After the death of Mahmud Gawan, who served several sultans as prime minister and general from 1461 to 1481, the various factions at the sultan’s court had started a struggle for power that is to end only with the dynasty itself: indigenous Muslim courtiers and generals are ranged against the ‘aliens’ – Arabs, Turks and Persians.
The last sultan, Mahmud Shah (1482–1518) no longer has any authority and presides over the dissolution of his realm.
Sri Krishnadevaraya of Vijayanagar defeats the last remnant of Bahmani power.
The governors of the four most important provinces declare their independence from the Bahmani ruler one after another: Bijapur (1489), Ahmadnagar (1490), Berar (1490), Bidar (1492) and Golconda (1512).
Although the Bahmani sultans will live on in Bidar until 1527, they will be mere puppets in the hands of the real rulers of Bidar, the Barid Shahis, who use them so as to put pressure on the other usurpers of Bahmani rule.
