Hyderabad Subah

Following the annexation of the Golconda Sultanate, its territories were incorporated into the empire. Particularly, Aurangzeb split the Sultanate into two; the main territory of Golconda (twenty districts to the north of the Krishna River) was made into Hyderabad Subah, while the twelve districts south of this (termed the Karnatik-i-Hyderabadi or Hyderabad-Karnatik) were made into its own administrative unit, not fully a province.[7][8] Aurangzeb initially retained many Qutb Shahi officers in their former positions across the province, mostly for propaganda effect, to make the Mughals' authority seem amicable to the old political order. To this end, the first subahdar (governor) of Hyderabad was Muhammad Ibrahim, a leading general of Golconda who had defected to the Mughals during its conquest of Golconda. Within two months however, Aurangzeb concluded this policy and transported many Golconda officials to other parts of the empire, instead stationing Mughal officers in the province; Ruhullah Khan, chief bakhshi (paymaster) of the empire, was made temporary governor of the province.[9]

In less than a year, Aurangzeb replaced Ruhullah Khan with a noble named Jan Sipar Khan, previously faujdar at Bidar. His son Rustam Dil Khan acted as deputy.[10] During the first four years of its existence, Hyderabad Subah faced continual raids by Marathas, since the region was no longer protected by the treaties between the Marathas and the Golconda Sultan. Aurangzeb did not provide much assistance with this, as he was more concerned with political instability in the Hyderabad Karnatik. Hyderabad also faced internal turmoil due to the disobedience of local zamindars, who raided and plundered villages. Starting in 1691 however, the governor and other Hyderabad officials began to be able to win battles with these zamindars. In 1692, Maratha raids largely came to an end, as the focus of the Mughal-Maratha war shifted to Gingee. These factors usured a period of relative peace in the province of Hyderabad for the next seven years, as Hyderabad's officials tried to forge conciliatory relationships with the zamindars and deshmukhs of the province, to some success. However, the Hyderabad administration was unsuccessful in incorporating the Telugu chiefs and warrior class into the Mughal order.[11]

Jan Sipar Khan served as governor for twelve years, following which he died in office. Aurangzeb appointed his son Kam Bakhsh as the new governor. Kam Bakhsh served in absentee, though he maintained an active interest in Hyderabad Subah due to the several wealthy jagirs he owned in the region. In his stead, Jan Sipar Khan's son Rustam Dil Khan was appointed as deputy, making him the effective governor of the province. Beginning 1700, Hyderabad Subah faced several raids again by Marathas, in addition to other local chiefs. Rustam Dil Khan was unable to respond to these challenges to Mughal authority - this apparent weakness also led banditry to become a prevalent issue in the province. All these resulted in a negative impact to the economy and revenue, as well as a breakdown in the local administration. Aurangzeb reduced Rustam Dil Khan's rank in punishment, and later even removed him from his post. He was returned to his post as effective governor in 1706, as Aurangzeb found difficulty in appointing officers with experience in the region. Aurangzeb also refused to assign more troops and military resources to Hyderabad Subah, since he needed them for his own campaigns in the Deccan. Hence the period began to see an administrative breakdown, as officers of the province began to act in self-preservation rather than in service of the empire.[12][13]

In 1707, Aurangzeb died, triggering a war of succession. Kam Bakhsh, who with the help of his father had been building authority in Hyderabad Subah, occupied the region and crowned himself independent king of Golconda. Rustam Dil Khan was confirmed in his old position as governor; however, he had been building up vast sums of money in the province during Aurangzeb's reign. When Kam Bakhsh attempted to confiscate this, he was met with resistance from the governor, and so had him executed. Kam Bakhsh in general placed great pressure on the province in order to extract money, in order to secure his position as King of Golconda. However, his brother Shah Alam (recently crowned as Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah, after defeat of his brother Azam Shah), had been marching southwards to confront him, and in a decisive battle Kam Bakhsh was killed, continuing Hyderabad's status as a subah of the Mughal Empire.[12][14]

