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Appendix – On the States Formed on the Dissolution of the Empire of Delhi

Bahmani Kings of the Deckan412

AD AH
Hasan Gangu (or Ala u din) 1347 748
Mohammed I. 1358 759
Mujahid 1375 776
Daud 1378 780
Mahmud I. 1378 780
Gheias u din 1397 799
Shams u din 1397 799
Firuz 1397 800
Ahmed I. 1422 825
Ala u din 1435 838
Humayun 1457 862
Nizam 1461 865
Mohammed II. 1463 867
Mahmud II. 1482 887
Nominal Kings
Ahmed II. 1518 924
Ala u din II. 1520 927
Wali 1522
Kalim 1526

Founded by Hasan Gangu, an Afghan of Delhi

Hasan Gangu413, the first king of the Deckan, was an Afghan of the lowest rank, and a native of Delhi. He farmed a small spot of land belonging to a Bramin astrologer, named Gangu, who was in favour with the king; and having accidentally found a treasure in his field, he had the honesty to give notice of it to his landlord. The

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astrologer was so much struck with his integrity that he exerted all his influence at court to advance his fortunes. Hasan thus rose to a great station in the Deckan, where his merit marked him out among his equals to be their leader in their revolt. He had before assumed the name of Gangu, in gratitude to his benefactor; and now, from a similar motive, added that of Bahmani (Bramin), by which his dynasty was afterwards distinguished. He fixed his capital at Culbarga.

The revolt of the raja of Warangal, and the foundation of the new government of Bijayanagar, were favourable to the insurgents at first, as they increased the embarrassments of Mohammed Toghlak; the raja of Warangal also sent a body of horse to assist Hasan Gangu in his final struggle; but their establishment cut off a large portion of the Mussulman dominions towards the south, and soon led to boundary disputes which involved them in an unceasing war with the new monarchy.

Wars with the Hindus

1461, AH 865

After the death of Hasan Gangu, these wars, especially that with Bijayanagar, continued, almost without intermission, until the end of his dynasty. They did not for a long time make much alteration in the Hindu and Mahometan limits: the rajas of Orissa and Telingana, at one time, made their way to the gates of Bidr, which was then the capital: but the Mahometans were gainers on the whole; they occupied most of the country between the Kishna and Tumbadra; and in 1421, the Bahmani king, Ahmed Shah, took permanent possession of Warangal, and compelled the raja of Telingana to relinquish his ancient capital.

1471, AH 876

At length, in the reign of Mohammed II., the last of the Bahmani kings who exercised the functions of sovereignty, Amber Rai, a relation of the raja of Orissa, applied to the Mussulman prince to assist him in asserting

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his right to that government, promising, in the event of success, to become his tributary, and to cede to him the districts of Rajamandri and Condapili at the mouths of the Kishna and Godaveri. Mohammed accepted the offer, and sent an army to support the pretender. Amber Rai was put in possession of Orissa, and the two districts were made over to the Mussulmans, and occupied by their troops.

1477, AH 882

Conquest of Rajamandri and Masulipatam

Amber Rai subsequently endeavoured to regain possession of the districts he had ceded; when Mohammed moved against him in person, invaded his country, reduced him to submission, and after settling Rajamandri and Condapili, carried his arms to the southward along the coast; annexed Masulipatam to his dominions, and pushed his incursions to the celebrated temple of Canchi, or Conjeveram, near Madras, which he plundered.

Partial conquest of the Concan

From A D 1469, to 1471, AH 874 to AH 876

The same king met with equal success on the opposite coast of India, his minister having acquired possession of the Concan, the tract between the western Ghats and the sea from Bombay to Goa. The Bahmani kings had been occupied in this conquest for more than forty years, and had suffered severe losses in that rugged and woody country, and, after all, were never able perfectly to subdue it.

The Bahmani kings were several times engaged in wars with those of Candesh and Malwa, generally on the frontiers of Berar: on one occasion (1461-2), the king of Malwa advanced to Bidr, then the capital, and might have taken it, but for the timely aid of the king of Guzerat.

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Dynasty of Adil Shah at Bijapur

Founded by Eusof Adil Shah, a Turkish slave

AD AH
Eusof Adil Shah 1489 895
Ismael Adil Shah 1510 915
Mallu Adil Shah 1531 941
Ibrahim Adil Shah 1535 914
Ali Adil Shah 1557 965
Ibrahim Adil Shah II. 1579 987

Eusof Adil Shah claimed an illustrious descent, supported by a plausible history. The Indian historians represent him as son of the Ottoman Sultan Amurath, and brother to Mohammed II., the conqueror of Constantinople. They relate that he was an infant at the accession of Mohammed, that he escaped being put to death with the rest of his brothers by the contrivance of his mother, and was by her means conveyed to Persia.

Being obliged to fly from Persia at the age of sixteen, on account of some suspicion of his birth, he was inveigled to the Bahmani court, and there sold as a slave.

He rose, according to the course of Mamluk adventurers, until he assumed the crown, as has been related.

From that time he was occupied in resisting Kasim Barid, the usurper of the Bahmani government, and in seizing the possessions of other chiefs around, who, like him, were endeavouring to assert their independence. He was also engaged in wars with the raja of Bijayanagar, in which, on the whole, he was successful. His conquests acquired solidity from a sort of partition treaty with the other two new kings (of Ahmednagar and Berar), by which the title of each to his possessions was recognised.

Extent of the kingdom

A notion of the extent of his kingdom may be gained by assuming the Bima, and Kishna rivers for his boundary on the east, the river Tumbadra on the south, the sea from

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near Goa to near Bombay on the west, and perhaps the Nira river on the north.

Attempt to introduce the Shia religion

He afterwards involved himself in fresh troubles by his zeal for the Shia religion, which he had imbibed in Persia from some of the immediate followers of Shekh Safi. He declared that faith to be the established religion of the state; and by a proceeding so unexampled in India, he caused much disaffection among his own subjects, and produced a combination of all the other Mahometan kings against him. He showed great resolution in supporting himself against this confederacy, and great skill in disuniting the members; but it was only by renouncing his innovations in religion that he was able, at last, to reconcile himself to all his opponents.

