The fugitives were all seized at night, and sent with their followers in chains to the Sultan at Bieder. The vengeance wreaked by the Sultan was terrible. He ordered stakes to be driven into the ground in the large square opposite the palace; elephants, and wild beasts were then brought in, and large cauldrons of boiling oil were placed in different parts. Upon this the Sultan seated himself in the balcony so as to preside over the execution. The first victim was his unfortunate brother, Hassan Khan, who was thrown before a tiger, who soon tore the wretched Prince to pieces. Yusuf Turk and his seven friends were then beheaded, and their wives and daughters publicly violated. Hubeeb Oolla had fortunately already been killed in Bijapur. The whole of the Prince's followers, even down to the cooks and scullions, numbering in all some seven thousand men, women, and children, were then put to death by the most fearful tortures -by sword, axe, boiling oil and water, and every means that cruelty could think of.

In order to avoid the possibility of another revolt, almost all of the other members of the royal family were put to death, and the Sultan spent the rest of his reign in practising the most abominable cruelties on the innocent as well as the guilty. "He would frequently stop nuptial processions in the street, and seizing the bride, would, after deflowering her, send her back to the husband's house. He put his women to death for trivial faults and when any of his nobility were obliged to attend him, so great was their dread, that they took leave of their families as if preparing for death."

It was impossible that such a state of things could long continue, and in 1460, after a short reign of three years and six months, this monster of cruelty died, "some say by natural disease, but others that he was assassinated by his own attend

ants.'

CHAPTER XI.

SULTANS NIZAM SHAH AND MUHAMMED SHAH.

izam Shah was only a boy when he ascended the throne, and the Regency was conducted by 1460 his mother, a woman

to of great ability, who 1462. consulted in all things the Vizier Khajeh Gawan and Khajeh Jehan, two men of great experience and integrity. It did not take long to restore peace and confidence, but the neighbouring States, thinking to profit by the youth of the

new Sultan, resolved to attack his kingdom, which they hoped to find in a state of confusion. The first combination was made by the Rajahs of Orissa, Oriya, and the Zemindars of Telingana, who invaded the country by Rajahmundry, and plundered it as far as Kailas. This army advanced within ten miles of Bieder, but was there met by the young Sultan, with a force of forty thousand men. In a preliminary skirmish

the Hindoos suffered so much loss that the whole army retreated, followed by the Mahomedans, who inflected great loss. The allied Rajahs were compelled to take refuge in a small fort, and there sue for peace, which, after payment of a large sum, was granted. The General commanding the victorious army was Khajeh Jehan.

The next invasion was from the side of Malwa, aided by the Rajahs of Oriya and Telingana. This also was met by Sultan Nizam Shah in person. A battle ensued, in which the two wings of Nizam Shah's army were completely victorious; the centre, however, where the Sultan himself was, was broken and compelled to retire to Bieder, so that the victory remained with the Sultan of Malwa, who then advanced to the capital, where he succeeded in taking the city, but had to lay siege to the citadel. Matters were now in a critical state, and many thought that the fall of the house of Bahmanee was inevitable, when suddenly help appeared in the shape of the Sultan of Guzerat with twenty thousand horse. He was joined by Khajeh Gawan with the remnants of Nizam Shah's army, and the two then advanced to raise the siege of Bieder, the citadel of which had been gallantly defended by the Queen mother and the young Sultan. The Malwa army was then compelled to relinquish the siege, and to retire towards Gondwara, followed by the allies. In the Hindoo country, the Malwa Sultan was purposely misled by a guide into a desert where he lost a large portion of his army, and had finally to retire to his country with great loss. In the following year he again invaded the Deccan, but was met near Dowlatabad by the combined forces of Guzerat and the Deccan, and compelled to retire. This invasion over, it was resolved to celebrate the young Sultan's marriage. This was done amid great pomp and rejoicing, which, however, was suddenly turned into mourning, for, on the night of the comsummation, the young King, who had begun life with so much promise, suddenly died.

Muhammed Shah was only nine years old, when he succeeded his brother, and the affairs of Government continued to be conducted by the two Ministers, and the Queen mother as in the last reign.

1462

to 1482.

Khajeh Jehan, however, was no longer the faithful servant he had hitherto proved himself. He seems to have entertained personal hopes of ambition, and appointed his own friends and creatures to the chief posts at Court. Khajeh Gawan was sent to the frontier, and had but little voice in the adminis tration. The Queen mother, becoming alarmed at the growing power of the Minister, resolved to remove him, and this was done by assassinating him in open durbar in the presence of the Sultan. Khajeh Gawan was now the principal Minister of the State, and under his able guidance, matters went on prosperously.

1467.

When he was fourteen years old the Sultan was married to a Princess of his own family, and thereupon the Queen mother handed over to him the reins of Government and retired into privacy. Sultan Muhammed is said to have been a man of great learning and taste, Khajeh Gawan having paid great attention to his education. On the whole, he seems to have been actuated by noble impulses, but he was quick in temper and hasty, and it was owing to this defect in his character that he was destined to be the cause of the ruin of his house. It is necessary at this stage to go back somewhat in order to trace the history of a young man, who was now twenty-four years of age. This man was Yusuf Adil Khan Sewai, who was attached to the household of Khajeh Gawan (as I shall still continue to call him, though he had now received the additional titles of Malick-ul-Tijar and Khajeh Jehan). The story of Yusuf Adil Khan's birth and adventures is a most romantic one. He was born in 1443, and his father was no less a person than Murad, the Sultan of Turkey. Murad died in 1450, and was succeeded by his eldest son

son.

Mahomed. Yusuf was then only seven years of age, but in conformity with the barbarous custom that has so long prevailed in Mahomedan courts, it was resolved to put the young Prince to death, in order to prevent the possibility arising of his being a claimant to the throne. The executioners were sent to the harem and told the Sultana that they had come with orders to bow-string the boy and show his body to the Sultan. The mother, distracted with grief, begged for a day's delay, which, on being granted, she employed in devising a plan to save her She sent for a slave-dealer and purchased from him a young Circassian boy who bore a strong resemblance to the Prince. She then gave her son to the merchant with a large sum of money and begged him to take the boy away and place him in safety. This the merchant promised to do, and started on his journey with the young Prince on the same night. Next morning the executioners came again. One was admitted, who strangled the unfortunate Circassian, and then carried out the body which was buried without further examination. In the meantime the merchant, whose name was Khajeh Imad-ud-Din, had carried off the real Prince to Persia, first of all to Ardebeel, where he was placed under the venerable Sheikh Suffee (founder of the Suffee royal family), and then to the town of Saweh, where the boy was educated with the merchant's own children. Whilst here the Sultana from time to time sent messages to her son and received reports of his progress. She also sent his old nurse together with a large sum of money for the Prince's support. Yusuf remained at Saweh till he was sixteen years old, and from this residence derived his name of "Sewai." He then resolved to go and try his fortune in Hindustan and having embarked at Jeroon, in the Persian Gulf, arrived safely at Dabul a port on the Malabar Coast to the south of Goa in 1458. From Dabul he went to Ahmedabad Bieder, where he was taken into the service of Khajeh Imad-ud-Din, who introduced him into the royal