Ahmud Shah retains his predecessor's ministers — assigns to the late King's son a palace for his residence — collects an army of observation on his northern frontier, and marches south against Dew Ray, Raja of Beejanuggur. — The Raja of Wurungole makes common cause with Dew Ray, but subsequently withdraws his army. — Dew Ray attacked by surprise — is taken prisoner, but effects his escape. — Ahmud Shah lays waste the territory of Beejanuggur.—A band of Hindoos vow to assassinate him — he is surrounded, and narrowly escapes with his life. — Grievous famine in the Deccan. — The King takes Wurungole, and slays the Raja. — A diamond mine discovered at Kullum. — The King of Malwa attacks the Raja of Kehrla, who applies for aid to Ahmud Shah Bahmuny. — War with the King of Malwa, in which the latter is defeated. — Peace concluded. — The King of Malwa renews the attack on Kehrla — the Raja is killed in action. — War renewed by Ahmud Shah. — Peace mediated by the Ruler of Kandeish. — The King dies.
AHMUD SHAH understood well the administration of civil and military affairs. Following the policy of his brother, he paid great deference to Syuds, and to all learned and holy men, neglecting nothing for their benefit and advantage. In the early part of his reign, on account of the predictions made by Syud Mahomed Geesoo-duraz, he showered favours on that venerable personage; and as the people generally follow the example of their King, the inhabitants of the Deccan chose him for their guide in religious affairs, so that his residence became a place of pilgrimage to all sects. The King withdrew his favour from the family of Sheikh Siraj-ood-Deen, and conferred it on that of the holy Syud, to whom he granted in perpetuity several towns, villages, and extensive lands near Koolburga, and built for him a magnificent college not far from the city; and in the present day, though the country has passed from the family of Bahmuny to that of the kings of Beejapoor, yet most of the estates given by the former princes are still in possession of the Syud's descendants. The people of the Deccan have such a respect for the saint, that a Deccany, on being once asked whom he considered the greatest personage, the Prophet Mahomed or the Syud, replied, with some surprise at the question, that although the Prophet was undoubtedly a great man, yet Syud Mahomed Geesoo-duraz was a far superior order of being.
From the moment Ahmud Shah ascended the throne, he turned all his attention to improve his army, in order to be revenged of the Ray of Bee-januggur for the invasions during the last reign. He appointed Khulf Hussun Vakeel-oos-Sultunut, with the rank of an officer of twelve hundred horse, and as he was a merchant, he also conferred on him the title of Mullik-oot-Toojar. 398a This title still prevails in the Deccan, where it is esteemed one of the most honourable that can be bestowed. Khulf Hussun, admiring the fidelity of the ministers of the late King, thought them worthy of his confidence, and interceded in their behalf; and the King, at his recommendation, honoured Hooshyar Ein-ool-Moolk with the title of Ameer-ool-Omra, conferring on him the rank of an officer of fifteen hundred horse; 399a and the government of Dowlutabad was given to Bedar Nizam-ool-Moolk, who was at the same time raised to the rank of two thousand. The highest order of nobility under the Bah-muny kings was confined to the dignity of commander of two thousand, into which were admitted only the turufdars, or governors of the four principal divisions of the kingdom. From this rank the grades were continued down as low as two hundred, but none of less rank were esteemed noble. An ameer of a thousand had the privilege of carrying the togha†, 399b the alum (a banner), and drums, as insignia of his order.
The late King's son, Hussun Khan, though legal heir to the sovereignty of the Deccan, was (contrary to the opinions of the King's ministers, who advised his being strictly confined or put to death,) appointed an ameer of five hundred; and the palace of Ferozabad was assigned to him for his residence, with an ample estate; permission was also granted for him to hunt or take his pleasure within eight miles round his palace, without being restricted as to time or ceremony. As this Prince was entirely devoted to his pleasures, he was more satisfied with the liberty of indulging in them than with the charge of the government. While his uncle lived, he enjoyed his ease, and no difference ever occurred between them; but he was afterwards blinded and kept confined to the palace of Ferozabad.
When Ahmud Shah had by his virtues impressed on the minds of his people an attachment to his government, he stationed a strong force on the northern frontier of his dominions, in the direction of Guzerat, to prevent invasions from that quarter, and then marched towards the Carnatic with forty thousand horse. Dew Ray, without delay, collected his troops; and inviting the Ray of Wurungole to come to his assistance, marched with a numerous army to the banks of the Toongbudra, in the hope of extirpating the Mahomedans.
Ahmud Shah, arriving on the opposite bank, surrounded his camp with carriages, according to the Turkish practice, to prevent the enemy's infantry from making night-attacks, and halted there for forty days; during which time his light troops laid waste all the country of Dew Ray on the north bank of the river. By these manœuvres the King hoped to tempt the Hindoos to cross the stream and give him battle on the ground where he had taken post, which he regarded as advantageous, but all his efforts to this end failed. At length, weary of delay, the King called a council of war, and finding his officers unanimous for crossing the river, and attacking the enemy on their own ground, he resolved on doing so the next morning. It is proper to mention that the Ray of Wurungole had previously deserted his ally, and withdrawn his troops. Lody Khan, Adam Khan, and Dilawur Khan, marched during the night, and fording the river at a distance, reached the environs of the enemy's camp at day-light. The Ray was then sleeping, attended only by a few persons, in a garden, close to which was a thick plantation of sugar-cane. A body of the Mahomedans entered the garden for plunder, and Dew Ray, being alarmed, fled, almost naked as he was, into the sugar-cane plantation. Here he was found by the soldiers, who taking him for a villager, loaded him with a bundle of canes, and obliged him to run with it before them. Dew Ray, perceiving he was undiscovered, took up the burden readily, hoping that he should be released when he reached the enemy's camp, or be able to effect his escape.
They had not gone far, when an alarm spread through the camp of the Hindoos, that Ahmud Shah had crossed the river, and that the Ray was missing. The King entered the lines without opposition; and the soldiers who had taken Dew Ray, hoping to obtain more valuable plunder than sugar-cane, hastened to join their comrades, leaving him to shift for himself. Dew Ray fled, unnoticed, and about noon came up with some of his officers, by whom he was recognised, and received with great joy. His army now began to re-assume some kind of order; but as he regarded the late accident as an ill omen, he laid aside all idea of engaging in the field, and fled to Beejanuggur.
Ahmud Shah, without waiting to besiege the Hindoo capital, overran the open country; and wherever he went put to death men, women, and children, without mercy, contrary to the compact made between his uncle and predecessor, Mahomed Shah, and the rays of Beejanuggur. Whenever the number of slain amounted to twenty thousand, he halted three days, and made a festival in celebration of the bloody event. He broke down, also, the idolatrous temples, and destroyed the colleges of the bramins. During these operations, a body of five thousand Hindoos, urged by desperation at the destruction of their religious buildings, and at the insults offered to their deities, united in taking an oath to sacrifice their lives in an attempt to kill the King, as the author of all their sufferings. For this purpose, they employed spies to observe his motions, that they might seize the first opportunity of accomplishing their end. It happened that Ahmud Shah while one day hunting, in the eagerness of the chase separated from his attendants, and advanced nearly twelve miles from his camp. The devoted infidels, informed of the circumstance, immediately hastened to intercept him, and arrived in sight of him when even his personal attendants, about two hundred Moguls, were at some distance. The King, perceiving his enemies, galloped on in hopes of gaining a small mud inclosure, used as a fold for cattle, which stood on the plain; but he was so hotly pursued, that some broken ground intervening, he was unable to cross it before his pursuers came up. Luckily for the King, some of his archers arriving at this instant, the enemy were checked, and the King had time to reach the enclosure. The infidels attempted to enter, and a sharp conflict ensued: the faithful repeated the creed of Islam, and swore to die rather than submit. On this occasion, Syud Hussun Budukhshy, Meer Ally Seestany, Meer Ally Kabully, and Abdoolla Koord, distinguished themselves greatly, and became entitled to the King's lasting gratitude. The little band being mostly killed or wounded, the assailants advanced close to the wall, which they began to break down with pickaxes and crowbars, so that the King was reduced to the last extremity of distress. At this critical juncture Abdool Kadur, the King's armour-bearer, made his appearance, with a body of troops, with whom he had left the camp in search of his master. The infidels by this time had effected a wide breach, and were fighting hand to hand, when they found their rear suddenly attacked. The King now sallied from his position with his retainers, and after a severe conflict defeated the enemy, with the loss of a thousand men. Of the Mahomedans about five hundred were slain. Thus Ahmud Shah, by the providential aid afforded by Abdool Kadur, was raised, as it were, anew from the abyss of annihilation to the enjoyment of sovereignty. It is a remarkable coincidence, and worthy of observation, that both the Hindoo and Mahomedan sovereigns, at the head of armies opposed to each other, should fall into such danger during the same campaign, and that both should escape uninjured. Ahmud Shah, on his return to camp, raised Abdool Kadur to the rank of an officer of two thousand, and made him governor of Berar, — he also conferred on him the title of Khan Jehan; to which he added the appellations of life-bestowing brother, and faithful friend. Abdool Luteef, his brother, was also raised to the same rank, with the title of Azim Khan. All those persons who had any share in the King's deliverance were amply rewarded with titles and gifts. As the Mogul archers had been of great use on this occasion, he gave orders to Mullik-oot-Toojar to form a body of three thousand, composed of the natives of Irak, Khorassan, Mawur-ool-Nehr, Toorkistan, and Arabia, and commanded all his officers to exercise themselves, their children, and dependents, in archery.404a
After this event, Ahmud Shah, having laid waste the whole country, marched to Beejanuggur, which he so closely blockaded, that the inhabitants were reduced to the utmost distress; when Dew Ray, in order to spare his people, sent ambassadors soliciting peace, which was acceded to. They required that the Raja should send to the King's camp the arrears of tribute due for many years, laden on his best elephants, and conducted by his son, with his drums, trumpets, and all other insignia of state. Dew Ray, deeming it unsafe to refuse compliance, deputed his son with thirty elephants laden with the treasure. The King caused some chiefs to go forth to meet him; and after being led in ceremony through the market, and the principal streets of the camp, he was conducted to the presence. The King, after embracing, permitted him to sit at the foot of his throne, and throwing over his shoulders a magnificent mantle, and presenting him with a sabre set with jewels, gave him twenty beautiful horses of various countries, a male elephant, dogs for the chase, and a leash of hawks; to which last, the people of the Carnatic had been till then strangers. The army now marched from the vicinity of Bee-januggur; and on its arrival on the banks of the Krishna the Ray's son was dismissed, and the troops returned to Koolburga.
This year, no rain falling, a grievous famine was experienced throughout the Deccan; and multitudes of cattle died on the parched plains for want of water. The King, in consequence, increased the pay of his troops, and opened the public stores of grain for the use of the poor. The next year, also, there being no rain, the people became seditious, complaining that the present reign was unlucky, and the conduct of the Prince displeasing to God. The King was much afflicted, and repaired to the mosque in state to crave the mercy of heaven towards his subjects. His prayers were heard, and plentiful showers fell shortly after: those who had abused him now became loud in his praise, calling him Wully (Saint), and worker of miracles. The King returned with joy and thanksgiving to his palace, amid the acclamations of his people, who condemned themselves for their rashness.
A. H. 828.
A. D. 1421.
In the year 828, the King, in order
to punish the Ray of Wurungole for
joining the Ray of Beejanuggur, marched
into his country, with the intention of conquering
Tulingana. On his arrival at Golconda, he sent an
army before him under Khan Azim, and halted
with the main body for twenty-seven days. During
this time, he received accounts that Khan Azim,
notwithstanding his small force, had defeated the
enemy, killed seven thousand Hindoos, and obtained
possession of Wurungole, the Ray having
been slain in the action. The King moved to
Wurungole, and took possession of those treasures,
the accumulation of ages, which had till
then been preserved from plunder. The King conferred
on Khan Azim ten large and ten small
elephants, a waistbelt set with jewels, four strings
of fine pearls, and a large sum of money; after
which he detached him to reduce the remainder of
Tulingana, which he effected in the space of four
months, and returned to join the King at Wurun-gole.
Khan Azim was now left to reduce some
strong posts in possession of the deceased Ray's
heirs, while the King proceeded to Koolburga.
A. H. 829.
A. D. 1425.
In the year 829, Ahmud Shah
marched to reduce a rebellious zemindar
of Mahoor, who still retained
several strong places which held out against his
troops. The rebel soon submitted; but Ahmud
Shah, though he had assured him of pardon, put
him to death in violation of his promise, as soon as
he fell into his hands, together with five or six
thousand of his followers, compelling, at the same
time, all the captive women and children to embrace
the true faith. During this campaign, the
King obtained possession of a diamond mine at
Kullum, a place dependent on Gondwara, in which
territory he rased many idolatrous temples, and,
erecting mosques on their sites, appropriated to
each some tracts of land to maintain holy men,
and to supply lamps and oil for religious purposes.
At this time he remained nearly a year at Elich-poor,
during which he constructed the fort of
Gavul,
407a
repaired the fortress of Narnala, and
subsequently returned to Koolburga.
Sooltan Hooshung of Malwa, apprehensive of the approach of Ahmud Shah at this period, made proposals to Nursing Ray of Kehrla to enter into a confederacy against the Bahmuny monarch. The Ray not acceding to his proposal, Sooltan Hooshung twice invaded his country, but was repulsed with severe loss. In a third attack, however, he came so unexpectedly on Nursing Ray, that, unable to collect his troops, he was obliged to remain within his fortress. On which occasion, in
A. H. 830.
A. D. 1426.
the year 830, Nursing Ray petitioned Ahmud Shah for assistance; observing, that from the day of his having submitted to become tributary to Feroze Shah Bah-muny he had not deviated from the path of obedience; that he was considered by all the neighbouring states as tributary to his house; on which account, he trusted the King would not refuse his aid on the present occasion. Ahmud Shah, accordingly, directed Khan Jehan, governor of Berar, to march to the succour of Nursing Ray, and himself moved with seven thousand horse to Elichpoor, to be ready, if necessary, to support him. Sooltan Hooshung of Malwa, supposing that the King's absence from his army arose out of fear, advanced to Kehrla, and plundering the surrounding country, was pleased to throw out taunting allusions on the subject of Ahmud Shah's inactivity; in consequence of which, the latter marched rapidly to relieve Kehrla.
At this time, some holy men represented to Ahmud Shah, that none of his ancestors had ever assisted infidels against true believers; that it was contrary to the doctrines of the faith to do so, and should be avoided. The King, though within forty miles of the enemy's camp, was forcibly struck with these remonstrances, and immediately halted, writing, at the same time, to Sooltan Hooshung, that Nursing Ray being one of his dependents, it would be the means of promoting mutual friendship, if Sooltan Hooshung should desist from attacking him, and return to his own country. He also observed, that in consequence of the remonstrances of the holy men about his person, he was about to proceed to his own capital; and he began his retreat before the messenger had even arrived in the enemy's camp. Sooltan Hooshung treated with contempt the communication of Ahmud Shah; and aware of his own superiority in numerical strength followed him so closely that he encamped daily on the ground the Deccanies had left in the morning. Ahmud Shah, roused by this conduct, told the holy men, that he thought he had already sufficiently shown his desire to regard the doctrines of the faith. Accordingly, having ordered his baggage to precede the army, he halted, and made disposition for battle. The command of his right wing was entrusted to Khan Jehan, and that of the left to Abdoolla Khan, grandson of Ismael Futteh Khan; and the Prince Alla-ood-Deen was placed in the centre. The King in person, with two thousand chosen horse and twelve war-elephants, took post in ambush, to wait for the enemy.
Sooltan Hooshung, unaware of these preparations, and being as yet unopposed, concluded the Deccanies were still flying before him; he therefore advanced without any regard to order, and came up suddenly with the enemy. Having no time to form his troops, he charged in a confused manner with seventeen thousand men. When the two armies were engaged, Ahmud Shah attacked him from the position wherein he was concealed, and with his elephants and two thousand men fell on the rear of the Malwa army, which, confounded between two attacks, was panic-struck, and fled with precipitation. The Deccanies pursued, and slew about two thousand of the enemy, and took all their baggage. Two hundred elephants, together with the women composing the haram 410a of Sooltan Hooshung, also fell into the King's hands. Nursing Ray, hearing of the defeat of the Malwites, quitted his fortress, and intercepted them on their return through his country, and killed great numbers. Ahmud Shah, though victorious, lamented the necessity of his attacking the Mahomedans; but having conferred handsome presents on the females and children of Sooltan Hooshung's family, sent them to Malwa, without demanding a ransom, escorted by some persons of rank, and confidential eunuchs. Nursing Ray came to pay his respects and congratulate the King, accompanied by his sons; and having prevailed on him to visit Kehrla, entertained him sumptuously, and made rich offerings, among which were many valuable diamonds, rubies, and pearls. On his return, he attended the King as far as Ma-hoor, from whence he took leave, after having received honorary dresses and other marks of the royal favour.
It is written in the history of Malwa, that another battle happened between these two monarchs, on account of Nursing Ray's calling Sooltan Hooshung to his assistance, when Ahmud Shah besieged Kehrla; but as the writers of the Deccan do not record it, God only knows the truth. Ahmud Shah Bahmuny, on his return from this campaign, having arrived at Bidur, took the amusement of hunting; and coming to a beautiful spot, finely watered, resolved to found a city to be called Ahmudabad. A citadel of great extent and strength was erected on the site of Bidur, 411a the ancient capital of the princes of the country, who, according to the Hindoo books, written five thousand years ago, possessed the whole extent of Murhut, Carnatic, and Tulingana.† 411b Raja Bheem-Sein was one of the most celebrated of this house; and the history of the loves of his daughter and Raja Nul, King of Malwa, are famous through all Hindoostan. The story of Nul and Dumun has been translated from the Hindoo language by Sheikh Feizy, into Persian verse, at the command of the Emperor Akbur.
Ahmud Shah, desirous of strengthening his family by alliances with foreign princes, asked in marriage the daughter of Nuseer Khan Farooky, ruler of Kandeish, who prided himself on his descent from Oomr Farook, for his son the Prince Alla-ood-Deen. Nuseer Khan, apprehensive of the power of his neighbour, the King of Guzerat, received this offer favourably, and sent his daughter, in great state, with the ambassadors to Ahmudabad Bidur, where Ahmud Shah caused a palace to be prepared for her, till she could be properly received within the city. The nuptials were celebrated with much magnificence, the ceremonials of which lasted for two months.
At this period, the King thought proper to make a division of his territories among his children. Ramgir, Mahoor, and Kullum, with part of Berar, were assigned to Mahmood Khan. To Dawood Khan he gave regal insignia, and sent him with a number of the nobility to establish himself in Tulin-gana. The eldest prince, Alla-ood-Deen, being declared heir-apparent, was entrusted with the general superintendence of the affairs of the government, with whom was associated his younger brother Ma-homed. On this occasion, the King required his officers to take oaths to observe this arrangement; vainly thinking to ensure by this means that which it was impossible could ever last. On the same occasion, Mullik-oot-Toojar, being raised to the rank of an officer of two thousand, was appointed governor of Dowlutabad.
