About this time, a person calling himself Shah Sahib, caused a considerable commotion in the state. The circumstances are as follow:—

Ibrahim Kootb Shah's eldest son, Abdool Ka-dur , * taking a religious turn, acquired the ap­pellation of Shah Sahib, or the Saint, and mar­ried one of the ladies of a holy family of Bidur, the descendants of Shah Khuleel Oolla, who traces his pedigree to Shah Neamut Oolla Wully. * He was confined to the fort of Dewurconda by his father, and died in his twenty-first year; but his body was brought to the capital, interred in the family vault at Golconda, and the Princess, his wife, returned to her relations at Bidur. At this period, a per­son who had been a companion of the Prince in his lifetime had the assurance to give out in the city of Bidur that he was the Prince Shah Sahib, and so imposed on the relations of his wife, that they really believed him to be the same person. Mahomed Koolly Kootb Shah, upon hearing of this circumstance, sent for the people who were pre­sent at the death of his elder brother, and having ascertained, beyond a doubt, that he had been buried twenty years ago, he wrote a letter to Ally Bereed Shah, the King of Bidur, to seize the impostor. He was accordingly taken up and imprisoned; but the holy fraternity in Bidur procured his en­largement, and secured him a safe retreat towards Beejanuggur, where he was joined by numbers of discontented and factious persons. Among these were Khodawund Khan the Abyssinian, who was famed throughout the Deccan for his bravery, and Kheir Ally Khan, the son of Dilawur Khan† * of Beejapoor. The impostor, having collected from three to four thousand cavalry, proclaimed himself the rightful heir of the crown of Golconda, and established a camp on the banks of the Krishna. Thence he wrote letters of invitation to several Naigwary chiefs in Tulingana, and sending his emis­saries into Golconda, made overtures to the nobles about court. Some of the latter received these advances favourably, but they afterwards suf­fered for their treason. The King, in the mean time, directed Etibar Khan to march with his troops from Condbeer to engage the pretender; and having also sent a force from Golconda, he caused the army to rendezvous at Pangul. Before the arrival of the King's army, the pretender's troops were devastating the country, so that Etibar Khan pushed on with two thousand cavalry and attacked them. These consisted of six thousand horse besides infantry; but they suffered a total defeat in spite of the valour of Khodawund Khan the Abyssinian, who was unhorsed and taken pri­soner. The pretender was compelled to fly, and sought refuge in the fort of Tuckull, * whence he made good his way to Beejapoor, where he threw himself on the protection of Ibrahim Adil Shah II.; after which, he never set up his claims, but died in obscurity.

At this period, Bhaybulundur, the Raja of the district of Cossimcota, who regularly sent his tri­bute every year, died; and his son, Mukoond Raj, a boy of twelve years of age, was left as his heir. Mahomed Koolly Kootb Shah immediately sent letters acknowledging him as successor, and invited him to the capital, where he was honoured with a dress of instalment, and returned to his go­vernment; but scarcely had he reached it, when, at the instigation of his relative Vidiadry, he put to death his brother Dewraj, and sometime after made an attempt to seize the person of Birlas Khan, the King's governor in that country. Such outrages called for the immediate interference of the King, particularly as the Raja, confiding on the valour of his troops and his native woods and moun­tains for protection, had not sent the annual tribute to court.

