and silver. The Sultan was feasted for three days, CHAPTER III. and then took his leave; but the parting was unpropitious. The Rai accompanied his son-in-law part of the way to the camp; he turned back without going the whole way. Fírúz was incensed at the affront; henceforth he was in secret enmity against the Rai.32 the Dekhan by The peace lasted ten years. lasted ten years. In an evil hour Devastation of Fírúz renewed the war. His army was weakened the Hindús. by pestilence; it was utterly defeated. The Hindús revenged themselves upon the Mussulmans as they had never done before. They cut off the heads of the believers; they built them into a tower upon the field of battle. Deva Rai invaded the Dekhan with a host of idolaters; he wasted the country; he burnt down mosques and shrines; he slaughtered the villagers like sheep. At last the Mussulmans recovered heart; they drove the Hindús back to the Peninsula. Fírúz never recovered the blow; he spent his last days in sorrow and despair. He died in 1422, after a reign of twenty-five years. the butcher, The next Sultan was Ahmad Shah. He was Ahmad Shah bent on revenging the wrongs inflicted by Deva 1422-1435. Rai. He invaded the territories of Vijayanagar; he compelled the Hindú army to take shelter in the capital. He set aside the old compact; he put to death women and children without mercy. Whenever the tale of slaughter numbered twenty thousand persons, he halted for three days, and made a feast. He broke down the temples; he 32 The damsel of Mudkul, who was the original cause of the war, was not forgotten. Indeed her fate was extraordinary. After the war was over, Fírúz sent for her to court; he found her so beautiful that he was half inclined to marry her himself. Ultimately he gave her to his son. CHAPTER III. destroyed the colleges of the Bráhmans. In the end he drove the Hindús to desperation. Five thousand banded together; they swore to slay Ahmad Shah at all hazards. They watched his every movement. One day, whilst hunting outside his camp, he saw them approaching him. He galloped to a cattle fold; he was joined by two hundred followers. But he was well nigh overwhelmed. Nearly all his men were slain or wounded; the Hindús were breaking down the walls of the fold; suddenly a body of Mussulman horsemen galloped up and saved him. The Hindús were driven off, but numbers had fallen. Deva Rai saw that fate was against him; he paid up his arrears of tribute. Ahmad Shah then returned to his own dominions. Wars against brother Mussul mans. Removal of the Meanwhile the Sultan of Malwa was playing his old game in the Dekhan; he was making war on Narsing Rai for refusing to invade Berár. Narsing Rai was staunch. Ahmad Shah went out to help him; the Mullahs raised a cry that he was helping the idolater against the believer. Ahmad Shah stayed his hand, but only for a while. He soon declared that he had done enough for Islam; he fell upon the Malwa Sultan and defeated him utterly.38 Ahmad Shah moved his capital from Kulbarga to Bídur.34 The change is significant. Bídur is a 33 This defiance of the Ulamá resembles that of Alá-ud-dín Khilji. It reveals the fact that Hindú influences were beginning to work amongst the Sultans of the Dekhan. It was the 34 Bidur is one of the cities mentioned in the Mahá Bhárata. locality of some of the leading events in the tradition of Nala and Damayanti. The daughter of Raja Bhíma dwelt at Bidur; here she chose Raja Nala ather Swayamwara; here she sent her children whilst her husband was engaged in the ruinous gambling match; here she was finally united to her husband. See ante, Vol. i. and iii. hundred miles to the north of Kulbarga. Ahmad CHAPTER III. Shah found that his Mussulman neighbours to the northward had become more dangerous than his Hindú neighbours to the southward. He strengthened himself against Guzerat and Malwa by making an alliance with the Sultan of Khandesh; 35 he married his son Alá-ud-dín to the daughter of the Sultan of Khandesh. He died in 1435 after a reign of twelve years. trimmer, 1435 Alá-ud-din succeeded to the throne of Bídur. Alá-ud-din the He married a Hindú princess; he neglected his 1457. Mussulman queen. The Sultan of Khandesh made war upon him, but was defeated; nothing more is told of the matter. About this time Deva Rai of Vijayanagar was Deva Rai at his brooding