A. H. 975.
A. D. 1567.

in the beginning of the year 975 de­tached him, with a body of twenty thou­sand horse, to invade the Nizam Shahy territories. This general occupied some of the districts with little opposition; and in a short time after he constructed a fort for their defence, and named it Dharoor. Moortuza Nizam Shah, having now attained the age of manhood, wrested the au­thority out of the hands of his mother, and marched to recover his losses; on which Kishwur Khan shut himself up in the fort, which he had well stocked with stores and provisions, and prepared to sustain a siege. Ankoos Khan, and other chiefs, who had been sent to his support by Ally Adil Shah, whether from hatred of him, from dis­honesty, or folly, chose to quit him, under pretence of drawing off the enemy's attention by plundering and laying waste the environs of Ahmudnuggur. Moortuza Nizam Shah, unaffected by this ma­nœuvre, took an oath not to retire without re­ducing the fortress; and on reaching Dharoor, made an immediate assault, without any regular approaches, and succeeded, contrary to the ex­pectations of his own troops, by the lucky accident of Kishwur Khan being killed by an arrow, as he was conducting the defence. After the death of their chief, his followers fled through a wicket out of the place, which fell into the hands of Moor-tuza Nizam Shah, with all the districts that had been wrested from him by the army of Ally Adil Shah. Khwaja Meeruk and Peer Khan Isfahany were immediately detached with a large force in pursuit of Ein-ool-Moolk, one of the Beejapoor officers, who had moved towards Ah-mudnuggur for the purpose of plunder; and over­taking him, a desperate action ensued, in which that chief was killed, the second in command, Noor Khan, taken prisoner, and the remains of Ally Adil Shah's army returned to Beejapoor with great difficulty.

A. H. 976.
A. D. 1568. In the following year Ally Adil Shah marched to Goa, in order to recover it out of the hands of the Europeans; but he retreated without effecting any object, after the loss of a vast number of his troops. * He next moved against the fortress of Adony, which had hitherto resisted all the efforts of the Mahomedans. This fort was now in pos­session of one of the principal officers of the late Ramraj, who, on the death of his master, had assumed independence. Ankoos Khan was despatched on this service with eight thousand horse, a body of infantry, and a considerable train of artillery. Several indecisive actions were fought on the plain; till at length the chief shut himself up in the fortress, which, though well supplied with stores and provisions, yet, owing to the vigour with which Ankoos Khan carried on the siege, it submitted to his arms. Adony is situated on the summit of a high hill, and contains many ponds and fountains of clear and sweet water, with numerous princely structures. The rays of Beejanuggur, regarding it as impregnable, had all contributed to make it a convenient asylum for their families; and it was fortified with eleven walls, one within another, so that it appeared im­possible to reduce it by force; and nothing but the close and the long blockade of Ankoos Khan could have effected that object.

This acquisition having added greatly to the military reputation of Ally Adil Shah, he resolved on prosecuting other conquests: prior to entering on which he judged it proper to have a meeting with Moortuza Nizam Shah, who, at his request, came to an interview on his borders; on which occasion it was agreed, that the latter should be allowed to occupy Berar, and that Ally Adil Shah should be permitted to conquer as much of the dependencies of Beejanuggur as he thought proper, without any interference on the part of Moortuza Nizam Shah.

