loss of men and matériel of war, both being present in the field and leading their respective armies. In 1528, however, Boorhan Shah and Ameer Bereed renewed the contest, and were The King of allowed to advance to within forty miles of Beejapoor, where they were attacked by Assud Khan, the Beeja- defeated. poor general, and utterly routed, with the loss of their guns and elephants. Ahmednugger Renewed Ameer Shah invades Peace of These, as it were, family quarrels, did not, however, prevent the parties from assisting each other on emergent occasions; for in the same year, 1528-9, when the King of Ahmednugger was attacked by the King of Guzerat, Ismail Adil Shah sent him 6,000 horse and a sum of money equal to half a million sterling, to enable him to refit his army. It transpired, however, that while employed in this service, Ameer Bereed had tampered with the Beejapoor troops, and had promised their commander an independent estate if he would desert and join in an attack upon Beejapoor. This provoked Ismail Adil Shah Intrigues of beyond endurance; and he proposed to his brother-in- Bereed. law that they should join to punish the man who contrived, by his malicious and unceasing intrigues, to keep the Deccan in perpetual turmoil; or, if he pleased, he might remain neutral, which would answer the same purpose. Boorhan Shah preferred the latter alternative; and in 1529 the Beejapoor king invaded Ismall Adi! the territory of Beeder with 10,000 of his best cavalry. Beeder. In all his campaigns, the king seems to have trusted to archery as his chief weapon in war, and it was the Cambray. national arm of the Persians, Tartars, Moghuls, and Turks, who composed his best troops; but at Beeder he had to encounter artillery and musketry, and a hard-fought action outside the walls of the city tested the bravery of his troops to the utmost. The king displayed great personal valour in this battle, killing in single combat two of the sons of Ameer Bereed, who had attacked him successively. At the close of the action, a large body of fresh cavalry was seen approaching from the right, which proved to be a contingent of 4,000 Golcondah horsemen sent to the assistance of Ameer Bereed. The king would have attacked these at once with his own division, and was with great difficulty persuaded to witness the final charge instead of taking a part in it. He therefore handed his own bloody sword to Syed Hoosein, his Arab general, and seated The king's himself on a mound overlooking the field of battle, by victory. which the place is still to be recognised. Syed Hoosein, and Assud Khan were completely successful, and on their return the king presented his own horse to Syed Hoosein. The fort of Beeder was now closely invested, Ameer Bereed General action at Beeder. retired to Oodgheer, leaving the defence to his sons, and wrote to the King of Berar to come to Beeder as a mediator. When Imád Shah arrived, he found that Ismail Adil Shah would be content with nothing less than Ameer Bereed's unconditional submission; but the fort was impregnable, and Ameer Bereed would not come to terms. Hearing that his camp was pitched near that of the King of Berar, and that he was neglectful of it, Assud Khan was sent with 2,000 horse to make a night attack upon it, when the scouts sent on, returned, and declared they had reached the royal tent without a challenge. Assud Khan, conducted by these men, took twenty-five horse and a few foot with him, and found Ameer Bereed drunk, lying on his bed, and surrounded by guards, musicians, singers and dancers, all intoxicated and asleep. The bed of Ameer Bereed was now gently lifted as he lay on it and carried off, and it was only when he found himself at a considerable distance from his camp, travelling as it were through the air, that he awoke, crying out that he was in the power of evil spirits, and praying God to forgive him. Assud Khan now rode up to him, and told him what had happened; but promised his good offices with the king. Ismail Adil Shah was overjoyed with the result of the night expedition, which indeed was more like romance than reality; and at first seemed disposed to put the aged Ameer Bereed to death, for he was led out bareheaded in the hot sun for execution. Then he humbly begged his life, and promised to give up the fort and the Bahmuny treasures if it were spared; but his son, who beld the fort, replied to his father's message to surrender, that he would not, and that his father's life, at his age, was not worth such This was, however, only a feint to get better terms, for even in this extremity the merciful and chivalrous disposition of the King of Beejapoor was relied on. Ameer Bereed now begged to be taken before one of the towers of the fort where his sons were, accompanied by the elephant which the king declared should trample him to death; when at last, believing him to be in real danger, the sons offered to give up the fort if they were allowed to depart with their families to Oodgheer; and it was afterwards discovered that they had loaded themselves with the most valuable of the crown jewels before they departed. The kings now entered the city and fort in state, and seated themselves together on the throne. All the money in the treasury, about half a million sterling, the jewels, clothes, china, and other valuables, were a ransom. The king distributes the treasures of Beeder to distributed to the armies, or in charity, and King his army. Ismail refused to take a single article for himself; he had not made war, he said, for booty, but for his honour, which Ameer Bereed captured. The fort of Beeder given up. was satisfied. The disposal of Ameer Bereed alone remained, and at the intercession of the King of Berar, an estate was conferred upon him, and he was allowed the command of 3,000 horse in the Beejapoor army. Dooáb. War with nugger. The king now proceeded into the Raichore Dooáb, Campaign fu which, with the forts of Raichore and Moodgul, he the Raichore recovered. Ameer Bereed, having rendered important service, was forgiven, and assured that his government of Beeder would be restored to him; and he was soon afterwards allowed to proceed to Beeder, on condition of surrendering two forts and their dependencies. But he was no sooner free than he recommenced his old practices, and renewed his intrigues with Boorhan Shah of Ahmednugger, who was sore at having had no part in his brother-in-law's last successful expeditions. AhmedIsmail Adil Shah had given notice to his brother-inlaw