Mahmud Begada

Abu'l Fath Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Shah I , known as Mahmud Begada or Mahmud Begarha (* 1445 in Ahmedabad ; † November 23, 1511 in Ahmedabad) was the most powerful ruler of the 1407 during his reign (1458-1511) until 1572 existing Sultanate of Gujarat . He referred to himself as Sultân al-Barr , Sultân al-Bahr ("ruler of the land and the sea").

biography

Mahmud Begada was the great-grandson of Ahmed Shah I , the 2nd Sultan of Gujarat and founder of the city of Ahmedabad. Little is known about the first years of his reign. In 1473 his troops destroyed the city of Dwarka , one of the most important Krishna shrines in India . On November 21, 1484, after a 20-month siege, he succeeded in taking the Pavagadh Fort , at the foot of which he had the town of Champaner, which was partially destroyed during the siege and abandoned by its inhabitants, rebuilt; under the name of Muhammadabad he made it the new capital of the empire and richly endowed it with mosques(including the idiosyncratic Friday mosque ) and palaces. He later conquered or acquired the island of Salsette , on which centuries later the cities of Mumbai and Thane arose. He also came into conflict with the Portuguese who, after the discovery of the sea ​​route to India (1498), fought sea battles with the Egyptian fleet off the coast of India in around 1510 (see inter alia Sea Battle of Diu ). His contacts to the Ottoman Empire and the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt, which saw the profitable spice trade in their respective countries threatened by the Portuguese activities, should also be seen in this context .

Mahmud Begada's mausoleum

tomb

Mahmud Begada's mausoleum and his cenotaph are located in the grave complex of Sarkhej Rauza , about 8 km southwest of Ahmedabad , which he had expanded and equipped with a mosque during his lifetime .

literature

• Sailendra Sen: A Textbook of Medieval Indian History. Primus Books 2013, ISBN 978-9-38060-734-4 ; Pp 114-115.