Bingar, where he had already erected a palace for the new capital, which was named Ahmednugger, the fort of Ahmed. The position, in every point of view, was an excellent one. It commanded all the passes into Khandésh and Ahmed hugger founded.1494. America, discovered by Dowlatabad, and its elevation, near the crest of one of Columbus. the principal Deccan ranges of bills, secured a cool and salubrious climate. The city soon sprang up, and with the noble fort palaces of the Nizam Shahy dynasty, forms one of the most valuable military stations of the British army in the Deccan. The Bahmuny officer, Mullik Wujoo, in charge of the province of Dowlatabad, had, like others, declared his independence; and there had since occurred a domestic revolution, in which his younger brother, Mullik Ashruf, had obtained the power. Ahmed Nizam Shah had not as yet been able to make any impression on Dowlatabad; but he devastated its districts in every season of harvest, and determined on continuing this policy till it should be given up. In 1499 he was engaged in besieging the fort, when Mahmood Shah of Guzerat moved southwards with the purpose of reducing Khandésh and relieving Dowlatabad. This had the effect of obliging Ahmed Nizam Shah to raise the siege; and a subsequent night attack upon the Guzerat army near Sooltanpoor, in Khandésh, caused its king to retreat. Ahmed Nizam Shah now advanced once more towards Dowlatabad, the garrison of which sent him word that their master had engaged to acknowledge the King of Guzerat as his sovereign, and as they could not submit to this, they would admit him if he would come. So favourable an offer could not be neglected, and the king marched with 3,000 horse, and encamped without the walls. Mullik Ashruf was then ill, and died in a few days; and the keys of the fort were delivered up to Ahmed Nizam Shah, who, rejoiced at his good fortune, directed the whole of the works to be repaired, and placed in them a trusty garrison of his own troops. The possession of Dowlatabad, with its large dependencies, very much increased the king's power; and though frequently threatened by Guzerat, no war actually took place. Ahmed Nizam Shah Ahmed Shah Bheiry fell ill in 1508, and died in the course of the year. He was buried at Rózah, near Dowlatabad, a place to which, as well for the mausoleums and colleges of holy Mahomedan saints established there, as from its beautiful situation and delightful climate, he had become deeply attached. Bheiry dies, 1508. The king was succeeded by his son Boorhan Nizam Shah, then a Boorhan boy of seven years old. The public affairs were in his son, suc- the hands of experienced officers, and the young king's Nizam Shah, eeeds, 1508. Dowlatabad besieged. Brazil discovered. The fort is given up to him. League of from Berar education was carefully conducted by them. Ferishta states, that he saw in the royal library at Ahmednugger, a treatise on the duties of kings, neatly copied by him when he was ten years old. In 1510 the kingdom was placed in some danger by the desertion of 8,000 cavalry to Alla-ood-deen Imád An invasion Shah of Berar, who, assisted by them, invaded the by troops Ahmednugger dominions, being led to believe they defeated. would fall an easy prey; but he was resolutely opposed by Khwajah Jehan of Paraindah-who, partially independent, was yet tributary to Ahmednugger-and the young king himself: and was defeated with great loss, flying from the field of battle at Ranoory to Ellichpoor. The young king in this battle rode before Ajdur Khan, his tutor, on the same saddle, in the thickest of the fight. It was after this war that the Brahmin relations of the king claimed their hereditary rights as 'Putwaries,' or accountants of Putry. The regent, Mokumil Khan, proposed an exchange of territory for Putry, which belonged to Berar, and this being refused, he took forcible possession of the town, and it was afterwards retained as a family point of honour. marries a takes In 1523 the king was married at Sholapoor to Muryam, the sister of Ismail Adil Shah of Beejapoor: and their sub- The king sequent quarrel in regard to that fort, and the defeat of princess of the King of Ahmednugger, when he was carried off the Beejapoor. field fainting from the weight of his armour, have been Solyman already mentioned. Ferishta adds of this battle, 'it Belgrade. was so bloody a one, that nature revolts at the remembrance.' In 1527 Putry became the subject of a war. Alla-ood-deen