princess of a beautiful daughter, whom the king demanded as the price of his release. The rajah feigned consent, and on the terms Chittore. being communicated to the princess, she determined on making them the means of her father's release. She therefore proceeded towards Dehly, being furnished with the king's pass to visit her father, and when near the city, filled litters with some devoted adherents as if they had been her female attendants. All were admitted unsuspiciously to the place where her father resided, when the guards were overpowered, and horses having been previously prepared, the father and daughter rode through the city and escaped. The rajah recovered Chittore, which he afterwards retained, becoming tributary to the king, and furnishing a contingent of 5,000 horse and 10,000 foot to the royal army. CHAPTER VIII. THE KHILJY DYNASTY OF DEHLY (concluded), They renew the attack, and are pursued to Kabool and Ghuzny. 1305 A.D. Another Moghul inva In the year 1305 A.D. a fresh invasion of Moghuls occurred; but they were intercepted by Ghazy Beg Toghluk, on the banks of the Indus, and sorely defeated, while most of sion defeated. the survivors perished in the deserts of Central Asia on their return. The captives sent to Dehly were, as before, put to death by the king, and a pillar built of their skulls; but even these severe losses did not deter them, and once again in the same year the Moghuls appeared, only to be defeated by Toghluk, who, on this occasion, pursued them into Kabool and Ghuzny, and every year afterwards levied heavy contributions from those cities, which restrained Moghul incursions for many years afterwards. Mullik Ka foor to the king of In the year 1306 A.D., as Ram Déo, the rajah of Déogurh, Expedition of had neglected to send his tribute for three years, an expedition against him was determined on; and Mullik Deccan, 1306. Kafoor, the eunuch slave who had been purchased at Robert Bruce Cambay, and who had by this time risen to high rank Scotland. and favour, was selected to command it. Nor did he disappoint the expectations the king had formed of him. 100,000 horse marched from Dehly under his command, and their numbers were increased by quotas from several provinces on the route. Kowla Dévy, the king's wife, urged that her favourite daughter, Déwul Dévy, whom she had left with her husband, should, if possible, be returned to her; and this formed the object of a special attack upon Kurrun Rái, rajah of Guzerat, who had refused to give her up. Aluf Khan, who had defeated the rajah in several skirmishes, now found that he had escaped him and gone to Déogurh, taking his daughter with him, whom he had promised in marriage to Shunkul Déo, the son of the rajah. This event gave Aluf Khan great concern, as he could find no track of the fugitive. He nevertheless proceeded in the direction of Déogurh, and while halting for two days in the vicinity of the caves of Ellora, which are about eight miles from the fort, a party of 300 of his men, who had gone to see the caves, came suddenly on a body of Dewul Déry, Hindoo horse, which proved to be the escort of Déwul Dévy herself; and in the skirmish which ensued, she Devy, capwas captured and taken to Aluf Khan's camp, who, Ellora. well knowing the importance of his prize, returned to Dehly, where the princess was restored to her mother. Soon she is taken after her arrival, the king's son, Khizr Khan, fell in love to Dehly, and with her, and the parties were married with great Khir Khan, pomp. This event formed the subject of a beautiful son. poem by Ameer Khoosroo, the poet-laureate at the Dehly court, which still survives. the daughter of Kowal tured near marries the king's Deogurh. Meanwhile Mullik Kafoor had proceeded to Déogurh, where the rajah, being in no condition to oppose him, welcomed Mullik him hospitably, and returned to Dehly with him, where Kafoor at he was received with all honour, and had titles with an estate conferred upon him, his expenses on return being also paid. This honourable treatment completely ensured the fidelity of the Rajah of Déogurh during his life. Expedition Wurungul, king of His success. It will be remembered that the king had despatched in the year 1303 an expedition against the Hindoo kingdom of Wurungul by way of Bengal. This, however, failed, Expe and the army was obliged to retreat after severe suffer- Kafoor to ings. In 1309, therefore, another expedition was 1309. placed under command of Mullik Kafoor, to invade Edward II. Wurungul by the route of Déogurh, which succeeded, England. though not without a brave resistance, from Luddur Déo, its rajah. After a long siege, the fort of Wurungul was captured; and the rajah made terms by the payment of a heavy sum of money, besides consenting to pay tribute annually. On his return to Dehly, Mullik Kafoor was received with great rejoicings, and in the year following to Dwara he again proceeded southwards, to reduce the Hindoo 1310. State of Dwára Sumoodra, in the Carnatic, of the power Rhodes and wealth of which he had received information in the Knights of Deccan. Dwára Sumoodra was the capital of the Hôi Salá or Bellál kingdom, which has been brought to notice in Expedition Sumoodra, taken by the St. John. Chapter XIV. Bk. I. It had survived the destruction of the Chalúkyas of Kulyan, by the Yádávás of Déogurh, and was in the highest state of prosperity. On his arrival at Déogurh, Mullik Kafoor found that the old rajah, Ram Déo, was dead, and had been succeeded by his son Shunkul Déo, who was not as well affected to the Mahomedans as his father had been; but Mullik Kafoor pressed on, and finally reached the sea-coast of Malabar, where he built a mosque to commemorate the event. The Bellál kingdom was easily overpowered; Dwára Sumoodra, its capital, was sacked, and the magnificent temple of Seeva there, though uncompleted, severely injured. The temple still exists in much of its original beauty and perfection, one of the most admirable specimens of florid Hindoo architecture in India. The booty obtained by Mullik Kafoor was immense; 312 elephants, 20,000 horses, and 96,000 maunds of gold are stated by Ferishta; an amount which appears incredible: but it is a curious circumstance that no silver was found; the idols, ornaments public and private, and plate, being all of beaten gold. service put to death. It will