Ali Adil Shah II

Who was Ali Adil Shah II?

On the death of Mohammed Adil Shah on November 4, 1656, Ali Adil Shah II, a youth of eighteen, succeeded to the throne of Bijapur through the efforts of the Prime Minister Khan Muhammad and the Queen, Badi Sahiba, sister of Qutb Shah of Golkonda.

His accession signaled disasters to the Kingdom and his reign marked the first phase of the decline of the mighty Bijapur Kingdom.

Shah Jahan, anxious to annex Bijapur to his empire, found a pretext in the legitimacy of Alis parents. On Aurangzeb’s plea, Shah Jahan sanctioned the invasion of Bijapur and gave him a free hand to deal with the situation. This sanction of such a war was wholly unrighteous. Bijapur was not a vassal state of the Mughals; but an independent and equal ally of the Mughal Emperor, and the latter had no lawful right to confirm or question the succession at Bijapur. However, Aurangzeb, had to raise the siege and rush to the north for the war of succession to the Mughal throne.

With Muhammad’s death and Ali’s accession disorder had begun in the Karnataka. The Nayaks tried to recover their former lands..