THE Country known generally under the name of the Dekhan formed a portion of that ruled by Mahomedan kings of Afghán descent, distinguished as the Bráhmaní1 kings, from the year 1347 to 1526. In that year the dynasty finally disappeared from the Haiderábád country to make way for the Túrkomán family of Kúli Kútb. The country was invaded by Akbar in 1599, again by Jehángír in 1612, again by Shah Jehán in 1620 and 1621, and again by Aurangzíb in 1650. On the last occasion the Mogul emperor, with the words of peace in his mouth, suddenly and treacherously attacked the city of Haiderábád, capital of the kingdom of Golkonda. The city was taken and sacked, then restored under very hard conditions to its sovereign. But the final intentions of Aurangzib were only veiled. By another equally treacherous attack, made in 1687, he overthrew the ancient dynasty and annexed the country (1688). The viceroyalty of the new conquest was first placed by Aurangzib in the hands of his favourite

1 Elphinstone states that the name is derived from the word 'Bráhman,' the founder of the race having leased a field from a Bráhman. In that field

he found a treasure, which he made
over to his landlord, who thence-
forth devoted himself to pushing his

fortunes.

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PART
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son, Prince Kámbuksh. On the succession of Bahádúr Shah, however, Kámbuksh revolted (1708), was defeated, and died of his wounds. The victorious monarch then bestowed the viceroyalty upon his ablest general, Zúlfikár Khan; but his services being required at court, he left as his lieutenant, to administer the state, Dáúd Khan Pání, a Pathán officer, who had distinguished himself in the wars of Aurangzib. In 1713 Dáúd Khan was removed, and three years later was defeated and slain by Húsén Ali, commander-in-chief of the Emperor Farokhsír. The successor of Dáúd Khan was Chin Kilich Khan, afterwards well known under the titles of Nizám-úl-Múlk and Azof Jáh, the founder of the reigning family.

Azof Jáh, as he will be called, was of a respectable Túrk family, the son of Ghází-ú-dín, a favourite officer of Aurangzíb. He was a man of ability and craft, and utterly without scruple. He continued to exercise the office of viceroy under the Emperor of Delhi until the year 1724, with only a short interlude, during which he officiated as prime minister to the emperor. In 1724, the emperor, who feared him, incited Mobáriz Khan, the local governor of Haiderábád, to rise against and supersede him. He attempted to do so, but was defeated and slain in October 1724. Azof Jáh wrote to congratulate the emperor on the victory he had obtained over his master's nominee, and forwarded with the letter the nominee's head! From that date Azof Jáh conducted himself as an independent prince.

To record his intrigues and his wars would be foreign to my present purpose. It will suffice to state that he founded a dynasty, and when he died in 1748, his sway extended from the Narbadá to Trichinápalí and from Masulipatam to Bíjapúr.

Azof Jáh left behind him six sons and six daughters, legitimate and illegitimate. It is necessary to refer to the marriage of one of his daughters, because from it sprang

an issue which affected greatly the contest for supremacy between the French and English. Whilst, then, the elder legitimate daughter married the Subadar of Lahore, the younger espoused a nobleman of Haiderábád. She bore to him a son, Mozuffer Jung, towards whom Azof Jáh showed so great an affection, that he was universally regarded as his destined heir. In fact Azof Jáh had taken care to obtain a firman from the court of Delhi nominating Mozuffer Jung as his successor.

It was not to be supposed that this arrangement would be quietly acquiesced in. Of the six sons, indeed, the eldest, Ghází-ú-dín Khan, was high in the imperial service, and preferred pushing his fortunes at the court of Delhi to risking all for a doubtful succession. The second Názir Jung, had been engaged in constant rebellion against his father, but he was with him when he died. Of the other four, the fifth, Nizám Ali, proved eventually to be a man of some mark, but he was yet young, and they had all been kept in comparative

seclusion.

When Azof Jáh died, Mozuffer Jung, his intended successor, was at his government at Bijapúr, whilst the second son, Nazir Jung, was on the spot. This prince acted in accordance with the traditions and customs of his age and country. He seized his father's treasures, bought over the leading men of the army, and proclaimed himself Subadár of the Dekhan.

Mozuffer Jung not lightly renouncing an inheritance he had been brought up to consider as his own, invoked the aid of the Márhatás, and having obtained the promise of that, succeeded then in securing the important support of the great ruler of Pondichéry, M. Dupleix. This last adherence was not at first decisive. At Ambúr, indeed, his ally, Chunda Sáhib, defeated and slew the Nawab of the Karnátik. But the first events that followed were unpropitious, ending in the surrender by Mozuffer Jung of his own person to Nazir Jung, by whom he was at once put in irons.

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