Religious factions

His son Ismael was a minor at his death. The minister who acted as regent planned the usurpation of the government; and with this view put himself at the head of the Sunni or native faction, and depressed and discharged the foreigners. His plan having failed, the young king became as violent a Shia, formed his army entirely of foreigners, and would enlist no Indian, unless he were the son of a foreigner, a Pitan414, or a Rajput. He affected foreign manners, and always used the Persian and Turki languages in preference to that of the Deckan415.

Ibrahim, the fourth king (the third having only reigned six months), was a zealous Sunni, and discharged all the foreign troops. They were recalled by his son Ali, an enthusiastic Shia. During the minority of Ali’s son, Ibrahim II.,

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there was a struggle between the factions, in which, at length, the Sunnis prevailed.

Rise of the Marattas’

A change of more importance than these revolutions of sects was the rise of the Marattas. These Hindus, having fallen completely under the kings of Ahmednagar and Bijapur, in consequence of the extinction of their own raja of Deogiri, were treated as subjects, and employed without distrust. Eusof, the first Adil Shah, is said to have given a command of 12,000 infantry to a Maratta chief416; and in the subsequent reigns they shared the fortunes of the natives, being entertained in great numbers whenever that party prevailed. They were known under the name of Bergis, were often horse, and by their light and predatory operations contributed to introduce the system of defence to which the Bijapur government always had recourse when attacked.

A remarkable innovation was introduced by Ibrahim (the fourth king). He directed the public accounts to be kept in the Maratta language instead of the Persian. Considering that this was the language of all the village accountants, and that the body of the officers of revenue and finance were also generally Hindus, it is surprising that the improvement was not introduced sooner, and more extensively copied.

Wars with the other Mahometan kings

There were constant wars and shifting confederacies among the Mussulman kings; in both of which the rajas of Bijayanagar often took a part, as did the kings of Candesh and Guzerat, the latter with much weight. In all these wars the constant enemy of the Adil Shah was the Nizam Shah of Ahmednagar, their hostility being caused by rival claims to the possession of Solapur and some other districts on the left bank of the Bima.

League against Bijayanagar

At length, the four great Mahometan governments,

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Adil Shah, Nizam Shah, Barid, and Kutb Shah, formed a league against Ram Raja, then ruling at Bijayanagar, the result of which has been related in the text, page 183.

Wars with the Portuguese

Among the other wars of the Adil Shahi kings, those with the Portuguese are mentioned by the native historians with affected negligence. They state that Goa was lost under Eusof, retaken by that king in person, and lost again under his son Ismael417; but as the kings of Bijapur and Ahmednagar afterwards made a simultaneous attack on the Portuguese at Goa and Choul (1570), and were both repulsed, it is evident that they could not have been insensible to the formidable character of their antagonists418.

This confederacy, as well as the battle of Talicota, was subsequent to the accession of Akber. When that emperor first interfered effectually in the affairs of the Deckan, the last mentioned king, Ibrahim II., had emerged from a long minority, and was taking an active part in the internal disputes of Ahmednagar. 1595, AH 1004.

Dynasty of Nizam Shah at Ahmednagar

Founded by Ahmed, a Hindu Convert

AD AH
Ahmed 1490 896
Burhan 1508 914
Husen 1553 961
Murtezza 1565 972
Miran Husen 1588 996
Ismael 1588 997
Burhan II. 1590 999
Ibrahim 1594 1003
Ahmed II. 1594 1004
Bahadur 1595 1004

The father of Ahmed, the founder of the Nizam sham

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dynasty, was a Bramin of Bhopal. Having been taken: prisoner, and sold for a slave to the Bahmani king, he was converted, and rose to the first dignity in the state, and his son declared himself king (as has been related) on the dissolution of the Bahmani government. So far were his descendants from being ashamed of their origin, that they had frequent wars with the kings of Berar for the possession of Patri, a village in the latter country, to which their Bramin ancestors had been hereditary accountants. In the same spirit Burhan (who was the second king) appointed a Bramin, named Kawar Sein, to be his peshwa, or prime minister, and derived great advantage from the confidence he reposed on him. This dynasty imitated that of Bhopal in employing Marattas, but not to the same extent. Those in their service were chiefly infantry, and much employed as garrisons in hill forts.

Religious factions 1537, AH 944

Their liberality to other religions did not save the Nizam Shahs from the influence of the sects in their own. The second king openly professed the Shia religion; and, although assailed by tumults within, and a combination of the orthodox kings around, was more successful than his neighbour at Bijapur, and made good the establishment of his own sect.

1568, AH 996

A change, took place in consequence of the murder of Miran Husen, the fifth king, the foreigners by whom that act was effected being massacred, and the. Sunni religion introduced.

1588, AH 997

A feud, however, broke out among the Sunnis themselves under the sixth king, Ismael, in consequence of a powerful prime minister declaring for a new sect called Mehdevi, or Gheir Mehdi, which is very odious to the other Mussulmans. It may have been owing to this division that we find the native Deckanis and the Abyssinians on different sides in the dissensions which ultimately destroyed

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the monarchy; but those dissensions had not much of a religious character.

Wars with the other kings of the Deckan

The share of the Ahmednagar governments in the wars and confederacies of the other kings has been noticed. It had also wars of its own with Candesh and Berar, the last of which kingdoms it subverted, in 1572, and annexed the territory to its own. Previous to this success, the Nizam Shahi king was subjected to a great humiliation, having been besieged in his capital by Bahadur Shah, king of Guzerat, and compelled to acknowledge his superiority, and to do homage to him in very submissive forms419.

1530, AH 937

A still greater degradation awaited his successor, who was besieged in Ahmednagar by Ram Raja of Bijayanagar, then combined with Bijapur, and reduced to accept an interview with him on terms of marked inferiority.

1365, AH 972

It was the pride displayed by Ram Raja on this and some other occasions, that led to the general combination against him, the result of which has been already mentioned.

