Bahamani Kingdom during Firuz Shah

          The most remarkable figure in the Bahamani kingdom during the period was Firuz Shah Bahamani (1397-1422). He was well versed with religious sciences, very fond of natural sciences such as botany, gemetry, logic etc. He was a good calligraphist, poet and versed not only in Arabian, Persian and Turkish but also in Telugu, Kannada and Marathi. He had a large number of wives in his haram from various countries and regions, including many Hindu. He used to converse with each of them with their own language. 

          Firuz Shah was determined to make Deccan the cultural center of India. The decline of Delhi sultanat helped him as many people migrated from Delhi to Deccan. He also encouraged learned men from Iran and Iraq. He used to say that king should draw around them the learned person of all nations, so that from their society they might get information. He generally spent his time till midnight in the company of divines, poets, reciters of history and the most learned among his courtiers. His only weakness was his love for drinking wine and listening to music. The most remarkable step taken by Firuz Shah Bahamani was the induction of Hindus on a large scale in the administration. It is said that from his time, the Deccani Brahmans became dominant in administration particularly in revenue. He also encourage pursuit of astronomy and and build an observatory near Daulatabad. He paid special attention to the ports of his kingdom, Chaul and Dabhol, which attracted trading ships from Persian Gulf and the Red sea, and brought luxury goods from all parts of the world.

          Firuz Shah started bahamani expansion towards Berar defeating the Gond raja, Narsingh Rai of Kherla. The defeated king made a present of 40 elephatns, 5 maunds of gold and 50 maunds of silver. A daughter of raja Rai also married to Firuz Shah. In 1419, the Bahamani kingdom received a setback when Firuz Shah Bahamani was defeated by Deva Raya 1. This defeat weakened the position of him and compelled to abdicate in favor of his brother Ahmed Shah 1. Ahmed Shah continued the struggle for the domination of the eastern seaboard in south India.