Imád Shah of Berar retook and fortified it, when Boorhan Rome taken Nizam Shah in person drove out the Berar garrison, by Charles V. razed the fortifications of the place, and bestowed it as 'a charitable gift' on his Brahmin relations, by whom it was held successively till the reign of the Emperor Akbur, and whose descendants still represent the family. League king. In 1529 Boorhan Nizam Shah was severely pressed by the junction of Guzerat to the confederation of the Kings of Khandesh and Berar against him. The two latter he against the had defeated: but the accession of Guzerat to their league was very formidable. The timely assistance rendered by his brother-in-law, the King of Beejapoor, on this occasion, to Boorhan Nizam Shah, will be remembered; but the final success may be attributed to the judicious conduct of Kawur Sein, a Brahmin, who became Péshwa, or prime minister, being the first instance as yet recorded of any Hindoo being raised to an office of the highest rank. The Brahmin seems to have been The king as brave a soldier as he was a skilful administrator, but defeated. P Boorhan Nizam Shah was nevertheless defeated, and obliged to sue for peace, and acknowledge the supremacy of the Guzerat king, which was considered a sufficient humiliation. In 1530 the king sent an embassy to the monarch of Guzerat, to congratulate him on his conquest of Malwah, but he was informed that he must do homage in person-a further humiliation, at which the king's pride revolted. 'Should he who had won his independence from the great house of Bahmuny stoop to that of Guzerat ? ' Shah Tahir, the holy saint who had been his ambassador, now dexterously delivered him from the dilemma. At the interview between the kings, he carried on his head a Korán, written by Ally; and the Guzerat king, descending from his throne to pay it reverence, saluted Boorhan Nizam Shah, who was following his ambassador. The two kings then entered into conversation, and became good friends; Bahadur Shah, before he returned to Guzerat, formally resigning all his assumed honorary pretensions as king of the Deccan. His Brahmin minister now rendered more excellent service to Boorhan Shah, in reducing the Mahratta chiefs of the mountain tracts who had as yet not submitted, and all these princes were very judiciously confirmed in their estates. Mahratta chiefs reduced to obedience. letter from Ismail Adil The last quarrel between Boorhan Nizam Shah and Ismail Adil Shah, in 1531, resulted, as has been recorded, in the former's utter defeat; but the letter written by Ismail on receipt of the rude message 'to stay at home and mind his own business,' has been preserved Remarkable in Ferishta's history, and is too characteristic of the period to be omitted. 'Have you so soon,' writes the Shah. Beejapoor king, 'forgotten your late condition at Ahmednugger? If you pride yourself on the tattered rags of the King of Malwah, the boast is ridiculous. Nor need you be too vain of the title of shah, conferred on you by the King of Guzerat, since I derive my royal lineage from a race of sovereigns, and am so styled by the kings of Persia, descendants of the Prophet. I advise you to repent of your folly and arrogance, or I shall compel you to quit the enjoyments of your Bagh-i-Nizam, and try how you like the clashing of steel in the field of battle.' No doubt much of the royal correspondence between the brothersin-law and their neighbour was in the same strain; and could Ferishta have introduced more specimens of the familiar and political letters and transactions of his period into his history, its interest and importance, great as both are, would have been highly enhanced. The King of Ahmednugger did not, it may be presumed, like the clashing of steel in battle, to which his gallant brother-in-law invited him, though he did not evade it: and the defeat which followed was one of the worst he had experienced. In 1532 Ismail Adil Shah died, while Boorhan Nizam Shah lived for twenty years longer. The review of the latter Treaty of part of his reign is therefore postponed. Nuremburg. CHAPTER XXI. OF THE KOOTUB SHAHY DYNASTY OF GOLCONDAH, John VI. the East. conquests. THE Conquests of the Bahmuny dynasty had gradually progressed eastward after the establishment of the kingdom of Goolburgah; and the Hindoo principality of Wurungul, which made a gallant resistance, was finally reduced in A.D. 1421 by King Ahmed Shah Wully Bahmuny. Beyond this, to the emperor