Miscellaneous facts

It gives a great idea of the, power of Ahmednagar, although on an unfortunate occasion, that in one campaign against the Adil Shah, the king lost upwards of 600 guns. Many of these may have been mere swivels, but one was the famous cannon now at Bijapur, which is one of the largest pieces of brass ordnance in the world420.

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Ferishta mentions the great prevalence of duels (an uncommon practice in Asia) under this dynasty. They were occasioned by the most trifling disputes: it was reckoned dishonourable to decline them, and no blame was attached to the death of the parties, provided the combat was a fair one. Ferishta himself witnessed a meeting of this sort, in which there were three on each side, and five of the combatants grey-bearded men, and in considerable estimation at court. Three were killed on the spot, and the survivors died of their wounds421. These duels were always fought with sabres.

Extent of the kingdom

At its greatest extent the kingdom of Ahmednagar comprehended all that is now called the Subah of Aurangabad, and all the west of that of Berar. It also possessed a portion of the sea coast in the Concan, between the tracts belonging to Guzerat and Bijapur.

Dynasty of Kutb Shah at Golconda

Founded by Kutb Kuli, a Turkman soldier

AD AH
Sultan Kuli 1512 918
Jamshid 1543 940
Subhan Kuli 1550 957
Ibrahim 1550 957
Mohammed Kuli 1580 988

Sultan Kuli Kutb Shah, the founder of the dynasty, was a Turkman of Hamadan in Persia. He claimed descent from the head of his clan, and he certainly came to India a free man in quest of military service. He entered the guards of the Bahmani king, distinguished himself on many occasions, and was governor of Telingana when the monarchy

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broke up. It is not certain when he assumed the royal title, but he was king in substance from 1512, AH 918.

Kutb professes the Shia religion

He openly professed the Shia religion from his accession, and met with no opposition in introducing it into his dominions.

Extent of his kingdom

At the end of a long reign he left a territory extending from the Godaveri to beyond the Kishna, and from the sea to a line drawn west of Heiderabad about the seventy-eighth degree of east longitude. The north-western districts of this territory were fragments of the Bahmani kingdom, and those on the south-west were gained from Bijayanagar;

Conquests from the Hindus

but by far the greater part of Sultan Kuli’s conquests were from the remains of the Warangol family and other chiefs of Telingana. He gained a great victory at Condapilli over all those chiefs united, with the addition of the raja of Orissa; and although the raja of Bijayanagar afterwards endeavoured to support the cause of his religion, the government of Warangol was never restored; nor the Mahometan power disturbed within the limits above mentioned.

Wars with the other Mahometan kings

Sultan Kali was sometimes interrupted in his operations against the Hindus by attacks from his Mussulman neighbours, especially Ismael Adil Shah. He however took a much less active share than the rest in the wars among the kings of the Deckan.

He was murdered at the age of ninety by his son, Jamshid, who succeeded him; and reigned for seven years. The third king was a minor, and only reigned a few months; but Ibrahim, the fourth of the line, reigned thirty years, and his time was marked by most of the few important transactions of the dynasty.

Ibrahim, the fourth king

He had a Hindu minister named Jagdeo, and most of his infantry and all his garrisons were composed of Telingas

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of the same religion.

His wars

Jagdeo quarrelled with his master, fled to Berar, and was there appointed to a great command. He afterwards went over to Ram Raja of Bijayanagar, and by his influence a combination, formed between the raja, Ali Adil Shah and Ali Barid Shah, was enabled to overrun a great part of Ibrahim’s country, and shut him up in his capital: peace was however restored, and Ibrahim afterwards joined in the general confederacy against Ram Raja.

The Kutb Shahi kings took part in the wars and alliances of the other Mahometan monarchs in which they are generally connected with the kings of Ahmednagar; but these occasioned no permanent change in their condition: their aggrandisement was always at the expense of the Hindus.

Conquests on the coast of Coromandel

Ibrahim took advantage of the disturbances in Orissa, and the invasion of that country from Bengal, to recover Rajamandri and the country north of the Godaveri up to Chicacol, which had been seized by the Hindus on the dissolution of the Bahmani kingdom; and his successor, Mohammed carried on his conquests to the south of the Kishna, and added Gandicota, Cadapa, and the rest of the country up to the river Penar, to his dominions.

It was this last king who built Heiderabad. He at first gave it the name of Bhagnagar (by which the Hindus call it still), and to it he transferred his capital from the neighbouring site of Golconda.

Mohammed Kuli reigned for Many years after Akber’s capture of Ahmednagar, but his situation was little affected by those remote transactions.

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Dynasty of Imad Shahi in Berar

Founded by Fatten Ullah, Descended from a Converted Hindu

AD AH
Fatteh Ullah 1484 890
Ala u din 1504 910
Deria (about) 1529 936
Burhan (perhaps) 1560 968
Tufal

The little that is known of this small kingdom has found a place in the history of the neighbouring states. It extended from the Injadri hills to the Godaveri: on the west it bordered on Ahmednagar and Candesh, about the middle of the seventy-sixth degree of east longitude. On the east its limits are uncertain, but probably did not take in Nagpur.

Though Fatteh Ullah exercised sovereign authority, yet Ali u din seems first to have taken the title of king422.

During the minority of Burhan Imad Shah, who probably succeeded about 1560, his prime minister, Tufal, usurped the government, and the state merged in that of Ahmednagar in 1572, AH 980.

Dynasty of Barid Shah at Bidr

AD AH
Kasim 1498 904
Amir 1504 910
Ali 1549 945
Ibrahim 1562 990
Kasim II. 1569 997
Mirza Ali 1572 1000
Amir II.

The Barids derived some importance at first from appearing as the ministers and representatives of the Bahmani

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kings; but the illusion was not kept up beyond the life of Kasim: neither he nor Amir took the title of king.

Their territories were small and ill-defined, and the period of their extinction is uncertain.

Amir II. was reigning in 1609, AH 1018, when Ferishta closed that part of his history.