A. H. 833.
A. D. 1429.
In the latter end of the year 833, the
King ordered Mullik-oot-Toojar to march
into the country of Concan, extending
along the coast of the Indian ocean, in order to clear
it of rebels and disturbers of the peace; where, in a
short time, he executed his instructions so fully, that
he brought that country under subjection, and
sent several elephants and camels loaded with
gold and silver, the fruits of his conquests, to
court.
413a
Ahmud Shah, in reward of his services,
conferred on him a suit of his own robes, a sword
set with jewels, and other gifts, such as no
servant of the house of Bahmuny had before ever
been honoured with.
Mullik-oot-Toojar, from his excess of zeal for the King's service, also occupied the island of Mahim†, 413b belonging to the King of Guzerat; upon which Ahmud Shah Guzeratty sent his son, Zuffur Khan, with an army to retake it. The King of the Deccan, conceiving it necessary to defend the new conquest, also despatched his son, Alla-ood-Deen, to reinforce Mullik-oot-Too-jar. Both armies remained some time encamped in sight of each other, on opposite banks of an inlet of the sea, without either having the boldness to attack. At length the health of the Prince, Alla-ood-Deen, being affected by the unwholesome air and water of the country, he removed some days' journey for a change of air. Zuffur Khan, the Guzerat prince, during his absence, attacked Mullik-oot-Toojar, and after a desperate battle, the brother of the Deccan general was taken prisoner, two officers of high rank were killed, and the army received a total defeat; while the whole of the camp equipments, including tents, elephants, and horses, fell into the hands of the Guzeratties. In the Towareekh Mahmood Shahy it is stated, that the Prince Alla-ood-Deen was present in this action, and displayed proofs of great bravery; but as victory depends not solely on human exertions, both he and Mullik-oot-Toojar were obliged to fly with precipitation.
Meanwhile Ahmud Shah Bahmuny, in a short time after this defeat, having recruited his forces, marched towards Guzerat; 414a and Ahmud Shah Guzeratty did not fail to meet him. The Dec-canies, in the first instance, laid siege to a hillfort† 414b in Buglana; but the King, on hearing of the enemy's approach, raised the siege, and moved to oppose him. The two armies lay near each other for some time inactive, till at length the learned men on both sides effected a reconciliation; and it was agreed that each should rest satisfied with the districts and forts in his possession, nor in future molest the territories of the other.
The author of the Towareekh Alfy relates,
A. H. 835.
A. D. 1431.
that in the year 835 Ahmud Shah Bahmuny, hearing that the Prince Mahomed Khan, son of the King of Guzerat, was employed on a distant expedition to Nundoorbar, marched against him; upon which Ahmud Shah Guzeratty hastened to assist his son; but the Deccanies, on his approach, retreating four marches, the King of Guzerat returned towards his capital, and encamped on the banks of the Tapty. Here he learned that the Deccanies had laid siege to Tumbola, upon which he moved against them; and an engagement ensued, which lasted from morning till sunset without being decided in favour of either army; but both the Kings, during the night, retreated to their own country, without having previously made peace. Other historians have also related the particulars of the siege of Tumbola; but as transcribing them all would occasion useless prolixity, I pass them over.
A. H. 836.
A. D. 1432.
In the year 836, the fort or citadel
of Ahmudabad Bidur, built with stone,
was finished; on which occasion the
King ordered public rejoicings. In the same
year, also, he put to death his sister's son, Sheer
Khan,
415a
whom he regarded as a dangerous rival to
A. H. 837.
A. D. 1433.
the interests of his own children. In the year 837, Sooltan Hooshung of Malwa, taking advantage of the war between the kings of Guzerat and the Deccan, again invaded the country of Nursing Ray, whom he slew in battle. He also reduced the fort of Kehrla and its dependent territory. On receiving intimation of these events, Ahmud Shah Bahmuny marched towards the Malwa army, but Nuseer Khan Farooky, ruler of Kandeish, interfering, induced the two kings to forego hostilities; and after some negotiation, it was resolved that the fort of Kehrla should belong to Sooltan Hooshung of Malwa, and the province of Berar to Ahmud Shah Bahmuny. A treaty was accordingly concluded to this effect; and being sworn to in a solemn manner, the two kings returned to their several capitals. Not long after this period, the King marched into Tulin-gana, to quell an insurrection of some powerful Hindoo chiefs, whom, in a short time, he reduced to obedience.
On returning towards his capital, and when within one march of Ahmudabad Bidur, the King conferred on Syud Nasir-ood-Deen Kurbulay 416a five thousand tunkas of silver for himself, and thirty thousand to be distributed in alms among the holy men at Kur-bula. This is the same person whom Ahmud Shah is said to have shortly before seen in a dream personating the last of the prophets (Mahomed), and of whom Sheikh Azury speaks so highly in his works. At this period, the King sending for Nasir-ood-Deen gave him his audience of leave to proceed to Kurbula. After this ceremony, the holy man was passing on his way home on horseback, and came to a spot where one Sheer Mullik, an officer of rank, was sitting with several others. The Syud, without noticing them, attempted to pass; but Sheer Mullik, offended at his not dismounting, directed his attendants to drag him to the ground. 417a Syud Nasir-ood-Deen, incensed at this insult, went instantly and complained to the King, who pacified him at the time, by saying, that God and the Prophet would, on a fit occasion, avenge his cause. Some time after, on the King's arrival at Ahmudabad Bi-dur, on the occasion of breaking up his army, when it is usual to distribute honorary robes to the officers previously to their return home, the King's eyes fell on Sheer Mullik; and recollecting, at the instant, the insult he had inflicted on Syud Nasir-ood-Deen, the King caused an elephant, named Kussab (the Butcher), to be brought, and reminding Sheer Mullik of his conduct to Syud Nasir-ood-Deen, ordered that he should be thrown under the animal's feet, which in one minute crushed him to death, where he lay as lifeless as if he had been dead a hundred years.
Rujub 28.
A. H. 838.
Feb. 19.
A. D. 1435.
Ahmud Shah Wully Bahmuny reigned
twelve years and two months, and died
on the 28th day of Rujub, A. H.
838.†417b
It is related that he paid great deference to holy and learned personages. As an instance of which, he deputed two holy men from his court to proceed to Kirman in Persia, in order to solicit Shah Neamut Oolla to return with them to India. These persons were Sheikh Hubeed-oolla-Jooneidy and Meer Shums-ood-Deen of Koom. Shah Neamut Oolla received the deputation with great honour; and though he declined proceeding in person to India, he directed one of his favourite disciples, Moolla Kootb-ood-Deen of Kirman, to accompany the deputies on their return, intrusting to his charge a box, containing a green crown with twelve points, for Ahmud Shah. On the return of the embassy, the King went forth to meet it; and on seeing Moolla Kootb-ood-Deen, he exclaimed, “Behold, this is the self-same dervish I saw in a “dream before I ascended the throne, and who “presented me with a green crown, having twelve “points! If the box he bears should contain the “green crown I saw in my sleep, then, indeed, “will my dream be miraculously fulfilled.” On the holy man approaching and presenting the crown, the King was overcome with astonishment. The venerable Moolla told the King to be under no surprise nor apprehension, for that the crown he had seen was the identical crown he now presented to him, and that he, indeed, was the very bearer of it. 418a Shah Neamut Oolla, in addressing the King, styled him, in his letter, Shahab-ood-Deen Ahmud Shah Wully, which so flattered him, that he adopted these titles on his signet ever after. In return for the visit of Moolla Kootb-ood-Deen, the King deputed Khwaja Imad-ood-Deen Sumnany and Seif-oolla Ahsunabady to proceed a second time to Kirman, and to entreat Shah Neamut Oolla to send one of his sons to the Bahmuny court. The saint, however, having but one son, Shah Khuleel-oolla, he only permitted his grandson, Meer Noor Oolla, to proceed to the Deccan.
On the young man's arrival at the port of Choul, the King sent his own palankeen, escorted by Meer Abool Kasim Joorjany and Syud Mahomed Sudr to attend him to the capital. On his reaching its vicinity, Ahmud Shah, attended by his sons, went forth to meet him; and having caused a mosque and a village to be erected on the spot, caused it to be called Neâmutâbâd. Some time after, the King conferred the title of Mullik-ool-Mushayik (the Chief of holy Men) on the grandson of Shah Neamut Oolla. He caused him, also, to sit above all other chiefs at the durbar, not even excepting the descendants of Syud Mahomed Geesoo-Duraz. In the course of time, too, the King gave his daughter in marriage to Meer Noor Oolla.
On the demise of Shah Neamut Oolla, in the year 834 (A. D. 1431), his son, Shah Khuleel Oolla, together with all his family, came to India. His second son, Shah Mohib Oolla (brother of Meer Noor Oolla), rose to great distinction in the Deccan as a military commander; and for his services he not only received the district of Beer as a maintenance, but also obtained in marriage the hand of the King's grand-daughter, the daughter of the Prince Alla-ood-Deen. The district has ever since continued in the family of these distinguished holy personages; and the mausoleum built on the outside of the town of Beer, which is now standing, was intended to receive the ashes of those venerable saints.
By his military enterprises, Shah Mohib Oolla acquired the appellation of Ghazy, “The holy “Warrior.”
The King's brother, the Prince Mahomed, is sent with an army to demand the Beejanuggur tribute. — The Prince proposes to the King's ministers in his camp to assist him in declaring his independence — they remonstrate, and are assassinated. — The Raja of Beejanuggur aids the Prince, who takes Moodkul, Rachore, Beejapoor, Nuldroog, and Sholapoor. — The Prince is defeated, and is compelled to accept of Rachore as an equivalent for the territory he has usurped. — The Concan invaded, and partially reduced. — Revolt in Berar, which is suppressed by Mullik-oot-Toojar with an army composed chiefly of foreign troops. — The foreigners are directed to take precedence of the Deccanies at court.—The Raja of Beejanuggur enlists Mahomedan soldiers in his army — makes war with the King of the Deccan. — Three severe actions fought. — Peace effected. — Mullik-oot-Toojar proceeds to conquer the Concan — his army is destroyed, and he himself dies. — Animosity of the Deccany officers against the foreigners. — The King's indifference to public business — is afflicted with a painful disease — rumours of his death. — Insurrections in Berar and Tulingana. — Invasion by the King of Malwa. — Military arrangements for the defence of the kingdom. — The King dies — his character.
ALLA-OOD-DEEN SHAH ascended the throne at Ahmudabad Bidur, agreeably to the will of his father. He did not neglect his brother Mahomed Khan, but allowed him elephants, horses, and considerable estates. He appointed Dilawur Khan, one of the first officers of the court, to be his minister, with the title of Vakeel-oos-Sultunut, and Khwaja Jehan Astrabady to be vizier. Imad-ool-Moolk Ghoory, an ancient chief, who, after performing great services to the royal family, had retired from business, was prevailed on to accept the office of Ameer-ool-Omra, and he was despatched, together with his brother Mahomed Khan and Khwaja Jehan, with a powerful army, against the infidels of Beejanuggur; the Raja of which had withholden the tribute for five years, and now refused to pay the arrears. This army laid waste the country, and committed great devastation; and the Raja only obtained peace by giving up twenty elephants, a considerable sum of money, and two hundred females, skilled in music and dancing, for the King, besides valuable presents which he made to the Prince Mahomed Khan.
On the return of the army near Moodkul, some discontented officers represented to Mahomed Khan, that as his father had made him a partner in the kingdom during his life, it was but just that Alla-ood-Deen Shah should either admit him to sit with him on the throne, and have the joint management of state affairs, or that he should make a division of the territories between them; but as the King showed no disposition to do either, his advisers observed, that the Prince had a right by force of arms to possess himself of half the kingdom. Mahomed Khan, entering into these views, endeavoured to persuade Khwaja Jehan, as also Imad-ool-Moolk Ghoory, to countenance his designs; both these officers, however, strenuously refusing to lend themselves to his project, and setting before him the criminality of his intentions, the Prince caused them to be assassinated. After which, having procured a considerable army from the Ray of Beejanuggur to aid him, he seized upon Moodkul and Rachore, as well as on Sholapoor, Beejapoor, and Nuldroog.
Alla-ood-Deen Shah was more affected at the death of Imad-ool-Moolk Ghoory than at any other part of these proceedings; observing, that he had performed invaluable services for the state, that he was dear to him as his father, and that he was certain no good would come to the murderer of so worthy and distinguished a personage. Measures were now taken for collecting the King's troops, and large sums of money expended in equipments; after which, the King marched from the capital to engage the rebels. A severe conflict shortly after ensued between the brothers, when victory declared in favour of Alla-ood-Deen Shah. Most of the officers who had excited the insurrection were taken prisoners, while the Prince Mahomed Khan fled, with a few attendants, to the hills and woods for shelter. The King, mean time, returned to the city of Ahmudabad Bidur, and after pardoning the crimes of several of the guilty officers, he released them from confinement. By assurances of forgiveness and safety, also, the King prevailed on his brother to deliver himself up. On his arrival, he was received with affection, and not long after obtained the fortress and revenue of the territory of Rachore, vacant by the death of his brother, Prince Dawood, governor of Tulin-gana. Here the Prince Mahomed Khan lived many years in the undisturbed possession of his estate, spending his time in a series of pleasures.
Mohurrum 1.
A. H. 840.
July 15.
A. D. 1436.
On the 1st day of the year 840,
Alla-ood-Deen Shah conferred robes
of honour on Dilawur Khan, and
intrusted him with an army to reduce
the tract of country along the sea-shore called
Concan, inhabited by a hardy race of men. The
rajas of Rairee and Sonkehr,
424a
being soon humbled,
agreed to pay regular tribute; and Dilawur Khan,
having secured the beautiful daughter of the
latter raja for the King, returned to the capital accompanied
by her, and with some years' arrears of
tribute. The King at first was pleased at his services,
and charmed with the Raja's daughter, who
was without equal in beauty, disposition, and
knowledge of music. He gave her the title of
Perichehra†,
424b
and the fame of their loves became
notorious. At length, learning that Dilawur Khan
had received bribes from the rajas of Concan, and
had not done his utmost to reduce their fortresses,
he became cool towards that minister, who of his
own accord resigned the seals of office, and by
so doing saved himself from danger. This important
situation was now filled by the eunuch
Dustoor-ool-Moolk; but all ranks of people soon
became disgusted with his insolent behaviour,
which, though daily represented to the King,
made no impression on his mind. Alla-ood-Deen
Shah regarded these complaints as proceeding from
envy, and the result of a faction, on which account
he showed him every day greater favour. At
length Hoomayoon, the King's son, desiring the
eunuch to accede to some petition which he had
brought forward, he replied he could not attend to
it immediately, but in a day or two would take it
into his consideration. At the expiration of two
or three days, the Prince again sent him word that
the business was still unfinished, and desiring that
he would conclude it without delay. The minister
returned for answer, that the case did not come
within the Prince's department, and that it was
unbecoming in him to interfere.
The Prince, naturally violent, lost his temper at this affront, and calling one of his attendants, ordered him to assassinate the eunuch; at the same time, he promised to protect him from the consequences. The soldier, who had himself suffered some injury from the minister, accepted the commission; and accordingly, on the same day, while Dustoor-ool-Moolk was coming from the court, the assassin approached him as if about to present a petition, when suddenly drawing a dagger from his girdle, he stabbed him to the heart. The Prince's guards, who were prepared for the event, favoured the murderer's escape, and a scuffle arose in consequence between them and the minister's attendants. The noise reached the King's apartments, and the Prince Hoomayoon went out as if to enquire the cause of the disturbance. On his return, he informed the King that a soldier of long service, and who had claims on the royal favour, having been contemptuously treated by Dustoor-ool-Moolk, and having, now especially, suffered abusive language from him, had stabbed him, and was seized by the troops, who waited orders concerning his disposal. The King, who throughout his reign was averse to pass sentence of death on any one, and suspecting the real truth from the Prince's manner, merely directed the murderer to be confined, and conferred the vacant office of minister on Meamun Oolla Dec-cany, one of the learned men of the time of Feroze Shah.
A. H. 841.
A. D. 1437.
In the year 841, Mullika Jehan, the
King's wife, (the daughter of Nuseer
Khan, ruler of Kandeish,) jealous of her
husband's preference to Perichehra, and offended
with his coldness towards herself, wrote letters of
complaint to her father. Nuseer Khan, making
this a plea to wage war with Alla-ood-Deen Shah,
and being supported by Ahmud Shah of Guzerat,
projected the conquest of Berar. He accordingly
made private overtures to the officers of that
province, promising them great rewards if they
would join his standard. His offers met with
such success, that the Deccan chiefs unanimously
resolved to join him; observing, that as he was
descended from the great Oomr, if they fell in
battle fighting against his enemies, they should
die martyrs. Nuseer Khan accordingly entered
Berar with all the troops of Kandeish, a considerable
force having been also sent to his aid by
the Raja of Gondwara. The treacherous officers
attempted to seize their governor, Khan Jehan,
who was too firmly attached to the house of Bah-muny
to join the invaders; and he, obtaining information
of their designs, fled to the fortress of
Narnala, where he shut himself up, and wrote
accounts of the state of affairs to his court.
The traitors, meanwhile, joined Nuseer Khan,
and not only read the Khootba in his name, as
King of Berar, but marched with him to besiege
Narnala.
Alla-ood-Deen Shah, on receiving this intelligence, called a council of his ministers and military chiefs, to concert measures for acting at such a critical moment. It was recommended that the King should proceed in person against the enemy, it being probable that both the kings of Guzerat and Malwa, as also the rays of Gond-wara, were prepared to aid in assisting Nuseer Khan. The King, however, suspecting the fidelity of his chiefs, appointed Mullik-oot-Toojar, then governor of Dowlutabad, to conduct the campaign.
