Small Muslim kingdom of the Deccan in India founded in 1490, covering the northeastern corner of present-day Maharashtra, and one of the five regional sultanates to succeed the Bahmani Sultanate. It was founded by Fathullah Imad Shah, a Muslim convert from Vijayanagara who had been taken prisoner by the Bahmanis as a child. He rose in rank from bodyguard to become the governor of Berar under the Bahmanis, with the title Imad-ul-Mulk, and eventually declared independence once Bahmani rule had begun to fragment. His successors, known as the Imad Shahi dynasty, ruled initially from Gavilgad and later Ellichpur (present-day Achalpur). They frequently warred with neighbouring sultanates, particularly Ahmadnagar, into which it would be annexed in 1574, and later surrendered to the Mughals in 1596. The Berar Sultanate was the only Deccan kingdom to abstain from the coalition formed against the Vijayanagara kingdom, comprising the Bidar, Bijapur, Golconda and Ahmadnagar sultanates.