Guzerat

Kings of Guzerat

AD AH
Mozaffer Shah 1396 799
Ahmed Shah 1412 815
Mohammed Shah 1443 847
Kutb Shah 1451 855
Daud Shah reigned one week.
Mahmud Shah Begara 1459 863
Mozaffer Shah II. 1511 917
Secander Shah 1526 932
Mahmud Shah II. 1526 932
Bahadur Shah 1526 932
Miran Mohammed Shah Farukhi 1536 943
Mahmud Shah III. 1553 961
Ahmed Shah II. 1561 969
Mozaffer Shah III. 1561 969

Description of Guzerat

Guzerat is bounded on the north-east and east by a hilly tract which connects the Aravalli mountains with the Vindya chain; on the south it has the sea, which nearly surrounds a part of it, and forms a peninsula equal in extent to all the rest of the province; on the west it has the desert, including that portion called the Bin. The only open part of the frontier is on the north-west; where a plain between the hills and the desert connects it with Marwar.

The northern hills are steep and rugged; and the branches which they send out towards the south are covered with thick woods, as are the numerous ravines which run from their base to the principal rivers. The country gradually gets more open as it recedes from the mountains, and the lower part stretching for about sixty miles in depth along the sea is a plain of extraordinary fertility.

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The peninsula is sometimes distinguished from the rest of Guzerat, and was formerly called Soreth (or Sourashtra), now Katiwar.

It is for the most part composed of low hills, and is, in general, naked and unfertile; but there are separate plains on the sea which extend to a great distance inland, and are rich and open.

Nearly in the south is a hilly district; called Babriawar, which is covered with woods.

Original extent of the kingdom

When Guzerat separated from Delhi, the new king had but a narrow territory on the plain. On the north-west were the independent rajas of Jhalor and Sirohi, from whom he occasionally levied contributions. The raja of Idar, another Rajput prince, was in possession of the western part of the hills; and though he was often obliged to pay contributions, and sometimes regular tribute, yet those advantages were seldom gained without a struggle; and he was a constant source of disturbance to the king of Guzerat, by joining his enemies and harbouring fugitives from his country.

The rest of the hilly and forest tract was held by the mountain tribes of Bhils and Culis, among whom some Rajput princes, mostly connected with Mewar, had also founded petty states423.

The peninsula was in the hands of nine or ten Hindu tribes, who had mostly come from Cach and Sind, at different periods, some centuries before. They were, probably, tributary; but by no means obedient. All these petty states preserved their existence during the ascendency of the Moguls, and were, within these few years, almost as independent as under the kings of Guzerat. The real

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possessions of those kings, therefore, only included the plain between the hills and the sea; and even of that the eastern part belonged to an independent raja, who resided in the hill fort of Champaner. On the other hand, the Guzerat territory stretched along the sea to the south-east, so as to include the city of Surat and some of the country beyond it.

With these small means, the kings of Guzerat made, at least, as considerable a figure as any of the minor kings, except the Bahmani family, in the Deckan.

Mozaffer Shah

Founded by Mozaffer, the son of a Rajput convert

Farhat ul Mulk was appointed governor of Guzerat in the reign of Firuz Toghlak. Having given great offence to the Mussulmans of the provinces, and even excited the suspicions of the court of Delhi, by the means he took to court the Hindus, he was displaced by Mahmud II., and Mozaffer Khan was appointed in his room.

1391, AH 791–2

Farhat opposed the entrance of the new governor with an army chiefly composed of Hindus; he was defeated, and Mozaffer took possession424. Mozaffer was the son of a Rajput convert, who had risen from a low station about the court to the highest offices. He had himself been brought up a Mussulman and a nobleman, and appears to have been rather desirous of making his origin be forgotten by hostility to the Hindus.

1391, AH 793

His wars

It is uncertain when he took the title of king. His reign commenced in reality from the time when he became governor. He was successful in his wars. He occupied Idar, and brought the raja to submission. He fought

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a great battle in the peninsula; after which he took. and retained Diu, on the sea coast: he went to war with the king of Candesh, about the district of Sultanpur; and though hostilities were often renewed in after reigns, yet, for his time, the question was favourably settled.

He once besieged Mandalghar, in Mewar, and extorted a contribution: he proceeded from that place to Ajmir, on a pilgrimage; and on his way back plundered-Jhalor, and destroyed the temples.

His occupation and subsequent evacuation of Malwa

His greatest war was with Malwa. Hushang Shah, the second king, was suspected of poisoning his father; and as Mozaffer had been on very friendly terms with the deceased, he made the revenge of his murder a pretext for invading Malwa. He was successful beyond his hopes: he defeated Hushang, made him prisoner, and got possession of the whole of his kingdom.

1407, AH 810

He soon found, however, that he could not retain his conquest; and perceiving that the inhabitants were about to set up another king, he thought it prudent to get what he could from his prisoner, and to restore him to the throne.

1408, AH 811

During Mozaffer’s government, Mahmud Toghlak came to Guzerat, on his flight from Delhi: he was ill received, and obliged to repair to Malwa.

Ahmed Shah

1411, AH 814

His wars with Malwa and his Hindu neighbours

1422, AH 825

Hushang Shah did not feel his restoration as a favour, for on the death of Mozaffer he took part with a faction opposed to the accession of that king’s grandson, Ahmed Shah, and began a series of wars between the two countries that lasted for many years. Ahmed Shah thrice invaded Malwa, and once penetrated to Saranpur, in the east of the kingdom, where he gained a victory. On the other hand, the king of Malwa assisted Ahmed’s enemies, Hindu as well as Mahometan; combined with the refractory rajas within the territory of Guzerat, and twice made his way to the capital, but without any important result.

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And with other Mahometan kings

1416, AH 819

1429, AH 833

Ahmed Shah made, also, the usual expeditions against Idar, Jhalor, and the peninsula; and had two wars with Candesh. On one occasion, he marched as far as Nagor, in the north of Marwar, where his uncle was in revolt against Seiad Khizr, of Delhi. He was obliged to retreat on the advance of that prince, and was pursued as far as Jhalor425.

He was also engaged with a new enemy, in consequence of the capture of the islands of Bombay and Salsette, by the Bahmani king of the Deckan, during an attempt to subdue the Concan426.

