thrill of indignation throughout the whole of the Sultan's Dominions. Two of the principal nobles, Imad-ul-Mulk and Khodawund Khan, the Governors of the two provinces of Berar, at once removed with their troops to a distance, and refused to come to the Sultan's presence, until Yusuf Adil Khan should be sent for. This was done, and Adil Khan at once came, overwhelmed with grief at the death of his benefactor and adopted father. Overtures were now made to the disgusted noblemen, but although all their demands were granted, they refused to join the Sultan's camp, and pitched their own at a distance, paying their respects each day from afar off surrounded by their own guards. Before long Imadul-Mulk and Khodawund Khan retired, without taking leave, to their Government in Berar, and Yusuf Adil Khan having been confirmed in the jaghirs of Belgaum and Bijapur, marched with his army against Sivarajah, the King of Vijayanagar, who had broken into revolt. The Sultan, thus deserted by his principal Generals, was obliged to submit, and retired to Firozeabad, "seemingly spending his hours in pleasure, but inwardly a prey to grief and sorrow, which wasted his strength daily." From Firozeabad the Sultan returned to his capital, Bieder, and continuing to indulge in wine and debauchery, he at last succumbed to their effects. After a more than usual indulgence, he fell into fits, during which he frequently cried out that Khajeh Gawan was tearing him into pieces, till at length he died on the 1st Suffer, SS7 H., after a reign of twenty years, and in the twenty-ninth year of his age. The date of his death, says Ferishta, is comprised in the following

verses:

"The King of Kings, Sultan Muhammed, when suddenly he plunged into the ocean of death, as Deccan became waste by his departure, the ruin of Deccan' was the date of his death."

CHAPTER XII.

THE END OF THE HOUSE OF BAHMANEE.

ith the death of Sultan Muhammed, the history of the house of Bahmanee as a separate and independent dynasty may be said It is true that his son Mahmood Shah

was placed on the throne, as a boy of eight years of age; reigned for thirty-seven years, and was succeeded by three other Sultans; but these princes were nothing more than puppets, and their dominions were confined to the capital of Bieder, and its immediate vicinity. Taking advantage of the youth of the young Sultan, the powerful nobles of the different provinces

asserted each his own independence. The first few years of the new reign were signalized by a series of struggles and intrigues. The capital itself was for many days the scene of a bloody struggle between the Deccanees and the Abyssinians on the one hand, and the Turks and Moguls on the other. Yusuf Adil Shah was the first to take advantage of this confusion. Supported by his old comrade and faithful follower, Deria Khan, he retired to Bijapur and there had the Kutba read in his own name. Malick Ahmed, the Governor of Dowlatabad, soon followed his example, and founded the capital of Ahmednagar, and the dynasty of the Nizam Shahee Sultans. In Berar Imad-ul-Mulk proclaimed his independence, and read the Kutba in his capital Burhanpore, and finally Kootb-ul-Mulk, the Governor of Golconda, who for some years had been practically independent, in 1510 proclaimed himself Sultan of Golconda and the Telingana country, and was the first of a dynasty called after his own name. In Bieder itself the Sultan was a mere tool in the hands of his Minister, a man named Cassim Bereed, who had been a Turkish slave, but who by intrigues had gradually risen to power. In 1490 an attempt was made by the Sultan to shake off the yoke of this too powerful Minister, in which attempt he was helped by one Delawar Khan. At first, Cassim Bereed was defeated, and had to fly towards Golconda. In a second encounter, however, Dilawar Khan was killed, and the royal army being defeated, Cassim Bereed returned to Bieder in triumph. A seeming reconciliation ensued between the Minister and the Sultan, and the former "seated securely on the musnud of administration left nothing but a nominal royalty to Mahmood Shah. The historians of the Bereed dynasty reckon the establishment of it from this period."

At the close of the fifteenth century, we find, therefore, five Mahomedan kingdoms in the Deccan, which had divided amongst themselves the territories of the Bahmanee Sultans.

By far the most important of these was the Bijapur kingdom of Yusuf Adil Shah. It extended from Sholapore and Gulburga in the north, down to Goa in the south. On the East its neighbour was the kingdom of Vijayanagar, and its boundary the River Kistna. The forts of Raichore and Mukdul were Mahomedan, but the country between the two rivers Kistna and Tungabadhra was still a debatable land. We have, therefore, arrived at the close of the first period of the Mahomedan occupation of the Deccan, and we shall be better able to trace the further sequence of events by following the fortunes of the Bijapur kings, noting from time to time the occurrences in the neighbouring States. But, before taking leave of the Bahmance Sultans-for in future, their names will only occur incidentally this would seem to be the place for a description of their capital, Ahmedabad Bieder. We quote again from the historical and descriptive account of Hyderabad :

The city of Bieder in the days of its prosperity must have been of vast extent. A modern writer, referring to the rapidity of its erection, says: -"Soon, as if by magic, rose, some miles to the north of Gulburga, one of the most splendid cities of India or of the world. The great mosque of Ahmedabad Bieder was for centuries unequalled for simple grandeur and solemnity, and the more delicate beauties of the Ivory Mosque, inlaid with gems and mother-o'-pearl, was long one of the favourite themes with which travellers delighted to illustrate the wealth and prodigality of the realms of the Far East." Unfortunately, few authentic details as to the extent of the city have come down to us, Athanasius Nitikin, a Russian Armenian, who in 1470 visited Bieder as a merchant, "gives in his diary an interesting description of the country and its capital. There were villages at every coss. The land was laid out in fields, and the ground well tilled The roads were well guarded, and travelling secure. Bieder is described as a noble city with great salubrity of climate, and the king,

Mahmood Shah,* as a little man 20 years old, with an army Artillery is not mentioned, the trunks of which scythes

of 300,000 men well equipped. but there were many elephants, to were attached in action, and they were clad in bright steel armour." When Aurangzebe invested the place in 1656 Bieder was described as 4,500 yards in circumference, having three deep ditches 25 yards wide, and 15 yards deep, cut in the stone. Monsieur Thevenot, who visited Bieder in 1667, says :"It is a great town; it is encompassed with Brick-Walls which have battlements, and at certain distances Towers; they are mounted with great Cannon, some whereof have the mouth three Foot wide. There is commonly in this place a Garrison of Three thousand Men, half Horse and half Foot, with Seven hundred Gunners; the Garrison is kept in good order, because of the importance of the place against Deccan, and that they are always afraid of a surprise. The Governor lodges in a Castle without the Town; it is a rich Government, and he who commanded in it when I was there was Brotherin-law to King Changeant (Shah Jehan) Auran-Zeb's Father; but having since desired the Government of Brampour (which is worth more,) he had it, because in the last War, that Governor had made an Army of the King of Viziapour raise the siege from before Bieder. Some time after, I met the new Governor upon the road to Bieder, who was a Persian of a good aspect, and pretty well striken in years; he was carried, before whom marched several Men on foot, carrying blew Banners charged with flames of Gold, and after them came seven Elephants. The Governor's Palanquin was followed with several others full of Women, and covered with red

* This statement is entirely opposed to Ferishta's chronology. According to the latter, Mahmood Shah did not ascend the throne until 1482, and was then only eight years of age. This is no doubt a mistake for Muhammed Shah, who, in 1470, had already been reigning for eight years, and was then 17 years of age.