over his defeats. He could not understand defeats. why he should be so often beaten by the Mussulmans. He had larger dominions, more people, and more money. He had many sea-ports teeming with riches. Still the Mussulmans were too much for him. Once only in the reign of Fírúz he had gained the upper hand; ever since that time the Mussulmans had been a terror to the Hindús. council. In this perplexity Deva Rai called together a The great great council of Bráhmans and Kshatriyas. Such councils were common in ancient times. When they were all assembled together, he begged them to tell him truly:-'Why was it that the Mussulmans always defeated the Hindús?' Bráhmans. The Brahmans spoke after the manner of priests. Opinion of the They said it was the will of God; it had been fore 35 Khandesh acted as a political buffer between the Báhmani Sultans and the Sultan of Malwa. CHAPTER III. told in their sacred books; it was the outcome of the age of Kali. Opinion of the Deva Rai enlists Deva Rai sub. mits to destiny. Shiahs tempted to serve Hindu Bajas. The Kshatriyas spoke after the manner of soldiers. They said that the Mussulmans had better horsemen and better archers. The Mussulmans were mounted on horses from Persia and Turkistan. The Hindús were mounted on the ponies of the Peninsula. The Mussulman archers were far superior to the Hindú archers; they had stronger arm and keener eye; their arrows were bewildering and blinding. Deva Rai hearkened to the Kshatriyas. He enlisted Mussulmans; he drilled his Hindú archers. He respected the religion of the Mussulmans. He built them a mosque. He placed a Koran before his throne; they prostrated themselves before the sacred book; they would have refused to prostrate before an idolater. But Deva Rai could not get the mastery over the Bahmani Sultan. He made war upon Alá-uddín. He gained one victory; he was routed in the second battle; he lost his eldest son in the third. The extent of his defeat is unknown. He never renewed the war. He tendered his submission; henceforth he paid his tribute regularly. The enlistment of Mussulmans in Hindú armies is a new phase in the history. Probably it was brought about by the antagonism between the Sunnís and Shíahs, the Dekhanis and the Foreigners. The bitterness of the struggle was daily increasing. It was growing to a dangerous height. It was threatening to rend asunder the Bahmani empire. It divided the court and army into hostile camps. When the Sunnís were in power, the Shíahs would nism between Shiahs. be tempted to take service under Hindú Rajas. CHAPTER III. About this time Alá-ud-dín resolved to conquer Bloody antago Konkana. The Rajas of Konkana were brigands Sunnis and and pirates. They held the region between the Western Ghats and the Indian Ocean. Their country was difficult and unhealthy; it extended from Bombay on the north to Goa on the south. They were barricaded by forests and precipices. Alá-ud-dín sent a mixed force of Dekhanis and Foreigners to root them out of their strong-holds.36 The Dekhanis refused to go; they were alarmed at the thick jungles and overhanging mountains. The Foreigners went; they were ensnared into a narrow pass; they were attacked by the forces of Konkana and slaughtered like sheep. The recriminations which followed between the Dekhanis and Foreigners led to intrigues, treacheries, and murders. According to Ferishta thousands of Foreigners were massacred by the Dekhanis in cold blood. Ferishta, however, was himself a Foreigner and a Shíah. He writes with a bitterness which has perhaps driven him to exaggerations. It would be sheer waste of time to review the dubious detail of perfidy and assassination. cruel horrible rebels, 1457 Alá-ud-dín died in 1457, after a reign of twenty- Humayun the four years. His death was followed by a contest punishment of between his two sons Humáyún and Hasan. Hu- 1461. máyún was the eldest; his character was so utterly bad that the nobles placed Hasan upon the throne. Humáyún broke into the palace with his followers, dragged down Hasan, and put out his eyes. 36 Alá-ud-din was trimming between Sunnís and Shiahs. This was the policy of the Sultans who succeeded Fírúz. It was not until a later period in the history, when the Bahmani empire was broken up into smaller kingdoms, that the Sultans of the Dekhan began to espouse different sides. |