It does not appear how those places came into the hands of the king of Guzerat. It may be inferred that they were detached possessions, as the expedition to recover them was made by sea. The Bahmani king was driven out; but remained hostile, and more than once joined the king of Candesh in his wars with Ahmed Shah. Notwithstanding all these disturbances, Ahmed Shah brought the interior of Guzerat into good order. He established forts in different places, to bridle the disaffected; and built the town of Ahmednagar (the solid and extensive walls of which still remain), as a check on the raja of Idar. He also founded Ahmedabad, thenceforth his capital, and still one of the greatest cities in India, both from the number of the inhabitants and the magnificence of the buildings427.

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Ahmed Shah was a zealous Mussulman. He destroyed temples, and built mosques; and is said to have greatly contributed to extend his religion among his subjects.

Mohammed Shah

1449, AH 853

The usual contests with Malwa and Idar continued under the two next kings, Mohammed Shah and Kutb Shah.

Kutb Shah 1451, AH 855

His wars with Mewar

The second of them (Kutb Shah) commenced a more serious war with Kumbho, the rana of Mewar, whose Capital was Chitor. Mewar bad been invaded by Ahmed Shah in the time of Mokal, the predecessor of Kumbho; but the present war originated in the support given by Kutb Shah to his relation in Nagar against the Rabat prince, who was laying the foundation of that great power, afterwards employed by his grandson Sanga against Baber. In these wars the king of Guzerat had almost invariably the advantage.

1457, AH 861

He gained two victories; besieged Chitor; took Abu, a mountain celebrated for its sanctity, and subdued the raja of Sirohi, one of Kumbho’s allies.

Daud Khan

1459, AH 863

On the death of Kutb Shah, his uncle, Daud Khan, was placed on the throne. He was deposed within a few days for incapacity, and became an eminent dervise.

Mahmud Begarra

1459 to 1511

He was succeeded by Mahmud, surnamed Begarra, a brother of Kutb Shah. Mahmud was fourteen years old at his accession; reigned for fifty-two years, and was one of the greatest of the kings of Guzerat428. He soon showed his

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His vigorous government

He rescues the Bahmani king of the Deckan

vigour in repressing the turbulence of his nobles; and at an early period of his reign he made a diversion in favour of the former enemy of his house, the Bahmani king of the Deckan, when besieged in his capital, and reduced to extremities by the king of Malwa.

1462, AH 866 Marches to the Indus Takes Girnar and Champaner

His territory having been harassed by depredations from Cach, he crossed the Rin, overran that country, carried his arms to the Indus, and defeated a considerable body of Beloches on its banks.

His greatest exploits were, the reduction of Girnar, or Junaghar, and of Champaner. The first of these places (Girnar) is in the south of the peninsula, and stands on a hill equally remarkable for its strength and sanctity.

These enterprises occupied several years429, and afforded examples of the usual desperation of the Rajputs, and of more than ordinary bigotry among the Mussulmans. The raja of Girnar was compelled to embrace the religion of Mahomet, and the raja of Champaner was put to death for a firm adherence to his own.

His wars with Mahometan kings

1507, AH 913 1499, AH 905

Mahmud also quelled insurrections at home, and levied tribute on Idar. In one of his wars with Candesh, he marched as far as Asirghar; and, on a previous occasion, he had obliged the Nizam Shahi king of Ahmednagar, in the Deckan, to raise the siege of Doulatabad.

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His maritime power

1482, AH 887

But what chiefly distinguishes him from former Mussulman princes is the number of his maritime expeditions. He took the islands of Jigat and Bet, then, as in recent times, nests of pirates; and sent out vessels mounting guns from Cambay, which defeated the pirates of Balsar in an action at sea.

1494, AH 900

He also sent a sea and land force against Bombay, then occupied by a revolted officer of the Bahmani king. On this occasion, his fleet was destroyed in a storm, and he owed his recovery of Bombay to the co-operation of the king of the Deckan.

He co-operates with the Mamluks of Egypt in a naval war with the Portuguese

He had afterwards a more conspicuous opportunity for signalising his naval enterprise. The Mamluk Sultan of Egypt had equipped twelve ships in the Red Sea, for the purpose of attacking the Portuguese in India, and Mahmud entered zealously into his views. He sailed, himself, to Daman, and afterwards to Bombay; and at length sent a large fleet from Diu, under the command of Aiaz Sultani, an officer who had distinguished himself at Champaner. The Guzerat vessels, though much inferior in size to those of the Mamluks, were numerous; and the combined fleets were strong enough to attack the Portuguese squadron in the harbour of Choul, south of Bombay. The particulars of the operations that followed belong to the history of the Portuguese. It may be sufficient to say, here, that the Mussulmans were successful in this first action, and that Aiaz is mentioned with applause by the Portuguese. writers for his humanity and courtesy on the occasion.

1508, AH 913

The combined fleet was afterwards defeated, and the Mamluk part of it annihilated, in a great battle close to Diu430.

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The Mamluks, however, continued to send squadrons to the Indian seas, a practice which was imitated by the Turks after their conquest of Egypt. Their object was to open the navigation of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf; and for this purpose they assisted the native powers of India in their wars with the Portuguese; but they never entertained any views towards obtaining possessions for themselves in that country.

Mozaffer II, 1511, AH 917

The reign of Mozaffer II. opened with a splendid embassy from Shah Ismael, king of Persia. The same compliment was paid to most of the Indian princes, and was probably designed to conciliate their favour to the Shia religion, which Ismael was so eager to introduce.

Generosity to the king of Malwa

The next six years were spent in inglorious wars with Idar. A more honourable enterprise presented itself at the end of that time. Mahmud, king of Malwa, having been almost entirely deprived of his authority by Medni Rai, a Hindu chief to whom he had confided the management of his affairs, fled to Guzerat, and solicited the aid of Mozaffer, who went in person into Malwa, took the capital, compelled Rana Sanga, who was coming to the aid of the Hindu cause, to retreat; and, after restoring Mahmud to his authority, withdrew to Guzerat without exacting any sacrifice in return.

1519, AH 924

War with Sanga, rana of Mewar

He had not long quitted Malwa before Sanga returned, defeated Mahmud, and made him prisoner, but generously released him, and made an honourable peace. Sanga was now able to revenge himself

Page 675

on Mozaffer II., by marching to the assistance of the raja of Idar, and plundering Guzerat as far as Ahmedabad.