Mullik-oot-Toojar having accepted the commission, observed, that servants had no option but submission, and it was their duty to resign even life itself at the command of their masters; but he observed, that it was notorious the defeat at Mahim (Bombay) was occasioned solely by the enmity of the Deccany and Abyssinian officers towards him, since they could not bear to see a foreigner 428a distinguish himself. He humbly requested, therefore, that the King would, on the present occasion, give him the command of the household troops, and all the foreigners, without any Dec-canies or Abyssinians, when he trusted, by the blessing of the Almighty, and the royal auspices, he should be able to bring affairs in Berar to a prosperous issue. Alla-ood-Deen Shah consenting, directed three thousand Mogul bowmen from the body-guard to attend him, as also many Mogul officers, who had been brought up in the service of Feroze Shah and Ahmud Shah. Among these guards were two princes, Mujnoon Sooltan and Shah Koolly Sooltan, both lineal descendants from the great conqueror Chungiz Khan. Mullik-oot-Toojar proceeded, in the first place, to Dow-lutabad, from whence he despatched an army of observation to the frontiers of Guzerat and Malwa, and entered Berar with a well equipped army of seven thousand veteran Moguls†; 428b Khan Jehan, also, having found an opportunity of quitting Nar-nala, joined the King's army at Mehkur. Mullik-oot-Toojar now detached Khan Jehan with his troops to Elichpoor, in order to prevent the Ray of Gondwara from entering Berar by that route, while himself moved with the main body towards the Rohunkehra Ghat, where the enemy was encamped. At the foot of the pass, he was opposed by a detachment of Kandeish troops, whom he routed with great slaughter; and Nuseer Khan, thinking this defeat an ill omen, retreated with precipitation to Boorhanpoor, to which city he was pursued by Mullik-oot-Toojar; and not thinking himself safe even at that capital, he fled to the fortress of Lulling.429a
Mullik-oot-Toojar, having levied heavy contributions from the citizens of Boorhanpoor in jewels, money, and effects, proceeded to lay waste the province of Kandeish; which having done to the extent of his wishes, he returned to Boorhanpoor, burned down the royal palaces, and dug up their foundations, and then marched as if towards the Deccan; but during the night, having changed his route, he made one forced march, and appeared suddenly before Lulling with four thousand horse. Nuseer Khan, who had with him twelve thousand men, thinking he must have the advantage over an enemy inferior not only in numbers, but exhausted with fatigue, gave battle. The Kandeish troops, however, were totally defeated, and many of Nuseer Khan's principal officers, together with the rebel chiefs of Berar, were slain; while Mullik-oot-Toojar having secured a large booty, part of which consisted of seventy elephants and some artillery, returned in triumph towards Ahmudabad Bidur.
On his approach, Alla-ood-Deen Shah, to mark his sense of the meritorious services of his general, sent the Prince Hoomayoon, attended by all the court, to meet him at a considerable distance from the city; where, on his arrival, the King gave him a suit of the royal robes, an elephant, and a sabre set with jewels, with permission to retire to his government of Dowlutabad. At the same time, all the chiefs who had accompanied him were gratified with titles, promotion, and grants of lands. To Shah Koolly Sooltan, who had particularly distinguished himself, the King gave his daughter in marriage; and ordered that the Moguls should, in future, take precedence of the Deccanies and Abyssinians. From the day of this distinction till the present time the most rooted inveteracy has existed between the Deccanies and Moguls, which the former have evinced on all occasions, when opportunities offered.
About this time, Dew Ray of Beejanuggur summoned a council of his nobility and principal bramins; observing to them, that as his country (the Carnatic), in extent, population, and revenue, far exceeded that of the house of Bahmuny, and also as his army was more numerous, he requested them to point out the cause of the successes of the Mahomedans, and of his being reduced to pay them tribute. Some said, that the Almighty had decreed to them a superiority over the Hindoos for thirty thousand years, a circumstance which was foretold in their own writings; that it was on this account, therefore, the Hindoos were generally subdued by them. Others said, that the superiority of the Moslems arose out of two circumstances: first, that their horses were stronger, and able to endure more fatigue than the weak animals of the Carnatic; secondly, that a great body of excellent archers was always maintained in pay by the kings of the house of Bahmuny, of whom the Ray had but few in his army.
Dew Ray, upon this, gave orders to enlist Mus-sulmans in his service, allotting to them estates, and erecting a mosque for their use in the city of Beejanuggur. 431a He also commanded that no one should molest them in the exercise of their religion, and, moreover, he ordered a Koran to be placed before his throne on a rich desk, so that the faithful might perform the ceremony of obeisance in his presence without sinning against their laws.† 431b He also made all the Hindoo soldiers learn the art of archery; to which both he and his officers so applied themselves, that he could soon muster two thousand Mahomedans and sixty thousand Hindoos well skilled in archery, besides eighty thousand cavalry, and two hundred thousand infantry, armed in the usual manner with pikes and lances.
With this host, he resolved on conquering the Bahmuny kingdom; and, accordingly, in the year
A. H. 847.
A. D. 1443.
847, having crossed the Toongbudra suddenly, he took the fortress of Mood-kul, sent his sons to besiege Rachore and Bunkapoor, and encamped with his army along the bank of the Krishna. From hence he sent detachments which plundered the country as far as Sagur and Beejapoor, laying it waste with fire and sword. Alla-ood-Deen Shah, on receiving intelligence of these events, prepared to repel the invasion, and commanded all his troops from Tulingana, Dowlutabad, and Berar, to repair to the capital of Ahmudabad Bidur without delay. On reviewing them, he found his army to consist of fifty thousand horse, sixty thousand foot, and a considerable train of artillery. With this force he marched against the enemy; and Dew Ray, on his approach, encamped under the walls of the fortress of Moodkul, and detached a large body of light troops to harass the King on his advance. The King's army halted at the distance of twelve miles from Moodkul, and Mullik-oot-Toojar was detached with the Dowlutabad division against the sons of Dew Ray; while Khan Zuman, governor of Beejapoor, and Khan Azim, commander of the forces of Berar and Tulingana, were opposed to the main body of the enemy. Mullik-oot-Toojar, going first to Rachore, gave battle to the eldest son of Dew Ray, who was wounded in the action, and fled towards Bun-kapoor, from whence he was joined by his younger brother, who quitted the siege of that fortress.
In the space of two months, three actions took place between the two grand armies; in the first of which, multitudes were slain on both sides, and the Hindoos having the advantage, the Mus-sulmans experienced heavy losses. The King was successful in the second; and in the last, the eldest son of Dew Ray was killed by a spear thrown at him by Khan Zuman; which event struck the Hindoos with a panic, who fled with precipitation into the fortress of Moodkul. Musheer-ool-Moolk and his brother (officers of note), following the fugitives, entered the fort with them; and the infidels, admiring their valour, took them both prisoners without injury, and carried them before Dew Ray, who caused them to be kept in confinement. Alla-ood-Deen Shah, upon this, wrote to him, that he valued the lives of the two chiefs equal to that of two hundred thousand common men, therefore, as it was a rule with the princes of his family to slay a hundred thousand Hindoos in revenge for the death of a single Mussulman, he swore, should Dew Ray take away the lives of the two captive officers, he would revenge the death of each by the slaughter of a hundred thousand Hindoos.
The Raja, who knew by experience the determination with which the Bahmuny princes fulfilled their vows, despatched confidential persons to the King, proposing, on condition of his promising not to molest his territories in future, to pay annually the stipulated tribute, and to release the two prisoners. The King acceding to these terms, a treaty was concluded, and Dew Ray immediately sent back Musheer-ool-Moolk and his brother. He also made an offering of forty war elephants, and valuable effects to a great amount, paying at the same time the tribute due for some years past. The King then honoured the Ray with a handsome dress, and presented him with several horses covered with rich furniture set with jewels; after which he began his march homeward; and during the rest of his reign, Dew Ray regularly remitted his tribute, the King strictly observing, on his part also, the treaty formed on this occasion.
In the early part of his reign, Alla-ood-Deen Shah erected, at Ahmudabad Bidur, an infirmary for the poor; to support the expenses of which he granted considerable tracts of land, and established in it both Mussulman and Hindoo physicians. To every part of his dominions he sent censors of morals and just judges; and though he drank wine himself he forbade the use of it to others, as also the practice of gaming. He put chains on the necks of kullendurs, 434a and idle, dissipated vagabonds, whom he punished by employing them in removing filth from the streets, in dragging heavy stones, and in the performance of all manner of laborious work, in order that they might reform, and either earn their livelihood by industry, or quit the country altogether. If any person, after admonition and moderate correction, was convicted of drinking wine, it was enacted, that melted lead should be poured down his throat, whatever might be the rank of the offender.
One of the grandsons of Syud Mahomed Gee-soo-Duraz, captivated by a courtesan, was induced by her to drink wine, and becoming quarrelsome from its effects, he beat the woman, and cut off her side locks. The affair was brought before the kotwal, 435a who confined both parties; but out of consideration for the rank of the Syud, he thought proper to refer the case to the royal presence. The King was much enraged, and ordered the offender to be carried to the most public square of the city, there to receive two hundred blows on the soles of his feet, and he was required to take a solemn oath against drinking wine; while the courtesan was led through the streets dressed in an ass's skin, and afterwards banished from the city.
The King regulated his civil and military departments so wisely, that the acts of Fureedoon and Nowshirwan lost their lustre when compared with his. On Fridays, and on all holidays, he attended the mosque and heard sermons. He was averse from shedding human blood, though he destroyed many idolatrous temples, and erected mosques in their stead. He held conversation neither with Nazarenes nor with bramins; nor would he permit them to hold civil offices under his government.436a
After the war of Beejanuggur the King changed his conduct, and gave himself wholly up to luxurious enjoyments. Transferring the management of his government to ministers, he collected a thousand of the most beautiful women he could procure; to accommodate whom he erected a magnificent palace, and laid out elegant gardens around it, on the banks of a piece of water. This palace he called the abode of bliss; and therein he spent most of his time in drinking ruby-coloured wines, and in pressing the lips of smooth-faced damsels, or listening to the melody of sweet-voiced musicians. During this intoxication of pleasure, he only appeared in the public audience hall once every four or five months; and the Deccany officers exercised the power of government with uncontrolled sway.
At this time Meamun-Oolla Deccany formed a plan for reducing to subjection all the fortresses along the sea-coast. To affect this, the King deputed Mullik-oot-Toojar, with seven thousand Dec-cany infantry, and three thousand Arabian cavalry, besides his own division, to the westward. Mullik-oot-Toojar, fixing upon Chakun as his seat of government, secured the fort near the city of Joonere, from whence he sent detachments, at different times, into Concan, and reduced several rajas to subjection. At length he moved to that country in person, and laid siege to a fort the Raja of which was named Sirka, 437a whom he speedily obliged to surrender, and to deliver himself and family into his hands.
Mullik-oot-Toojar insisted that Sirka should embrace the faith of Islam, or be put to death; upon which the subtle infidel, with much assumed humility, represented that there existed between him and Shunkur Ray, who owned the country around the fortress of Kehlna†, 437b a family jealousy, and that should he enter into the pale of Islam, and his rival remain secure in the full possession of power, he would, on the general's retreat, taunt him with ignominy on account of his change of religion, and excite his own family and subjects to revolt; so that he should lose the countries his ancestors had held for ages. Raja Sirka added, however, that if Mullik-oot-Toojar would reduce his rival, Shunkur Ray of Kehlna, and give his country either to himself or to one of his officers, which might be effected with little difficulty, he would then pronounce the creed of the true faith, become enrolled among the servants of the King, and remit annually a tribute to his treasury, as well as assist in reducing those rajas who might hereafter fail in their duty and allegiance.
Mullik-oot-Toojar replied, that he heard the road to the Ray's country was woody, and full of difficult passes. To which Sirka answered, that while there was a guide with the army so faithful and capable as himself, not a single soul should receive injury. Accordingly, Mullik-oot-Toojar, relying on the promises of the Raja, in the year
A. H. 858.
A. D. 1453.
858 began his expedition against Kehl-na, but was deserted in the outset by most of the Deccany and Abyssinian officers and troops, who declined entering the woods. Raja Sirka, agreeably to his promise, during the two first days conducted the army along a broad road, so that the general praised his zeal and fidelity; but on the third day he led them by paths so intricate, that the male tiger, from apprehension, might change his sex, and through passes more tortuitous than the curly locks of the fair, and more difficult to escape from than the mazes of love. Demons even might start at the precipices and caverns in those wilds, and ghosts might be panic-struck at the awful view of the mountains. Here the sun never enlivened with its splendour the vallies; nor had Providence designed that it should penetrate their depths. The very grass was though and sharp as the fangs of serpents, and the air fetid as the breath of dragons. Death dwelt in the waters, and poison impregnated the breeze. After winding, weary and alarmed, through these dreadful labyrinths, the army entered a darker forest, a passage through which was difficult even to the winds of heaven. It was bounded on three sides by mountains, whose heads towered above the clouds, and on the other side was an inlet of the ocean, so that there was no path by which to advance, nor road for retreat, but that by which they had entered.439a
Mullik-oot-Toojar at this crisis fell ill of a bloody flux, so that he could not attend to the regularity of the line of march, or give orders for the disposition of his troops, who being excessively fatigued, about night-fall flung themselves down to rest wherever they could find room, for there was no spot which admitted of two tents being pitched near each other. While the troops were thus scattered in disorder, Sirka, their treacherous guide, left them, and communicated to Shunkur Ray that he had lured the game into his toils. The Ray, with a great force conducted by Sirka, about midnight attacked the Mussulmans from all quarters, who, unsuspicious of surprise, were buried in the sleep produced by excessive exertions. In this helpless state, nearly seven thousand soldiers of the faithful were put to death, like sheep, with knives and daggers; the wind blowing violently, the rustling of the trees prevented the troops from hearing the cries of their fellow-sufferers. Among these was Mullik-oot-Toojar, who fell with five hundred noble Syuds of Medina, Kurbulla, and Nujuf; as also some few Deccany and Abyssinian officers, together with about two thousand of their adherents, who had remained with their general. Before daylight the Ray, having completed his bloody work, retired with his people from the forest.
Those who survived this dreadful massacre retraced, with much difficulty, the path by which they had advanced, and joined the Deccany and Abyssinian officers, who had remained encamped on the plains above the Ghats. The latter advised the foreigners to retire to their estates, that they might recover from their fatigues, and supply themselves with necessaries for future service. To this proposal the Moguls would not accede, as the town of Chakun was near, where they might, in a short time, recruit their strength, and be able to rejoin the army. Some of the Moguls, also, imprudently observed, that the defection and cowardice of the Deccany officers, who had refused to descend the Ghats, was the occasion of the disaster which had befallen Mullik-oot-Toojar and the Syuds. After their arrival at Chakun, the Moguls threatened to write full accounts to court of the desertion of the Deccanies.
The latter, apprehensive of this, resolved to be the first accusers, and therefore sent advices to the King, stating, that Mullik-oot-Toojar, at the instigation of a zemindar named Sirka, and by the advice of the Syuds and Moguls, had entered on a wild project in defiance of their most earnest remonstrances; that the general had by his own death suffered the punishment of his rashness, and that most of his followers had also fallen; that the surviving foreign troops, instead of agreeing to remain with them till another general should be appointed, had behaved with insolence, spoken disrespectfully of the King, and were gone in a body to the fortress of Chakun, offering their services to the rajas of the Concan, and inviting them to revolt.
These letters were forwarded through Sheer-ool-Moolk Deccany and Nizam-ool-Moolk, son of Imad-ool-Moolk Ghoory, officers hostile to the Moguls, whom they regarded as rivals. They accordingly presented the letters to Alla-ood-Deen Shah, when heated with wine, and related the defeat of Mullik-oot-Toojar, and the behaviour of the surviving Moguls. The story was told with a thousand exaggerations, and with aggravating and malicious insinuations. The King, incensed against the foreigners, without a moment's reflection, directed the two officers who brought the communication to repair forthwith to Chakun, and put all the foreigners to the sword.
Like Abdoolla Zeead, or Shums-ool-Joshun, 441a putting on armour against the descendants of the Prophet, these officers moved towards Chakun with a great force. The Syuds and Moguls, hearing of their approach, shut themselves up in the fort, and despatched petitions to court, relating the truth, and pleading their innocence; but their messengers were intercepted by Sheer-ool-Moolk, who destroyed the letters. They despatched other letters, but finding that none of their own companions were allowed to pass, they entrusted their petition to two natives of Hindoostan, who had been for years maintained by their countrymen. These wretches, whose black complexions were but an index of their hearts, giving way to their naturally treacherous dispositions, carried the letters to Sheer-ool-Moolk, who destroyed them, as he had done the former, and rewarded the betrayers with gifts. The approaches to Chakun were now so closely blocked up, that no persons could pass without search; and the unfortunate Syuds, like their great ancestor Hoos-sein, were reduced to the extremity of despair. But they resolutely determined to defend themselves till the last. Sheer-ool-Moolk, finding them obstinately bent on resistance, summoned the Dec-cany officers from the Concan to assist him; and thus a great army was assembled before Chakun. The siege continued for two months without effect; during which time Sheer-ool-Moolk wrote frequently to court, that the Syuds and Moguls, continuing in obstinate rebellion, had asked assistance of the King of Guzerat, offering to deliver up Cha-kun into his hands. The Deccany ministers supported these representations with all their influence, and procured repeated orders from the King to punish the rebels in such a manner as to operate as an example to others. If now and then a letter from the accused found its way to the capital, the ministers took care to prevent its being seen by the King, who, they pretended, was so enraged, that he would not even hear or read a word from them.
When provisions in the fort grew scarce, the besieged resolved to leave a sufficient number to defend their families, and to make a sally on their enemies; hoping, that by fighting their road through them, they might reach the capital, and lay the true state of affairs before the King. The Decca-nies learning their design dreaded the event, as they knew they would all fight desperately, and some would, most probably, make good their way to court, which would immediately lead to a discovery of the treachery of the Deccanies; they therefore had recourse to stratagem to get the besieged into their power. To this end they sent a message to them, saying, that being followers of the Prophet, and pitying their misfortunes and the children and women of the Syuds, they had interceded with the King for pardon, who at last, complying with their petition, had given orders that they should be permitted to retire unmolested out of his dominions, with their families and effects. A forged order, to this purpose, was produced as a proof of the sincerity of their declaration, and both chiefs, like Yezeed, 443a swore by the Almighty, by the Koran, and by the Prophet of God, that they would not injure them in person or property.
Relying on these solemn oaths, the unfortunate foreigners, in number about two thousand five hundred, of whom twelve hundred were Syuds of pure descent, evacuated the fort, with their wives and children, and encamped at a short distance, in order to provide the means for moving them. The Deccany chiefs for three days abided by their promises, using every endeavour to gain their confidence, and lull suspicion, by kind offices and offers of assistance. On the fourth day, however, they prevailed on the chiefs to come to an entertainment in the fort, at which all the principal foreigners, in number about three hundred, attended, with the exception of Kasim Beg (Suff Shikun), 444a Kurra Khan Koord, and Ahmud Beg of Mecca. While in the act of eating, a number of armed men, on a signal given by Sheer-ool-Moolk, rushed upon them, and put every soul to the sword. At the same instant, four thousand Deccanies outside the fort attacked the camp of the foreigners and put every male to death, even the very infants at the breast. After this tragedy, they plundered the tents, and treated the women with all the insult that lust or brutality could provoke. Since the time of Hoossein, the Syuds were never so maltreated; but is it not astonishing, that men, who called themselves servants of the Prophet, should so basely misuse his descendants?
