Born to a sayyid family (descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad) in Taif in the Arabian Peninsula, his lineage traced back to prominent scholars and Safavid royalty in Iran.

He was descended from the religious scholar and landowner Sadr ad-Din Dashtaki (died 1498), who finanically supported the Islamic school Mansuriyya Madrasa in the Iranian city of Shiraz.

[1] Surviving archival evidence, including letters and legal papers, demonstrate that Nizam al-Din Ahmad knew and used Persian, despite appearing to have written poetry only in Arabic.

He married the daughter of the distinguished Meccan jurist and merchant Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Manufi (died 1634/35), who had been supported by the Ottoman sultan Murad IV (r. 1623–1640).

[4] At the Golconda court, Nizam al-Din Ahmad became a leading figure, alongside Hayat Bakhshi Baygum (died 1667), the mother and regent of Abdullah Qutb Shah.

[3] Nizam al-Din Ahmad made an effort to exploit his position of power in Golconda to increase his family's political and financial ties to the states bordering the Arabian Sea.