Next year, Mozaffer II. retaliated by sending an army, under Aiaz Sultani, against Sanga. Aiaz besieged the rana in Mandesor, and had granted him terms, when the king of Malwa arrived to co-operate with his army. The king earnestly pressed Aiaz to profit by this advantage; but Aiaz was steady to his engagement, and withdrew his troops in spite of the king’s remonstrances.

1526, AH 932

Mozaffer II. died in 1526, after a reign of fourteen years.

Bahadur

The rapid disappearance of two sons and successors of Mozaffer (whose names were Secander and Mahmud II.) left the throne open to Bahadur. This prince, though only the third of Mozaffer’s sons, seems always to have been looked on as the probable heir of his father: on some discontent, however, he had left the court and gone to Delhi, where he remained with Sultan Ibrahim Lodi until Baber’s invasion. His absence occasioned his temporary exclusion; but the assassination of one brother and the deposal of the other replaced him in his station. He had still to encounter opposition from a third brother, who was assisted by Sanga and some other Hindu chiefs. This last pretender being killed in action, Bahadur remained the only claimant to the throne.

Takes part in the wars of the Deckan

His first measure was to reduce the Rajput princes of Idar and the neighbouring mountains. He was soon after solicited by his nephew, the king of Candesh, to come to his assistance, and that of the king of Berar, who had confederated against Burhan Nizam Shah of Ahmednagar.

His supremacy acknowledged by the kings of Candesh, Berar, and Ahmednagar

The whole conduct of the war was conceded to Bahadur, and his permanent supremacy was formally acknowledged by the other kings. So successful were his operations, that Nizam Shah, though joined by Barid Shah, king of Bidr,

Page 676

was obliged to yield the points in contest with Candesh and Berar, and to gratify the vanity of Bahadur Shah, by an act of personal homage, as has been mentioned in another place.

Conquest of Malwa and its annexation to Guzerat

Bahadur’s next enterprise was attended with a still more splendid result. Mahmud, king of Malwa, who had been restored to his throne by Mozaffer II., was not restrained by that obligation from intriguing against the son of his benefactor; and with equal ingratitude he seized the opportunity of Rana Sanga’s death to attack his successor, Rana Rattan Sing. The rana was before in close alliance with Bahadur Shah, and they now united to revenge their common injuries.

1531, February; AH 937 Shaban

Mahmud was made prisoner in Mandu, his capital, and was sent to Guzerat. He was afterwards put to death; and his dominions were taken possession of by Bahadur Shah, and annexed to his hereditary kingdom.

Troubles in Malwa

Bahadur had not sufficient moderation long to enjoy so much good fortune. One of the principal instruments of the revolution in Malwa was Silhadi a Rajput, who had risen under Mahmud to the government of Raisin, Bhilsa, and other places in the east of Malwa, to which he had since added the possession of Ujen.

Bahadur Shah appears to have thought his conquest incomplete, while so powerful a chief remained, especially as Silhadi was in some measure under the protection of the ram, of Mewar. He therefore made him prisoner while on a visit to the royal camp; and, taking advantage of the surprise occasioned by this act of treachery, got possession of the city of Ujen: Bopat Rai, the son of Silhadi, fled to Chitor; and Raisin, a strong hill fort belonging to that chief, held out under his brother.

It was long before Bahadur could overcome the opposition thus raised; and he might have entirely failed in doing so, if Rattan Sing, the rana of Chitor, had not died and

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been succeeded by his son, Vicramajit, under whom that government lost much of its energy.

During Bahadur’s absence on this expedition, a serious attack had been made on Diu by a great armament of the Portuguese, but had been repulsed by the valour of the garrison (February. 1531).

War with Mewar 1532, AH 938

Having taken whatever measures were necessary against this enemy, Bahadur Shah again turned his attention to Chitor. So much was the power of Mewar diminished, that he commenced his operations with the siege of the capital: and at the end of three months constrained the raja to purchase peace by the payment of a heavy contribution431.

1533, AH 940

War with Humayun, and expulsion of Bahadur

It was about this time that Bahadur Shah provoked the war with Humayun, the result of which has already been related432. During Bahadur’s abode at Diu, he entered into negotiations with the Portuguese. Among other concessions he gave them leave to build a factory; and they furnished him, in return, with a body of 500 Europeans, to assist him in recovering his kingdom.

Bahadur recovers his kingdom

Disputes with the Portuguese at Diu

As soon as Guzerat was settled after the retreat of the Moguls, Bahadur Shah again turned his attention to Diu, where the Portuguese were surrounding their new factory with a wall, and, as he conceived, converting it into a fortification. He there found Nuno de Cunha, the Portuguese viceroy, who had come with a fleet to secure his new acquisition. Remonstrances and explanations took place, to appearance

Page 678

Miran Mohammed Shah.

on a friendly footing; but both the Mussulman and Portuguese historians justify the belief that treachery was meditated by both parties, and that each was watching an opportunity to execute his design.

Interview with the Portuguese viceroy

Nuno de Cunha, when invited to visit the king, feigned sickness; and Bahadur, to lull his suspicions, went on board his ship with a few attendants. When on board, Bahadur Shah was alarmed at some whispering and signs which passed between the viceroy and his attendants, and, taking a hasty leave, got into his boat to go ashore.

Death of Bahadur

1537, AH 943

An affray took place, which the Portuguese represent as accidental, and the Mussulmans as designed; and the result was, that several lives were lost on each side, and that Bahadur Shah threw himself into the sea, and, after being stunned by a blow of an oar, was dispatched with a halbert.

As both parties equally held that faith was not to be kept with infidels, neither has the slightest claim to a favourable construction; but Bahadur could have had no immediate act of perfidy in view when he came on board unattended; and as the object of the Portuguese must have been to seize and not to murder the king, it is unlikely that they would, if prepared for such a step, have allowed him to leave the ship. The affray, therefore, probably arose unintentionally from the mutual alarm of the parties: if either was guilty of premeditated treachery, the greatest weight of suspicion rests on the Portuguese433.