Kasim Beg and the Moguls, who had encamped about two miles from the rest of their unfortunate companions, on hearing the alarm, armed themselves, and putting even the women in soldiers' habits, fled towards the capital. Sheer-ool-Moolk instantly despatched two thousand horse to pursue them under Dawood Khan, and wrote to all the jageerdars and farmers to intercept them as rebels, or cut them off, under pain of the King's displeasure. Kasim Beg, however, with three hundred followers only, posted on without halting, except when the Deccanies approached so near as to oblige him to disperse them, which he did frequently with desperate valour. He passed the nights in the open fields, and in this manner proceeded for some days; till at length, near the town of Beer, he was closely pressed by Dawood Khan, who had summoned Hussun Khan, the ja-geerdar of Beer, to his aid. This nobleman had once been saved from great danger in one of the Beejanuggur campaigns by Kasim Beg, whom he now resolved to assist in turn; and he accordingly told Dawood Khan, that it was impossible the Moguls could be rebels, as they were hastening of their own accord to the capital. Dawood Khan was now joined by Sheer-ool-Moolk in person, who overtook him with fifteen hundred additional troops, with which they attacked the Moguls. Kasim Beg, with his followers, resisted like men fighting for life. Dawood Khan was luckily killed by an arrow in the first onset; but this circumstance only excited the Deccanies to revenge, and they had almost overpowered the Moguls, when Hussun Khan coming to their assistance, the Deccanies retreated with the body of their leader towards Chakun. Hussun Khan conducted the brave sufferers to his residence, where they were supplied with provisions by his kindness; and he wrote also representations to the King, who, in answer, commanded Kasim Beg and his companions to repair to court.
Upon their arrival, Alla-ood-Deen Shah commanded them into his presence, and having examined into the whole affair, he was enraged at the conduct of his treacherous ministers, and blamed himself for his own fatal confidence. He then directed Moostufa Khan, who had withheld the letters of the Syuds from his perusal, to be beheaded on the spot, and his body to be exposed in the public streets. He appointed Kasim Beg to the government of Dowlutabad and Joonere, and conferred on him the honours enjoyed by the late Mullik-oot-Toojar. He raised all his followers to rank, and ordered fresh levies of Moguls to be raised and placed under their command. He appropriated the houses and effects of Nizam-ool-Moolk and Sheer-ool-Moolk to his own use, and commanded them, with all the other aggressors, to be led into the capital, walking on foot, loaded with heavy chains. Those persons who had been instrumental in forging the first accusations he put to death in various ways, and deprived their children of their estates, so that they wanted even a meal. According to the Tubkat Mahmood Shahy, Sheer-ool-Moolk and Nizam-ool-Moolk were afflicted with leprosy in the same year, and their children walked the streets for shameful purposes, among the outcasts of society.446a
In this year (A. D. 1453) Sheikh Azry, the King's preceptor, for whom when a youth he had great respect, wrote him a long letter of advice from Khorassan. The King was much affected with the perusal. He in consequence forswore the use of wine, and answered the letter with his own hand, and sent also valuable presents in return. The King now rigidly enforced the institutes of Ahmud Shah, attended regularly to the administration of his affairs, and removed all the Deccanies from offices of trust.
A. H. 859.
A. D. 1454.
In the year 859, a dangerous eruption
breaking out in the King's foot, which
baffled the art of the surgeons, he was
necessarily confined to his private apartments, and
reports were often spread through the provinces of
his death. Among other persons, one Julal Khan,
the King's brother-in-law, being assured of his
decease, seized on many districts around his government
of Nowulgoond, which he gave in charge
to his son Sikundur Khan, grandson (by his
mother) to the late Ahmud Shah.
447a
Khan Azim,
governor of Tulingana, also dying at this time, and
no officer of sufficient influence being on the spot
to assume the charge, the officers of the province
submitted to the authority of Sikundur Khan.
Alla-ood-Deen Shah, in spite of his indisposition, prepared to march in order to reduce the rebels, on which Julal Khan and Sikundur Khan agreed, that the former should remain in Tulingana, and the latter proceed to Mahoor, the better to distract the motions of the royal army. The King sent offers of pardon, if the rebels would lay down their arms; but Sikundur Khan having on a former occasion joined the Prince Mahomed Khan in his insurrection, and having been guilty of many other offences, refused to rely on the King's promises. He therefore represented to the King of Malwa, Sooltan Mahmood Khiljy, that Alla-ood-Deen Shah had been long dead, but that the ministers, pretending he was still alive, had resolved to destroy the principal nobles, and to divide the kingdom among themselves; that under these circumstances, if the King of Malwa chose to undertake the project, the provinces of Berar and Tulingana would fall without a blow into his hands. Sooltan Mahmood, crediting these assurances so flattering to his ambition, marched, in conjunc-
A. H. 860.
A. D. 1455.
tion with the ruler of Kandeish, in the year 860, to the Deccan. They were joined by Sikundur Khan, who advanced with a body of one thousand horse to meet them.
Alla-ood-Deen Shah, on receiving this intelligence, changed his design of going in person to Tu-lingana, whither he deputed Khwaja Mahmood Geelany (commonly called Gawan), with a considerable army, to attack Julal Khan. At the same time Khan Jehan, governor of Berar, was directed to watch the motions of the ruler of Kandeish, while Kasim Beg, 448a governor of Dow-lutabad, advanced with a corps of observation towards the division led by the King of Malwa, the King of the Deccan being with the main army, consisting chiefly of the Beejapoor division, following at the distance of ten miles.
Sooltan Mahmood of Malwa, now satisfied that the Deccan king was still living, and actually marching against him, retreated with the greatest part of his army, leaving an officer, under pretence of assisting Sikundur Khan, but with secret instructions, in case of his attempting to join the Deccanies, to seize his person, and bring him prisoner to Mando with all his treasure. Sikun-dur Khan, gaining timely information of this design, escaped from the Malwa army with two thousand Afghans and Rajpoots to Nowlgoond, to which place Khwaja Mahmood Gawan was then about to lay siege. Shortly after this, Sikundur Khan delivered up the fortress, on condition of a free pardon. On going to court with Khwaja Maho-med Gawan, he was again received into favour, and Nowlgoond was restored to him. The King having left Fukhr-ool-Moolk Toork in the government of the Mahoor districts, and Furhut-ool-Moolk in command of the garrison of Mahoor,
A. H. 862.
A. D. 1457.
returned to his capital, where in the year 862, the disorder in his foot increasing to a mortification, he left this world of vanity for that of eternity, after a reign of twenty-three years, nine months, and twenty days.
Alla-ood-Deen Shah is said to have been eloquent, possessing great wit, and fond of learning. He would sometimes ascend the pulpit in the grand mosque on Fridays and holidays, and read the Khootba, in which he mentioned himself by the following titles:—“The monarch just, merciful, “patient, and liberal to the servants of God, chief “in worldly and religious affairs, son of the most “distinguished among princes, Ahmud Shah Wully “Bahmuny.” One day, an Arabian merchant, who had sold horses for the King's use, the payment for which was delayed by the officers of the household, being present when he read the above titles, roused by the ill usage he had experienced, and indignant at the cruel massacre of the innocent syuds, which had just taken place, exclaimed with a loud voice, “Thou art neither the just, the “merciful, the patient, nor the liberal king, but the “cruel and the false, who hast massacred the Pro-“phet's descendants, yet darest to assume such “vaunting titles in the pulpit of the true be-“lievers.” 450a The King, struck with remorse, commanded the merchant to be paid on the spot, saying that those would not escape the wrath of God who had thus injured his reputation. He then retired to his palace, and never entered the mosque again, till he was brought there a corpse to be interred. The King, finding himself dying, appointed his son, Hoomayoon his successor contrary to the wishes of all his court, who dreaded his cruel and sanguinary temper; and several of the nobles made their escape to Guzerat before the King's death, to avoid the tyranny of his successor.
The Prince Hussun, the King's youngest son, is raised to the throne by the ministers, and an attempt made to seize Hoo-mayoon. — The plot is frustrated. — The young Prince is deposed, and Hoomayoon assumes the crown. — The contrivers of the plot are punished. — The Prince is deprived of his eyesight. — Khawaja Mahmood Gawan is created minister. — Changes in the government. — Sikundur Khan of Nowlgoond goes into rebellion — is killed in action. — Attack on the fort of Dewurconda. — The Hindoos procure reinforcements. — The King's troops defeated. — The King orders his general to suffer death, and the second in command to be disgraced. — Fresh efforts to reduce Dewurconda interrupted by news of the escape of the King's brother — his rebellion — is taken at Beejapoor. — The King's cruelty to him, and all persons connected with him. — Exercises the greatest brutality towards his subjects — falls ill, and dies.
AT the time Alla-ood-Deen Shah was breathing his last, the Prince Hoomayoon was in his own palace, and Seif Khan and Mulloo Khan, two nobles of distinction, concealing the circumstance of the King's death, privately raised his youngest son, Hussun Khan, to the throne. In this plot they were joined by Hubeeb Oolla†, 452b and some other chiefs, who regarded the measure as an unexpected blessing. A party of the insurgents now proceeded to plunder the palace of Hoo-mayoon Shah, and secure his person. Hoomayoon opposed this attack with resolution, obliging the insurgents to retire, and pursuing them towards the royal apartments. On the way, the elephant-drivers, perdehdars, 453a silehdars, and body guards, with other persons of the household, who were ignorant of any preconcerted plan for the King's destruction, joined Hoomayoon, so that he entered the grand hall of audience without opposition, and seized his brother, who sat panic-struck and trembling upon the throne. Hoomayoon instantly ascending it in his stead, was acknowledged King without further opposition. After these prompt measures, he caused Seif Khan, the whole contriver of the plot, to be dragged through the city chained to the foot of an elephant, and directed his associate, Hubeeb Oolla to be confined as well as the Prince Hussun Khan, whose eyes he caused to be put out.†453b
Agreeably to the will of his father, he conferred the office of Vakeel-oos-Sultunut on Khwaja Mah-mood Gawan, with the title of Mullik-oot-Toojar, and the government of Beejapoor. Mullik Shah, an officer who claimed descent from Chungiz Khan, was appointed governor of Tulingana, with the title of Khwaja Jehan, he had also an estate in that province, with the rank of commander of one thousand; and the title of Nizam-ool-Moolk was conferred on the nephew of Imad-ool-Moolk Ghoory, a young nobleman of distinction. Sikundur Khan, son of Julal Khan, a favourite companion of the King before his accession, disappointed at not having the government of Tulingana, left court without taking leave, 454a and joining his father at Nowlgoond, began to raise troops.
Hoomayoon Shah lost no time in sending Khan Jehan, governor of Berar, who had come to court to congratulate the King on his accession, against Sikundur Khan, but Khan Jehan being defeated, Hoomayoon Shah thought it necessary to march against the rebels in person, not without hopes, that upon his arrival in the vicinity of Nowlgoond, Julal Khan and Sikundur Khan would see their error and submit. In these expectations, however, he was disappointed; for Sikundur Khan made a sudden attack on the King's camp by night, with some success, which induced him on the next day to lay siege to the fort. Sikundur Khan, having great dependence on the attachment and bravery of his troops, marched out to offer battle with eight thousand Deccanies and Rajpoots; but the King, in consideration of their former intimacy and relationship, sent him word that though appearing in arms against his sovereign was a heinous offence, yet as he wished not to destroy him, he would grant him free pardon, and confer on him an estate in the province of Dowlutabad. Sikundur Khan returned for answer, that though Hoomayoon was the grandson of Ahmud Shah he was also his grandson by his daughter, consequently his partner in the kingdom of their grandfather, so that he must resign the sovereignty of Tulingana to him, or prepare for battle.455a
Hoomayoon Shah, enraged at this insolent language, instantly ordered out the line, to attack. Sikundur Khan did not decline the contest, and repeatedly repulsed the most vigorous charges of the royal army. The action continued long indecisive, till Mullik-oot-Toojar Mahmood Gawan, with the Beejapoor division, and Khwaja Jehan Toork, with the army of Tulingana, charged the right and left wings at the same instant, and the rebels began to give way to the shock. The King, observing their confusion, supported the attack from the centre with five hundred bowmen, and five hundred spearmen, at the head of whom, mounted on an elephant, he rushed on the enemy. This assault was opposed so resolutely, that the King found himself nearly deserted by his followers, who retreated in confusion, while Sikundur Khan, availing himself of the moment, with his spear in the rest, attacked the King personally; when the elephant on which Hoomayoon was mounted seized Sikun-dur Khan in his trunk, drew him from his horse, and dashed him forcibly on the ground. His followers, who were on full speed to support his charge, unable to stop, rode over him, by which he was crushed to death. On the loss of their chief, the rebel army fled; and the King, rallying his troops, pursued the fugitives, with great slaughter, a considerable distance from the field of battle.
The next day the King commenced the siege of Nowlgoond; and at the end of a week, Julal Khan, seeing no resource but submission, offered to surrender. Through the mediation of Mullik-oot-Toojar and Khwaja Jehan, Julal Khan was pardoned, and threw himself at the King's feet, with an offering of his wealth, accumulated during forty years of high and profitable employment. His life being spared, he was confined in a castle, where he ended his days.
Hoomayoon Shah, on the fall of Nowlgoond, meditated the reduction of the fortress of Dewur-conda, belonging to a zemindar of Tulingana, who had lent his support to Sikundur Khan. To accomplish this service, he detached Khwaja Jehan and Nizam-ool-Moolk, while he marched himself to Wurungole. The Tulingas uniting fought several battles in the field, but were on all occasions defeated by Khwaja Jehan; and at length retired within the fortress, which was closely besieged on every side, though situated among high mountains and difficult woods. The Tulingas, on this occasion, applied for assistance to the Ray of Orissa, who being tempted by offers of great sums of money sent a considerable body of troops, with several war-elephants, to the support of the Tulingas, promising to advance quickly himself with his whole force. The Tulingas, inspired by these hopes, held out obstinately; and the two generals, hearing of the approach of the expected reinforcements, became doubtful how to act. Nizam-ool-Moolk proposed raising the siege and marching out of the hills and passes, in order to engage the auxiliaries to advantage on the plain, and prevent their junction. To this measure Khwaja Jehan objected; saying, that the Tulingas would attribute a retreat to fear, and issuing from the fortress would attack them on their march; so that it was better to continue the siege, and make preparations to oppose the junction of the reinforcement on the spot. On the next day the troops of Orissa arrived; and the Tulingas sallying from the fort, both attacked the King's forces at the same instant, whose cavalry being unable to act, from the nature of the ground, a total defeat was sustained by the Mahomedans. The two generals effected their escape with the greatest difficulty from the field; nor did they halt till they reached Wurungole, being pursued for eighty miles by the enemy. Hoomayoon Shah, on enquiring into the cause of the disaster, was falsely informed by Khwaja Jehan, in order to save his own life, that he acted by the advice of Nizam-ool-Moolk, although that general entirely disapproved of the measure; and the King, in his rage, without further examination, caused that gallant nobleman to be put to death; while his relatives and followers flying, enlisted into the service of Sooltan Mahmood of Malwa. Khwaja Jehan was also disgraced, and sent close prisoner to a fortress.
Hoomayoon Shah, determined on wiping away the disgrace sustained by his troops, was busily preparing a fresh army to go against Dewurconda, when advices were brought him from the capital, that one Yoosoof Toork having set at liberty the blind Prince Hussun Khan and Shah Hubeeb Oolla, had fled with them into the country of Kandeish. The King, losing all patience, left his minister, Mahmood Gawan, to protect Tulingana,
A. H. 864.
A. D. 1459.
and returned in the year 864 by forced marches to his capital, where his wrath knew no bounds. But it is necessary, before his cruelties are recorded, to mention their original cause.
Shah Hubeeb Oolla, an eminent divine, had been imprisoned for his attachment to the Prince Hussun Khan. On the occasion of the King's marching against Sikundur Khan, towards Nowlgoond, seven of the Shah's disciples formed the resolution of releasing him at all hazards. For this purpose, they addressed one Yoosoof, a Toorky slave 458a of the late Alla-ood-Deen Shah. Yoosoof was a man generally esteemed, and celebrated for his virtue, integrity, piety, and extensive charities; he was, besides, a firm disciple and friend of Shah Hubeeb Oolla. This officer promised his aid, and corrupted some of the guards and door-keepers of the palace. The number of the confederacy was limited to twelve horsemen and fifty foot, all bent upon sacrificing their lives to the service of Shah Hubeeb Oolla. Conceiving their project ripe for execution, Yoo-soof went one evening with his friends to the gate of the seraglio in which the prisoners were confined. Most of the guards were absent, but he was questioned by the few on duty. Yoosoof replied, that he had the King's commands to enter the prison and blind such and such criminals, producing a forged order in support of his assertion; on seeing which, the guard suffered him to pass. On his reaching the second gate, another guard refused to admit him; for though he showed the royal commission, the kotwal's order was also necessary before entrance could be obtained; upon which, Yoosoof and his band dreading discovery rushed upon the guard, and putting them to death, passed on. Yoosoof first proceeded to the apartments of the state-prisoners, and took off the chains from Shah Hubeeb Oolla; and the Princes Hussun Khan and Yehya Khan, sons of the late King, as also Julal Khan Bokhary, 459a entreated him to break their chains, and take them with him, to which he consented. After this, having gone into every apartment, he invited all those who chose to be freed from captivity to repair to the gate of the palace and join him. About seven thousand unfortunate captives of all conditions rose upon their keepers, and arming themselves with clubs or whatever came to hand, ranged themselves at the gate as directed. By this time, the kotwal of the city, having heard the alarm, advanced to the palace with the city guards; but the captives, rendered desperate, received them so warmly with showers of stones and clubs, that they were driven back. The prisoners, during the night, dispersed to different quarters among their friends; but Julal Khan, who was nearly eighty years old, and the Prince Yehya Khan, fell into the kotwal's hands in a few hours, and suffered death. The Prince Hussun Khan, and Shah Hubeeb Oolla, took shelter in the house of a barber, where they shaved their beards, and assumed the garb of beggars. Shah Hubeeb Oolla recommended that they should quit the country; but the Prince flattered himself, that the people in general, disgusted with his brother's cruelty, were attached to him, and that it was likely he could soon raise an army and recover the throne. Shah Hubeeb Oolla having consented to assist his designs, they both left Bidur, and got some distance from the city. The Prince Hussun Khan now made himself known, and was joined by adventurers and disaffected persons from all quarters. Among others, was his deliverer Yoosoof Toork. In a few days, the Prince raised an army of three thousand horse and five thousand foot, with which he advanced to the fortified palace and garden of Kumtana, only six miles from the capital, in hopes of being able to take it. Finding this measure more difficult than he at first imagined, he retreated to the town of Beer, 461a of which he took possession, together with the country around, and continued to levy fresh troops. Such was the state of affairs when the King arrived at Ahmudabad Bidur with his army.
