The present invention is to provide means for polishing an object to be polished containing titanium nitride at a high polishing speed. The present invention relates to a polishing composition containing silica particles and a polishing accelerator, wherein the polishing accelerator is a compound having an aromatic heterocyclic ring and an OH group or a group of a salt thereof directly bonded to the aromatic heterocyclic ring, or a compound having an aromatic hydrocarbon ring, an OH group or a group of a salt thereof directly bonded to the aromatic hydrocarbon ring, and a COOH group or a group of a salt thereof directly bonded to the aromatic hydrocarbon ring, and the polishing composition is used for polishing an object to be polished containing titanium nitride.