Before the battle of Talikote, we have seen that Ruffut Khan Lary, entitled Mullik Naib, had marched to the south, and reduced part of the country of Rajmundry; but when the Kootb Shahy forces moved to co-operate with the Mahomedan confederated armies against Ramraj, Ruffut Khan was directed to join the grand army. Twelve months after this period, Ruffut Khan Lary was again despatched to the south, with ten thousand horse, with orders to complete the conquest of Raj-mundry. On reaching Dhowleswur, he took mea­sures to attack Rajmundry; but the towns of Pen-tapoor and Rajpoondy * being in the possession of Seetaputty, he was in the habit of sending reinforcements and provisions into Rajmundry by night, so that Ruffut Khan first resolved to attack him, and accordingly marched towards Pentapoor. On the road he was opposed by the enemy, and a severe action took place, when the Hindoos were defeated, and fled to the fort of Pentapoor. The Mahomedan army pursued the fugitives to the walls, which they escaladed, and by that means took the place. Seetaputty and his family made their escape through the woods to the fortress of Rajpoondy, whither he was pursued by the Mahomedans on the following day; but they were detained for some time in approaching that fortress, the roads being narrow, and the woods on both sides impenetrable. Ruffut Khan, having determined to reduce it, ordered the jungles to be cut down and burnt. Each day the Maho-medans advanced only about two miles, and lost up­wards of three hundred men from the enemy's light troops, which lined the woods on each side of the road. At length, after some time, they cut their way to the fort of Rajpoondy, situated on a hill; but on their arrival, Seetaputty fled through the woods to Rajmundry, and joined Vidiadry, the raja of that place, leaving the fort of Rajpoondy to be occupied by Ruffut Khan, who from thence proceeded to Rajmundry. Here the Mahomedans were opposed by the united forces of Vidiadry and the Raja of Cossimcota,*

consisting of thirty thousand horse and as many foot, who on the first onset broke through the right wing of the Mahomedan line; but the reserve coming to its support, the troops rallied, and de­feated the Hindoos, who fled in confusion, accom­panied by Vidiadry and Seetaputty, to the fort of Rajmundry. After four months the Kootb Shahy artillery began to produce some effect on the walls, and made a breach of nearly fifty paces in the curtain. In this stage of affairs, a flag of truce arrived from the fort, proposing conditional terms of surrender, which the besieged said they would communicate to Yelloo Pundit, one of the Hindoo accountants in the Mahomedan army. He accord­ingly proceeded to the fort; when it was agreed that Vidiadry and Seetaputty, with their families, should be permitted, after evacuating the fort, to proceed whithersoever they chose, without molest­ation. Yelloo Pundit returned to camp with these terms for the confirmation of Ruffut Khan. The conditions were ratified; and Vidiadry proceeded to Cossimcota, and Seetaputty to Beejanuggur.

A. H. 979.
A. D. 1567.

This event took place in the year 979; and the following sentence commemorates the date of its occurrence: —

“The temple of the infidels has fallen into our hands.”

After the reduction of Rajmundry, the King sent orders to Ruffut Khan to prosecute his con­quests, and proceed to the establishment of the Mahomedan authority in Cossimcota. Accord­ingly the army moved towards Orissa; but as the country was full of woods and impenetrable forests, he gave orders to his soldiers to cut away and burn in all directions. In their progress they found the infidels collected under Venkutraj, who with twenty thousand infantry prepared to repel the Mahomedans. An action took place, wherein the Hindoos were defeated with great loss, their leader making his escape with difficulty, and the two forts of Gopalpilly and Veeragootum * fell to the Mahomedan troops; from whence they proceeded to Cossimcota. Surwaraj and his brother Bhay-bulundur, two of the principal rajas of those coun­tries, hearing of the advance of the Mahomedans, and of the fate of the other forts, sent ambassadors to Ruffut Khan to negotiate with him. A peace was concluded; and it was agreed that the younger brother, Surwaraj, should proceed, and remain at Golconda, while the elder, Bhaybulundur, should rule his country as a tributary of the King. From thence the army proceeded to the country of Gopal Ooriar, or Wooreea, who fled to Bengal, leaving his territory an easy conquest to the Mahomedans, so that it was occupied by the King's forces. Ruffut Khan now proceeded to the country of Vidiadry, governed by Velluparaj, who fled on the approach of the Mahomedans to Dewpooral, a hill­fort situated in the territory belonging to Vidiadry. This place was close on the sea-shore, and almost inaccessible on account of the woods. The Maho-medans were opposed by twenty thousand infidels in the plain. These were defeated, and fled to the fortification, which was closely invested for four months, till at length Velluparaj, consenting to become tributary, ceded the country of Vidiadry to the King of Golconda. From thence Ruffut Khan proceeded to Chundurbar, in possession of two brothers named Nursing and Soorsing, who had occupied a strong fort in a pass, with ten thousand infantry, where they had thrown up a breast-work, dug a ditch, and placed artillery to oppose the enemy. Ruffut Khan halted till his guns could be brought up the pass, when he levelled the breast­work; and forcing his way through, he attacked the infidels, and the two Hindoo brothers were taken prisoners; after which the country submitted to the King of Golconda.

