The march of the victorious army to the discomfiture of the Mahrattas then plundering and laying waste the country on the other side the river Tungbhudra, and an account of the capture of Kunchun Gurh and Kupli or Kopli; the passage of the river by the victorious army, and the battles there fought with the Mahrattas in the same year, Hijri, 1199.

As soon as the Sultán was set free by the con­quest of Adhooni, he having in view the chastise­ment of the Mahrattas, marched by the route of Kunchun Gurh, and despatched a party of horse in advance, to take prisoner the widow of the Poligar of that place;— the Poligar himself having died a short time previously. His wife, therefore, whose name was Tunguma, governed in his place; but at that time had taken her feet out of the circle of obedience, and loyalty to the Sultán, and some­time before this in the hope of an increase of territory, and wealth, had entered into negotia­tions for herself, with the chief of the Mahrattas, through the medium of Hurri Punt Phirkia:— when, however, this woman heard of the Sultán’s intention, she immediately fled by night, with a few slave girls and servants, and crossing the river Tungbhudra, escaped. Her son, however, whose name was Moodkum Koor, and about ten or twelve years of age, was taken prisoner in the small fort of Surkah, his residence; and was honored by being circumcised and made a Moslim, and he thence forward received the name of Alí Murdán Khán, as will be seen in the account of his family given by the author of these lines, in his work called the Tuzkirut il Belád wa il Ahkám* in the eleventh Ourung:— It will be seen there, that the above named (Alí Murdán) after some time was married to the daughter of Khán Jehán Khán, who also was an adopted son of the late Nawáb, and originally the son of a Brahman, the Desepandia of Kolar, who in his youth being ill treated by his school master, of his own plea­sure, the great and true guide shewing him the way, reached the presence of the deceased Nawáb, and became a Mussulman and his wife also, after arriving at the years of discretion, of her own free will, and after obtaining permission of her father and mother, embraced the religion of her husband, and thereby secured to herself happiness in both worlds.

The Sultán from this place marched on and arrived in the neighbourhood of Soondoor:— the governor of that fort was named Govind Rao, the nephew of the celebrated Morar Rao, who after the capture of his uncle, had retired to Poona, and there representing to the Paishwa the ruin that had befallen him, solicited a recommendatory letter in the name of the Nawáb, and having obtained it, returned to the presence. The Nawáb being naturally compassionate and indulgent, and desirous also to oblige the Paishwa, after taking security that he, Govind Rao, should in no circumstances violate his engagements with the government, continued him in the possession of the fort of Soondoor. At this time, however, he had quitted the path of recti­tude and had united with the Mahrattas, but when he heard of the march of the Sultán’s troops, the flight of the lady before mentioned (Tunguma) and the condition of her son, he lost the use of his senses, and fled to the Mahratta army with his servants and dependants. Talooka Soondoor with its dependencies was, therefore, taken possession of, without opposition by the servants of the Sultán. After the necessary arrangements for the security of this place, the Sultán exalted as the heavens, with his army, in number, equalling the number of the stars, marched towards Kopli. The governor of that place who was a relation of the rebel Poli­gar of Kunukgiri, strengthened his fort, and remained ready for the attack, and notwithstanding the Sultán’s Amírs strove to advise and direct him; it was all of no use*— according, therefore, to the orders of the Sultán, the brave Sipahdárs and the French officer M. Lally assaulted the fort on both flanks and took it by storm,— and for an example to the rest of the infidels it was sacked, and the women, both Mussulman and Hindu, vio­lated by the soldiers, and money and valuables to a great amount taken from the houses of the mer­chants, bankers, and weavers or cloth makers, of the people of Islám, who are called Momin, and many also of the women of that tribe, from fear of violation by the soldiery, threw themselves into the river Tungbhudra, which at that time was raging with the violence of the rains, and perished:— the governor of the fort was also killed.

When, however, the Sultán heard of the viola­tion of the women he punished his soldiers severely, and issued orders, strictly prohibiting such excesses in future.— From this place the Sultán now marched on to the neighbourhood of the town of Huspeenth depending on the Poligar of Hurpun­hully, and halted their four days. In these marches and halts the month of Ramzan (the lent of the Mussulmans) was completed, and after the fulfilment of the devotional duties of the Eed il Fitr, or the conclusion of the fast and the customary banquets and rejoicings, the Sultán marched and pitched the tents of his army on the bank of the Tungbhudra even with the Ford or Ghaut of Goruknath;— as it happened, however, to be the period of the swell­ing of the river, some delay took place in crossing it:— in that time, therefore, the Mahrattas sub­dued and took possession of all the country, on the other side the river; and with the intention to attack the Sultán, raised their inauspicious stan­dards opposite to him, and fortified with guns and musketry the ford of the river against the passage of his army; and they also despatched an officer with a large body of troops to capture the Hill Forts of Gopul and Bahadúr Bundah. This officer, therefore, marched and besieged both these Hill Forts, and after a siege of two months Bahadúr Bundah was taken, it not being a very strong fort. The Commandant of the Fort of Gopul was not however to be deceived by the enemy, and vigour­ously defended himself, and moreover frequently attacked their batteries, and drove the infidels out of them.

The river, however, still continued to swell to that degree, that even the basket men, (or water­men), were unable to cross it, and the passage was therefore unattainable by the Sultán’s troops. In consequence, therefore, thirty boats were assembled from the districts of Hurrihur, Horul (Hurrial), &c. and three or four hundred large baskets were also collected, and near two months were expended in waiting for the decrease of the waters, and even then, the water, instead of falling, daily rose higher. The Sultán, therefore, ordered that twenty-one guns of heavy calibre should be ranged on the banks of the river, and that ten cartridges should be fired from each. The artillery men having executed these orders, from that time the water decreased; and in two or three days fell to half its former height. The Mahrattas at hearing the report of the guns, imagining it was a salute for good news, and that it must be either because a rein­forcement of French troops had joined the Sultán’s army, or that the Kuzzaks had made an incursion into the Hydurabád territory, and had defeated the Nizám, they therefore determined that to stay any longer, where they were was unworthy their military* character, and accordingly marched off to Shanoor, they left, however, ten or twelve thousand horse, encamped on the bank of the river.