The Mughal hold on Hyderabad was generally tenuous as emperor Bahadur Shah paid more attention to the problematic provinces in the north. The political instability of the previous year made local chiefs, zamindars, deshmukhs and the like to withhold the payment of taxes, leading to a breakdown in provincial administration. Bahadur Shah appointed Yusuf Khan, an Afghan mansabdar and previous faujdar of Kurnool, as governor of the province. The major campaign of his tenure was countering the notorious bandit Papadu (Pap Rai), who had risen to power and status during the war of succession following Aurangzeb's death. Yusuf Khan was able to defeat Papadu, a highly publicized event in the empire. Yusuf Khan went on to deal with other rebellious local chiefs; however, his tenure was financially unstable, as his military campaigns did not yield enough money to fund themselves, and payments to his troops remained in arrears. Yusuf Khan died in 1711, following which the position of governor was empty for a year - it was eventually filled by Ibrahim Khan, but financial insolvency and administrative breakdown only accelerated.[15]

In 1713, Mubariz Khan, a Mughal officer with a long tenure in the northern parts of the empire, was appointed to the governorship by Farrukhsiyar, who was now Mughal emperor.[16] An able administrator, he was able to attack and subdue several unruly zamindars in the province, as well as keep Maratha raids at bay. His practice of military forcefulness compelled these zamindars to pay taxes out of fear, which gave his governorship more security than the preceding ones. As he brought stability to the region, he also began to sever its connections to the empire - he only paid occasional sums to the Mughal central treasury, and appointed his own provincial officers. Hence Hyderabad increasingly acted as a power base for Mubariz Khan himself, rather than a subah of the empire. A major factor behind this was not just Mubariz Khan's own skill as an administrator, but also the decline of the Mughal Empire itself - the imperial centre had deteriorated to the point that it simply could not enforce its authority on Mubariz Khan's activity.[17]

In 1713, Farrukhsiyar also appointed Chin Qilich Khan (recently titled Nizam-ul Mulk) to the viceroyalty of the Deccan, governor of the six subahs of the Mughal Deccan. He served this post for the second time in the period 1720-1722, during which time he also began to consolidate his own authority in the region. He came at odds with Mubariz Khan, who was a challenge to his authority in Hyderabad subah, but briefly left to Delhi to serve as wazir. In 1724, the Nizam returned to the Deccan with the intent of establishing an independent kingdom, and defeated Mubariz Khan in the Battle of Shakar Kheda with Maratha support.[18][19]

In the period following 1724, and before the Nizam's death in 1748, Hyderabad seceded from the Mughal empire, as the Deccan increasingly fell under the personal control of the Nizam. Scholars typically date Hyderabad's independence to 1724 (the year of the Battle of Shakar Kheda) or 1740 (the year the Nizam permanently settled in the Deccan; prior, he would be called to North India intermittently by the Mughal emperor).[20]

The Mughal conquest of Hyderabad ended the role of the Qutb Shahi sultans as patrons of art in the region. However, the Mughal emperor did not fill this role, as he was absent from Hyderabad - instead, the governor, faujdars, and other Mughal officials became sources of artistic patronage. During the era of Hyderabad Subah (1687-1724), Hyderabad remained a leading centre of art; portraiture was very popular, and a new style of painting emerged that combined northern and Deccani styles.[29]

The annexation of Hyderabad led to the import of northern religious strains into Hyderabad; two disciples of popular Delhi Sufi saint Shah Kalimallah (Shah Yusuf al-din Qadiri and Shah Sharaf al-din Qadiri) arrived in Hyderabad with Aurangzeb's armies and established a shrine in the capital, which became a sacred site of the city. Additionally, the Mughals brought a degree of Sunni prejudice to the region, which had historically been ruled by the Shia Qutb Shahis. For example, in the aftermath of the conquest, the Badshahi Ashurkhana, a Shia religious site in Hyderabad city, was desecrated. Another Shiite site in the capital, the Mawla Ali shrine, stopped receiving religious patronage.[30]