CHAPTER III. of those countries spoke partly Telugu and partly Kanarese.24 They advanced to battle with songs and dances; their country was full of woods and fastnesses. The Rai of Vijayanagar was superior to the Sultan of Kulbarga in power, wealth, and dominion. The kings of Malabar and Ceylon kept ambassadors at his court, and sent him presents. The forefathers of Krishna had possessed the kingdom for seven hundred years; 25 they had hoarded up treasures which exceeded those of all the kings of the earth.26 But the Sultan of Kulbarga was superior in valour; the Hindús were always beaten by the Mussulmans. In the time of Alá-ud-dín, the Rai of Karnata had buried his treasures at Ramiswaram; much of his hoard was carried away by Malik Káfúr. Intrigues and assassinations. and beneficent. 1378-1397. Mujahid was stabbed to death by the son of his father's betel-bearer. His uncle Dáúd succeeded to Mahmúd: pious the throne; he too was stabbed to death. Mahmúd, another uncle, succeeded. He was a Sultan of peace. He reigned twenty years. He employed ten thousand bullocks in bringing grain from Guzerat and Malwa during a famine. He founded schools for orphans in all his chief towns. He gave stipends to 24 It is impossible to say whether Krishna Rai maintained a suzerainty over the Tamil country as far as the coast of Coromandel. On the Malabar side his suzerainty was undoubted, for the kings of Malabar sent him yearly presents. 25 This statement of Ferishta is somewhat perplexing. Vijayanagar is said to have been founded about 1344 (see ante, page 42 note). Possibly Ferishta referred to Karnata; but Karnata could scarcely have been for seven centuries in the direct possession of the Telinga family. Possibly there had been intermarriages between the royal families of Karnata and Telinga from a remote period; and thus the seven centuries referred to the family and not to the Karnata kingdom. The subject will be further noticed in dealing with Hindú traditions. 26 This is of course an oriental hyperbole ; but still it conveys the popular idea of the riches of Vijayanagar. expounders of the Koran, and monthly charities to CHAPTER III. He died in 1397; he was all who were blind. buried in the tomb of Hasan Gangu. blinded and Ghiás-ud-dín, the son of Mahmud, succeeded to Ghias-ud din: the throne at the age of seventeen. An officer of dethroned, 1397. the household was disappointed of a post and resolved on revenge. He invited Ghiás-ud-dín to his house, made him drunk, threw him on his back, and destroyed his eyes with a dagger. Plots and murders followed; they were mere struggles for power. In the end the blind prince went to Mecca; Fírúz, son of Dáúd, was proclaimed Sultan. lover of plea 1397-1422. Fírúz was a man of wit and pleasure; devoted Firuz Shah: to learning and science, yet given to wine, and wo- sure, literature, men. He read the Old and New Testaments as well as the Koran; he preferred the Koran because it commanded that women should be hidden from the eyes of strangers. His religion turned upon women. He would not join the Sunnís because they were limited to four wives; he joined the Shíahs because they did not limit him. His harem was filled with women from every land; he boasted that he could speak to every one in her own tongue. assemblies. Fírúz was eager for knowledge. He collected Evening curiosities; he studied botany, geometry, and logic. Every day when business was over, he surrounded himself with doctors, poets, reciters of history, and readers of the Sháh Námeh. He laid aside all restraint. Every one could come or go, or call for what he pleased to eat or drink. He might speak upon any subject, except an affair of state, or a scandal about an absent person." 27 27 It will be seen hereafter that Fírúz Shah belonged to the same type as the emperor Akber, and held evening assemblies of a similar character. CHAPTER III. War against Assassination of the eldest son of Deva Rai. Mussulman intrigues with the Gond Raja. Fírúz was soon dragged into a war with Vijayanagar. A new sovereign, named Deva Rai, had ascended the Hindú throne. Deva Rai overran the country between the rivers Tumbadra and Krishna; he captured the frontier fortresses of Mudkul and Raichor; he then encamped on the southern bank of the Krishna river. Fírúz led his forces to the northern bank; he was afraid to cross. At last eight men offered to go over the river; they proposed to assassinate either Deva Rai or his eldest son. Fírúz accepted the offer; it excited no horror; it rather took his fancy. The scheme was carried out as a joke; it certainly was not regarded as a crime. The men crossed the river; they made friends with a company of dancing girls. Two of the men dressed as girls; they went with