A. H. 981.
A. D. 1573. In the year 981, Ally Adil Shah, ac­cordingly, marched against the fortress of Toorkul, which he had lost during the invasions of Ramraj, after whose death it had fallen into the hands of Venkutty Yesoo Ray, an officer of the Beejapoor government, who had seized it for himself, and now, after a siege of seven months, surrendered himself prisoner, and was put to death by painful tortures. The King then moved to reduce Dharwar, one of the strongest of the forts in the Carnatic, and at that time in possession of one of the officers of the late Ramraj, who, though he paid annually a small tribute to Yeltumraj, had now acquired great power. By the ability of Moostufa Khan Ar-distany, who had been appointed prime minister, the fort was taken in six months; and when the surrounding country was perfectly reduced to order, Ally Adil Shah, at the persuasions of this minister, carried his arms against Bunkapoor. This place was the principal residence of Velapa Ray, who had been originally a principal attendant of Ramraj; after whose death he assumed independence, and had lately compelled the rays of Jerreh, * Chundurgooty, and Karoor, to become his tribu­taries. Upon the approach of the Bejapoor army Velapa shut himself up in the fort, and detached his son, with a thousand horse and ten thousand foot, to occupy the woods and passes, in order to harass the enemy as opportunity offered, and to endeavour to cut off his resources. At the same time, he sent letters to Venkatadry, the brother of Ramraj, professing great contrition for his defection from him, and begging for assistance against the Mahomedans; in consideration of which he promised to pay annual tribute, and in future to continue firm to his allegiance. Venkatadry, in reply, wrote him, that by his wickedness and evil example most of the dependents on his house had become rebels, and departed from their duty, so that it was with difficulty he could support him­self at Penkonda and Chundergeery, the only places which the kings of Islam had left him. He advised him, therefore, if money or jewels could purchase terms from the Mahomedans, to procure them on any conditions; but if he should find this impossible, he recommended him, by all means, to induce the neighbouring rajas to espouse his cause, and to prevail on them to join his son with their followers, in order to harass the Mus-sulmans, by cutting off their supplies, and by making frequent night attacks. He promised, moreover, to issue his orders to all his vassals to assist him, though he could not rely on their obedience.

Velapa Ray, by this answer, was reduced to despair, yet, in compliance with the advice it con­tained, he prevailed on some chiefs to join his son; who acted with such vigour, that grain became scarce in the King's camp, which was molested every night by bands of robbers and assassins, who did much execution. The infantry of the Car-natic , * who value their lives but little, were quite naked, and had their bodies anointed with oil, to prevent their being easily seized: thus prepared, they entered the tents at night and stabbed the soldiers, while sleeping, without mercy. Every night numbers were killed by them in this treach­erous manner; and so great a dread and dis­content prevailed among the troops, that they were near forcing the King to raise the siege. At length Moostufa Khan provided a remedy, both to ward off famine and to repel the nightly mur­derers. He detached the Bergy chiefs with six thousand horse against the enemy in the field, and stationed a chain of eight thousand foot round the camp every night. By this precaution the robbers became tired of making further attempts, as they found it impossible, if they once got within the lines, to escape with impunity. The Bergy chiefs performed their duty so well, that the commu­nication with the country was again opened, and plenty restored to the camp. The siege, however, continued for one year and three months, when provisions in the garrison began to fail, and the son of Velapa Ray dying, all the feudal rajas who had attended him retired home. Velapa Ray, des­pairing of relief, at length sent offers for surren­dering the fort to the King, on condition of being allowed to march away with his family and effects, which Ally Adil Shah thought proper to grant, and the place was evacuated accordingly. The King ordered a superb temple within it to be destroyed, and he himself laid the first stone of a mosque, which was built on the foundation, offering up prayers for his victory. Moostufa Khan acquired great credit for his conduct, and was honoured with a royal dress, and had many towns and dis­tricts of the conquered country conferred upon him in jageer. The King, who was much devoted to his pleasure, intrusted to the sole management of Moostufa Khan all affairs of state, and re­signed to him his seal, with orders to use it as he pleased, without waiting for particular instructions.

Four months after the reduction of Bunkapoor, when the country was properly settled by the royal officers, and the different chiefs had submitted to pay tribute, Ally Adil Shah took up his residence in the fort, where he spent his time in a round of amusements, and detached Moostufa Khan, with twenty thousand horse and a considerable body of in­fantry and artillery, to reduce the forts of Jerreh and Chundurgooty. On the arrival of the minister at the former place, the Ray made offers of sub­mission and tribute, which were accepted; and the army moved on, without molesting him, to Chun-durgooty, the Ray of which prepared to resist. Moostufa Khan laid siege to the fort, and detached the Bergy chiefs to oppose the rays who had come to its assistance. At the end of fourteen