Moghuls broke out, and they retired, after a few feeble and ineffectual struggles.

Bahadur

by the Portu

During the war with Hoomayoon, and while the king was at Cambay, he had concluded a treaty with the Portuguese, in the hope of receiving their assistance: by which, with other stipulations, permission to erect a fort at Diu was granted. This treaty was executed in 1534, and the Portuguese seem to have lost no time in constructing a very strong fortification. When the Moghuls withdrew, Bahadur Shah evidently repented of what he had done; and, as the Portuguese historian, Faria de Souza, and the Mahomedan, in the Mirat Iskunderi,' both relate, was endeavouring to get the fort into his possession. The Portuguese general and viceroy, Nuño de Cuerpa, was invited to a conference, which he declined: and the king was proceeding to the viceroy's ship, according to the Portuguese account, when a sudden brawl arose between some Portuguese officers and the king's attendants, during which the king, falling into the sea, was struck with a pike, and killed. The Mahomedan account is Shah killed somewhat different, and attributes the act to deliberate guese, 1537. previous arrangement; nor is it at all improbable that treachery was intended on both sides. The event happened on February 14, 1537, in the thirty-first year of the king's life, and eleventh of his reign. The gorgeous jewels and treasures he had sent to Diu -the spoils of Hindoo princes of Guzerat-had been forwarded to Medina for greater security, and fell into the hands of Soliman, the sooltan of Constantinople, by whom they were appropriated. Bahadur Shah having left no offspring, the throne Meerun was conferred by the nobles of the State upon Meerun Mahomed Mahomed Farooky of Khandésh, the late king's ceeds, 1537; nephew but he died suddenly, after a brief reign of hardly two months, and the only representative of the royal line that remained was Mahmood, the son of the late king's brother, Lutteef, who was residing at Boorhanpoor. He was Mahmood now sent for, and crowned at Ahmedabad, on April 5, Shah 111. suc1538. Mahmood appears to have been a moderate man, of simple habits, fond of erecting palaces and ornamenting parks, but in public affairs a mere cipher. His deer-park was walled round, and was fourteen miles in circumference; and in his reign, also, Surat was strongly fortified to repel the frequent incursions of the Portuguese. Having incurred the deadly enmity of his private chaplain Boorhan, whom on one occasion Mahmood he had built up to his neck in a mud wall, he was Shah assassi assassinated at his instigation in the year 1553, after a reign of fifteen years. On this occasion Boorhan succeeded in destroying several of the ministers by armed men, whom he had

Farooky suc

and dies.

ceeds, 1538.

nated, 1553.

Ahmed Shah

1553.

stationed in the king's chamber, and even assumed the crown; but he and his accomplices were all put to death as soon as they appeared in public. Mahmood left no heir, and a youth named Ahmed, declared to be a son of the Prince Ahmed, succeeds, was crowned; but during his inglorious reign of eight years he was admitted to no exercise of power, and the affairs of State were managed by the nobles, who seem, for the most part, to have divided the kingdom among them. In the Is killed, 1561. year 1561, the king was found dead of wounds, lying under the wall of a nobleman's house, where it was supposed he had been carrying on an intrigue. He had left no heir, and a boy named Hubeeb, declared to be a son of Mahmood Shah II., was produced and crowned under the title of Mozuffer Shah III. Etimád Khan became regent and minister,

Mozuffer

ceeds, 1561.

