He succeeded his elder brother, Mallu Adil Shah, through the machinations of the Afaqi faction at the court.
Consequently, he brought Sunni Muslims to power and ended Shia domination by dismissing them from their posts[9][10] and many Marathas acquired great influence at his court and public accounts began to be maintained in Marathi.
Ibrahim's anti-afaqi policy, however, considerably weakened the kingdom as the dismissed personnel joined the service of the neighbouring rulers.
Yet it was the veteran afaqi leader Asad Khan Lari (buried in Belgaum), who acting as a diplomatic counselor to Ibrahim, saved the kingdom in the hour of crisis.
The reign of Ibrahim, which lasted twenty-four years and a few months, was full of alliances and counter-alliances with and against Ahmadnagar, Bidar, Berar, Golkonda and Vijayanagar.