Bahadur Shah’s natural heir was his nephew Mahmud, the son of Latif Khan, who had formerly been his rival; but that prince was a prisoner in the hands of his cousin by the mother’s side, Miran Shah, king of Candesh; and the latter availed himself of the circumstance to claim the

Page 679

crown for himself. He, however, died a natural death within six weeks; and, as his brother, who succeeded in

Candesh, though in possession of the same advantages, was not so fortunate in profiting by them, Mahmud was at length set at liberty, and allowed to take possession of his right.

Mahmud III 1538, A 944

He took the title of Mahmud III., and had a reign of sixteen years, remarkable for nothing but the intrigues and factions of his chiefs. His death was attended with circumstances sufficiently out of the ordinary course: he was assassinated by his domestic chaplain, whom he had at one time ordered to be built up to the neck in a wall and left to starve, and had released when nearly dead, on his attempting, even in that extremity, to bend his head to the king as he passed.

1553-4, AH 961

The chaplain, after the murder, sent for the principal nobles, and put each privately to death as he appeared. He then assumed the crown; but, as might have been expected, was put to death by the remaining officers the moment he presented himself in public.

Mahmud III. built the castle of Surat, which still remains; and likewise enclosed a park of fourteen miles in circumference with a wall; an unusual work in a country where deer and game of all sorts are so abundant.

Ahmed II

A supposititious child was now set up by a party, under the name of Ahmed II. He lived to grow up, and probably to have a will of his own, for he was assassinated after a reign of eight years.

1561, AH 969

Mozaffer III

A similar pageant was next set up under the title of Mozaffer III., and the kingdom was partitioned among the leading conspirators.

Guzerat conquered by Akber 1572, AH 980

Dissensions broke out among them, and the country became a scene of continual war, confusion, and tumult, until finally settled by Akber, as will appear in his reign.

Page 680

Malwa.

Founded by Dilawar, of a Family from Ghor

Kings of Malwa.

AD AH
Dilawar Ghori 1401 804
Husheng Ghori 1405 808
Mohammed Ghori 1432 835
Mahmud Khilji 1435 839
Gheias u din Khilji 1482 887
Nasir u din Khilji 1500 906
Mahmud II. Khilji 1512 916

It has been mentioned that Malwa became independent at the end of the reign of Sultan Firuz Toghlak. The first king was Dilawar Ghori, whose ancestors were natives of Ghor, and who claimed through his mother a connection with the royal family of that country.

His successor founded the capital, Mandu, remarkable for its situation on a rich table land of thirty-seven miles circumference surrounded by rocky precipices, as well as for the magnificence of its buildings434.

Wars in Hindostan and the Deckan

From 1407, AH 810 to 1432, AH 835

He was engaged in those constant wars with Guzerat, which have already been related in the account of that kingdom. His successors were generally at peace with Guzerat; but they had frontier wars with the king of Juanpur on the Jamna, and with the king of Candesh on, the Tapti. They had also wars with the Bahmani kings in Berar.; and they once laid siege to Bidr, the capital of the last named monarch (1461).

1440, AH 844

One king, Mahmud I., besieged Delhi, and was defeated by Behlol Lodi, as has been related.

From A D 1443, AH 846, to 1458, AH 863

The same prince began a series of wars with Kumbho Sing, the raja of Chitor or Mewar; but, although they lasted upwards of fifteen years, involved other Hindu princes, and led to many battles and sieges, they made no material changes in the extent of the Mahometan territory.

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Mahmud II

The reign of Mahmud II. was more fertile in events than all that preceded it, and deserves to be more particularly noticed.

1512, AH 916 Ascendancy of Medni Rai, a Hindu chief

Immediately on the accession of this prince he was engaged in a civil war with his brother, Sahib Khan, in which his success was principally owing to the support of a Rajput chief named Medni Rai, who joined him at the commencement with a considerable body of his tribe. The struggle was long and arduous, and was renewed, after an interval with assistance to the pretender from the king of Delhi; but the courage and talents of Medni Rai again prevailed.

These long-continued services gave the Rajput chief a complete ascendancy over his master, and threw the whole administration of the government into his hands. The superiority thus conferred on a Hindu excited universal discontent among the Mahometans, and led to the rebellion of several governors of provinces, who were crushed in succession by Medni Rai.

By the results of these contests Medni Rai became all-powerful, removed every Mahometan from about the king’s person, and filled the court and army with Rajputs. Mahmud at length became alarmed; and, after an unsuccessful attempt to recover his authority, he felt that he was a prisoner in his own capital, and seized an opportunity of escaping to Guzerat.

1517, AH 923 Mahmud flies to Guzerat

Mozaffer Shah, king of that country, came to his assistance. The war lasted for more than a year: Mandu, the capital, was taken after a desperate defence by the Rajputs; and the king of Guzerat, having restored Mahmud to his authority, returned to his own dominions.

1519, AH 924 Is restored by Bahadur Shah

Medni Rai had retired to Chanderi, of which place he was perhaps the hereditary chief. Mahmud marched against him, and found him strengthened by the alliance of Raja Sanga, who had come with the whole of his army to defend Chanderi.

Page 682

Is defeated, taken prisoner, and released by Sanga, rana of Mewar

A battle ensued, in which Mahmud was defeated; and as, although weak in other points, he was distinguished for his courage, he endeavoured to maintain the combat until he was covered with wounds, unhorsed, and made prisoner. The Rajput prince treated him with courtesy, and after a short interval generously released him.

His ingratitude

The mean spirit of Mahmud was incapable of imitating the magnanimity of his enemy.

1525, AH 932

On the death of Sanga he thought to avail himself of the difficulties of a new reign by attacking Rattan Sing, the son of the late raja. Rattan Sing applied to Bahadur Shah, who had succeeded Mozaffer on the throne of Guzerat, and who had likewise reason to complain of the ingratitude of the king of Malwa.

He is defeated, and his kingdom annexed to Guzerat

1531, AH 937

Mahmud, unable to withstand so powerful a confederacy, saw his capital taken by Bahadur Shah, and was afterwards himself made prisoner: when the kingdom of Malwa was permanently annexed to Guzerat.