Shah III. suc- but was a weak character, afraid of his colleagues, among whom he divided the kingdom into five districts (reserving one for himself), over which they were virtually supreme. In the year 1566 Chungiz Khan, the most active and ambitious among them, declared independence at Talnair, of which he had gained possession; and proceeding towards the capital, defeated Etimád Khan and the king, and took possession of it. He now allotted estates to the five sons of Mahomed Sooltan Mirza, who had fled before the Emperor Akbur; but these persons in the sequel disputed his authority, and even defeated him in a general action. Chungiz Khan was afterwards killed while playing at choughan, by an Abyssinian-an event which gave some relief to Etimád Khan; but it was of short duration. Quarrels ensued between him and the other powerful chiefs, and eventually he wrote to the Emperor Akbur, requesting him to come and take possession of the kingdom. The emperor proceeded at once to Guzerat, where he was received without opposition, and the kingdom was annexed to the empire on November 20, 1572. The king abdicated, and was provided with an estate; but nine years afterwards he escaped from surveillance, and in his last efforts to regain his kingdom, Mozuffer Shah III. displayed more spirit and energy than when he was its real sovereign. After his final struggle, in 1584, he retreated into Kattywar, where, until his death, he lived under the protection of Rajah Rái Singh. Thus ended the royal dynasty of Guzerat, which had reigned, for the most part in great splendour, from 1396 to 1572, or 176 years.

CHAPTER XV

OF THE ADIL SHAHY DYNASTY OF BEEJAPOOR (continued from Chapter XIX., Book III.), A.D. 1534 TO 1579.

THE long reign of the Emperor Akbur, and the occurrences which preceded it after the first reign of Hoomayoon, have brought the history of the Moghul dynasty down to the period of his death, in 1605; and it becomes necessary to revert to the progress of the other kingdoms of India, to make the general history of the period as complete as possible. Up to the death of the emperor, no interference with any of the Deccan kingdoms, except Ahmednugger, had taken place; and their power, and the interests attached to their progress, entitles them to more consideration than has hitherto been bestowed upon them by writers of Indian history.

A.D. 1534.

Reformation

Shah restores

Beejapoor.

As has been already related in Chap. XIX., Book III., Ibrahim Adil Shah succeeded to the crown on the dethronement of his brother Mulloo, in 1534. His first act was to abolish the profession of the Sheea faith, and to re- in England. store the Soony, and also to exchange Persian for Ibrahim Adil Mahratta, as the language of accounts and current the Soony business in the State. This involved the introduction faith in of many Brahmins into the royal service, and was a concession to Hindoo influence which had a marked effect. The foreign troops, the majority of whom were Persians and therefore Sheeas, were discharged, and their places supplied by Deccanies and Abyssinians. The new army consisted of 30,000 cavalry, the horses of which, for the most part, belonged to the State; and it does not appear that infantry or artillery formed any considerable part of the Beejapoor equipment. Of Mahomedan the foreign cavalry discharged, 3,000 were taken into the service of Ramraj, the Hindoo prince of Beejanugger; and as they refused to salute an infidel, a Korán was placed before the rajah's throne, to which the usual reverence was paid. The year after Ibrahim Adil Shah's accession, a revolution occurred at Beejanugger, and the aid of the Beejapoor king was sought by the rajah for his own support. This proceeding, involving Mahomedan intervention, caused vast alarm throughout the Hindoo kingdom, and for the Ibrahim Adil present arrested mutual differences. Ibrahim, who Shah assists had proceeded to Beejanugger, was royally enter- Beejanugger.

tained by the

cavalry enterRajah of

Beejanugger.

the Rajah of

tained, and dismissed with the payment of fifty lacs of hoons1,750,000l. -for his own and his army's expenses. In consequence, however, of a fresh revolution, in which the rajah had perished, Ibrahim became involved in hostilities with his successor; but these were of short duration, and the king returned to his capital. A period of tranquillity followed; but, jealousy of his minister, Assud Khan, induced that able person to retire to his estates; and the quarrel was taken advantage of by Boorhan Nizam Shah, of Ahmednugger, and Ameer Bereed, of Beeder, who coalesced, and reduced King Ibrahim to such straits, that he was obliged to retire to Goolburgah. From this difficulty he was released by the instrumentality of the man he had suspected. Assud Khan wrote to the King of Berar, the uncle by marriage of the king, beseeching him to render assistance; and he marched with a large force, which had the desired effect. Ibrahim's own army, too, rallied about him, and the losses by the invasion were soon redeemed; while Ameer Bereed's death broke up the confederacy. This peace was not, however, of long duration. Boorhan Nizam Shah was smarting under his defeat, and in 1543, assisted by Jumsheed Kootub Shah of Golcondah, and Rajah Ramraj of Beejanugger, declared war against Beejapoor. The

kingdom was now invaded on three points simultaneously; and its destruction and division among the confederates seemed inevitable. Assud Khan was again called into council: who advised, that, at some small sacrifices, peace should be made with the King of Ahmednugger and the Rajah of Beejanugger. This having been effected, Assud Khan led the Beejapoor army against the King of Golcondah, who was defeated, and followed up to his capital, receiving so severe a wound in the face from Assud Khan's hand, that he never recovered its effects.