the company to dance and sing before the son of Deva Rai; the other six men stood outside the pavilion and waited for a signal. The son of Deva Rai and his chief officers got drunk with wine; the two men in girl's attire danced and postured in the Dekhani fashion with a dagger in each hand. Suddenly the prince was stabbed to the heart; so were many of his officers. The six men rushed in and finished the massacre. The lights were put out; the assassins escaped amidst the uproar. The result was that Fírúz crossed the river, routed Deva Rai, and returned with immense booty. Henceforth the Rais of Vijayanagar paid tribute to the Bahmani Sultans.28 About this time another game was played on the northern frontier. The Mussulman Sultans of Malwa 28 Ferishta tries to make it appear that the Rais of Vijayanagar had paid tribute to the Bahmani Sultans after the early victories of Hasan Gangu. The point is doubtful. and Khandesh were growing jealous of Fírúz. They CHAPTER IIL would not openly attack a brother Mussulman. They stirred up a Hindú chief, named Narsing Rai, to invade Berár.29 Narsing Rai was a chieftain of Gondwana; he held his court at the fort of Kherlá on the Satpura hills. He became a cat'spaw to the Sultans. He invaded Berár; he soon had reason to repent. Fírúz captured his fort at Kherla,30 made him pay tribute, and took his daughter in marriage.31 India, 1398-99; In 1398-99 Timúr invaded the Punjab with his Timur invades host of Turks and Moghuls. He entered Delhi, propitiated by sacked and massacred its inhabitants, and spread a great terror throughout Hindustan. Fírúz propitiated him; he sent presents to Delhi; he offered to become Timúr's vassal. Timúr sent return presents; he also sent a firmán granting Guzerat and Malwa to Fírúz. Guzerat and with Deva Rai. Nothing came of the firmán; it only stirred up Sultans of the Sultans of Guzerat and Malwa to fresh intrigues. Malwa intrigue They tried to make a cat's-paw of Deva Rai; they were lavish in their promises of help. Deva Rai took advantage of their promises to keep back his 29 The kingdom of the Bahmani Sultans of the Dekhan included four provinces, namely, Doulatábád [i. e., Deoghur] and Berár in the north, and Kulbarga and Telinga ceded districts in the south. 30 The Satpura range runs along the southern bank of the Nerbudda river, just as the Vindhya range runs along the northern bank. The ruins of the old fort of Kherlá are still to be seen in the neighbourhood of the town of Badnur. Since the publication of Sir Richard Temple's Administration Report of the Central Provinces in 1862, Gondwana cannot be called an unknown region. Mr Grant's admirable Gazetteer of the Central Provinces, published in 1870, furnishes exhaustive accounts of the whole of this interesting country. Narsing Rai was apparently a Rajpoot; he was a ruler of Gonds. The Gonds are generally regarded as distinct from the Hindús. 31 The marriages of 'the Bahmani Sultans with the daughters of Hindú Rajas became as detrimental to the dynasties of the Dekhan as it had already proved to the Khilji dynasty of Hindustan. CHAPTER III. tribute from Fírúz; he was afraid to make war. At last he violated the Sultan's territory; he tried to carry off a girl from the town of Mudkul. Fírúz avenged the outrage. He desolated the country round about Vijayanagar until Deva Rai was in despair. The Sultans of Guzerat and Malwa could not help him; they could not keep their promises; they dared not aid the idolater against the believer. Deva Rai was forced to sue for peace. Fírúz Shah demanded his daughter in marriage; he also demanded fifty elephants, two thousand musicians and dancers, and a vast quantity of gold and jewels. The Rai had no way of escape; he was forced to give his daughter to the conqueror. Marriage of Fírúz Shah with Deva Rai. The marriage of the Mussulman Sultan with a the daughter of Hindú bride was celebrated with every oriental rejoicing. For forty days there was nothing but feasting and revelry. The Mussulman camp was more than four miles from the city of Vijayanagar. The road between the two was turned into a street; it was lined on either side with shops and booths. Provisions and sweetmeats, flowers and perfumes, fruits and choice drinks, were free to all. Conjurers, play-actors, snake-charmers, dancinggirls, and buffoons performed before the multitudes. When the marriage rites were over, the street was covered with carpets; the princess was carried with great pomp to the Sultan's pavilion. After some days the bridegroom and his bride paid a visit to the palace of the Rai. All the chief officers accompanied the processions in gorgeous array; music was playing, banners were flying, beautiful children were scattering flowers of gold |