The King's first act was to punish the neglect of the city guard, all of whom, to the number of two thousand, he put to death with cruel torture. He also caused the kotwal to be confined in an iron cage, every day cutting off some member of his body, which he obliged him to eat, so that he very shortly died. Meanwhile he detached an army of eight thousand horse and foot against the Prince, who at first was successful. On hearing this, the King's fury knew no bounds. He reinforced his army with more troops; but seizing on the women and children of the officers, threatened to put these hostages to death if the army should be defeated, or the officers desert to the Prince, Hussun Khan.
In the next battle the Prince suffered a total defeat; and Hussun Khan, after a desperate resistance, quitted the field with his adherents, hoping to find an asylum at Beejanuggur. Upon his arrival near the fort of Beejapoor, with about eight hundred horse, the governor, Siraj Khan Jooneidy, sent out a message to invite him in, declaring that he would give up the fort and all its dependencies into his hands. Hussun Khan, by the advice of Shah Hubeeb Oolla and Yoosoof Toork, entered the fort of Beejapoor. This fort was then only built of mud. Siraj Khan received the party with apparent respect and attention. At night-fall, however, coming with his attendants to the Prince's apartment, under pretence of paying his respects, he surrounded it, and on the next day attempted to secure the persons of his guests. Shah Hubeeb Oolla suffered martyrdom in making resistance. At length the Prince Hussun Khan, Yoosoof Toork, and his other followers, even to his tent pitchers, watermen, and sweepers, were seized and sent prisoners by Siraj Khan, under a strong escort, to Ahmudabad Bidur.
Hoomayoon Shah, now abandoning himself to the full indulgence of his cruel propensities, and mad with rage, directed stakes to be set up on both sides of the King's chowk, or market-place, and caused vicious elephants and wild beasts to be placed in different parts of the square, in other places cauldrons of scalding oil and boiling water were also prepared as instruments of torture. The King, ascending a balcony in order to glut his eyes on the spectacle, first cast his brother, Hussun Khan, before a ferocious tiger, who soon tore the wretched Prince to pieces, and devoured him on the spot. Yoosoof Toork, and his seven associates, were then beheaded in the King's presence, and the females of their innocent and helpless families, being dragged from their houses, were violated and ill treated in the palace-square, by ruffians, in a manner too indecent to relate. Tortures were now invented by the King, who inflicted on both young and old of both sexes torments more cruel than ever entered the imagination of Zohak 463a and the tyrant Hijaj.† 463b About seven thousand persons, including females and servants, none of whom had the most distant concern in this rebellion, besides the menials, such as cooks, scullions, and others, were put to death; some being stabbed with daggers, others hewn in pieces
Shaban,
A. H. 864.
August,
A. D. 1460.
with hatchets, and the rest flayed by scalding oil or boiling water. This tragedy happened in the month of Shaban, in the same year as the rebellion.
The author of the Towareekh Mahmood Shahy states, he learned from the royal attendants, that upon the King's first hearing of the escape of the Prince Hussun Khan rage and passion so overcame him, he tore his robes, bit his pillows, and often his own lips, in such a manner that they dropped with blood. Alarmed at the example of Hussun Khan, he put to death several innocent persons of the royal family who were confined in different fortresses. Nor did his suspicions rest here; many other persons of his own court fell the innocent victims of his indiscriminate cruelty. From this moment Hoomayoon threw off all restraint, and seized at will the children of his subjects, tearing them from their parents to gratify his passions. He would frequently stop nuptial processions in the street, and seizing the bride, after enjoying her, send her to the bridegroom's house. He was in the habit of putting the females of his own house to death for the most trivial offences; and when any of the nobility were obliged to attend him, so great was their dread, that they took leave of their families, as if preparing for death.
At length the Almighty took pity on the sufferings of his people, and listened to the complaints of the wretched. The tyrant was taken ill, and judging he should die, appointed his eldest son, Nizam Shah, then only eight years of age, his successor; and having summoned Khwaja Jehan Toork from Berar, and Khwaja Mahmood Gawan from Tulingana, made his will, constituting them a council of regency, and guardians to his son during his minority, commanding them strictly, at the same time, to transact no business without the cognisance of the Queen-mother. He died
Zeekad 28.
A. H. 865.
Sept. 3.
A. D. 1461.
on the 28th of Zeekad, 865, according to some, but others relate that he recovered from this illness, and was assassinated during a fit of intoxication by his own servants, who were wearied out with his inhuman cruelties. His reign lasted three years, six months, and six days.
The Queen-mother, Khwaja Jehan, and Mahmood Gawan, form a regency during the King's minority. — The kingdom attacked by the rajas of Tulingana and Orissa, who are compelled to retreat. — Sooltan Mahmood of Malwa invades the Deccan. — The Deccan army defeated. — The King retires to Bidur. — The Malwa army advances. — The King retires to Ferozabad. — The city of Bidur occupied by the King of Malwa. — The King of Guzerat marches to assist the Deccanies. — The King of Malwa retreats — his army suffers severely — he is compelled to abandon his heavy baggage — retires through the hills of Gondwana — his troops endure the greatest distress. — The Guzerat army retires. — Second invasion by the King of Malwa. — Advance of the army of Guzerat. — The King of Malwa retires. — Sudden death of the young King of the Deccan.
WHEN, out of pity to mankind, the Almighty had removed Hoomayoon the Cruel from the world, and his son Nizam Shah succeeded to the throne of the Deccan, the Queen-mother acted as regent. She was a woman of great abilities herself; but she did nothing without consulting Khwaja Jehan and Khwaja Mahmood Gawan, admitting no other nobles to share in the administration. Mahmood Gawan, who held the government of Berar, was appointed vizier, and Khwaja Jehan assumed the office of Vakeel-oos-Sultunut, and was made governor of Tulingana. These two ministers attended every morning at the palace, and communicated, through a female, with the Queen-mother, who, after giving her approbation, sent the young King to the hall of audience, where he sat on the throne. On his right hand stood Khwaja Jehan, and upon the left, Mahmood Gawan. These officers gave orders and transacted business in his presence. By the happy co-operation and unanimity of these three personages, the injuries occasioned by the tyranny of the late king were soon repaired; but the surrounding potentates, both Mussulmans and Hindoos, hearing that the throne of the Deccan was filled by a child, and that the nobles and officers were disaffected, owing to the cruelties of their late sovereign, conceived the design of encroaching on his dominions. In the first instance, the rays of Orissa, in conjunction with the zemindars of Tu-lingana, invaded the kingdom by the route of Raj-mundry, plundering and laying waste the country as far as Kowlas. The Queen-mother and the ministers, in no wise dismayed, collected an army of forty thousand men, and marched with the young monarch to oppose the enemy. The Ray of Orissa advanced to within six miles of the royal army, and within ten of the capital of Ahmudabad Bidur, it being his design to demand restitution of the country of Tulingana, and to exact tribute from the infant King. The two ministers, in reply to a communication of this nature, said, that their master had designed to invade and conquer Orissa and Jajnuggur; 466a but since the Raja had himself come so far with his army, the King would be able to effect the object of defeating him, without the trouble of marching to those distant countries; moreover, that the King had resolved not to allow a man of the enemy to escape, unless the amount of the injuries done to his dominions should be repaired, and the Raja agree to pay tribute. With this message, Shah Mohib Oolla 467a was despatched; but his escort of one hundred and sixty horsemen being stopped by the infidels, he charged the Ray's advanced picquets so boldly, that supposing the whole army was in motion, the Hindoos fell back on their main body, and the rays of Orissa and Tulingana leaving their heavy baggage on the ground, retreated during the night. Khwaja Jehan went in pursuit next day, while the King and Mahmood Gawan made easy marches after him.† 467b The rays, finding that they lost two or three thousand men in every day's march, owing to the activity of Khwaja Jehan, took protection in a fort‡; 467c from whence they sent to the minister, Mahmood Gawan, entreating pardon; and after much debate, and on paying a large sum of money, they were permitted to retreat without further molestation into their own territories. Nizam Shah Bahmuny returned in triumph to his capital; and having conferred honours and rewards on the officers and soldiers, permitted them to retire to their several stations.
Soon after this campaign, Sooltan Mahmood of Malwa invaded the Bahmuny territories, by the route of Kandeish, with twenty-eight thousand horse; and the rays of Orissa and Tulingana, having again taken the field, renewed their depredations on the countries of Islam. The ministers, accordingly, ordered the Tulingana division to protect that province against the Hindoos; and taking Nizam Shah with them, they marched with the forces of Beejapoor, Dowlutabad, and Berar, against Sooltan Mahmood.
Nizam Shah, in spite of his extreme youth, appeared at the head of his army. Khwaja Mahmood Gawan, with ten thousand horse, formed the right wing, and Nizam-ool-Moolk Toork, with other chieftains, composed the left wing, while the King remained with Khwaja Jehan, and Sikundur Khan, his foster-brother, in the centre, which consisted of eleven thousand cavalry and one hundred war-elephants. Sooltan Mahmood of Malwa committed the charge of his right wing to his son the Prince Gheias-ood-Deen, and the left to Mahabut Khan, governor of Chundery, supported by Zuheer-ool-Moolk, himself taking command in person of his best troops, which composed the centre.
Khwaja Mahmood Gawan began the battle by an attack on the enemy's left, which, after some resistance, broke and fled, Mahabut Khan and Zuheer-ool-Moolk of Malwa being both killed. Nizam-ool-Moolk Toork, with the left wing, charged the right of the Malwa army under the Prince Gheias-ood-Deen, who had gained the character of a brave soldier throughout Hin-doostan. While the troops of both armies were intermingled, the two generals came in contact hand to hand with each other; when Nizam-ool-Moolk's sword being shivered to pieces, he threw the hilt 469a into the face of his antagonist with such violence as to wound him severely in the eye, which bleeding exceedingly, he fell from his horse in agony. The troops of Malwa, seeing their leader fall, became disheartened, as is usual on such occasions, and fled. They were pursued four miles by the Dec-canies, who having committed much slaughter, took a vast booty, together with fifty elephants. Sooltan Mahmood of Malwa, on witnessing the retreat of both wings of his army, prepared to follow their example; but another of his sons, and some of his nobles, dissuading him, he awaited the assault of Khwaja Jehan, who charged with ten thousand horse. On this occasion, Sooltan Mahmood having struck the elephant of Sikundur Khan Toork in the head with an arrow, the huge animal, mad with pain, turning round, trod down many of the troops of the army to which he belonged, and had nearly seized Nizam Shah himself. 470a Sikundur Khan, either from fear, or out of enmity to Khwaja Jehan, drew off his troops and carried the King with him to a little distance from the field of battle; on which, the Deccanies perceiving the royal standard† 470b withdrawn, fled, and did not stop till they reached the capital. Khwaja Jehan, finding that the right and left wings had gone in pursuit, and that the King with the Dec-canies had fled, thought it prudent also to retire, which he effected with such order, that he brought back his division and the royal horses and elephants to Ahmudabad Bidur. Khwaja Mahmood Gawan and his troops, on viewing this strange reverse of fortune, retreated also. Sikundur Khan Toork on his arrival at the capital was at first rewarded by the Queen-mother for bringing her son off the field in safety; but on her learning the truth from Khwaja Jehan, Sikundur Khan was confined for his cowardice, and for disgracing the King by taking him from the field at a moment when he was on the point of gaining a victory. The friends of Sikundur Khan defended him by affirming, that he had in fact saved the King from destruction, as the two wings had dispersed to plunder, and no troops remained about the royal person; declaring that they (the Deccanies) would no longer submit to be ill used by the Moguls, who had usurped the guidance of the state. The nature of the times not allowing of his punishment, Khwaja Jehan was induced to consent to Sikundur Khan's enlargement from arrest.
Sooltan Mahmood of Malwa, hearing of these dissensions and the aversion of the Deccanies to the ministers, marched on to besiege Ahmudabad Bidur. The Queen entertained suspicions of Khwaja Jehan, to whose remissness she chiefly attributed the late defeat. She was supported in this opinion by Khwaja Mahmood Gawan; and by his advice she committed the charge of the citadel of Bidur to Mulloo Khan Deccany, and retired with the King to Ferozabad. Sooltan Mahmood obtained possession of the city 471a in seventeen days after the King's departure; a great part of the country also submitted to his authority; and it was the general opinion, that the dominion of the house of Bahmuny would pass into the hands of the Khiljies, when accounts were received of the advance of Mahmood Shah of Guzerat. Nizam Shah had, previously to his retreat, by the advice of Mahmood Gawan, deputed ambassadors to request the aid of the King of Guzerat; and in the mean time, collecting his scattered forces in order to defend himself, sent out detachments to harass the enemy. The King of Guzerat had now reached the frontier with an army of eighty thousand horse; and the Queen-mother having despatched Khwaja Mahmood Gawan to welcome him, Mahmood Shah of Guzerat placed a division of twenty thousand cavalry and some of his principal officers at his disposal; and the allied armies, in a short time, moved simultaneously towards the capital.472a
Sooltan Mahmood†, 472b 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, 473a 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, 474a 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.
Accession of Mahomed Shah, the son of Hoomayoon the Cruel. — The Deccan army takes Kehrla from the King of Malwa. — Kehrla restored, and peace concluded. — Khwaja Mahmood Gawan invades the Concan — takes Kehlna and Ramgur — ascends the table land, and passes the monsoon at Kolapoor — returns to the Concan — takes Goa — leaves Kishwur Khan in charge of the new conquests, and proceeds to the capital. — Honourable reception of Khwaja Mahmood Gawan. — The King takes the field — reduces Rajmundry and Con-dapilly in Tulingana. — Nizam-ool-Moolk Bhyry appointed governor of Tulingana — Yoosoof Adil Khan governor of Dowlutabad — Duria Imad-ool-Moolk governor of Berar. — The King marches to the westward, and reduces Belgam. — Severe famine and drought in the Deccan. — Revolt in Tulin-gana. — The King marches to suppress it — he proceeds to Orissa — returns to the south, and plunders Conjeveram. — Plot against the minister Khwaja Mahmood Gawan. — The King is imposed on by a forgery. — Khwaja Mahmood executed — character of the minister. — The King discovers his error, and repents — his nobles desert the camp. — The King falls sick of a fever — becomes convalescent — indulges in wine, which brings on a relapse, and he dies.
MAHOMED SHAH 477a ascended the throne of the Deccan in his ninth year; and the affairs of government were conducted as in the reign of his late brother, by Khwaja Jehan and Khwaja Mahmood Gawan, under the direction of the Queen-mother. Ahmud, the King's younger brother, had an ample separate establishment for his support. Khwaja Je-han took the especial charge of the King's education, who made great progress in his studies under Sudr-Jehan Shoostery, a celebrated scholar of that age, so that, next to Feroze Shah, he became the most learned prince that ever filled the Bah-muny throne. Khwaja Jehan, acquiring great power and influence in every department of the state, usurped the sole direction of affairs. He deprived many old nobles of their estates, giving them to creatures of his own elevation; and he also peculated largely out of the royal treasury, contriving to keep his colleague, Khwaja Mahmood Gawan, employed on the frontiers, so that he could interfere but little in the administration. The Queen-mother, a woman of great penetration, jealous of the unlimited power of this minister, urged the King to destroy him. For which purpose she made her son promise, on Khwaja Jehan's coming to court next day, to order him to be put to death. Khwaja Jehan attended according to custom, but his suspicion was roused by the appearance of Nizam-ool-Moolk Toork with some guards. He found, however, it was too late to retire, and as usual took his place near the King. Shortly after, two female servants appearing, said to the King in a loud voice, “The Queen expects your Majesty to “perform your promise to her.” Upon which the King, turning to Nizam-ool-Moolk, exclaimed, “That wretch is a traitor; put him to death.” Nizam-ool-Moolk, who was inimical to Khwaja Jehan, and who had been prepared for the duty, dragged him from his place, and cut him down with his sabre in the King's presence.479a
After some days, Mahomed Shah having sent for Mahmood Gawan, conferred on him the title of Khwaja Jehan, adding the duties of Vakeel-oos-Sultunut to his other functions. On the King attaining his fourteenth year, his marriage with a princess of his own family was celebrated with great splendour, and the Queen-mother, having withdrawn from public affairs, betook herself to a life of devotion. She was, however, still consulted on matters of importance, and the King waited on her every day to pay his respects. After his emancipation from the tutelage of his mother and the minister, one of the King's first acts was to make war on his neighbours. To which end, having appointed Nizam-ool-Moolk governor of Berar, he commanded him to proceed
A. H. 872.
A. D. 1467.
with a powerful army, in the year 872, against the fortress of Kehrla, then in possession of the King of Malwa. Nizam-ool-Moolk laid siege to Kehrla, and several times defeated the reinforcements sent to relieve it. On the last occasion a very obstinate engagement occurred, in which twelve thousand Rajpoots and Afghans fought desperately in the Malwa army, and great numbers were slain on both sides; victory, however, in the end, declared in favour of the Deccanies, who pursuing a part of the garrison into the fort from whence they had sallied, entered the gates with the fugitives, 480a and obtained possession of the place. According to the custom of the common soldiers of the Deccan, the victors gave abusive language to the conquered garrison, which so exasperated two Rajpoot brothers, that they resolved to prove to their enemies they were not deficient, at all events, in courage. When the confusion was over, and the Malwites had evacuated the fort, the two Rajpoots addressed Nizam-ool-Moolk's attendants, saying, that though they had passed their whole lives in the army, and seen many brave men, they had beheld none equal to him, and they solicited permission to kiss his feet before they departed. Nizam-ool-Moolk, observing they were unarmed, ordered them to approach, upon which they came up in a submissive manner; but turning suddenly, and snatching the sabres from the hands of the nearest guards, one of them inflicted a mortal wound on Nizam-ool-Moolk, after which they defended themselves desperately, till they were both hewn in pieces. Nizam-ool-Moolk had two adopted brothers, Yoosoof Adil Khan Savaee, and Duria Khan Toork, who after establishing a strong garrison in the fort, took the general's body, and marched with a valuable booty to court. The King, approving their services, raised each of them to the rank of commanders of a thousand, with the fortress of Kehrla and its dependencies in jageer.481a
The King of Malwa, perceiving the spirit of the Decannies to be unshaken, and fearful of their resentment for the injuries sustained in the late reign, sent an ambassador, named Shureef-ool-Moolk, with valuable presents to Mahomed Shah's court. This nobleman represented that Sooltan Hooshung had entered into a solemn compact with Ahmud Shah Bahmuny; by which it had been stipulated that the province of Berar should belong to the King of the Deccan, while the fortress of Kehrla should remain in the hands of the King of Malwa, and that a lasting peace should subsist between them and their heirs for ever. The ambassador represented, that the Deccan troops had now seized the fortress of Kehrla, and it was, therefore, required that Mahomed Shah should abide by the treaty alluded to, and spare the subjects of both states from the calamities of war.