As Ruffut Khan had been successfully employed during the last two years in reducing many of the forts and districts of Rajmundry and Cossimcota, he now resolved to attack Veij Nat Dew, the most formidable of all the rajas of that country. He commenced his operations by the capture of the hill-fort of Potnoor, wherein was taken the brother of the Raja. From thence he proceeded to Kun-doo-Deva Pully, the principal hold of that chief; which also fell to the prowess of the Mahomedan arms; but the time occupied in these sieges afforded Veij Nat Dew an opportunity to collect his army; and he accordingly marched to oppose the invader at the head of five thousand cavalry, fifty thousand infantry, and five hundred elephants. Ruffut Khan was not backward to come to action; and a battle ensued, in which the Mahomedans were completely victorious, and the Raja fled to his capital; and soon after he sent out his eldest son to Ruffut Khan as ambassador, to conclude a peace; in which it was stipulated, that the Raja should pay annually thirty thousand hoons as a tribute to the Kootb Shahy state, and make an offering of forty ele­phants. To these terms Ruffut Khan was glad to accede, as a considerable disaffection and discon­tent prevailed in his army, and as he had already reduced the whole of the districts along the sea­coast as far as Rajamurda.*

Let us now return to the affairs of the kings of the Deccan. The Queen-dowager of Ahmud-nuggur had by her conduct excited universal dis­content among all the officers of the government, who conspired against her, and persuaded the young King, Moortuza Nizam Shah, to seize and confine her in the fort of Dowlutabad; while her two brothers, the King's uncles, Ein-ool-Moolk and Taj Khan, fled from the capital. Their departure and the seizure of the Queen threw affairs into the utmost confusion, and the young King was not of an age or of a temper to act with much dis­cretion. Ally Adil Shah, the ancient enemy of the house of Nizam Shah, taking advantage of the moment, deputed his general Kishwur Khan Lary, with twenty thousand horse, to lay waste and occupy as much of the Ahmudnuggur territory as he could seize. He first of all devastated the country of Kondana†, * and then proceeded to D'harore; which place he took, and ordered it to be strongly fortified, placing a garrison of Adil Shahy troops within it. From thence he wrote a letter to Moortuza Nizam Shah, telling him that he had left him the fort of Dowlutabad to repair to; but that if he did not immediately eva­cuate his capital and proceed thither, he would march to Ahmudnuggur, and oblige him to do so. Moortuza Nizam Shah instantly despatched his ge­neral, Khwaja Meeruk Dubeer Isfahany, entitled Chungiz Khan, with ten thousand cavalry, to resent this insulting language, and he accordingly marched and invested the fort of D'harore. The sudden arrival of the Nizam Shahy troops so alarmed the Adil Shahy garrison, that Ein-ool-Moolk, Ankoos Khan, and Azeez-ool-Moolk, three of the prin­cipal officers of Kishwur Khan's force, fled with­out drawing their swords; while Kishwur Khan, seeing he had no alternative but to fight, resolved to defend the place against the Nizam Shahy troops, who escaladed it on the next morning, and Kishwur Khan was killed in the assault. * Ally Adil Shah no sooner heard of the fate of his general than he detached Noor Khan, Ein-ool-Moolk, and Zureef-ool-Moolk, to the borders, to invade the Nizam Shahy territories, and plunder and devastate the country, while he himself, with fifty thousand horse, took the field, with the determination, if pos­sible, of conquering the Ahmudnuggur dominions. Moortuza Nizam Shah, unable alone to cope with Ally Adil Shah, had recourse to Ibrahim Kootb Shah for aid, who proceeded with his army first to Bidur, and having induced Ally Bereed Shah to unite in the confederacy, they marched together to join Moortuza Nizam Shah, whom they met at the town of Nagdurry, where they swore to stand by each other. The oaths were taken upon a Koran in the possession of the latter, said to be written by Ally, the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet. On this occasion it was agreed that they should proceed and attack the Beejapoor territories with­out delay. Ally Adil Shah, suspecting that his minister, Shah Abool Hussun, the son of the late famous Shah Tahir of Ahmudnuggur, had promoted this confederacy, put him into confinement. Syud Moortuza, a nobleman of the Nizam Shahy court, was at this time in the Beejapoor camp. He had fled during the late revolution from Ahmudnuggur, and came over to Ally Adil Shah, where he re­newed his friendship with Shah Abool Hussun. On the present occasion, Syud Moortuza, desirous of effecting the release of the minister, applied to Ally Adil Shah to be allowed to proceed in character of envoy to the confederates, and through his influence negotiate a peace, a measure which the King had at heart. Syud Moortuza was accordingly deputed to proceed to the Nizam Shahy camp, and having had an audience of Moortuza Nizam Shah, laid his head on the King's feet, and vowed he would not rise till his Majesty promised to obtain the release of the son of the late Shah Tahir, to whom the house of Ahmudnuggur was under such obli­gations; declaring, at the same time, that nothing but concluding a treaty of peace with Ally Adil Shah could effect this object. Moortuza Nizam Shah at once forgot his enmity to Ally Adil Shah, and consented to listen to terms, on condition that Shah Abool Hussun should be released, and be employed as ambassador to conclude the treaty. Shah Abool Hussun accordingly proceeded with magnificent presents to the camp of the confe­derates. While in the camp, he persuaded Moor-tuza Nizam Shah to attack Ibrahim Kootb Shah's forces as well as those of Ally Bereed Shah, and by thus making a bold stroke at first, fol­low it up, and reduce the countries of Tulingana and Bidur. Moortuza Nizam Shah, young, thought­less, and impetuous, eagerly adopted the proposi­tion, and attacked his allies, who defended them­selves with bravery, and contrived to retreat to Bidur, whence Ibrahim Kootb Shah proceeded to Golconda.