Abdullah Qutb Shah, the eldest son of Sultan Mohammad, ascended the throne after the death of his father. At the age of fifteen years, Abdullah Qutb Shah ascended the throne of Golconda. His mother Hayat Baksh Begum managed the affairs of the State in his early years, using all her experience to run the administration.
He continued his father’s policy of maintaining friendly relations with the Shah of Iran, striking gold and silver coins in his own name, reciting the names of the twelve Shia imams as against the four caliphs. A farman, known as the deed of submission, was sent to Abdullah Qutb Shah by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in the same year, demanding the omission of the Shah of Iran in Friday prayers, payment of a stipulated peshkash, recitation of the names of the four caliphs of the Sunni faith, introduction of coins in the name of the emperor, and declaration that his friends would be the same as the emperor’s, and his enemies also the same.
Abdullah Qutb Shah paid the first instalment of peshkash amounting to eight lakhs of hons, followed by rich presents, which included 100 elephants, 50 horses, and jewels worth four lakhs. Bijapur suffered the same fate as Golconda.
Muhammad Syed Mir Jumla, the Prime Minister of Golconda, rebelled against his master and joined the camp of the Mughals. He conspired with Aurangzeb, the viceroy of the Deccan, to invade Golconda. The Mughal armies entered the Deccan in 1655 AD and took possession of Hyderabad. Aurangzeb reached Golconda in 1656 and laid siege to the fortress. Abdullah promised the marriage of his eldest daughter to Prince Muhammad, the son of Aurangzeb, ceded Ramgir as a part of the dowry, and offered ten lakhs of hons as indemnity to be paid in three instalments. As a result of this submission, the Mughal army withdrew from Golconda.
Shivaji triumphed over Bijapur and Golconda, becoming the master of the Maharashtra territory. Shivaji was permitted in 1669 to collect the levy Chauth and Sardeshmukhi in the Kingdoms of Bijapur and Golconda.
The Qutb Shahi Sultans pursued a policy of granting concessions to the European traders. The English factory at Machilipatnam had to be shifted to Armagoan in 1628, later brought back to Machilipatnam. In 1639, the English established a factory at Madras by an arrangement with a local Zamindar, Damerla Venkatadri Naidu. One Francis Day constructed a fortress and built a wall around the island. A large native settlement arose outside the island, formed by weavers and others, called the Black Town. Both the white and black towns were included under the general name of Madraspatnam.
In 1643, a lease was granted by the Rajah of Chandragiri, exempting the Company from the payment of import and export duties. In 1645, a renewed grant was obtained from Golconda. However, the lease became invalid in 1646 when the Qutb Shah conquered the whole of Coromandel. Mir Jumla gave a new lease to the Company. In 1658, all factories on Coromandel and Bengal were made subordinate to Madraspatnam, known as St. George.
In 1662, Neknam Khan, the Governor of the Karnataka, recovered Santhome from the Dutch, who had seized it from the Portuguese. Neknam Khan refused the Company a new lease. After ten years, he blockaded Madras, resulting in the Company surrendering. It paid 11,000 hons as arrears, promised to pay 12,000 hons per year towards rent, and 4200 hons per year towards customs. Abdullah Qutb Shah died in 1672 AD.