be remembered that many of the Moghuls who had been captured became converts to Mahomedanism, and the king had taken them into his service. For some unaccountable reason, All Moghuls however, he conceived an aversion to them, and disin the royal charged them. In their distress, some of the most desperate conspired against him, which, becoming known, the whole were put to death, to the number of 15,000, in a single day, no one daring to remonstrate with the king against such barbarity. The spoils of the south, with the punctual collection of the increased revenue, had filled Dehly with wealth; and the number of public buildings, mosques, mausoleums, and colleges which were built, exceeded those of any previous period. The magnificence of the king's dominions was now at its zenith, and with it, the king's temper, always eccentric, began to alter. Instead of directing public affairs himself, he gave them over to Mullik Kafoor: and he appointed his own sons, still mere children, to offices of the highest trust, which had to be managed by corrupt deputies. Third expedition of Mullik Mullik Kafoor seems, however, to have been by no means easy in his elevated position, and in 1312 proposed that he should be sent again to the Deccan to receive the royal Kafoor, 1312. tribute. On his arrival at Déogurh, he found Shunkul Déo in rebellion; but he was quickly reduced, and put to death, and having again overrun the Carnatic, and received the tribute from Wurungul, dispatched the treasure to Dehly, remaining himself at Déogurh. The king's infirmities were now fast gaining upon him, and he could not live without his favourite. Mullik Immense booty obtained. Increase of wealth in Dehly. recalls conspires Kafoor was therefore recalled; and seeing the king's condition, The king's and various break out. Alla-ood dies, 1316. Philip V. king of France succeeds. blinded. by After the king's death Mullik Kafoor produced a deed, said to have been executed by the king, in which Oomur, his His son fourth son, was nominated successor, under the regency Oomur of Mullik Kafoor; and the boy was placed on the The princes throne. The two eldest princes, then imprisoned, were are blinded; and the king's third son, Moobaruk, would have been murdered but for his presence of mind in distributing his jewels to the men sent for the purpose. These ruffians having quarrelled over their booty, the affair became known to the officer who commanded the royal guards, who attacked Mullik Mullik Kafour Kafoor in his own apartments, and put him to death. put to death. The Prince Moobaruk was then proclaimed king, but pomadewas not crowned till March 22, 1317. Meanwhile Moobaruk, he had caused his brother Oomur to be blinded and him. confined. His first measures were beneficial and just. Many captives were released, and all restrictions upon trade and agriculture removed; but he gave himself up to licentiousness, and the natural cruelty of his nature was hardly concealed. In 1318 he marched to Déogurh, with the purpose of chastising the rebel Hurpal Déo, who was defeated, taken prisoner, and most inhumanly flayed alive. On his return to the capital the king's excesses increased; he was rarely sober, and perpetrated the most frightful cruelties. To such a length did his disgraceful conduct proceed, that, as Ferishta states of him, he used to dress himself constantly as a common actress, and go, with public women, to dance at the houses of the nobility. who blinds 3321. Mullik Khoosroo, originally a Hindoo slave, who had risen to the king's favour, had been sent from Déogurh with an army into the Carnatic, and the spoil he obtained was so great that he conceived the project of declaring independence in the Deccan. Though this became impossible, it did not prevent his conspiring against the king's life, on his return to Dehly; and the plot became so notorious, that the king was warned of it: but in vain; and on Moobaruk the night of March 9, 1321, he was murdered by the murdered, conspirators, Mullik Khoosroo assisting in the act. Nor were the conspirators content with the king's death. The royal princes, and the younger children of Alla-ooddeen, perished in the massacre. Thus was the murder of Gheias-ood-deen avenged according to the curse and prophecy. The last days of Alla-ood-deen were terrible to all around him, and the conduct of his son Moobaruk, according to Ferishta, was too shockingly indecent and profligate to be recorded. Next day Mullik Khoosroo ascended the throne, under the title of Nasir-ood-deen, and took Déwul Dévy, the widow of Khizr Khan, to himself; while every one who had a king's family pretension of relationship to the late king was put to death. News of this horrible revolution quickly spread through the provinces, and Ghazy Beg Toghluk, the rebel against brave viceroy of Lahore, and other chiefs, marched upon the capital. Mullik Khoosroo was not without courage Mullik Khoosroo usurps the throne, and all the late are destroyed. The chiefs him and Mullik 1321. and led the royal guards and such troops as he could collect to oppose them; but before the hardy veterans of the frontier marches these effeminate soldiers had no chance. Mullik Khoosroo was defeated on the field of the Soorsutty, and fled; but on August 22, 1321, was captured in a tomb, where he had concealed himself, and forthwith put to death, executed for his crimes. Ghazy Beg Toghluk received next day the congratulations of the nobles of the city, who presented him with the keys, and he accompanied them thither. On arriving at the Palace of the Thousand Minarets, he, as Ferishta writes, wept bitterly,' declared that he had been induced to draw his sword only to rid the world of a monster, and if none of the royal race survived, he would serve whoever among the nobility might be chosen king. The multitude, with a shout, cried that he only was fit to reign; that he who had often delivered them from the Moghuls, had now freed them from a horrible tyranny; and thereupon, taking him up, they carried him into the great hall of audience, and seating him on the throne, hailed him as 'Shah Jehan,' king of the world. It is difficult to imagine any scene of history more impressive and exciting than this. The dynasty of the Khiljies had Charles IV. king of France. march on Dehly. The king is defeated. Ghazy Beg Toghluk elected king. |