भारतीय इतिहास के ६ स्वर्णिम पृष्ठ (वीर सावरकर - विदेशी आक्रान्ताओं पर विजय गाथा)

honoured in every home and be remembered by everybody as are those of
Rana Pratap, Raja Chhatrasal, Govind Singh, Chaitanya, Banda Bairagi and
other great men of those times. But today, North-Indian Hindus seem to
have never heard of them, while in the South, hardly one in a thousand
seems to know them but faintly. This is most shameful for the Hindus and
this state of things must be changed forthwith.
The establishment of the Bahamani Kingdom
868. Seeing the disintegration of the sovereign power of the Sultan of
Delhi, set afoot by the Hindu State of Vijaynagar in the South, Hassan
Gangu, the Muslim Governor of the Southern Muslim possessions, revolted
against the Delhi Sultanate and proclaimed himself Sultan of the so-called
Bahamani Kingdom in A.D. 1346. His domain spread from the Narmada in
the north to the Krishna in the south. The rulers of Delhi completely lost
their hold on the south, which was now to be ruled by two prominent
powers. The Bahamani Kings and the Hindu Princes of Vijaynagar. The
name Bahamani, which Hassan Gangu adopted for his kingdom, is
explained away by the historians in two different ways. It seems that this
Hassan Gangu was a domestic servant with a Hindu Brahmin, named
Gangu, when the former was but a slave. Pleased with his loyal service, the
Brahmin looked into his horoscope and prophesied that the slave Hassan
would, sometime in the future, become a king. Mad with joy to hear this
prophesy, Hassan began to style himself as Hassan Gangu and when he
actually got the sovereign power over the Deccanese sector of the Muslim
empire, he designated it as the Bahamani kingdom, thinking it to be the fruit
of the blessings of his former Brahmin master. Some other historians
suggest another derivation for the name Bahamani Kingdom. They say that
perhaps Hassan Gangu might have felt that he belonged to the Bahamani
stock, a princely lineage from Persia. If it be so, why did Hassan continue
till the end to call himself Hassan Gangu which clearly referred to his
Brahmin master? Moreover, what proofs are there to show his descent from
the Persian Bahamani royal family? There is none forthcoming so far!
869. This Bahamani Kingdom and the Vijaynagar Empire had a common
boundary, the Tungabhadra river. Naturally, intermittent warfare between
these two rival states was the result. Those who want to read a more
detailed account of the Vijaynagar Empire and its wars with the Bahamani
Kingdom should read with profit two books viz.: (i) ‘The Forgotten Empire’
by Robert Swell and (ii) ‘The Never To Be Forgotten Empire’ by Dr. S.