Mahomed Shah despatched Sheikh Ahmud Sudr, to return with Shureef-ool-Moolk, to Mando with a letter, stating, that he was well disposed to adhere to the former alliance; observing, that while the Carnatic abounded on all sides with strong holds possessed by infidels, he had no occasion to employ his arms against the fortress of Kehrla. He praised God, he added, that the breach of the treaty had not commenced on the part of the house of Bahmuny; it being clear, that in the late reign of his brother, an infant, the King of Malwa, taking advantage of the weakness of his administration, had committed such outrages on the possessions of the faithful as had not been perpetrated even by the ferocious Chungiz Khan in his conquests. In conclusion he said, that as what was passed could not be recalled, he had deputed Sheikh Ahmud, a zealous promoter of peace among the faithful, to the court of Malwa, and that he was prepared to fulfil whatever engagements that holy personage should enter into. Sheikh Ahmud was met near Mando by a deputation of the principal nobles, and conducted with much respect and ceremony into the city; where, being introduced to Sooltan Mahmood Khiljy, he delivered his credentials, and the King's letter. The Malwites were ready to acknowledge that the breach of the treaty originated with themselves; but they hoped that the Almighty, out of his abundant mercy and goodness, would not call them to account for it. Sooltan Mah-mood declared publicly that he had been to blame, but hoped it would be forgotten; and he trusted that such a treaty might now be formed, that his successors and those of Bahmuny would, in future, never act hostilely towards each other. Sheikh Ahmud, on the part of Mahomed Shah, and the Sheikh-ool-Islam, a learned divine, on the part of Sooltan Mahmood Khiljy, drew up a treaty, to which were affixed their seals, as also those of several other holy men of both states. Both princes wrote on the margin in their own hands, “Let “whosoever deviates from the contents of the treaty “be cursed by God, and rejected by the Prophet.” The substance of this treaty was, 1. “That both “parties should refrain from molesting each other's “dominions.” 2. “That the fortress of Kehrla, as “in the reign of Sooltan Ahmud Shah the Just, “should be delivered up to the King of Malwa.” And, 3. “That whatever countries might be “conquered from the Hindoos by either state “should not be coveted by the other.” The negotiation being at an end, Sheikh Ahmud wrote an order to the governor of Kehrla to deliver up that fortress to the deputies of the King of Malwa. After which he returned to the Deccan; and there never, subsequently, happened any contentions between these two states.
A. H. 874.
A. D. 1469.
In the beginning of the year 874,
Mahmood Gawan, the minister,
483a
marched
with a powerful army against Shunkur
Ray of Kehlna, and other refractory rajas in the
Concan. The troops of Joonere, Chakun, Kolhar,
Dabul, Choul, Waee, and Man, and other parts,
were ordered to join him on this service. Shunkur
Ray of Kehlna†
483b
constantly maintained a fleet of
three hundred vessels, and interrupted the traffic
of the Mahomedans. Upon the report of Khwaja
Mahmood Gawan's approach, the infidels contracted
defensive alliances with each other, and
assembled in great numbers at the head of the
passes, but Mahmood Gawan, by degrees, forced
all their positions. Finding his cavalry useless
in the mountainous country, he sent back the
horse he had brought from the capital, and contented
himself with the troops under Asud Khan
Geelany, with the Joonere division, and his own
dependents under Khoosh Kuddum, with the troops
from Kolhar and Dabul. With this army he made
his way by means of fire and the axe through the
woods. He lay five months before the fort of
Kehlna without reducing it, and the rains setting
in, compelled him to relinquish the siege; when,
committing the passes to the protection of ten
thousand infantry inured to the climate, and on
whom he could depend, he ascended the mountains,
and constructed thatched huts to pass the
wet season in the district of Kolapoor, where he
conquered the fort of Ramgur. After the rainy
season he again descended the passes, and, by stratagem
and gifts of money, obtained possession
of the fortress of Kehlna, which had never, till
then, been in the hands of the Mussulmans.
On the approach of the monsoon of the fol-
A. H. 875.
A. D. 1470.
lowing year, he took the same measures as he had done in the former season; and at the expiration of the four wet months, marched into the country of Ray Shun-kur, which he reduced, taking ample revenge for the slaughter of the former Mullik-oot-Toojar and his army. Khwaja Mahmood Gawan then moved against the port and island of Goa, belonging to the Ray of Beejanuggur; sending an hundred and twenty vessels to attack it by sea, while he marched with his army against it by land; and before the Ray of Beejanuggur could oppose his design, he made himself master of the place. Ma-homed Shah, on receiving information of this important conquest, ordered the nobut to beat the march of triumph 485a for seven days, and made other rejoicings.
Khwaja Mahmood Gawan having established a strong garrison in the fort of Goa, and supplied it plentifully with stores of every description, returned, after an absence of three years, to the capital of Ahmudabad Bidur. On this occasion, the King condescended to honour him with a visit of a whole week, conferring upon him the highest titles, with a suit of his own robes; and the Queen-mother† 485b gave him the appellation of brother. Khoosh Kuddum, the commander of his own dependents, who had behaved with distinguished gallantry in the different campaigns, was, at the general's recommendation, promoted to high rank, with the title of Kishwur Khan, and the forts of Goa, Poonda, Kundwal, and Kolapoor, were granted to him in addition to his other estates. 486a On Maho-med Shah's leaving the house of the minister, Mah-mood Gawan, retiring to his chamber, disrobed himself of his splendid dress, threw himself on the ground and wept plenteously; after which he came out, put on the habit of a dervish, and calling together all the most deserving holy and learned men, and Syuds of Ahmudabad Bidur, distributed among them most of his money, jewels, and other wealth, reserving only his elephants, horses, and library; saying, “Praise be to God, I have escaped “temptation, and am now free from danger.”
Moolla Shums-ood-Deen asked him why he had given away every thing but his library, his elephants, and horses? He replied, “When the “King honoured me with a visit, and the Queen-“mother called me brother, my evil passions began “to prevail against my reason; and the struggle be-“tween vice and virtue was so great in my mind, “that I became distressed even in the presence of “his Majesty, who kindly enquired the cause of my “concern. I was obliged to feign illness in excuse “for my conduct; on which the King, advising me “to take some repose, returned to his palace. I “have, therefore,” said the minister, “parted with “wealth, the cause of this temptation to evil.” His library, he said, he had retained for the use of students, and his elephants and horses he regarded as the King's, lent to him only for a season. After this day, the minister always wore plain apparel; and when at leisure from state affairs, retired to his own mosque and college, where he spent his time in the society of the learned, and persons eminent for piety and virtue. On Friday night, he went disguised through the different wards of the city, and distributed alms to the poor, saying, as he gave them, “This is sent by the King.” Notwithstanding this conduct, the people of the Deccan, ever prone to wickedness and intrigue, accused this virtuous minister of corruption, and brought him to an untimely end, as will be hereafter related.
A. H. 876.
A. D. 1471.
In the year 876, Ambur Ray, cousin
to the Ray of Oorea,
487a
complained to
Mahomed Shah, that the Ray being
dead, Mungul Ray, a bramin, his adopted son, had
usurped the government in defiance of his prior
claim to its inheritance; and Ambur Ray now promised,
if the King would assist him with troops to
regain his right, he would become his tributary.
Mahomed Shah, who had a great desire to possess
the territory of Oorea, including Rajmundry and
Condapilly, thought this request favourable to his
views; and by the advice of Khwaja Mahmood
Gawan having conferred the title of Nizam-ool-Moolk
on Mullik Hussun Bheiry, directed him to
proceed with a considerable army to that quarter.
On the borders of Orissa, he was joined by Ambur
Ray with his troops, who became the guide of the
army against Mungul Ray. The usurper was defeated,
and Ambur Ray placed in possession of his
hereditary dominions. Nizam-ool-Moolk, accompanied
by Ambur Ray, now proceeded against
Condapilly and Rajmundry, both which places he
reduced, and by the orders of Mahomed Shah,
having established proper military garrisons to ensure
their security, he permitd Ambur Ray to
depart to his own country, himself returning with
much booty to court. On this occasion, Nizam-ool-Moolk,
at the recommendation of the Queen-mother
and Khwaja Mahmood Gawan, was confirmed
in the government of all Tulingana. At
the same time, also, Duria Khan, entitled Imad-ool-Moolk,
was appointed governor of Berar, and
Yoosoof Adil Khan Savaee, one of the followers of
Khwaja Mahmood Gawan, eminent for many great
qualities, and whom the minister had adopted as his
son, was nominated to the government of Dowlut-abad,
the most important post in the state. Mahomed
Shah, confiding in the abilities of Yoosoof Adil
Khan, directed him to reduce the fortress of Wy-ragur
,
488a
and to recover that of Antoor, which during
the Malwa invasion had fallen into the possession
of a Mahratta chief, who did not pay proper submission.
Yoosoof Adil Khan, on reaching Dow-lutabad,
despatched Kasim Beg Suf-Shikun†
488b
to
reduce Antoor, and Duria Khan against Wyragur.
The chief of the former delivered it up without
opposition, on promise of receiving quarter; but
the raja of the latter place held out against the
besiegers for six months; at the end of which time,
seeing no hopes of relief, he sent a message to
Yoosoof Adil Khan, promising, if his life should
be spared, to make an offering of all his effects in
the fort, and to evacuate it with his family. Yoo-soof
Adil Khan, agreeing to these terms, ordered
Duria Khan to permit the inhabitants to retire
without molestation. Accordingly, the Ray Beejy
Sing, with his family and dependents, quitted the
ancient abode of his ancestors, leaving behind him
his public treasures and hereditary wealth. Yoosoof
Adil Khan, who had come post to the camp, entered
the fort the same day, and took possession of
the property; after which, he conciliated the principal
inhabitants and farmers of the country by
assurances of his protection. He then marched
against the fort of Ranjny
489a
the chief of which,
whose father was lately dead, surrendered on condition
of his life being spared. Yoosoof Adil Khan,
having selected some elephants, horses, and such
articles as he deemed fit for the King's use, received
the Raja (Amur Sing) under his protection, and
restored to him his fort and country. Yoosoof Adil
Khan now returned to Ahmudabad Bidur, where he
laid before the King such sums of money and
jewels, besides presenting several elephants and
horses, that the rich booties of Rajmundry and
Nowlgoond appeared insignificant when compared
with them. Mahomed Shah accordingly conferred
of regard to his future safety, sent persons secretly
to Khwaja Mahmood to obtain terms; but
Mahomed Shah, in order to show his power and
to deter other fortresses from holding out, refused
to accede to any conditions, and resolved to take
it by storm. He commanded the fire-workers, as
they valued their own safety, to effect a practicable
breach in fourteen days, and committed to
Khwaja Mahmood Gawan the duty of filling up
the ditch, saying that he expected to have it
passable for the troops when the guns had effected
a breach. Though Khwaja Mahmood Gawan
during the day threw great quantities of wood
and earth into the ditch, the enemy in the night
always removed them, upon which he changed his
operations to another quarter, and began to form
trenches and dig mines which till now had not
been used in the Deccan. Birkana, confiding in
his wet ditch, fancied himself secure, when suddenly
three mines from the posts of Khwaja Mah-mood
Gawan, Yoosoof Adil Khan, and Futteh
Oolla Imad-ool-Moolk, having been conducted
under the fort wall, succeeded in forming breaches.
The troops of Birkana advanced gallantly to
defend the place, and nearly two thousand of the
King's troops fell in the attempt to storm. The
besieged had nearly repaired the work with wood
and stones, when Mahomed Shah, advancing to
the assault, drove the enemy before him, and
gained the ramparts. While in the act of attacking
the citadel, the Raja himself, having assumed
a disguise, came to the royal attendants, and requested
to be introduced to the King as a messenger
from the Ray. On being admitted to the
presence, he threw his turban round his neck, and
discovered himself, saying, that he had come with
his family to kiss the foot of the throne. Mahomed
Shah, flattered with this exhibition of confidence
and magnanimity, admitted him into the order of
the nobility of his court. When opposition had
ceased the King entered the citadel, and gave God
thanks for the success of his arms. Having added
Belgam and its dependences to the estates of
Khwaja Mahmood Gawan he returned to the capital.
Soon after this expedition, in which she had accompanied
her son, the Queen-mother, by whose prudence
the state had acquired such eminence, died
on the road, and the King sent her corpse to be
interred with great pomp at Ahmudabad Bidur.
When the royal standard reached the city of Beejapoor, Mahomed Shah, at the request of Khwaja Mahmood Gawan, halted to repose from his fatigues; and the minister endeavoured to divert his grief from the death of his mother. Admiring the situation of Beejapoor, the King would willingly have remained there during the rainy season; but so severe a drought prevailed throughout the Deccan, that the wells dried up, and the King, contrary to his inclination, was obliged to move with his army to Ahmudabad Bidur. No rain fell during the next year either, and the towns in consequence became almost depopulated. Many of the inhabitants died of famine, and numbers emigrated, for food, to Malwa, Jajnuggur, and Guzerat. In Tulingana, Marhutt, 494a and throughout the Bahmuny dominions, no grain was sown for two years; and on the third, when the Almighty showered his mercy upon the earth, scarcely any farmers remained in the country to cultivate the lands.†494b
Not long after this dreadful visitation, while the country was just reviving from depopulation, intelligence came that the garrison of Condapilly had, in a state of mutiny, murdered their governor, seized the property of his dependents, and given up the fort to Bhimraj Oorea, a person originally patronised by Mahomed Shah. Bhimraj, on this acquisition, sent persons to wait on the Ray of Orissa, representing, that if he wished to recover his hereditary dominions in Tulingana, now was the time, as the resources of the Deccan were exhausted by two years of famine, and the armies were reduced to small numbers. Bhimraj also promised to join him, provided he were admitted to share in the conquests made from the Mussul-mans; and engaged for the present to allow him to retain the fort and district of Condapilly. The Ray of Orissa, availing himself of these offers, collected ten thousand horse, and eight thousand foot, and having summoned the Raja of Jajnuggur to his assistance, entered Tulingana without delay. Nizam-ool-Moolk, governor of Rajmundry, unable to cope with so large a force, shut himself up in that fortress, and sent accounts to court of his situation.
Mahomed Shah, by the advice of Khwaja Mah-mood Gawan, resolved to march against the infidels in person. Having, therefore, advanced one year's pay to the troops, he began his journey with all practicable expedition. On his arrival near Raj-mundry, the enemy declined meeting him in the field, Bhimraj retired to the fortress of Conda-pilly, and the Ray of Orissa, crossing the river at Rajmundry, retreated towards his own dominions. Mahomed Shah, enraged at this unprovoked aggression, left Khwaja Mahmood Gawan, with the Prince Mahmood Khan, at Rajmundry, and marched with twenty thousand horse to punish the rebellious idolater. In the latter part of the year
A. H. 882.
A. D. 1477.
882, the King penetrated to the capital of Orissa, and slew without mercy the inhabitants, at the same time devastating the enemy's country. The Ray having withdrawn his troops to the very extremity of his possessions, the Mahomedans ranged unmolested, and collected contributions from the people. The King, at length, determined to send for his son and Khwaja Mahmood Gawan, and to establish them in the province, which he determined to occupy as a permanent conquest.
The Ray of Orissa, hearing of the King's intentions, sent repeated embassies, with presents of elephants and other valuable articles, to open the door of forgiveness, declaring, solemnly, that he would never, on any future occasion, assist the zemindars of Tulingana. To this the King replied, that if he would give him up twenty-five elephants, which he named, and which had belonged to the late Ray, his predecessor, he would make peace. Although the Ray prized these elephants next to his life, he durst not refuse; they were accordingly sent, clothed in rich trappings, bearing in their trunks chains of gold and silver. After which, the King commenced his return from Orissa.
On the road, while one day engaged at some distance from his route in hunting, he saw a fort on a high hill, and going to view it nearer with his attendants, asked some of the country people to whom it belonged. They replied, that it was the property of the Ray of Orissa, and that no power dared be so rash as to cast even a look of conquest upon it. The King, incensed at this remark, halted at the foot of the hill, and the next day began the siege, which continued a month and a half without success. At the expiration of that period, the Ray sent an apology for the rudeness of his subjects, whom he called clowns unacquainted with politeness, and entreated his Majesty would consider the fort his own by conquest, but bestow it upon him as one of his vassals. This ingenious apology pleasing the King, he raised the siege, and continued his march.
Mahomed Shah now sat down before Condapilly, and Bhim Raj, after six months, being much distressed, sued for pardon; which being granted, at the intercession of some of the nobility, he surrendered the fort and town to the royal troops. The King having gone to view the fort, broke down an idolatrous temple, and killed some bramins, who officiated at it, with his own hands, as a point of religion. He then gave orders for a mosque to be erected on the foundation of the temple, and ascending a pulpit, repeated a few prayers, distributed alms, and commanded the Khootba to be read in his name. Khwaja Mahmood Gawan now represented, that as his Majesty had slain some infidels with his own hands, he might fairly assume the title of Ghazy, an appellation of which he was very proud. Mahmood Shah was the first of his race who had slain a bramin; 497a and it is the belief of the Deccanies that this act was inauspicious, and led to the troubles which soon after perplexed the affairs of himself and his family, and ended in the dissolution of the dynasty.
Mahomed Shah, according to the advice of Khwaja Mahmood, remained nearly three years at Rajmundry, settling the conquered country, and establishing proper military posts on that frontier. Having secured the whole of Tulingana, by expelling all the refractory zemindars, he resolved on the conquest of the territory of Nursing Ray, and consulted his minister on the subject of establishing a governor for the province of Tulin-gana. The minister replied, that no one was more capable of such a charge than Nizam-ool-Moolk Bheiry; and the King, approving of the choice, committed to his care Rajmundry, Condapilly, and several other places. Wurungole, and other districts, he conferred on Azim Khan, after which he began his march towards the territory of Nursing Ray. Nizam-ool-Moolk, disappointed that Azim Khan should have a distinct charge within his province, represented, that he wished to leave his government in charge of one of his sons, and attend the royal stirrup. To this application the King replied, that his object was to afford protection to the country, and he was, therefore, indifferent by whom that should be effected. It is said that Khwaja Mahmood, perceiving Nizam-ool-Moolk to be extremely ambitious, did not wish that his son, Mullik Ahmud, who had lately married a lady from the King's haram, and was more aspiring even than his father, should be stationed with him in the same province. At the time when Nizam-ool-Moolk was originally appointed governor of Raj-mundry, he persuaded the King to station Mullik Ahmud under Khodawund Khan Hubshy, giving him an estate in the Mahoor district, with the rank of an officer of three hundred. Mahomed Shah, however, now complying with the request of Nizam-ool-Moolk, recalled his son Mullik Ahmud to camp, promoted him to the rank of commander of a thousand men, and permitted him to proceed as his father's deputy to Rajmundry.
Nursing Ray was a powerful raja possessing the country lying between the Carnatic and Tulin-gana , 499a extending along the sea-coast to Muchly-puttun† 499b (fish-town), and had added much of the Bee-januggur territory to his own by conquest, together with several strong forts. He had frequently excited the zemindars on the Bahmuny frontier to rebel; and the officers on the borders, unable to control his power, had more than once represented his conduct to court, which had, at length, induced the King to attack him.
