1.The Golkonda Fort is located about 11 kms from Hyderabad on a hill 120 meters hight.
2. The Golkonda Fort is popular for its acoustic architecture.
3. The highest point of the fort is Bala Hissar.
4. There is said to be a secret underground tunnel which leads from the Durbar Hall to one of the palaces at the foot of the hills.

Bahman Shah emerged victorious in all these expeditions and assumed the title Second Alexander on his coins.

1. He made very large donations to many ofthe greatest Siva and Vishnu temples of the day- Srisailam, Tirupati, Kalahasti, Kanchipuram, Tiruvannamalai, Chidambaram, etc.

1. The term Nayak is used from thirteenth century onwards in Telugu and Kannada areas in the sense of a military leader or simply soldier.
2. Assigning the revenue of a particular locality to the Nayak for their military service is found in the Kakatiya kingdom during the thirteenth century.
3. This is similar to the iqta system practiced by the Delhi Sultanate at that time.
4. But in the Vijayanagar kingdom the regular assignment of revenue yielding territory in return for military service is clearly found only from about 1500 or a little earlier.

1. Alaudin Hasan Bahman Shah was the founder of Bahmani kingdom. unruly in his kingdom and in establishing order.
2. His attempt to exact an annual tribute from the state of Warangal, the Reddi kingdoms of Rajahmundry and Kondavidu, led to frequent wars.
3. Bahman Shah emerged victorious in all these expeditions and assumed the title Second Alexander on his coins.

1. The Golkonda Fort also houses the tombs of the Qutub Shahis.
2. There are two individual pavilions on the outer side of Golkonda which serve as major architectural attractions .
3.The Fort comprises four other small forts within itself. It has cannons, draw bridges, royal chambers, halls, temples, mosques, stables, etc.
4. The Fateh Darwaza or the Victory Gate is the entrance to the fort. Aurangzeb laid siege to this Golkonda fort in 1687 for about eight months but in vain.
5. It was due to the treachery of an Afghan gate keeper, the fort finally fell.

1. The administrative reforms introduced by Gawan improved the efficiency of the government, but curtailed the powers of the provincial chiefs, who were mostly Deccanis.
2. So the already existing rivalry among the two groups of nobles, Deccani Muslims and Pardesi (foreigner) Muslims, further intensified and conflicts broke out.
3. Gawan became a victim of this tussle for power, although he remained fair and neutral in this conflict. Jealous of his success they forged a letter to implicate Gawan in a conspiracy against the Sultan.
4. Sultan, who himself was not happy with Gawan's dominance, ordered his execution.
5. Gawan's execution augured ill for the Sultanate. Several of the foreign nobles who were considered the strongest pillars of the state began to leave for their provinces, leading to the disintegration of the Sultanate.
6. After the Sultan's death five of his descendants succeeded him on the throne but they were kings only in name.
7. During this period the Sultanate gradually broke up into four independent kingdoms: Bijapur, Ahmadnagar, Berar and Golkonda. Bidar where the Bahmani Sultan ruled as a puppet became the fifth one.
8. Among these Bijapur became powerful by annexing Bidar and Berar in course of time. Though Ahmadnagar and Golkonda acted independently they finally joined with Bijapur to fight with their common enemy, Vijayanagar.
9. Vijayanagar was utterly routed in the battle of Talikota or Rakshashi- Tangadi in 1565. Thereafter, within a century, the Sultanates were vanquished one after another and taken over by the Mughal state.

1. Mohammed I succeeded Bahman Shah.
2. There was a decade-long war with Vijayanagar, most of which related to control over the Raichur doab.
3. Neither side gained lasting control over the region, in spite of the huge fatalities in battles.
4. Two bitter wars with Vijayanagar gained him nothing.
5. But his attack on Warangal in 1363 brought him a large indemnity, including the important fortress of Golkonda and the treasured turquoise throne, which thereafter became the throne of the Bahmani kings.
6. Mohammed I established a good system of government that was followed by all the successor sultanates as well as by the Marathas later
7. He appointed a council of eight ministers of state.
8. Vakil-us-saltana or lieutenant of the kingdom, the immediate subordinate of the sovereign.
9. Waziri-kull, who supervised the work of all other ministers;
10. Amir-i-jumla, minister of finance;
11. Wasir-i-ashraf, minister of foreign affairs and master of ceremonies;
12. Nazir, assistant minister for finance;
13. Peshwa who was associated with the lieutenant of the kingdom;
14. Kotwal or chief of police and city magistrate in the capital, and
14. Sadr-i-jahan or chief justice and minister of religious affairs and endowments. He took strong measures for the suppression of highway robbery. Institutional and geographic consolidation under Muhammad Shah laid a solid foundation for the kingdom.
15. He built two mosques at Gulbarga. One, the great mosque, completed in 1367, remainsan impressive building.

1. The king was the ultimate authority in the kingdom.
2. He was also the supreme commander of the army.
3. He was assisted by several high-ranking officers.
4. The chief minister was known as the mahapradhani.
5. He led a number of lower-ranking officers, like Dalavay (commander), Vassal (guard of the palace), Rayasam (secretary/ accountant), Adaippam (personal attendant), and Kariya-karta (executive agents).
6. As Harihara I and his immediate successors consolidated their territorial acquisitions, they tried to organize the territory by creating administrative divisions called rajyas or provinces each under a governor called pradhani.
7. Some of the prominent rajyas were the Hoysala rajya, Araga, Barakur (Mangalur), and Muluvay. As and when new conquests were made they were put under new, rajyas.
8. By 1400, there were five rajyas in the Tamil area: Chandragiri, Padaividu, Valudalampattu, Tiruchirappalli and Tiruvarur.
9. The pradhan was either a royal member or a military officer not related to the royal family.
10. The pradhani had his own revenue accountants and military to assist in his administration.
11. Within each rajya, there were smaller administrative divisions like nadu, sima, sthala, kampana, etc.
12. The lowest unit was of course the village.
13. The rajyas lost their administrative and revenue status under the Tuluva dynasty due to the development of the Nayak system under Krishadevaraya.

1. The Vijayanagar area is concerned there took place migrations of Kannada and Telugu warriors and their followers into Tamil areas and elsewhere.
2. Many of the Nayaka chiefs belong to these language groups. Peasants, artisans and other toiling groups were also part of this migration.
3. The other consequence was the widening gap between the ruling class and the ruled.
4. All the foreign visitors refer to the enormous riches and affluence enjoyed by the rulers, the officials and the upper echelons in the capital cities like Vijayanagar, Bijapur, and the like, in contrast to widespread poverty among the masses.
5. They also refer to the prevalence of slavery.
6. The state had to derive their revenue only by taxing the people.
7. It is found that during the Sangama dynasty when the Vijayanagar rule was extended to new areas, their officers were harsh in tax collection, which provoked the toiling people to rise in revolt. One such revolt took place in 1430 in central parts of Tamil Nadu.
8. This was the revolt in which all the basic producers joined forgetting their caste differences.
9. The revolt took place due to the unjust and arbitrary tax demands of the government including the pradhani (governor), his military bodies, and the landlords.
10. It is said the Vijayanagar Prince intervened and pacified the revolting people by allowing tax reduction .