The medieval Bahamani Sultanate and its successor Deccan sultanates of Central India had heavy Persian influence. The Bahamani sultans actively recruited Persian or Persianized men in their administration. Sultan Firuz (1397-1422) would send ships from his ports in Goa and Chaulto the Persian Gulf to bring back talented men of letters, administrators, jurists, soldiers and artisans. This includes the high born Iranian Mahmud Gawan (1411-1481) who rose to become a powerful a powerful minister of that state during the reign of another Bahamani Sultan.