Yusuf Adil Shah - Legend of Origin

Legend of Origin

The founder of the dynasty, Yusuf Adil Shah, was likely a Bahmani nobleman of Iranian origin. According to the historian Mir Rafi-uddin Ibrahim-i Shirazi, or Rafi', Yusuf's full name was Sultan Yusuf 'Adil Shah Sawa or Sawa-i, the son of Mahmud Beg of Sawa in Iran, (Rafi' 36–38, vide Devare 67, fn 2). Rafi's history of the 'Adil Shahi dynasty was written a the request of Ibrahim Adil Shah II, and was completed and presented to the patron in AH 1017. The Indian scholar T.N. Devare mentioned that while Rafi's account of the Bahmani dynasty is filled with anachronisms, his account of the Adilshahi is "fairly accurate, exhaustive, and possesses such rich and valuable information about Ali I and Ibrahim II" (312). Rafi-uddin later became the governor of Bijapur for about 15 years (Devare 316).

Rafi's account is less well known than that of the popular historian Firishta, the author of the Nawras- nama, also known as the Gulshan-i Ibrahim. Rafi's account of the life of Yusuf 'Adil Shah directly contradicts a fanciful legend related by Firishta on the origins of the Adil Shahi dynasty. According to him, Yusuf Adil Shah is said to have been the son of Murad II, Ottoman sultan and caliph of Islam, who was succeeded by one of his sons, Mehmed II. After his accession, the new sultan is said to have ordered the execution by strangling of all his brothers, including Yusuf. Yusuf's mother contrived to save him by replacing him with a slave boy; she then arranged to have Yusuf conveyed to Persia. Yusuf eventually came to India, where he took service under the Bahmani ruler of the Deccan, ultimately becoming a personage of importance at the court of Mahmud II.

T.N. Devare found that other historians of the time, Mir Ibrahim Lari-e Asadkhani, and Ibrahim Zubayri, the author of the Basatin as-Salatin, favored Rafi's account and rejected this account provided solely by Firishta (Devare 67, fn 2). Devare observed that the work is "a general history of India from the earliest period up to Firishta's time written at the behest of Ibrahim Adil Shah II and presented to him in 1015 AH/1606 CE. It seems however that it was supplemented by the author himself as it records events up to AH 1033 (1626 CE). This is the most widely quoted history of the Adil Shahi, and it is the source of the story that Yusuf was an Ottoman prince" (Devare 272).

Despite the obvious fabrication of Yusuf's Ottoman origin, Firishta's account continues to be very popular today in Bijapur, although very few historians give any credence to this legend. The reason that prompted Firishta to fabricate this account is unknown, and especially curious given that he must have known of, if not been familiar with the account of his contemporary Rafi. Perhaps this story was added after the death of his patron, simply as a way of aggrandizing his patron, if not to gain attention.