Muhammad Shah III's reign saw the Bahmani Sultanate reach its greatest territorial extent, largely through the military campaigns directed by his powerful minister Mahmud Gawan, who effectively ran the administration while the sultan remained a ceremonial figure. The fractional copper gani served the lowest tier of daily market exchange in the Deccan, where the sultanate's economy ran on a three-metal hierarchy with gold and silver coinage reserved for treasury and tribute transactions.
Gawan's eventual execution in 1481 — the result of a forged letter used against him by court rivals — effectively broke the administrative coherence of the sultanate. Muhammad Shah III died the following year, and the Bahmani state never recovered its cohesion.
Muhammad Shah III's reign saw the Bahmani Sultanate reach its greatest territorial extent, largely through the military campaigns directed by his powerful minister Mahmud Gawan, who effectively ran the administration while the sultan remained a ceremonial figure. The fractional copper gani served the lowest tier of daily market exchange in the Deccan, where the sultanate's economy ran on a three-metal hierarchy with gold and silver coinage reserved for treasury and tribute transactions.
Gawan's eventual execution in 1481 — the result of a forged letter used against him by court rivals — effectively broke the administrative coherence of the sultanate. Muhammad Shah III died the following year, and the Bahmani state never recovered its cohesion.