Mahomed Shah, in the beginning of this expedition, marching by a ruined fort‡, 499c and being told that it had been erected by one of the kings of Dehly to overawe the borderers, halted, and commanded it to be repaired without delay. Khwaja Mahmood Gawan made such exertions that the ordinary work of two years was accomplished in the short space of six months, a garrison established, and ample stores of all kinds laid in for its defence. On Mahomed Shah finding the works completed in so short a time, he exclaimed, “The Almighty hath bountifully conferred upon me “two incalculable blessings; a great kingdom, and “such a servant as Mahmood Gawan!” Having said this, he took off his upper robe, and putting it on the shoulders of Khwaja Mahmood, took his in return, and put it on his own person. No history, I believe, records an instance of so great an honour being conferred by any king on a subject. But as the attainment of supreme favour often leads to distrust, and sometimes even to a downfall, so it happened to Khwaja Mahmood Gawan, as will be hereafter related.
Mahomed Shah, having stationed three thousand horse near the fort to protect his rear, marched onward. Wherever he came he laid waste the country, and slew such of the inhabitants as made resistance. On his arrival at Condapilly, he was informed by the country people, that at the distance of ten days' journey was the temple of Kunchy, 500a the walls and roof of which were covered with plates of gold, and ornamented with precious stones; but that no Mahomedan monarch had as yet seen it, or even heard of its name. Mahomed Shah, accordingly, selected six thousand of his best cavalry, and leaving the rest of his army at Condapilly, proceeded by forced marches to Kunchy. He moved so rapidly on the last day, according to the historians of the time, that only forty troopers kept up with him, among which number were Nizam-ool-Moolk Bheiry and Yoorish Khan Toork. On approaching the temple some Hindoos came forth, one of whom, a man of gigantic stature, mounted on horseback, and brandishing a drawn sabre by way of defiance, rushed full speed towards the King, and aimed a blow which the latter parried; and with one stroke of his sword cleaved him in twain. Another infidel then attacked the King, whose little band was shortly engaged man to man with the enemy; but Mahomed Shah had again the good fortune to slay his opponent, upon which the rest of the Hindoos retired into the temple. Swarms of people, like bees, now issued from within, and ranged themselves under the walls to defend it. At length, the rest of the King's force coming up, the temple was attacked and carried by storm, with great slaughter. An immense booty fell to the share of the victors, who took away nothing but gold, jewels, and silver, which were abundant. The King then sacked the city of Kunchy, and after remaining therein for a week, he returned to his army.
After this achievement, Mahomed Shah having consulted Mullik Hussun Nizam-ool-Moolk, 501a Yoosoof Adil Khan, and Fukhr-ool-Moolk, detached them, together with many other of the foreign officers and troops, composed of the Dow-lutabad and Joonere divisions, consisting of about fifteen thousand men, against Nursing Ray. The King himself marched towards Muchly-puttun, a place also belonging to Nursing Ray, which he reduced, with all the dependent country, and then returned to Condapilly. It was at this time that Nizam-ool-Moolk, Zureef-ool-Moolk, and other officers, envious of the favour shown towards the minister, bribed several of the King's confidential personal domestics to throw out occasional hints prejudicial to Khwaja Mahmood Gawan. They lost no opportunity of poisoning the King's mind, by rendering him suspicious of the minister's ambition, and insinuated that great peculations took place in the royal revenue. At length they brought that great man to destruction, by contriving an infamous forgery. Before I enter into the particulars of this transaction, it will be proper to state the causes of the hostility of those nobles who plotted his destruction.
The Bahmuny territories having, in the reign of Mahomed Shah, become very extensive, Khwaja Mahmood Gawan thought it desirable to make several alterations in the ordinances established by Alla-ood-Deen Hussun Shah Gungoo, which were calculated for a small state. Having convinced the King of this necessity, he was permitted to carry his plan into execution. The whole kingdom, which had been originally divided into four turufs, or provinces, and placed under four governors, was now distributed into eight. Berar was subdivided into two governments; viz. Gavul being placed under Futteh Oolla Imad-ool-Moolk, and Mahoor under Khodawund Khan Hubshy. Dowlutabad was conferred on Yoosoof Adil Khan; while a tract from Joonere, including several dependent districts on the south, such as Indapoor, Waee, Man, as well as the forts of Goa and Belgam, were placed under Fukhr-ool-Moolk. Beejapoor, with many districts along the Beema, together with Rachore and Moodkul, were reserved by the minister for himself. Ahsunabad Koolburga, Sagur, Nuldroog, and Sholapore, were entrusted to the Abyssinian eunuch Dustoor Deenar. The country of Tulingana, at one time entirely in the hands of Nizam-ool-Moolk Bheiry, was also divided. Raj-mundry, Muchly-puttun, Bilconda, Oorea, &c. still continued under his charge; while the government of Wurungole was conferred on Azim Khan. Several places in each of the eight divisions were reserved especially to meet the King's private expenses; and distinct collectors were appointed from court to manage them.
From the time of Alla-ood-Deen Shah to the present reign, it had been the custom to leave all the forts, in each province, in the hands of the governor, or turufdar, who appointed his own commandant and garrison. In consequence of this arrangement, the governors of provinces had sometimes rebelled, and it had frequently been found difficult to reduce them to subjection. By the new regulation one fortress alone was left in the governor's hands, in which he might, if he chose, reside; but the remainder were entrusted to officers and troops distinctly appointed by the King, and paid from head-quarters.
The mode of paying the army was also altered; formerly the officers of five hundred men had one lack of hoons 503a per annum; of a thousand, two lacks, whether payable in cash or in jageer assignment. Khwaja Mahmood, after the entire conquest of Tulingana, in order to conciliate the army, increased the pay of an officer of five hundred to one lack and twenty-five thousand hoons, and an officer of a thousand to two lacks and fifty thousand. In the jageer assignments it was understood, if the revenues fell short of the estimate even by one hoon, the balance was payable out of the royal treasury: at the same time, if the officers kept one soldier less than the complement, a sum equal to his pay was deducted from the allowances. By these excellent rules order every where prevailed, the government acquired strength, and justice was done to all parties; but this rigid scrutiny gave offence to many ambitious chiefs, who, in consequence, entertained hatred to the minister.
Khwaja Mahmood perceived their discontent; but as all his views were directed to the public interest only, he disregarded it, feeling confidence in himself and his friends. Among the most sincere of these was Yoosoof Adil Khan, his adopted son. The enemies of the minister also felt that while these two chiefs remained together no attempt could be made against either. Yoo-soof Adil Khan, having, as we have seen, gone on the expedition against Nursing Ray, the two friends were separated, and a number of Dec-canies 505a and Abyssinians, who had been raised to high offices entirely at the recommendation of Khwaja Mahmood, entered into a conspiracy with Nizam-ool-Moolk Bheiry against their patron, recommending that advantage should be taken of Yoosoof Adil Khan's absence to effect the destruction of the minister.
Zureef-ool-Moolk Deccany, and one Mifta an Abyssinian, were the two persons selected to execute the plot. Having laid themselves out for the purpose, they became intimate with the Abyssinian slave who kept the minister's seal, and were in the habit of drinking with him. On one occasion, when the slave was much inebriated, they asked him to affix the minister's seal to a paper, which they said was an account of one of their friends, to which the signet of several of the departments was already attached, and which only required the minister's. The slave, intoxicated with liquor, complied, and without even unfolding the paper stamped the seal on the part pointed out to him. The two wretches, overjoyed at their success, went the same night to Nizam-ool-Moolk, who wrote a letter on the paper, as if from Khwaja Mahmood to the Ray of Orissa, in these words: “I am weary of the debaucheries and cruelty “of Mahomed Shah: the Deccan may be con-“quered with little trouble. On the Rajmundry “frontier, there is no officer of any character; “and that tract lies open to invasion from your “quarter. As most of the officers and troops “are devoted to my interests, I will join you “with a powerful army. When we have, in con-“junction, reduced the kingdom, we can divide “it equally between us.” Zureef-ool-Moolk and Mifta Hubshy were instructed to deliver this letter to the King, in the presence of Nizam-ool-Moolk. Mahomed Shah, seeing the seal, was incensed beyond measure, and Nizam-ool-Moolk availed himself of the moment to criminate the minister more deeply by false insinuations. The King, losing all command over his reason, and without weighing the probability of the circumstance, sent for Khwaja Mahmood, without even asking to see the messenger, who, it was pretended, had been intercepted carrying the letter. The minister's friends warned him against going, and recommended him to frame some excuse for not obeying that day, but to wait till the King's frenzy should abate; by which time the authors of the forgery might be detected, and brought to punishment. Khwaja Mahmood resolved to meet the danger, repeating, in reply, certain verses to the following effect: —“He who dies a martyr in the fulness of devo-“tion has his reward here and hereafter; happy, “then, would it be for me to meet with so enviable “a destiny.
“My beard has grown grey in the service of the “father, it will surely be honourable that it be “dyed 507a red in that of the son.”
Many of the chiefs attached to the minister sent messengers to him, saying, that they had heard alarming reports, but they had each a thousand horse ready, and that if he chose to fly to Guzerat, they would attend him, and sacrifice their lives for him. He replied, he had for many years enjoyed an honourable station in his master's service, during which he had been guilty of no crime; that he relied with confidence on the justice of the King, who would certainly not punish a faithful servant on the bare accusations of his enemies; but if impelled by Providence to do so, it was befitting in him to submit to the decree. He concluded by observing, that the measure they proposed, out of duty and friendship, would on his part be ingratitude and rebellion.
Having made up his mind to the worst, he went to court. Mahomed Shah sternly asked him, “When any one is disloyal to his sovereign, “and his crime be proved, what should be his “punishment?” The Khwaja undauntedly replied, “Let the abandoned wretch who practises treason “against his lord meet with no mercy.” The King then showed him the letter; upon seeing which, the minister, after repeating the verse of the Koran, “O God, verily this is a great forgery,” said, “The seal is mine, but not the letter, of which I “have no knowledge.” He concluded, by repeating the following verse: “By that God whose “commands have been fulfilled by the just, even at “the expense of their blood, false as the story of “Yoosoof and the wolf 508a is that which my enemies “have forged against me.” The King being at the time intoxicated with wine, had resigned his reason to fury, and as the decline of the house of Bahmuny was also to be soon completed, he went into no further examination, but rising from his seat, ordered his Abyssinian slave Jowhur to put the minister to death on the spot. Khwaja Mahmood, addressing the King, said, “The death of an old man “like me is, indeed, of little moment, but to “your Majesty it will be the loss of an empire, “and the ruin of your character.” The King, without attending to him, went abruptly into his haram. The slave then drawing his sabre advanced towards the Khwaja, who, kneeling down facing the Kibla, 509a said, “There is no God but “God, and Mahomed is the prophet of God.” As the sabre descended he exclaimed, “Praise be to God,” and thus resigned his soul to the divine mercy. Asud Khan Geelany, an officer of high rank, and a friend of the Khwaja, happening to be present, was put to death by the slave also, without orders. Thus died Khwaja Mahmood Gawan, in the seventy-eighth year of his age. A little before his death he completed a poem in praise of his master, Mahomed Shah.
Suffur 5.
A. H. 886.
April 5.
A. D. 1481.
His death happened on the 5th of
Suffur, 886; and Moolla Abdool Kur-reem
Sindy, the author of the Tareekh
Mahmood Shahy, one of the servants of
the Khwaja, composed the following verses on his
martyrdom:—
“If you would know the date, when the innocent “martyr, truly worthy of veneration, whose bounty “made the world glad, suffered death, you will find “it recorded in
◌
“The unjust Execution.’”†509b
In another distich, the same author observes, “If you are asked the date of his death, say that
◌
“‘the guiltless Mahmood Gawan suffered martyrdom.’”†509c
There are in the Deccan many remains of the munificence of this great man, particularly a college built by him at Ahmudabad Bidur two years before his death, containing also a mosque and a large square, which at the date of this history were as entire as if only just finished. 510a Khwaja Mahmood possessed much learning; he evinced great taste in his compositions, both in prose and verse, and in arithmetic and mathematics he had few equals. The Rozut-ool-Insha and some poems of his production are still extant in a few of the libraries in the Deccan. It was his practice to remit annually valuable presents to several learned men in Khorassan and Irak, and the princes of those parts bestowed honours upon him. Mowlana Jamy Abdool Rahman corresponded with him, and some of his letters are to be seen in his works. Among the Mowlana's poems is one written in praise of that minister. Moolla Abdool Kureem Sindy has written an excellent life of Khwaja Mahmood, part of which is here inserted.
Khwaja Mahmood's ancestors had for many generations in succession held the office of vizier to the princes of Geelan in Persia. One of these became ruler of Rushd, which territory, according to Hajy Mahomed Kandahary, continued in the family till the time of Shah Tahmasp Sufvy. Khwaja Mahmood, himself of royal extraction, alarmed at the jealousy of Shah Tahmasp, persuaded his mother to quit his birth-place; and though invited to fill the high station of vizier by the princes of Irak and Khorassan, he refused that dangerous office, choosing rather to become a merchant. In this capacity he travelled through many countries, and made acquaintance with celebrated and learned men in each. In his forty-third year, with a view partly to traffic and partly in order to visit the learned men of the Deccan, he came by sea to the port of Dabul, and from thence travelled to Ahmudabad Bidur, intending to proceed from that capital to Dehly. Alla-ood-Deen Shah the Second, appreciating his great qualities, prevailed on him to become enrolled among his nobility. In the reign of Hoomayoon Shah Zalim he received the title of Mullik-oot-Toojar, and rose to the first office in the state. Ma-homed Shah added to this several other titles, among which was that of Khwaja Jehan. During this reign he had two thousand Moguls in his own service, and the command of ten thousand horse from the King. The following reason is given for his being called Gawan: Being one day in the King's company sitting on a terrace of the palace, a cow happened to low underneath, when one of the assembly jocosely remarked, “The learned “minister will perhaps tell your Majesty what the “cow says.” On which Khwaja Mahmood observed, “She says I am one of her species, and “should not keep company with an ass.” When he received the title of Khwaja Jehan, he prophetically observed that he feared it was unlucky, as all who had held it came to an untimely end. He was by persuasion a rigid Soony. His loyalty to Mahomed Shah was sincere; and the fame of his liberality spread over Asia; there being scarce a town or city the learned men of which had not derived advantage from his bounty. His behaviour was affable to all, and his justice unimpeachable.
Mahomed Shah having heard frequent reports of the vast wealth of his minister, sent for the treasurer, Nizam-ood-Deen Hussun Geelany, and demanded where the money, jewels, and plate of the Khwaja were deposited. The treasurer, in apparent alarm, told the King that if he would spare his life he would discover all; on which, expecting to realise a great booty, the King took a solemn oath, promising if he concealed nothing to reward him handsomely. The treasurer then said, “O Sire, my “master had two treasuries, one of which he called “the King's, from which were issued the expenses “of his troops, stables, and household: in this there “are now ten thousand larees 513a and three thousand “hoons; the other he called the treasury of the “poor, and in this there is a sealed bag containing “three hundred larees.”† 513b The King said, “How “comes it that the Khwaja, whose revenues “equalled that of many kings, should only have “so small a sum?” The treasurer said, “When-“ever money came from his jageer, having taken “for the King's treasury the pay of his troops “and stables, he gave the remainder, in your “Majesty's name, to the poor, not reserving a “cowrie‡ 513c for his own use. A sum of forty “thousand larees§, 513d which he brought with him “from Persia to the Deccan, he employed in trade, “and preserving always that capital, he expended “two larees daily for his own kitchen and apparel “out of the profit, the remainder of which was “carried into the treasury for the poor, and “issued from thence in sums remitted to his “mother, his relatives, and worthy persons, with “whom he had made acquaintance in his travels, “and who would not come to Hindoostan.”
The enemies of the minister were confounded at this account; but enviously remarked, that the Khwaja was a prudent man, and suspecting his expenses might betray his riches, had left them secreted at the capital. To which the treasurer replied, that if one laree belonging to him should be found there, or any where, besides the sums he had mentioned, he would submit to the severest punishment. The King then assembled all the late minister's servants, and first questioned the chief furash, 514a who said, that all the tents and carpets his master had were now in the camp, except some matting in the city on the floors of his mosque and college: he observed that the Khwaja always slept himself upon a bare mat. The overseer of the kitchen was then called, who declared, that all the utensils and vessels were with him; but that the victuals for his master's own eating were always prepared in earthen pots. The librarian lastly stood forth, and acknowledged that there were in the library three thousand volumes, but all designed for the students of the college. The King now became melancholy; and the treasurer took courage to say, “O King! may many thousands such as “Mahmood Gawan be a sacrifice for thy safety; “but why didst thou not regard the claims of that “minister, and ascertain who was the bearer of “the letter to the Ray of Orissa, that his treason “might appear manifest to us, and to all man-“kind.” Mahomed Shah, struck with the observation, and awaking as if from a trance of stupefaction, called to the accusers of the unfortunate minister to bring the bearer of the letter before him. None could be produced; and the real truth now flashed on the King's mind: he trembled with horror at the act that he had committed, and retired into his haram full of remorse and sorrow at his rash credulity, and for the unjust sentence passed against his faithful servant and friend. The body of the deceased was sent off in melancholy pomp from the camp to Ahmudabad Bidur for interment; three days after which ceremony, the Prince Mahmood Khan and many of the nobility were directed to visit the grave.
The King now gave orders to march; but on the very same night Imad-ool-Moolk and Khodawund Khan, with the Berar and Mahoor divisions, separating from the camp, moved four miles distant. Mahomed Shah, surprised at their conduct, deferred his journey, and sent to enquire the cause of their movement. They replied, that as the favourite servants of his Majesty had by their machinations destroyed such a minister as Khwaja Mah-mood Gawan, they could not but be apprehensive of their own safety if they remained at court. The King, upon this, sent them a confidential message, desiring them to come to his presence, that by their assistance he might punish the traitors who had thus abused his confidence. To this they replied, that whenever Yoosoof Adil Khan should arrive, they would come with him, and throw themselves at his Majesty's feet. The King, seeing that patience and conciliation alone would avail him, sent an order to Yoosoof Adil Khan, who came with all expedition to Condapilly, and pitched his camp close to that of the two disaffected chieftains; shortly after which, they obtained whatsoever they required. Beejapoor, the jageer of the late Khwaja Mahmood Gawan, was conferred on Yoosoof Adil Khan, who was appointed turuf-dar; while Duria Khan Fukhr-ool-Moolk, Mul-loo Khan, and most of the Mogul officers attached to him, obtained estates in that division. Futteh Oolla Imad-ool-Moolk and Khodawund Khan were confirmed in their governments, and also obtained other demands which they made. Having attended the King to Ahmudabad Bidur, these chiefs encamped without the city and refused to enter it; on which the King, finding his authority unsupported, did not give way to useless passion, as might have been expected, but submitting peaceably to their conduct, permitted them to return with due honours to their several estates. He vainly hoped, that Nizam-ool-Moolk Bheiry, now appointed minister, would supply the place of Khwaja Mahmood Gawan. In order to strengthen the hands of his new minister, he loaded him daily with public honours and private benefits; but these measures only tended to render him more and more the object of jealousy, hatred, and contempt.