that he was about to make a tour of his dominions, and that the officers on the frontier should not be alarmed; to which the King of Ahmednugger replied contemptuously, 'that it would be better if he stayed at home and minded his own business.' Ismail Adil Shah received this uncourteous message at Bahmunhully, when at evening prayer, and was so incensed, that he marched at once with a slight escort, and did not draw rein till he arrived next evening at Nuldroog. Here he dismissed the Ahmednugger ambassadors, and awaited the advance of their troops. Boorhan Nizam Shah had equipped a fine army, and his train of artillery was unusually large. He brought 25,000 horse into the field on this occasion; but they were chiefly Mahrattas and Deccanies, and had no chance against the veteran foreigners of Beejapoor. Boorhan Nizam Shah was defeated with the loss of all his guns Boorhan and camp equipage, and fled to his capital; but the Nizam Shah brothers-in-law met afterwards on the frontier, and agreed mutually that Ahmednugger should annex Berar to its dominions, leaving Beejapoor at liberty to proceed against Golcondah. In 1533, therefore, King Ismail opened a campaign against Golcondah-which State he averred had attacked him treacherously, and without cause, in the affair at Beeder-by the siege of Kowilkonda. Here the king fell ill of a violent fever, and died on September 6, 1534, after a glorious and successful Ismail Adil reign of twenty-five years. In all his military enter- 1534. prises the king had suffered only one reverse, that at Reformation the Krishna river, by the Beejanugger army, which was only attributable to his own rashness: and in the subsequent campaign, he not only retrieved that disaster, but recaptured the Raichore Dooáb, which had been in possession of the Hindoos for nearly twenty years. The king's body was carried from Kowil defeated. Shah dies, in England. konda to Gôgy, and interred beside his father, a simple tombIsmail's stone alone marking the spot. The character of this character. king is well given in the words of a local historian, quoted by Ferishta. 'He was just, patient, and liberal; extremely generous, frequently pardoning State criminals, and averse to listening to slander. He never used passionate language, and possessed great wit, to which he added a sound and accurate judgment. He was an adept in the arts of painting, varnishing, making arrows, and embroidering saddlecloths; and in music and poetry excelled most of his age. He supported literary men and scholars munificently at his court; and had a great fund of humour, which he displayed at his private parties and in familiar intercourse with his courtiers.' His personal bravery was beyond question, as was proved by his acts of valour in all his wars, and he shared the fatigues and privations of his soldiers, who loved him deeply, and deplored his loss. No record of his civil administration has been preserved; but, it may be inferred from his general abilities and kind disposition, that it had flourished abundantly. On his death-bed he appointed his friend Assud Khan to be protector of the kingdom; and though he had no confidence in his eldest son Mulloo, he declared him his successor. This prince was therefore raised to the throne at Goolburgah, but his father's opinion was confirmed by his conduct, which so disgusted Assud Khan, that he retired to his estate of Belgaum, leaving the regency to the old queen-dowager, Booboojee Khanum, and Ismail Khan DecHe is de- cany. After enduring Mulloo Adil Shah's vices for six throned, 1534. months, the queen-dowager determined to depose him; Ibrahim Adil and with the full approbation of Assud Khan, Mulloo Adil Shah was dethroned and blinded, and his brother Ibrahim crowned king, to the satisfaction of all parties in the State. Shah I, succeeds, 1534. Mulloo Adil Shah succeeds, 1534. These transactions have brought the history of the Adil Shahy dynasty somewhat beyond the date previously mentioned, namely, 1526; but the details of the reign of Ismail Adil Shah could not be interrupted; and those of his successor, Ibrahim Adil Shah I., will be resumed hereafter. CHAPTER XX. OF THE NIZAM SHAHY DYNASTY OF AHMEDNUGGER, assumes in 1489. generals THE death of Nizam-ool-Moolk Bheiry, who succeeded Mahmood Gáwan as minister of the Bahmuny State, after his ex- Ahmed ecution, has been before related in Chapter XV. of this Nizam Shah Book, as also the declaration of independence by his son dependence, Mullik Ahmed, which immediately followed that event. He had been previously employed in the royal service, both by Mahmood Gáwan and his own father; and, at the period under notice, was engaged in reducing the Northern Konkan, which formed part of his father's public estate, to obedience. In these operations he had been singularly successful; and had captured all the Mahratta strongholds, which, up to this period, had defied the Mahomedan arms. Ferishta states, that though he assumed independence, he was not crowned, nor did he style himself shah or king, until a later period. An attempt was made by The Bahthe Bahmuny State, soon after his declaration of inde- muny pendence, to recover Mullik Ahmed's possessions; but defeated. the generals dispatched for the purpose were successively defeated; on the last occasion with the loss of all their baggage. A third attempt by Azmut-ool-Moolk, with 18,000 men, on the part of Mahmood Shah Báhmuny, was equally unsuccessful. Mullik Ahmed evaded them, marched suddenly upon Beeder, a distance of nearly 300 miles, surprised the city guards, and carried off the females of his family without loss; an exploit which considerably added to his fame. He then rejoined his forces, and after some manœuvres by both parties, a general action ensued, on May 28, 1490, in which the Bahmuny troops suffered a severe defeat on the plain near the town of Bingar, which was commemorated by the erection of a palace, surrounded by a garden and park, which still remain. The occurrences of the reign of Ahmed Nizam Shah were so much mixed up with those of Mahmood Shah Bahmuny, and his contemporaries, that they need not all be reviewed. Joonair as yet had been the capital of the new kingdom; but it was inconvenient in many respects, and was not sufficiently central. Mullik Ahmed Shah had determined to gain possession of Dowlatabad and its dependencies, which included the broad and fertile valley of the upper Godavery, and eventually to extend his power into Berar; and he fixed upon a spot near |