The Bahamani kingdom was the first major independent Muslim state to emerge in the Deccan after the decline of the Delhi Sultanate’s effective authority in the region. It was founded in 1347 by Hasan Gangu, who assumed the title Alauddin Hasan Bahman Shah. The formation of the Bahamani kingdom was not simply the result of a military rebellion against Delhi; it represented a wider process of regional state formation in which political fragmentation, local social forces, military elites, administrative institutions and economic resources combined to create an independent Deccan polity. Its nature can therefore be understood through the interaction between the legacy of the Delhi Sultanate and the distinctive political and geographical conditions of the Deccan. The immediate background to Bahamani state formation lay in the expansion of the Delhi Sultanate into the Deccan during the reign of Muhammad bin Tughlaq. The transfer of the capital from Delhi to Daulatabad and the Sultan’s attempts to exercise direct control over the Deccan placed considerable pressure on the region. Administrative difficulties, heavy taxation, rebellions and the distance between Delhi and the Deccan weakened imperial authority. The prolonged rebellions of provincial governors and military commanders created favourable conditions for the emergence of an independent state. In 1347, Hasan Gangu successfully established his authority at Gulbarga and declared independence from Delhi. The geographical setting of the Deccan played an important role in this process. The region was separated from northern India by considerable physical distance and difficult terrain. Communication with Delhi was slow, while the Deccan possessed substantial agricultural and commercial resources. Control over fertile river valleys, important towns, forts and trade routes provided an economic foundation for political independence. The political fragmentation of the Deccan also enabled ambitious military leaders to build their own power bases. Thus, the Bahamani state emerged from the regionalisation of political authority rather than from a simple replacement of one ruler by another. The Bahamani state retained several features of the political system of the Delhi Sultanate. The Sultan occupied the highest position in the political hierarchy and was regarded as the supreme military, administrative and judicial authority. The state was monarchical and strongly dependent upon the loyalty of nobles and military commanders. Persian was an important language of administration and court culture, while Islamic political traditions influenced the organisation and ideology of the state. The Bahamani rulers also adopted the iqta-like system of assigning revenue-producing territories to officials and military commanders.