Some months afterwards, the King, in hopes that Yoosoof Adil Khan, Imad-ool-Moolk, and Khodawund Khan, would join him with their armies, marched from the capital; but though they accompanied him, they encamped at a distance, and paid their respects only on the line of march, standing afar off, and being surrounded with their guards. Mahomed Shah, a thousand times in an hour, regretted the loss of Khwaja Mahmood; but as there was now no remedy, he scorned to complain, though he inwardly suffered extreme anguish. When the army reached Belgam, and the King had seen the city and fortifications, he refused to visit Goa and the Concan, though repeatedly pressed by his officers to do so, but returned to the capital. At this time, intelligence arrived that Shew Ray, Raja of Beejanuggur, had sent a large army against Goa; on which the King directed Yoosoof Adil Khan to proceed with the Beejapoor division to oppose him. He himself returned by regular marches to Ferozabad; when Futteh Oolla Imad-ool-Moolk and Khodawund Khan, quitting the army on the route without leave, retired to their respective governments in Berar.
Mahomed Shah, aware that an attempt to enforce his authority must be attended by a civil war, resolved to take no notice of this conduct. He halted for three months at Ferozabad, and endeavoured to beguile the time in pleasure; but he was inwardly a prey to grief and mortification, which wasted his strength daily. He now proclaimed his son, the Prince Mahmood, his successor, and nominated Nizam-ool-Moolk regent in case of his death. A document to this effect was drawn out in writing, attested by the signatures and seals of the learned and pious men of the court. While this paper was framing, the King frequently said, “If they do “not obey me, who reigned gloriously for many “years, and conquered nations with my sword, “how will they submit to a child?” His weakness daily increased; but upon his return to Ahmud-abad Bidur he grew better, and presuming upon it, indulged in excesses which produced a relapse. His fever had not entirely left him, when one day he drank a large cup of wine, and withdrew to his haram, which brought on a severe fit. The physicians administered to him medicines immediately, and seeing him somewhat recovered, retired. In their absence, the King, from the vulgar notion that nothing is so good to remove the lassitude from intoxication as a fresh cordial, drank more wine, and instantly fell into strong convulsions, during which he cried out that Khwaja Mahmood Gawan was tearing him to pieces; till at length he trod
Suffur 1.
A. H. 887.
March 24.
A. D. 1482.
the path of death on the 1st of Suffur, 887, after a reign of twenty years. The date of his death is comprised in the following verses:—
“Sooltan Mahomed Shah, ruler of kings,
“When suddenly summoned to yield up his breath,
“Abandoned the Deccan, and all worldly things,
“And ‘the ruin of Deccan’ 518a recorded his death.”
* He is, I believe, the only instance of a king of India bearing the title of Wully, or Saint.
↩* Mullik-oot-Toojar, literally, King, or Lord of the Merchants.
↩* This custom of giving military titles descriptive of the number of men commanded by each officer is of very old date in the East. In the Scriptures we read of captains of tens and of hundreds. The Romans even had their centurions. The Tartars had and have their yooz-bashies and meen-bashies, heads of a hundred, and heads of a thousand men. The Indian Mahomedans brought the custom with them, and extended it to leaders of five thousand men, which was the highest specific rank; beyond that, they were termed surlushkur, or commander.
↩† The togh, or togha, is a pennon made of the tail of the cow of Thibet. The custom came into India with the Tartars, who also carried it into the West, and it has become familiar to Europeans since the establishment of the Turkish government at Constantinople, in the shape of bashaws of one, two, or three tails, or toghs. The European togha is of horse-hair.
↩* This passage strengthens my opinion, that neither guns nor musketry were used at this period.
↩* The word construct should, perhaps, be rebuilt, or repaired. Had it been originally constructed by a Mahomedan prince, it would have received some other name; whereas that by which it is alone known sufficiently indicates not only its Hindoo origin but its antiquity, as belonging to the period of the ga-vully or pastoral kings; an account of whose dominion has been handed to us by tradition, but of whom no written accounts are to be found.
↩* The word haram needs no further explanation: it signifies, literally, honour. A Mussulman's wife and females are his honour.
↩* The fortress of Bidur is of great strength, and its ditches, excavated from the rock on which it stands, are among the most remarkable works in the Deccan. I do not believe it was ever carried by storm. Some of the ruins in the town, and several of the mausolea in the suburbs, bespeak it to have been once a splendid city. Like every thing appertaining to the Mahomedan kingdoms of India, it is much dilapidated, and is falling rapidly into further decay.
↩† It seems rather improbable that these three kingdoms were ever united under one Hindoo prince, though Bidur might once have been a Hindoo capital.
↩* It seems very doubtful if the whole of the Concan had ever been attacked before this period, and this exploit seems to have been rather a marauding expedition than a conquest. The ports of Dabul and Choul are spoken of at a very early period as in the hands of the Mahomedans; but whether they occupied much of the interior of the country appears very questionable.
↩† Bombay. This attack seems to have been very unjustifiable, and its result led to nothing but a series of disgraceful defeats, on the part of the Deccanies, both there and in other quarters.
↩* The Deccan army proceeded through Gungturry into Kandeish.
↩† Tumbola.
↩* This is the person who is accused of having instigated the King to cause his elder brother Feroze to be strangled; and aware of his sanguinary disposition, he naturally concluded him to be a dangerous rival to the throne.
↩* A native of Kurbula, in Mesopotamia, the spot on which Hoossein, the grandson of the prophet Mahomed, was killed, and where he lies interred.
↩* The overbearing insolence of the military nobles in Oriental governments is strongly pourtrayed throughout this transaction, while the respect shown by Ahmud Shah Wully to holy personages is powerfully exhibited, also, in the sequel.
↩† The date on his tomb at Bidur is simply 839: the period at which the mausoleum was, probably, completed. On the door is the following inscription:—
↩“Should my heart ache, my remedy is this — “A cup of wine, and then I sip of bliss.”
* The coincidence between this story and that told of Alexander the Great, recognising the high priest of the Jews at Jerusalem as the person he had before seen in a dream is remarkable. Ahmud Shah Bahmuny was as desirous of being considered a wully, or saint, as Alexander to be thought the son of Jupiter.
↩* Sonkehr. The situation of this place has not been ascertained, and may, probably, be an error in the MSS. I have consulted.
↩† Fairy Face.
↩* Khulf Hussun, Mullik-oot-Toojar, it has been before stated, was a foreign merchant. The hostility of the Dec-canies and Abyssinians to the Persians and Toorks seems to have prevailed throughout the long period of the reign of the Deccan kings.
↩† Mogul is the appellation given by the Deccany historians to all the foreign Mahomedans, whether Arabs, Persians, or Tartars, whereas, the name ought strictly to be confined to one particular race.
↩* This little, and now insignificant, fortress seems to have been the most formidable of the retreats of Nuseer Khan. Buglana, with its hundred hills, was yet unsubdued by the Mahomedans; but it seems strange he should not have taken refuge in Aseer, where, had he been prepared, he might have bidden defiance to the Deccan army.
↩* This is a curious and instructive fact, and shows that strong inducements of interest will, at all times, overcome the repugnance the Hindoos have to associate with strangers. It is difficult to conceive a stronger instance than this of a Hindoo raja enlisting Mussulmans to oppose their brethren in arms.
↩† The Mussulmans, too, had compunctions in bowing to an infidel, who, to humour them, allowed a Koran to be put before him, and they saluted it, while the Raja chose to take the compliment to himself: so that the feelings of both parties were spared.
↩* Calendars.
↩* Civil magistrate.
↩* The passage alludes, probably, to offices at court only.
↩* Sirka, or more properly Sirky (the Sirkay of the author of the excellent Marratta history), is the name of one of the most ancient families of the Concan. The mother of the present Raja of Satara was of that house.
↩† Vishalghur.
↩* The above passage has been given literally, in order to afford a sample of the author's style. The description is very characteristic of the general features of the Concan country; though it is not easy to fix the exact spot into which the Mahomedan army was led to its destruction.
↩* Ferishta compares the attack on the Syuds in Chakun to that made on Hoossein and his seventy followers, near Kur-bulla, by Abdoolla Bin Zeead and Shums-ool-Joshun, who marched to attack, and who destroyed, the grandson of the Prophet, and his small party, in the desert.
↩* The Caliph Yezeed, who caused the attack on Hoossein.
↩* So called from his having distinguished himself in breaking the enemy's line.
↩* The reader will observe with what acrimony the whole of this transaction is related by Ferishta; but it is not easy for a Christian of the nineteenth century to enter into the feelings of a Sheea Mahomedan when reviewing such a subject. If he can imagine what would be the feelings of a Protestant writer of the time recording the massacre of St. Bartholomew's day, he would have even but a slight notion of the horror of the Mahomedan historian on the present occasion.
↩* Consequently, the King's nephew.
↩* The same person who escaped from the massacre of the foreigners at Chakun.
↩* This is an instance of the bold language to which despotic monarchs are sometimes exposed in public, when individuals, driven to despair, take this course as a means either of shortening their lives, or of putting an end to oppression to which they are no longer willing to submit.
↩* The Cruel.
↩† This is one of the holy personages who were deputed to wait on Shah Neamut Oolla, in Khorassan. These learned divines seem frequently to have entered deeply into court intrigues.
↩* Officers of the bed-chamber, and private apartments.
↩† Seif Khan suffered death. The Prince was deprived of eye-sight; and Hubeeb-Oolla, on account of the sanctity of his profession, was merely placed in confinement.
↩* The etiquette of all Oriental courts requires that public officers should obtain an audience of leave previously to quitting it, if even for a day; and when permission was not obtained, it was understood the individual was offended, and prepared to revolt.
↩* The inconvenience attending the intermarriage of the royal family with subjects is here fully exhibited, although the pretensions of Sikundur Khan were certainly extravagant and audacious.
↩* The King's body-guard was composed usually of purchased slaves, who were treated with great distinction, and frequently rose to eminence. From this guard the King selected his aide-de-camps and confidential personal attendants; and they were taught to look up to the monarch alone for their future success in life. The practice has always prevailed in the eastern courts; and in the instances of the Prætorian bands under the Roman emperors, the Swiss guards of France, and the Janissaries of Constantinople, we have abundant proofs of the fondness of absolute monarchs for such instruments of power and protection.
↩* The King's relative, and father to the Prince Sikundur Khan, who had disputed the crown in the early part of the reign.
↩* Beer was at this time in the hands of the descendants of Shah Neamut Oolla, who were naturally well disposed to Shah Hubeeb Oolla.
↩* An ancient king of Persia, who is said to have sold himself to the devil, and who, in consequence, was afflicted by two serpents, who, rising out of his shoulders, demanded to be fed on human brains daily.
↩† A barbarous tyrant of Arabia.
↩* Jajnuggur, on the Mahanudda, the ancient capital of Orissa.
↩* Shah Mohib Oolla was the grandson of the celebrated Shah Neamut Oolla of Kirman.
↩† Ferishta, in so hastily adopting the language of Moolla Dawood of Bidur, and the other chroniclers of the Bahmuny dynasty, has exercised neither discretion nor even much research, in not endeavouring to account for the sudden retreat of the Hindoos; for it is absurd to suppose, that the mere appearance of one hundred and sixty men would alone have broken up a confederacy which seems to have been so seriously formed for the recovery of Tulingana.
↩‡ Ferishta does not mention the name of the fort.
↩* The hilts of the swords were made of solid steel, and were heavy, in order to counterbalance the weight of the thick sword blades.
↩* Elephants, when enraged, become furious, and not unfrequently attack each other. The translator once witnessed an instance of this nature, in which it was not without the utmost exertion of the drivers of both elephants that the persons riding on that which was attacked escaped from being torn to pieces.
↩† The royal standard, borne on an elephant, always attends the King when in the field; and it is too well known how the absence of this emblem usually decides the fate of Indian armies. Now where each regiment or brigade has a standard, and even each gun, the courage of an army is not so readily affected.
↩* The citadel or fort still held out.
↩* The jealousy of proximate states of each other's aggrandisement seems, at all times, to check the extension of their power. The balance so repeatedly restored, and so narrowly watched, by the states of Europe, seems to have been equally regarded by the Mahomedans; and it was only when their imbecility became general, that they fell to the dominion of the Moguls.
↩† It will be observed that care has been taken to distinguish the several Mahmoods now mentioned: the title of Sooltan is always prefixed to the name of the King of Malwa, while that of Shah is affixed to the King of Guzerat; whereas the Deccany minister has his peculiar appellations of Khwaja and Gawan.
↩* It is impossible to convey to the mind of one who has never suffered from thirst and heat in a tropical climate the horrid sensations which may be brought on even in a few hours. The numerous victims to long marches without water, which sometimes occur even in British armies in the East, point out the importance of previously ascertaining that an ample supply exists at each stage.
↩* Ferishta appears to be aware that the Gonds were not Hindoos, a fact which is but little known to Indians in general, and to Europeans in particular. It is to be hoped that Mr. Richard Jenkins, who has devoted much time and labour to this interesting subject, will favour the world with the result of his researches.
↩* Hoomayoon the Cruel left three sons, Nizam, Mahomed, and Ahmud.
↩* Ferishta does not mention the date when this tragical scene happened. The King was only eight years of age when he ascended the throne, and his marriage, at the age of fourteen, did not take place till after the death of Khwaja Jehan. The circumstance, therefore, must have occurred while the King was yet a mere boy; but it only shows at how early an age Asiatic despots are taught to become familiar with such sanguinary executions.
↩* This mode of terminating a siege has been often practised with success, and is one of the greatest risks attendant on sallies by the besieged.
↩* The revenues and management of frontier provinces were frequently consigned to military nobles, in order to ensure their defence against external attack; but the policy too frequently led to the rebellion of the officers appointed to govern them.
↩* He bore the titles of Mullik-oot-Toojar, the Chief of the Merchants, and Khwaja Jehan. It affords a pleasing example of thestate of civilisation, when it was deemed the highest honour in the state to be entitled Chief of the Merchants.
↩† It will be recollected, that it was the Raja of the fort of Kehlna, the modern Vishalgur, who effected the destruction of the Mahomedan army on a former occasion.
↩* This practice prevailed before the use of artillery for salutes and rejoicing.
↩† The Queen-mother had long retired from public life, though in the present instance she appears to have departed from her resolution, in order to do honour to the successful general after his campaigns.
↩* Khoosh Kuddum, now entitled Kishwur Khan, had formerly charge of Dabul and Kolhar.
↩* Ooreadese, or Orissa.
↩* Probably Woshagur, lying between Antoor and Ajunta.
↩† This distinguished chief had long held the command of Dowlutabad; but the duties appear to have been much enlarged at this time; and the fort and district seem to have formed only a small part of the province now placed under Yoosoof Adil Khan.
↩* Probably Ranjungam, the chief town of the district of the same name.
↩* Maharashtra.
↩† It is difficult for those persons who have not witnessed the calamity to imagine the distress occasioned by long droughts, and the failure of the periodical rains in tropical climates.
↩* The reader will recollect the circumstances which gave rise to this dynasty assuming the title of Bahmuny.
↩* It is the tract called by the early Europeans Nursinga, probably after this prince.
↩† Masulipatam.
↩‡ Name not mentioned.
↩* Conjeveram.
↩* Although from this sentence we should naturally conclude that Mullik Hussun Nizam-ool-Moolk (a Deccany) also went, yet from the context, explaining that the troops consisted of foreigners, and were the divisions of Dowlutabad and Joonere, it appears certain he did not accompany this force.
↩* The hoon may fairly be estimated at three and a half rupees. An estate for the support of five hundred cavalry in the field then would yield 350,000 rupees, out of which ten per cent. at least must be deducted for collectors and maintaining a police establishment, leaving a net balance of 315,000 rupees; a sum which amounts to nearly fifty per cent. more than is necessary to support an equal number, of the same description of cavalry, in the British army, in India, at the present day.
The comparison is useful and interesting; and if the statement of the historian, which bears truth on the face of it, is to be relied on, it proves how much more liberally the Indian army was paid in those times than now. The difference is greatly magnified, too, if we consider the relative value of the metals in those days and the present.
Comparative Abstract of the pay of a body of five hundred cavalry, supplying their own horses and weapons, and feeding their cattle, under the Bahmuny kings of the Deccan in 1470, and under the British government in the Deccan in 1828:—
| Denomination. | Bahmuny Regiment in 1470. | British Regiment in 1828. | Remarks. | ||
| Each Rank, per Month. | Total of each Rank. | Each Rank, per Month. | Total of each Rank. | ||
| Commandant | 2500 | 2500 | 1000 | 1000 | In the British service, the commandant is an European. |
| Risaldar | 800 | 800 | 500 | 500 | |
| Five Jemadars | 200 | 1000 | 100 | 500 | |
| Twenty Duffadars | 90 | 1800 | 60 | 1200 | |
| Accountant, or Paymaster | 150 | 150 | 50 | 50 | |
| Five hundred Privates | 40 | 20000 | 30 | 15000 | |
| 26250 | 18250 | ||||
| 12 | Months. | 12 | Months. | ||
| 315000 | 219000 | ||||
* The Deccanies and Abyssinians on this as well as all other occasions seemed to make common cause against the foreigners.
↩* The pun here cannot be translated. In old age the white beard is dyed first of a red hue, and by the application of indigo is changed to black.
↩* Alluding to the well-known story of Joseph in sacred history.
↩* Mecca.
↩† The Persian words, translated in italics, afford the number 886, the date of the minister's death.
↩† The Persian words, translated in italics, afford the number 886, the date of the minister's death.
↩* After the capture of Bidur by Aurungzeeb, in the latter end of the seventeenth century, this splendid range of buildings was appropriated to the double purpose of a powder magazine and barrack for a body of cavalry, when, by accident, the powder exploding, destroyed the greater part of the edifice, causing dreadful havoc around. Sufficient of the work remains, however, even at the present day, to afford some notion of its magnificence and beauty. The outline of the square, and some of the apartments, are yet entire, and one of the minarets is still standing. It is more than one hundred feet in height, ornamented with tablets, on which sentences of the Koran, in white letters, three feet in length, standing forth on a ground of green and gold, still exhibits to the spectator a good sample of what this superb edifice once was. The college is one of the very many beautiful remains of the grandeur of the Bah-muny and Bereed dynasties, which flourished at Bidur; and they render a visit to that city an object of lively interest to all travellers, but particularly to those who may peruse this history.
↩* A silver coin worth two shillings.
↩† 60l.
↩‡ A small shell, of which thirty went to a penny.
↩§ 4000l.
↩* The controller of the camp-equipage.
↩* The words are ◌
↩