Ahmadnagar

views updated

AHMADNAGAR

AHMADNAGAR , capital of the former kingdom of the Ni??m Shah dynasty on the west coast of India. Under Burh?n Ni??m Shah i (1510–53), a Shi'a Muslim, it became a center of Hindu-Muslim culture and learning. Among the scholars attracted to his court and enjoying its atmosphere of complete religious tolerance were some Marranos from Portugal, including Sancho Pirez, who became a favorite of the king and was a friend of Garcia *d'Orta. Garcia refers in his Colloquia (no. 26) to "Jews in the territory of Nizamuluco [Ni??m Shah]." A Jewish settlement also existed in the port of the kingdom, Chaul (now Revanda).

bibliography:

R. Shyam, Kingdom of Ahmadnagar (1966).

[Walter Joseph Fischel]

More From encyclopedia.com