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Subhan Quli Qutb Shah

Subhan Quli was the boy son of Jamshid Qutb Shah, set on the throne of Golconda when his father died in 1550. The regent Saif Khan Ain-ul-Mulk ruled for him, until the nobles invited his uncle Ibrahim back from Vijayanagara. The Hindu infantry of the forts went over to Ibrahim, locked up the young king and gave Golconda to his uncle within a few months. A single copper coin in his name survives, and an unmarked dome at the Qutb Shahi tombs is said to be his.

Subhan Quli was a boy king of the Qutb Shahis of Golconda for a few months in 1550.12 The nobles crowned him after the death of his father Jamshid.13 Soon his uncle Ibrahim took the throne from him.2 The story matters for the Telugu country because the Hindu soldiers of the forts, the Naigwaris, decided it.456

A boy on the throne

Jamshid died at Golconda in AH 957 (1550; AH is the Islamic way of counting years).7 The Golconda chronicle translated by John Briggs says that the nobles then raised his son Subhan Quli, “a child of seven years of age”, to the throne.1 Ferishta calls him “an infant of two years old”.3

The boy could not rule, so his mother, the dowager queen, and the chiefs called back Saif Khan Ain-ul-Mulk.1 Jamshid had sent this noble into exile at Ahmadnagar.1 S. Ramakantham, in a short history printed with the Hyderabad Museum’s coin catalogue of 1961, names the queen as Bilqees Zaman.8

The regent and the rebel

Jagadeva Rao (Jugdew Row in Briggs), the first officer of the state, wanted another prince on the throne.1 He chose Daulat Khan, a younger brother of the late king, who was kept a prisoner in the fort of Bhongir.1 When other officers declared him a rebel, he released Daulat Khan and won over the Naigwaris (Hindu foot soldiers) of the forts nearby.1

Saif Khan arrived and took office as regent and protector.9 He defeated Jagadeva Rao and his ally from Berar at the village of Singram.9 Then he besieged Bhongir for a month, until hunger forced the garrison to surrender.9 Daulat Khan went back into confinement, and Jagadeva Rao was taken to the capital as a prisoner.9 Bilgrami adds that Daulat Quli was kept at Bhongir because of his “idiocy”.7

Ibrahim takes the throne

The chronicle says that Saif Khan was now “in effect King of Tulingana”.9 His pride offended most of the officers, so they wrote secretly to Jamshid’s brother Ibrahim at Vijayanagara.94 Rama Raya, the chronicle’s “Ramraj”, offered Ibrahim a large army under his brother Venkatadri.4 Ibrahim’s friends feared that such a force might seize the kingdom for Rama Raya, so he came without it.4

The garrisons decided the contest. The Naigwaris of Kovilkonda gave their fort to Ibrahim.4 The Naigwaris of Golconda freed Jagadeva Rao, put the governor in irons and killed the chief nobles of Subhan Quli’s party.5 Then they confined the young king.5 Saif Khan took much of the late king’s treasure and fled.52 Ibrahim was crowned on 12 Rajab AH 957, which Briggs gives as 27 July 1550.2 See Ibrahim Qutb Shah.

The Kistna district manual explains Naigwari as the Telugu Nayakvadu.6 It says that “the Hindu Minister Jagadéva Rao, supported by all the Hindu soldiery, declared for Prince Ibrahim”.6

His coin and his tomb

Some writers had doubted that Subhan Quli ever reigned, because no coin of his was known.8 The Hyderabad Museum later identified one copper coin of his from the Golconda mint.810 Its legends are faint, but Md. Abdul Wali Khan read “Sultan Subhan Quli Qutb Shah” on one side and “Muhammadnagar Golkonda” on the other.10 The catalogue reproduces it on Plate II.11

Nobody recorded what became of Subhan Quli, or when and where he died.12 Bilgrami noted an uninscribed dome between the tombs of Sultan Quli and Jamshid, called the dome of “Chhote Malik”.12 It is said to hold his remains.12 See the Qutb Shahi tombs.

