of the Deccan (1927), p. 125 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  28. Sastri, Shitab Khan of Warangal (1932), p. 7 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  29. Sastri, Shitab Khan of Warangal (1932), p. 8, quoting the chronicle of Ibrahim Qutb Shah (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

Photos

People

Shitab Khan (Sitapati) of Warangal

c. 1504–1516 CE

A Telugu chief of humble birth who held Warangal, Khammam and Bellamkonda in the early sixteenth century. Hirananda Sastri identified him with an officer who had fled the Bahmani Sultan Humayun Shah about 1461, and with the Sitapati of the Golconda chronicle. His pillar inscription in Warangal fort records that he took the fort from the Muslims on 21 January 1504. He put back the images of Krishna and of the Kakatiya family goddess. He supported Telugu poets and called himself king of the Bhogi family. Sultan Quli Qutb Shah of Golconda defeated him. He took shelter with the Gajapati prince at Kondapalli and fought on the losing side at Palanchinur. The Kistna manual thought he was a vassal of Orissa.

Monuments

Shitab Khan's hall, Warangal

c. 1504 CE

Tall roofless stone hall in Warangal fort, near the western gateway of the old central temple. It is named after the chief Shitab Khan, who held Warangal from 1504. The Hyderabad Archaeological Department conserved it in 1925–26. It compared the hall with the Hindola Mahal at Mandu and thought it built about the turn of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The hall is 86 feet by 24, with cross arches 28 feet high that once carried a flat vault, sloping walls, a cistern in the floor and a tall arched entrance on the north.

Inscriptions

Warangal pillar inscription of Shitab Khan (1504)

1504 CE

A Sanskrit verse inscription, with two lines of Telugu prose, on a four-faced red sandstone pillar in front of the Sambhuni-gudi in Warangal fort. In 143 lines and 36 verses it records that the chief Chittapa Khan (Shitab Khan, or Sitapati) of the Bhogi family took Warangal from the Muslims. This happened on Sunday, the fifth day of the bright half of Magha, Saka 1425, which Hirananda Sastri reckoned as 21 January 1504. The record gives his ancestors, wives and sons, and says that he restored the images of Krishna and of the Kakatiya family goddess. It was composed by Madhava, son of Annarya, and edited by Sastri in 1932.

References

Sources (9)
  1. Hirananda Sastri, Shitab Khan of Warangal (Hyderabad Archaeological Series No. 9) (opens in a new tab), H.E.H. the Nizam's Government, 1932, pp. 1–24. [Public domain]
  2. J. S. King, The History of the Bahmani Dynasty, founded on the Burhan-i Ma'asir (opens in a new tab), Luzac and Co., London, 1900, pp. 88. [Public domain]
  3. Muhammad Qasim Ferishta (tr. John Briggs), History of the Rise of the Mahomedan Power in India till the Year A.D. 1612, Vol. III (opens in a new tab), Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown and Green, London, 1829, pp. 360–364. [Public domain]
  4. Gordon Mackenzie, A Manual of the Kistna District in the Presidency of Madras (opens in a new tab), Government of Madras (Lawrence Asylum Press), 1883, pp. 24–26. [Public domain]
  5. Robert Sewell, A Forgotten Empire (Vijayanagar): A Contribution to the History of India (scan of the 1900 edition) (opens in a new tab), Swan Sonnenschein & Co., London, 1900, pp. 133. [Public domain]
  6. Robert Sewell (ed. S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar), The Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (Collected till 1923) and Outlines of Political History (opens in a new tab), University of Madras, 1932, pp. 234. Paraphrased only (Public domain in India). [Public domain in India]
  7. Syed Ali Asgar Bilgrami, Landmarks of the Deccan: A Comprehensive Guide to the Archaeological Remains of the City and Suburbs of Hyderabad (opens in a new tab), Government Central Press, Hyderabad-Deccan, 1927, pp. 125, 195. [Public domain]
  8. Archaeological Department, H.E.H. the Nizam's Dominions, Annual Report of the Archaeological Department of H.E.H. the Nizam's Dominions, 1925-26 (opens in a new tab), Baptist Mission Press, Calcutta, 1928, pp. 11–12. [Public domain]
  9. Government of India, Imperial Gazetteer of India, Provincial Series: Hyderabad State (opens in a new tab), Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta, 1909, pp. 91. [Public domain]

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