The King accordingly directed his general, Meer Zein-ool-Abideen, Roosoomdar, * with a force to proceed against the Raja. Upon his arrival near Cossimcota, the general deputed a person to Mu-koond Raj, requiring of him to pay the arrears of tribute, and to promise more punctuality in its future payment; but that foolish youth refused to give any satisfaction; and as the Mahomedans were too few to enforce their demand, Meer Zein-ool-Abideen wrote to court for reinforcements. The King immediately directed the Ameer Joomla, Ameen-ool-Moolk, with more troops to join the former detachment, and to assume the principal command. Ameer Joomla was accompanied by Shunkur Raj, the nephew of the late Bhaybu-lundur. Mukoond Raj, alarmed at the serious preparations made to attack him, wrote to the neighbouring rajas for assistance, as well as to Venkutputty, Raja of Beejanuggur, to induce him to take advantage of the moment, and to detach a force to Condbeer, while he with thirty thou­sand infantry and three thousand cavalry engaged the King's army in the neighbourhood of Raj-mundry. After a bloody battle, in which Shunkur Raj was killed, and the Mahomedans nearly de­feated, the fate of the day was decided by Ameen-ool-Moolk, who had remained on the flanks, with a large body of cavalry, waiting for a favourable opportunity to charge the enemy's infantry, which he entirely routed. On this occasion the Maho-medans lost several brave officers and men; but the victory was complete; and Mukoond Raj with his flying troops fled through the woods, and did not halt till they reached Cossimcota. On his arrival there Mukoond Raj put to death Birlas Khan and Ghuzunfur Beg, together with several other Maho-medans whom he inveigled into his presence. Shortly after this, the Mahomedan army arriving near Cossimcota, Mukoond Raj, who could now expect no quarter, retired towards Mudwara * and Chicacole. Ameen-ool-Moolk pursued him thither, laying waste the country, and levelling with the dust all the towns and villages in the route. Mu-koond Raj, unable to cope with the royal troops, continued his flight to Pettapoor, and for a long time fled from village to village, in the woods and hills. The Mahomedans gave him no rest, and compelled him to seek an asylum with Ramchundur Raj, a prince of great fame and power in those parts. Ramchundur, in order to repel the in­vaders, wrote letters to Madhoo Sing, a raja whose country bordered on Bengal, and who, with a large army of Rajpoots, was in the service of Akbur Padshah of Dehly. Madhoo Sing, at the request of Ramchundur, marched to his assistance, while Ameen-ool-Moolk pursued the fugitive into that raja's dominions, levying contributions on the towns, devastating the villages, and pillaging the open country. Madhoo Sing, finding that no advantage was to be gained in the war, withdrew to Bengal, leaving Ramchundur to the alternative of becoming a tributary to the King of Golconda. Mukoond Raj, unable to secure a retreat in that country, was obliged to fly and seek protection in Bengal. Ameen-ool-Moolk, having settled affairs to his wishes, left Alum Khan, Asy Row, and two Reddywar * officers, for the protection of that frontier, and himself returned to Cossimcota, where he established the King's troops, and as­sumed charge of the government. Thus having given an account of the campaign against Mu-koond Raj, let us now turn towards the motions of Venkutputty, Raja of Beejanuggur, who we have seen had been invited to take advantage of the moment, and to invade the district of Condbeer. Independently of the letters from Mukoond Raj, he had another strong motive to adopt this mea­sure: as a great part of the King's army was employed in supporting the falling government of Ahmudnuggur, which capital was at this period besieged by the Prince Moorad Mirza, the son of Akbur Padshah, no moment could, therefore, be more favourable than the present. Venkutputty, in consequence, collected all his troops, and marched towards Condbeer with an army con­sisting of two hundred thousand horse and in­fantry, and one thousand elephants. The King of Golconda had been previously informed of his intentions, and directed his army, under Adil Khan Bungy, * accompanied by two hundred elephants, and many guns, to oppose him. Adil Khan first proceeded direct to Condbeer with his cavalry, but was obliged to remain there sometime for his guns; while Venkutputty, who had not advanced beyond his frontier, finding that the King's troops had arrived, and that the army was very formidable, thought it prudent to send ambassadors with rich presents to the King at Golconda. The ambassadors had directions to make his excuse, by saying that the object for which he had left his capital, and come towards Condbeer, was merely for the purpose of seeing the lake at Cummum.† * Orders were accordingly issued to Adil Khan Bungy to refrain from in­vading his territories, but to remain with the army at Condbeer as a corps of observation.

When the whole of the troops had been with­drawn from Rajmundry and Ellore, for the pur­pose of attacking Mukoond Raj in Cossimcota, the Reddywars of that country, taking advantage of the moment, began to plunder and attack the surrounding towns, such as Neerdole and Ellore, and P'harchully, * which compelled the unfortunate inhabitants to fly to the woods. Upon intimation of these proceedings at the capital, orders were sent to Adil Khan to proceed against the Reddy-wars. He accordingly marched, and routed them in all directions; but they only fled to collect on a spot where they could make a stand with advan­tage. The whole of the country being woody and hilly, it was difficult to pursue them; and when the royalists attempted to cross one of the rivers, they found the banks lined with twenty thousand infantry, who prevented them. Here they halted till guns and rockets could be procured from Raj-mundry, which were not furnished until orders to that effect were received from court; when Meer Zein-ool-Abideen and Kurreem Khan, with all the musketeers and rocket-men in the neighbourhood, proceeded to support Adil Khan Bungy. Finding that nothing could be effected without crossing the river, several detachments were sent to ex­plore a ford. Babajee and D'hurmarow at length discovered one, about ten miles from the camp. Having crossed which, they attacked the ene­my's infantry on the opposite bank. The passage was well defended; but as the King's detachment was soon after supported by the main army, the Reddywars fled, and sought protection in the hills and woods. The royalists pursued them to the mouth of a narrow pass which the enemy had stockaded and blocked up with stones and trees, behind which they had placed guns and mus­keteers. This work was gallantly stormed and taken, although not without considerable loss on both sides. At length the Reddywars went a de­putation to court, and the King's armies were re­called. Adil Khan Bungy returned to Golconda, and Meer Zein-ool-Abideen to his government of Cossimcota, where some disturbances had arisen during his absence.