Where the sources disagree

  • His age. The Golconda chronicle makes him seven.1 Ferishta and Haig make him two.313
  • Who brought Ibrahim back. The chronicle gives the lead to the Naigwaris and Jagadeva Rao.5 Ferishta says that the prime minister, Mustafa Khan, invited Ibrahim because the Deccani nobles grew riotous.3 Haig says that the Foreign party, which had crowned the boy, invited Ibrahim because it could not face the Deccani party without a grown king.13
  • Jagadeva Rao’s ally. The chronicle names Tufal Khan, the regent of Berar.9 Bilgrami names Darya Imad Shah of Elichpur.7
  • The date of Ibrahim’s accession. The chronicle and Bilgrami give 27 July 1550.214 Haig gives 28 October 1550.13 The coin catalogue speaks of a reign of six months.8

Footnotes

  1. John Briggs (tr.), History of the Rise of the Mahomedan Power in India, Vol. III (1829), p. 390, the Golconda chronicle (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  2. Briggs, Rise of the Mahomedan Power, Vol. III (1829), p. 394 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  3. Ferishta, tr. Briggs, Rise of the Mahomedan Power, Vol. III (1829), p. 329 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  4. Briggs, Rise of the Mahomedan Power, Vol. III (1829), p. 392 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  5. Briggs, Rise of the Mahomedan Power, Vol. III (1829), p. 393 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  6. Gordon Mackenzie, A Manual of the Kistna District in the Presidency of Madras (1883), p. 29 and note (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  7. Bilgrami, Landmarks (1927), p. 196 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  8. S. Ramakantham, “A short history of the Qutub Shahi kings”, in Md. Abdul Wali Khan, Qutub Shahi Coins in the Andhra Pradesh Government Museum (Andhra Pradesh Government Museum Series No. 3, 1961), p. 4 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Public domain in India; paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  9. Briggs, Rise of the Mahomedan Power, Vol. III (1829), p. 391 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  10. Md. Abdul Wali Khan, Qutub Shahi Coins in the Andhra Pradesh Government Museum (1961), pp. 17–18 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Public domain in India; paraphrased. ↩ ↩2

  11. Abdul Wali Khan, Qutub Shahi Coins (1961), Plate II, ink rubbings of the coins of Jamshid, Subhan Quli and Muhammad Quli (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  12. Syed Ali Asgar Bilgrami, Landmarks of the Deccan (1927), pp. 119–120 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  13. Wolseley Haig (ed.), The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III (1928), p. 443 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  14. Bilgrami, Landmarks (1927), p. 197 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

Dynasties

Qutb Shahis

c. 1518–1687 CE

Sultans of Golconda (1518–1687) who ruled Telangana and, from the 1520s, the coast between the Krishna and the Godavari. Later they ruled the northern coast and the Guntur country, and in the 17th century much of the Karnatak to the south. The founder, Sultan Quli, had governed Telingana for the Bahmanis. Ibrahim joined the alliance that destroyed Vijayanagara in 1565, and Muhammad Quli founded Hyderabad about 1589–91. From 1636 the kings paid tribute to the Mughals, and in 1687 Aurangzeb took Golconda by treachery after an eight months' siege. Persian nobles held the high offices, but Telugu soldiers held the forts and Brahmin accountants kept the revenue. Under the last king two Brahmin brothers, Madanna and Akkanna, ran the state.

References

Sources (5)
  1. 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. 329, 390–394. Ferishta (p. 329) and the Golconda chronicle (pp. 390–394), both in Briggs's translation. [Public domain]
  2. Wolseley Haig (ed.), The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans (opens in a new tab), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1928, pp. 443. [Public domain]
  3. 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. 119–120, 196–197. [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. 29. [Public domain]
  5. Md. Abdul Wali Khan; historical introduction by S. Ramakantham; general editor N. Ramesan, Qutub Shahi Coins in the Andhra Pradesh Government Museum (Andhra Pradesh Government Museum Series No. 3) (opens in a new tab), Government of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad, 1961, pp. 4, 17–18, Plate II. Public domain in India; paraphrased. [Public domain in India]

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