to induce Ibrahim Shah to support the claims of this pretender, especially as the fort of Sholapore was held out to him as a bait. He at once proclaimed Shah Ali (for this was his name) Sultan of Ahmednagar, and marched with an army to take possession of Sholapore. Here he was met by Hoosein Nizam Shah, and an engagement ensued, in which Ibrahim Shah was worsted. The defeat appears to have occurred through a mistake. His General, Seyf Eyn-ul-Mulk, had in reality broken the enemy's centre, but was left unsupported. Ibrahim Shah being told that he had gone over to the enemy, made a precipitate retreat, leaving his General in the lurch. The latter managed to cut his way through the enemy's ranks, and followed his master, who, however, received him at Bijapur with such disfavour that the General retired to his own estates. Ibrahim sent an army after him but it was defeated, and another and stronger force met with the same fate. Eyn-ulMulk now asserted his independence, and so dangerous did matters look, that Ibrahim Shah had to march against him in person with the whole force that he could raise. The Sultan, however, fared no better than his generals, and was severely defeated with the loss of his baggage and royal paraphernalia. Ibrahim himself escaped and fled in haste to Bijapur, which was at once invested by the rebel. In this last extremity, Ibrahim applied to Rama Rajah of Vijayanagar for assistance. The Hindoo King at once complied, and sent his brother Venkatadri with a large army. The Hindoo General, by a clever night attack, succeeded in surprising Eyn-ul-Mulk's camp, and put the whole of the army to the sword, the rebel himself just managing to escape with two hundred followers. Eyn-ul-Mulk fled to Ahmednagar, where, however, he was assassinated by order of the Sultan (1551).

Ibrahim Shah, thus saved by the Hindoos, gave himself up to debauchery, and very soon fell ill. He called in a number of doctors, but as they were not able to cure him, he put

them to death, beheading some and having others trodden to death by elephants.

As might be expected, this treatment was not calculated to encourage the rest, who left his court in a body. The Sultan, left without medical aid, was equally unable to cure himself, and died in 1557 after a reign of twenty-four years.

Ibrahim Adil Shah was a passionate and headstrong man. As long as Assud Khan was his chief adviser, his reign was a prosperous one, but after he had quarrelled with Character. him, and especially after Assud Khan's death, he degenerated into a licentious tyrant. Although constantly at war, he seems to have had little or no military talents, and all his successes were due to his Generals. When left to himself, he seems generally to have been defeated. The frequent manner in which both he and his rival Sultans appealed to Rama Rajah for assistance shows how rapidly the Hindoo kingdom had been growing in importance. Whilst the Mahomedan States, like Kilkenny cats, were destroying each other, the Hindoos were rapidly becoming the arbiters of the Deccan. During Ibrahim Shah's reign several important changes were made, which were destined to prove of importance in Deccan history. These were the employment of Brahmins and Hindoos in the Revenue and Accounts Departments, the use of the Vernacular in the preparation of accounts, and the enlistment of Bergees or Mahratta soldiers in the army. In Ahmednagar, the Nizam Shahs adopted the same policy, and the Sultan even appointed a Brahmin Minister with the title of Peshwa, the origin of the title which was subsequently to become so famous. The Bergees were enlisted from among the Mahratta villagers, almost all of which were situated in either Bijapur or Ahmednagar territories. They were mercenaries, and replaced the old Silladarees, who provided their own horses, and ranked more as gentlemen soldiers than as ordinary rank and file. These Mahratta troops, which in

Bijapur numbered as many as 30,000, introduced an entirely new system of warfare, which was subsequently brought to perfection by the great Sivajee. This system consisted in eluding the enemy as much as possible, and in harrassing him in every way, whilst on the line of march; cutting off supplies; night surprises and a general harrying of the country in front of the enemy. This led to a desultory predatory kind of warfare, in which the country and the cultivators suffered more than the armies. The change of the State religion, to which allusion has been made, did not have any political results. As a matter of fact, the Bijapur Sultans seem to have belonged alternately to the Sheeah and the Sunnee sects. Ibrahim Shah's son and successor at once reverted to the Sheeah, and his successors belonged sometimes to the one, and sometimes to the other sect. The only effect of this was to bring about a spirit of tolerance, not only towards each other, but also towards the Hindoos.

(N.B. In BURHAN's reign TUFAL KHAN seized the throne but was killed by MURTAZA NIZAM SHAH of Ahmednagar and Kingdom annexed.

In the year 1560, the Vijayanagar Kingdom was at the height of its splendour. Rama Rajah had subdued all his rebellious chiefs, and ruled without dispute from the Kistna to Cape Comorin. He had gradually extended his sway up to the mouths of the Godavery, was in alliance with the Hindoo Rajahs, who still maintained their independence north of that river, and was married to the daughter of the King of Orissa. In Madura, the ruler of the whole of the south