Muslim kingdom of the Deccan in India, founded in 1490 by Malik Ahmad (later entitled Malik Ahmad Nizam Shah), the governor of Junnar under the Bahmani Sultanate. Spanning the region of northwestern Deccan up to Gujarat, it was one of the five kingdoms to succeed the Bahmani Sultanate. Malik Ahmad built the city of Ahmadnagar, which served as the capital for his successors, known as the Nizam Shahi dynasty. The state frequently engaged in conflict with neighbouring sultanates, only once allying with the Bidar, Bijapur and Golconda sultanates to overthrow the Vijayanagara kingdom in the Battle of Talikota (1565). It annexed the neighbouring Berar sultanate in 1574. From 1586 onwards, the kingdom faced a growing threat from the Mughal empire; despite thwarting the first Mughal invasion with the assistance of Chand Bibi of Bijapur, both Berar and part of Ahmadnagar were eventually lost. The kingdom was finally annexed in 1633 after the fall of their famed stronghold, the Daulatabad Fort.