As a competent and successful general Mahmud Gawan enlarged the boundaries of the kingdom and recaptured the important port of Goa from the Vijayanagar kingdom. He was also a capable administrator. He promoted and encouraged agriculture a great deal. As a result the kingdom become economically prosperous. Mahmud Gawan was a learned man and a patron of learning. He built a madarasa in the capital city of Bidar and donated his private collection of 3,000 books. He gave scholarships to poor and deserving students
