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.

[3] This unhappy monarch died on 21 April 1672 and was succeeded by his son-in-law, Abul Hasan Qutb Shah.