The Qutb Shahi dynasty (or the Golconda Sultanate, 1518–1687) ruled from Golconda Fort and, after 1591, nearby Hyderabad, Telangana. It was founded in 1518 when Sultan Quli Qutb Shah (or Sultan Quli Qutb al-Mulk, r. 1496-1543) declared his independence from the Bahmani Sultanate (1347-1527), which splintered into the independent sultanates of Ahmadnagar, Bijapur, and Berar in 1490; Golconda in 1518; and Bidar in 1528. This illuminated manuscript consists of 450 pages with five illustrations. Its colophon states it was copied by the scribe Habibullah Gilani in 1610-1611 (AH 1019) during the reign of Sultan Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah (r. 1580-1612). The illustrations were likely added in circa 1700. Sultan Muhammad Qutb Shah (r. 1612-1626) was born in 1593. He was the sixth sultan of Golconda and Hyderabad in the Qutb Shahi dynasty. He maintained close diplomatic relations with the Safavid dynasty of Iran to help counter the growing Mughal intrusions in the Deccan. In 1617 he commissioned the Tarikh-i Muhammad Qutb Shah (History of Muhammad Qutb Shah). A durbar or audience scene of Muhammad Qutb Shah attributed to circa 1612-1620 is in the British Museum, London (1937,0410,0.1). A portrait of Muhammad Qutb Shah attributed to circa 1620 by the Mughal artist Hashim (active circa 1598-1654) is in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (IM.22-1925). It is inscribed as a “good likeness” by the Mughal Emperor Jahangir (r. 1605-1627).