Who was the ruler of Golkonda when Aurangzeb seized the fort of Golkonda in 1687 ?

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — A, Abul Hasan Qutb Shah. He was the last ruler of the Qutb Shahi dynasty of Golconda (popularly called Abul Hasan 'Tana Shah'). When Aurangzeb marched into the Deccan, he besieged Golconda and, after a long siege, took the fort in 1687 by treachery; Abul Hasan was captured and imprisoned at Daulatabad, ending the Qutb Shahi kingdom, which was annexed to the Mughal empire.

Why the other options are wrong — (b) Sikandar Adil Shah was the last ruler of the Adil Shahi dynasty of Bijapur — the OTHER Deccan sultanate. Aurangzeb annexed Bijapur in 1686, one year before Golconda; Sikandar ruled Bijapur, not Golconda.  (c) Ali Adil Shah II was an earlier ruler of Bijapur (Adil Shahi, r. c. 1656-1672), again a Bijapur (not Golconda) sultan, and he had died well before 1687.  (d) Shaista Khan was a Mughal noble and general (Aurangzeb's maternal uncle), famous for his campaigns against Shivaji and as governor of the Deccan and Bengal — a Mughal officer, not the ruler of Golconda.

Concept: Golconda was the seat of the Qutb Shahi dynasty (founded by Quli Qutb Shah, 1518), one of the Deccan sultanates that emerged from the break-up of the Bahmani kingdom. Aurangzeb, obsessed with subduing the Deccan, extinguished both surviving sultanates — Bijapur (Adil Shahi) in 1686 and Golconda (Qutb Shahi) in 1687 — bringing the Mughal empire to its greatest territorial extent, though the Deccan campaigns drained its treasury.

State PCS 2020 Q34 — History PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2020 Q34 — History PYQ with Answer