Coalition of

the King of Ahmednugger and

Ameer

Bereed.

Renewed coalition against Beejapoor.

The King of Golcondah defeated.

But it seems to have been impossible to restrain the quarrelsome disposition of the Ahmednugger king, who, soon afterwards, again marched with a large army against Goolburgah. He was met near the town of Oorchán, on the Bheema river, by Ibrahim and Assud Khan, who gained a memorable victory; Boorhan Nizam Shah leaving 250 elephants, 570 pieces of cannon, with all the royal insignia and camp-equipage, on the field of battle. Ibrahim fought bravely in this action, slaying three antagonists in single combat. Here, however, the quarrel did not rest; and in the next campaign, Boorhan Nizam Shah not only redeemed his losses, but reduced Ibrahim to serious extremities. These fluctuations of fortune seem to have affected the king's disposition

Ahmedhugger renews the war,

And is defeated.

cruelties.

very materially; and he became morose, and suspicious of his officers. In the course of two months he put forty Ibrahim Adil Hindoos and seventy Mahomedans of rank to death; Shah's and a plot was formed to dethrone him, and elevate his brother Abdoolla to the throne. On the discovery of this conspiracy by the king, Abdoolla fled to the Portuguese at Goa, and endeavoured to persuade the viceroy to assist him with troops, proffering large concessions of territory. Had the Portuguese yielded to his solicitations, there is no doubt, under the prevailing discontent, that they would have succeeded, and might have laid the foundation of local power in the Deccan; but they declined all offers, and the prince, finding them impracticable, addressed himself to the Kings of Ahmednugger and Golcondah. The Portuguese, in their history, declare that Assud Khan was the prime mover in Prince Abdoolla's rebellion; but this is contradicted by the fact that Assud Khan repelled with scorn the overtures of the King of Ahmednugger to support the pretensions of the prince. Had Assud Khan indeed been disloyal, there can be no question that Ibrahim would have been deposed. While these events were pending, the great minister died, in January 1549, and left a reputation little less, in general estimation, than that of Mahmood Gawan, the regent and minister of the Bahmuny kingdom.

The Portu

guese refuse

to take part

in native

struggles.

with Ahmednugger con

The remainder of the reign of Ibrahim was occupied with almost perpetual wars and struggles with Ahmed- The struggle nugger, in which Ramraj of Beejanugger appears as the active ally of the latter. Boorhan Nizam Shah tinued. had died; but his successor Hoosein followed the same policy, and defeated Ibrahim in a severe action near Sholapoor. This, with the rebellion of his great general, Seif Ein-ool-Moolk, whom his harsh conduct had driven into insurrection, reduced the king's fortunes to the lowest ebb; and though, by the payment of twelve lacs of hoons-420,000l.-he obtained temporary relief from the Rajah of Beejanugger, he was unable to take the field. Latterly he had become afflicted with a complication of disorders, and as he put to death, one after another, physicians Ibrahim Adil who failed to relieve him, he was deserted by all, and 1557. died miserably in the year 1557. Ibrahim Adil Shah Philip II. of I. had reigned twenty-four years, and was buried near the French his father and grandfather, at Gôgy. He left two sons and two daughters, and was succeeded by his eldest son Ally without opposition.

Shah dies,

Spain defeats

at St.Quentin. Ally Adil

Shah succeeds, 1557.

Restores the

The first act of Ally Adil Shah was to restore the public profession of the Sheea faith, which had been Sheen faith.