When the throne of Beejanuggur devolved on Venkutputty, it appears that prince, in breach of the treaties existing between his predecessor and the King of Golconda, removed his seat of govern­ment to the fort of Penconda, situated on the Kootb Shahy frontier. He also made some incur­sions and invasions into the Golconda dominions; for the prevention of which the King marched his army, after the reduction of Gundicota, to­wards Penconda, where he arrived without opposi­tion, and immediately commenced the siege; but in a short time Venkutputty deputed his minister Gopraj Tima, and his general Pavia Chitty, as ambassadors to the King, who, upon their making due submission, agreed to an armistice, preparatory to negotiating terms of peace. The Hindoos, taking advantage of the absence of the Maho-medans from the vicinity of the fort, supplied them­selves in three days with provisions for a siege; and on the fourth the famous Jugdew Row, accom­panied by Goolrung Setty, Munoopraj, and Papia Samywar, at the head of thirty thousand infantry and cavalry, besides four thousand musketeers, threw themselves into the fort. When the King discovered these proceedings he renewed the siege; but his forces made little impression. The rains were now approaching, provisions also were scarce in the camp; and aware that the inundation of the Krishna river would cut off all communication with the Golconda territory, the King deemed it advisable to raise the siege. Accordingly, having left Sunjur Khan in Gundicota, Asyrow in Moossul-mooroo, and Juggutrow in Nundial, and placing a large army under the command of Moortuza Khan in the territories south of the Krishna, Mahomed Koolly Kootb Shah returned to his capital. The Mahomedan troops having been required to join the grand army proceeding against Gundicota and Penconda, had left the district of Condbeer wholly unprotected. Venkutputty took advantage of this circumstance to distract the attention of the enemy, by despatching a force to assist Kowlanunda, the Raja of Udgerrydoorg, and wrote to him to make a sudden inroad on the enemy's rear, by plundering and laying waste all his territory as far as Cond-beer and the Krishna. Kowlanunda, after being joined by this detachment, sent his son-in-law Woo-rias Ray to carry this scheme into effect.

Afzul Khan, the governor of the province of Condbeer, finding his districts laid waste, and un­able, for want of troops, to oppose the Hindoos, sent intimation to all the jageerdars to collect their best cavalry and retaliate, by making an inroad by the route of Ongole, into the Udgerrydoorg terri­tory; a measure that induced the Hindoos to re­turn for the protection of their own country, and they came up with Afzul Khan and surrounded his army. This small party, after defending it­self for some time, began to give up every thing as lost, when Ajda Khan, with five hundred ca­valry, came to its assistance; and before the enemy could discover his numbers, charged upon his rear. This sudden attack by fresh troops completely changed the fate of the day; and Woorias Ray was defeated, with the loss of three thousand men killed, wounded, and taken prisoners, and all his camp-equipage.

The sudden swelling of the rivers, and the absence of the King with his army, gave Venkut-putty leisure to muster the whole of his forces, which amounted to one hundred thousand men. The leaders were Yeltumraj, Goolrung Setty, and Munoopraj, who marched to recover Gundicota from the hands of Sunjur Khan. Here the enemy were daily opposed by sallies from the garrison, but they persevered in the siege; when they heard that Moortuza Khan, with the main army of the Mahomedans, had penetrated as far as the city of Kurpa, the most famous city of that country, wherein was a large temple. This edifice the Ma-homedans destroyed as far as practicable, broke the idol, and sacked the city. Venkutputty, on intima­tion of the intelligence, detached Yeltumraj and Munoopraj, with ten thousand cavalry, to attack Moortuza Khan; but after a severe action, the Hindoos were defeated, and compelled to seek safety in flight.