of east, were the provinces of the Ráis or Rajahs of Orissa, as yet very imperfectly known to the Mahomedans at that period, and consisting of some very fertile and productive possessions bordering on the sea, divided from the Deccan and western Telingána by a range of mountains, covered with thick and almost impenetrable forests, and inhabited by aboriginal races, unknown in any degree to the Mahomedans, and perhaps Southern in a very limited one to the Hindoos. The last Bah- Mahomedan muny campaign, in 1477, had established garrisons as far north on the sea-coast as Rajmundry; and southwards, as far as the Krishna river, the country had been conquered from Nursingah, or Nursing Rái, a powerful prince who held an independent kingdom or principality, bordering upon the Hindoo kingdoms of Beejanugger, and probably the Chôlas of Kanchy, or their successors of Tanjore. It is equally probable, however, that the tract from the Krishna south to Madras, and west to the mountains which border Mysore, was in the possession of Palligars, or small independent princes who ruled over semi-civilised aboriginal tribes, which had not escaped the influence of Hindooism, and probably professed a nominal allegiance, either to Beejanugger or one of the southern Hindoo kingdoms. The Mahomedan possessions, however, lay north of the Krishna only; for King Mahmood Shah Bahmuny's rapid march on Conjeveram, in 1479, had been productive of no accession of territory. To the west, the Krishna and Tumboodra continued the boundary, and while Beejapoor possessed the Raichore Dooáb, Golcondah followed the left bank of the river up to its confluence with the Bheema, and then stretched in an irregular line to the hills south Boundaries. west of Golcondah, which form the frontiers of the province of Beeder. Hindoo irrigation. This area was therefore very considerable, and the country was highly productive. At a very early age-probably about works of the Christian era, or perhaps anterior to it-the Hindoos had commenced the works of irrigation on which the rice crops of the province depended: and up to the conquest of the Mahomedans, these useful works had been continued by the later Andhra dynasty of Wurungul, and the smaller native dynasties which were subject to it. Over this valuable tract, Koolly Kootubool-Moolk, a nobleman of the Bahmuny dynasty, was appointed governor by Mahmood Gáwan, the regent and minister; and was in attendance on the king in the camp at Peerkónda when he was executed. Kootub-ool-Moolk accompanied the king to Beeder after that event; but withdrew, like other great nobles, from court, to Golcondah, which had become the capital of the viceroyalty. Kootub-ool-Moolk was descended from the Baharloo Kootub-ool- tribe of Toorks or Turanians, and arrived in the Deccan with a body of his countrymen, who were taken into the royal service in the reign of Mahmood Shah Bahmuny. He had been well educated, and was employed as a secretary in Origin of Moolk. one of the public departments for some years. In this capacity he volunteered on one occasion to go into Telingána, to adjust disputes with the Hindoo landholders; and having succeeded by peaceable negotiation in this duty, was ennobled, and became viceroy and governor of the province. He did not immediately follow the example of Yoosuf Adil Khan and Mullik Koolly Ahmed Bheiry, in declaring his independence in 1489: Kootub Shah but remained loyal to Mahmood Shah, until the asdependence, cendency of Kassim Bereed became unendurable, and in 1512 was crowned as sooltan, under the title of Ravenna, Sooltan Koolly Kootub Shah, which was continued as the designation of his dynasty. declares in 1512. Battle of Ferishta's history of his reign is meagre; but his translator, Colonel Briggs, discovered and appended a history of the several reigns of the Golcondah kings, written by a local author, which is full of interesting details, and of particulars of the various conquests and annexations of Hindoo territory made by Sooltan Koolly during his long reign. Golcondah, previously an insignificant village, lying under a small hill-fort, was selected as the capital, on account of its central situation, and became a strongly fortified city. The king gradually extended his power over the whole of eastern Telingána to the sea. He captured Dewarcónda and other forts from the Rajah of Beejanugger, and established the river Krishna as his southern boundary; and the last account His services. |