[1] He joined as a foot soldier in the army of Humayun Shah, the Turko-Persian Bahmani Sultan, and rose up the ranks to acquire senior captaincy, his own jagir (a land fief) and the title 'Shitab Khan'.
In the far east, the rulers of Orissa occupied Telugu lands up to the banks of the Godavari and by the mid-15th century the powerful Gajapatis had replaced the Ganga dynasty.
[3] He appears to have been very popular and inscriptional evidence suggests that he undertook many public works including repairing irrigation tanks and reinstating ruined temples.
His prime minister, Enumulapalli Peddanna mantri, was the patron of Charigonda Dharmanna who wrote the Chitra Bharatam, a classic of Telugu poetry.
When the great Vijayanagara Emperor Sri Krishnadevaraya went on his Kalinga campaign, 1516–1517, his triumphal progress was effectively hindered by the archers of Shitab Khan at the mountain pass near Simhachalam (modern Visakhapatnam district).