Mahomed Koolly Kootb Shah no sooner heard of these attacks, and fully aware of the small num­ber of his forces in the south, than he detached Roostoom Khan, at the head of five thousand horse, to reinforce Moortuza Khan, and also to assume the command of all the troops. Meanwhile Moortuza Khan continued to defend himself for three whole months against the Hindoos, whose numbers increased to that degree, that the Maho-medans found it impossible to give them battle, but confined their operations to plundering and cut­ting off supplies. The moment Roostoom Khan joined the army, Moortuza Khan, conscious that they could effect nothing by an action in the field, proposed that he, with half of the army, should march towards Beejanuggur, and that Roostoom Khan should, with the other half, still continue the predatory warfare. Roostoom Khan having assumed the principal command neglected all ad­vice from Moortuza Khan. On the day after his arrival, he crossed a river in his front, and im­prudently encamped on a black clayey soil, * where the rain had fallen, but he did not proceed to attack the Hindoos. The enemy having ascertained that a reinforcement had arrived, delayed also to engage the Mahomedans. At this time, whether to amuse their own soldiers, or for what reason is immaterial, the Hindoos dressed up a red bullock† * with gilded horns, and having painted it with many different colours, and fastened bells to its legs and neck, drove it towards the Mahomedans. Roostoom Khan, who happened to be in front of the army and alone, becoming alarmed at the strange appearance of the animal, galloped off to the rear in dismay, and communicated a panic to his troops. The Hindoos, observing a confusion in the lines of the Mahomedans, took advantage of it to surround them with their musketeers, and galled them on all sides. The Mahomedan cavalry, in which their principal force consisted, unable to charge through the heavy black soil, were shot one by one, and might have been annihilated, but for Moortuza Khan, who collecting a small party forced his way through the enemy's ranks, and thus covered the retreat of many of the Mahomedans; but all the camp-equipage was taken, and a heavy loss sus­tained. Roostoom Khan, who was a notorious boaster, was disgraced on his return to Hydrabad, by being dressed in female attire, after which he was banished the kingdom; while Moortuza Khan was honoured with titles and valuable presents.

The King determined to spare neither men nor money to carry on the war against the Hindoos: he accordingly directed Etibar Khan Yezdy, the Hawaldar of Condbeer (henceforth called Moor-tuza Nuggur), * to collect all the troops under his command, with orders to march towards Beejanug-gur†, * and to lay in ashes all the enemy's towns in his route. On learning of the approach of the Mahomedans, the Hindoos dispersed in every direction, and occupied the woods with their infantry. On this occasion Nursa Nundraj, the Raja of Anuntgeer (one of the most famous hill-forts in those parts), marched at the head of fifty thousand infantry and three thousand horse, with the resolution of harassing the Ma-homedan army by night-attacks. Accordingly, having selected for this purpose ten thousand rock-eteers, he surrounded their camp. As soon as he arrived in their neighbourhood, a severe storm of rain came on, which prevented him from carrying his plan into effect; and the Mahomedans, finding him so near, did not fail to attack on the following day. After a severe action, in which the Maho-medans lost a great number of men, they were at length victorious, and took prisoners all the families of the Hindoos, besides their camp-equipage. Etibar Khan now proceeded to the town of Ca-listry, which he reached after a month's march from Golconda. Here he destroyed the Hin­doo idols, and ordered prayers to be read in the temples. These edifices may well be compared in magnificence with the buildings and paint­ings of China, with which they vie in beauty and workmanship. Having given a signal example of the Mahomedan power in that distant country, the Hindoos did not dare to interrupt his return. Thus was the force of the Mahomedans, south of the Krishna, employed for several years. At the period when Ameen-ool-Moolk became Meer Joomla, or minister, to Mahomed Koolly Kootb Shah, he sent officers to collect the balances of the customs due to the government from the different jageerdars. This demand had been so long deferred, that the jageerdars, deeming it an innovation, prepared to rebel; and in consequence Alum Khan Patan Khan Khanan, Sabajee Mar-ratta, and Bala Row, resisted the authority of the collectors, and not only refused to pay but made overtures to the Raja of Beejanuggur to join him in opposing the King's forces; and as a proof of their intentions they plundered the country belonging to the crown in the neighbourhood of Condbeer.

Etibar Khan reported the disaffection of these officers to court, and Ameen-ool-Moolk volunteered to lead a force against them; for which purpose he left Hydrabad with ten thousand horse. On his arrival near Condbeer, he was met by Kowla-nund the governor, whom he believed to be the instigator of the rebellion, and immediately caused him to be hanged. This prompt measure alarmed the insurgents; for although they had collected seven thousand cavalry and ten thousand infantry, and had strengthened the fort of Ardinga, they now began to waver in their councils, and instead of opposing the royalists, retreated to join the Ray of Beejanuggur. Ameen-ool-Moolk pursued them, but contenting himself with devastating and oc­cupying their estates, he returned to Condbeer, where having seized a number of Naigwaries, who had formerly been with the rebels, caused them to be executed to the number of two hundred, after which he returned to Hydrabad.