Sooltan Mahmood†, * who had been unable to take the citadel of Bidur, on hearing of the ap­proach of the allies, raised the siege, and re­treated with precipitation towards Malwa. Khwaja Mahmood Gawan detached ten thousand Dec-cany cavalry to harass the enemy's retreat, if he took the route of Berar, while he himself marched with ten thousand men to a position lying between Kand'har and Beer; so that the Malwa troops were exposed to be intercepted in all quarters, while the light Deccany skirmishers engaging their foraging parties cut off their supplies. Sooltan Mahmood, who, according to the best accounts, had nearly thirty thousand horse, frequently tried to bring on an action; but the minister was not to be diverted from his original plan of warfare, till at length the Malwa troops were reduced to the utmost distress for food, and the King of Malwa was obliged to listen with patience to the clamours of his mutinous army.

In this exigency, having killed numbers of his elephants and set fire to his heavy baggage, he moved unencumbered towards Gondwana; to the confines of which country he was pursued, and so harassed by Mahmood Gawan, that he lost vast numbers of his men and great part of his re­maining baggage. On reaching Gondwana, Sool-tan Mahmood prevailed on one of the zemin­dars of that country to conduct him by a route which should prevent the pursuit of the Deccany troops, and admit of his fatigued army marching without molestation. In vain was it represented, that the direct road could supply but little water for some stages. The King, not sufficiently cal­culating this difficulty in contemplating escape from a pursuing enemy, took that route. On the very first march, owing to the scorching winds and want of water, * about six thousand men perished miserably; and on the next, the natives of the mountains, taking advantage of the distresses of the army, plundered the followers; for the soldiers, dispirited by their sufferings, afforded them little protection. On that day, a single cup of water sold for two rupees, and frequently was not to be had for money. When Sooltan Mahmood, after enduring inexpressible hardships, had at length wound out his way from this dreadful labyrinth, suspecting that the distress had originated from the treachery of his guide, he commanded him to be put to death. The Gond chief, disregarding life, abused the King, boasting that, at all events, he had anticipated revenge, by destroying twelve thousand men by thirst, and that his death was of no consequence, as he had three sons, and should himself be soon transmigrated into one of their offspring. From this speech, we learn that the Gonds, * like the Hindoos, believe in the trans­migration of souls, which makes them less anxious about life, since they imagine that good actions will ensure their speedy re-animation in a future state.

Sooltan Mahmood, before the fall of the city of Ahmudabad Bidur, permitted his soldiers to indulge in every excess incident to warfare; but when he had resolved on establishing himself in the Deccan he changed his conduct, and treated the inhabit­ants as if they were his own subjects. He was at all times particular in regulating his dress and diet, agreeably to the holy laws concerning things pure and impure. On this account he procured his rice, wheat, oil, and other necessaries, for his table, when in the field even, from certain farms in his own dominions, and carried vegetables planted in wooden frames, filled with soil, along with him wherever he marched. During his stay at Ahmudabad Bidur, he sent for Mowlana Shums-ood-Deen, a holy man who attended the tomb of Shah Khuleel Oolla, to whom he complained of being distressed for vegetables, desiring that he would recommend him to some gardener, whose land was his own, in order that, agreeably to the or­thodox laws, he might purchase them from him at any price. The Mowlana replied, “Your Majesty “must surely be in jest: it is the height of hypo-“crisy to invade the territories of true believers, to “lay waste their country and houses, and to rob “them of their property, and then to pretend “punctilio on the trifling points of the law, as “regard dress and diet.” Sooltan Mahmood, it is said, acknowledged the justice of the rebuke, and shed tears, but observed, that kingdoms could not exist without recourse to many actions appa­rently inconsistent.

After the retreat of the King of Malwa, Nizam Shah despatched ambassadors to Mahmood Shah of Guzerat, with valuable presents, returning many thanks for the friendly part he had acted. Mah-mood Shah returned to Guzerat, and Nizam Shah to the capital of Ahmudabad Bidur. The King of Malwa invaded the Deccan in the following year, and advanced as far as Dowlutabad; but

A. H. 866.
A. D. 1462.

was again obliged to retreat, owing to the timely assistance afforded by the King of Guzerat a second time.

It being the custom of the house of Bahmuny for children to marry in their early years, the Queen-mother procured a wife for her son among her own relatives, and prepared the nuptial feast with due magnificence and pomp. On that very night, when the assembly of mirth was full, and the court rang with feasting and joy, screams issued suddenly from the royal apartments; and the voice of lamentation proclaimed with loud cries that Nizam Shah had departed this life. This unblown blossom of the plant of royalty was suddenly nipped by a destructive blast; the down of beauty had not yet diffused itself over the flower, when death struck it with the blight of

Zeekad 13.
A. H. 867.
July 29.
A. H. 1463.

annihilation. This event happened on the night of the 13th of Zeekad, 867, just two years and one month after the Prince's accession to the throne.