His reign was full of sorrow and trouble. His only success was demolishing the decayed Vijayanagara Empire by capturing Vellore, last capital of it in 1646 with the help of his wazir Mir Jumla. Aurangzeb under the command from Shah Jahan took over Hyderabad by surprise and restricted Abdullah within the Golconda fort. Abdullah worked hard to negotiate reasonable terms of surrender but the Mughals forced him into accepting severe conditions. However, the severe terms were sweetened by a matrimonial alliance between the two families: Abdullah's second daughter, known as Padshah Bibi Sahiba, was married to Aurangzeb's eldest son, Muhammad Sultan Mirza. She was his first wife, so the chances of her progeny becoming Mughal emperor were great. However, it ultimately did not happen. Also, the rise of the Marathas under Shivaji in the Deccan region alarmed Golconda Sultan. Marathas captured all territories vested from Vijayanagara by Bijapur and Golconda. The victory of Marathas over the Bijapur Sultanate made Sultan Abul Hasan Tana Shah, the successor of Abdullah Qutb Shah create an alliance with Marathas, by offering them a large sum and sufficient military resources to fight the Mughals when needed, as the Mughals posed a threat to both Marathas and Deccan sultans. Thus eventually Golconda became a protectorate of the Maratha Empire.
He was also quite interested in mathematics that although being a Muslim, he favoured many Europeans who excelled in mathematics.[3]
This unhappy monarch died on 21 April 1672 and was succeeded by his son-in-law, Abul Hasan Qutb Shah.
