Mahmud Begada

Sultan Abu'l Fath Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Shah I, popularly known as Mahmud Begada (reigned May 25, 1458 –November 23, 1511) was the most prominent sultan of Gujarat. He was the great-grandson of Ahmad Shah I, the founder of the Muzaffarid dynasty, and of the city of Ahmedabad in the present-day state of Gujarat, India. He was known to be quite religious. By his conquests, he expanded the territory of the Gujarat Sultanate to its maximum till its conquest of Malwa, and ruled for 43 years. He titled himself, Sultân al-Barr, Sultân al-Bahr, 'Sultan of the Land, Sultan of the Sea'.

Conquests

Champaner

One of his initial conquests was an attempt to quash the Khichi Chauhan Rajputs who held the Pavagadh fort. The young Sultan, after laying siege for 20 months, conquered the fort on 21 November 1484. He then transferred his capital to Champaner which he completely rebuilt at the foothills of the Pavagadh fort, calling it Muhammadabad. It took 23 years to build the town. The town finally succumbed to attacks from the Mughal Emperor Humayun in 1535.

The town derives its name from the Champa tree, or from Champaraj founder of the town, a contemporary of King Vanraj Chavda of Anhilwada. Champaner is today the site of the Champaner-Pavagadh Archeological Park, which is on UNESCO's List of World Heritage Sites in Asia, and is situated about 47 km from the city of Vadodara.

Sultan Begada also built a magnificent Jama Masjid in Champaner, which ranks amongst the finest architectural edifices in Gujarat. It is an imposing structure on a high plinth with two tall minarets 30 ft tall, 172 pillars and seven mihrabs. The central dome, the placement of balconies and carved entrance gates with fine stone jalis.

Mumbai

The Sultan is also credited with capturing the island of Bombay from the Koli (fisherman) tribe, before one of his descendants Bahadur Shah, handed the island over to the Portuguese in 1535.

Mahmudabad

He laid the foundation of the city of Mahmudabad (now Junagadh) in 1479 A.D. Strong embankments were raised along the river, and the city was adorned with a palace, handsome buildings and extensive gardens.

Greater ambitions

The Sultan was ambitious and contacted the Ottoman Empire and the Sultan of Cairo to obtain reinforcements for a Muslim conquest of India. It is during his reign that the famous Battle of Diu took place.

One of his religious teachers was Imam al din `Abd al Raheem, also known as Sayyid Imam Shah, the founder of the Imam-Shahi faith.

Some European adventurers circulated popular tales about the him under the erroneous name Turk Mahmud Shah I ("Begada"), "the Poison Sultan," and those became the source for the English satirist Samuel Butler's seventeenth-century lines: "The Prince of Cambay's daily food/ Is asp and basilisk and toad".

Death

The Sultan is believed to have died of natural causes in 1511, and is buried next to his Queen, in the Dargah at Sarkhej, about 8 km south-west of Ahmedabad in an elegant architectural complex.

See also

• Beg
• Baga