Candesh

Founded by Malik Raja, a Person of Arab Descent

Farukhi Kings of Candesh

AD AH
Malik Raja
Nasir Khan (first king) 1399 801
Miran Adil Khan 1437 841
Miran Mobarik 1441 844
Adil Khan I. 1457 861
Daud Khan 1503 909
Adil Khan II. 1510
Miran Mohammed Shah 1520 926
Miran Mobarik 1535 912
Miran Mohammed Khan 1566 974
Raja Ali Khan 1576 984
Bahadur Shah 1596 1005

The kingdom of Candesh was merely the lower part of the valley of the Tapti (the upper part being included in Berar); on the south it had the hills which support the

Page 683

table land of the Deckan, and on the north the Injadri range. It was only separated from Guzerat by forests. It was a rich country, watered by innumerable streams. Its history is almost entirely comprised in the small portion which its wars and alliances contributed to that of the neighbouring countries.

The first prince who threw off his dependence on Delhi claimed a descent from the Calif Omar. He was married to the daughter of the king of Guzerat, from whom his son received the title of king, and to whom both he and his successors acknowledged a sort of subordination.

There is nothing to mention in their domestic history, except the taking of the strong hill fort of Asirghar by treachery from a Hindu chief, and the founding of the city of Burhanpur near that fortress. Burhanpur was made the capital. It is still a large city; and the ruins of public edifices around it show it to have been formerly much more considerable.

Prosperity of Candesh

The whole of Candesh, indeed, seems to have been in a high state of prosperity under its own kings: the numerous stone embankments by which the streams were rendered applicable to irrigation, are equal to any thing in India as works of industry and utility; and, whether they were made by the Hindus or the kings of Candesh, they must have been in use under the latter, though now in ruins and buried in woods.

Conquered by Akber 1599, AH 1008

Candesh was reannexed to Delhi by Akber, in 1599.

Page 684

Bengal

AD AH
Fakhr u din435 1338 739
Ala u din 1340 741
Haji Elias (or Shams u din) 1342 743
Secander 1357 759
Gheias u din 1367 769
Sultan u Salatin 1374 775
Shams u din II. 1383 785
Raja Kans 1386 788
Jit Mal (or Jelal u din) 1392 795
Ahmed 1409 812
Nasir u din 1426 830
Nasir 1426 830
Barbik 1428 832
Eusof 1445 849
Fatteh 1461 866
Shahzadeh 1481 886
Firuz 1481 886
Mahmud 1493 899
Mozaffer 1494 900
Ala u din II. 1497 904
Nasrat 1521 927
Mahmud 1534 940
Shir Shah 1537 945
Selim 1545 952
Adili 1548 955
Bahadur 1553 961
Jelal u din 1560 968
Soliman Kirani 1563 971
Bayazid 1573 981
Daud 1573 981

The kingdom of Bengal went on for upwards of two centuries after its revolt from Mohammed Toghlak, with frequent changes of dynasty, but without events worth recording. Among the usurpers was Baja Karts, a Hindu zemindar. His son embraced the Mahometan religion.

This kingdom seems at one time to have comprehended North Behar. It included Sundergong (Dacca): Jajnagar (Tipera) was tributary Assam was occasionally plundered: Catak and the adjoining parts of Orissa were not acquired till just before the extinction of the state.

It was conquered by Shir Shah, as has been related, and was in the hands of a revolted officer of one of his successors at the time of Akber’s accession.

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Juanpur

AD AH
Khaja Jehan 1394 796
Mobarik 1399 802
Ibrahim 1401 804
Mahmud 1440 844
Mohammed 1457 862
Husen 1457 862

Khaja Jehan, the vizir at the time of Mahmud Toghlak’s accession, seems to have been unable to retain his ascendency during the minority, and to have retired to his government of Juanpur, and made himself independent. Four of his family followed him in succession, and carried on wars with the kings of Malwa and Delhi. They twice besieged the latter capital; but, at length, their government was subverted, and their territory restored to Delhi by Behlol Lodi in 1476.

It was soon occupied by Baber after his conquest; was taken by Shir Shah; and, after the fall of his dynasty, passed through different hands till conquered by Akber early in his reign.

It stretched along the Ganges from Canouj, on the north-west, to the frontier between Bengal and South Behar on the south-east.

Sind

After the expulsion of the Arabs (750), Sind, from Bakkar to the sea, remained in the hands of the Sumera Rajputs, until the end of the twelfth century; when the reigning family became extinct, and the government, after some changes, fell into the hands of another Rajput tribe, called Sama.

It is uncertain when the Sumeras first paid tribute to the Mahometans; probably, about the beginning of the

Page 686

twelfth century, under Shahab u din Ghori, or his immediate successors.

The early Samas seem to have been refractory, for one was invaded by Firuz Toghlak, as has been related (about 1361). The Samas were soon after converted to the Mahometan religion; and kept the country till expelled by the Arghuns, who held it at Akber’s accession.

Multan

Multan revolted during the confusion which followed the invasion of Tamerlane. It fell into the hands of an Afghan family of the name of Langa, who held it for about a century.

Early in the sixteenth century, they were dispossessed by the Arghuns of Sind, who were, in their turn, expelled by Prince Camran, and Multan fell under the house of Teimur.

State of the other parts of India

Of the other provinces once belonging to Delhi, it need only be said that they all became independent after the invasion of Tamerlane; and, although Behlol Lodi, Baber, Humayun, and Shir Shah had recovered many of them, yet at Akber’s accession (with the exception of the Panjab, the possession of which was contested by Secander Sur,) they were all in the hands of adherents of the Afghan government.

End of the Second Volume.

Footnotes

412. The accounts of the inferior Mahometan dynasties, where not otherwise specified, are taken from Ferishta, who has written a separate history of each (vols. ii., iii., and iv. of Col. Briggs’s translation).

413. The royal title assumed by Hasan was Ala u din; but to distinguish him from other kings of the same name, I have retained his original appellation.

414. A name often applied by the Indians to the Afghans, but more generally to the Indian descendants of that people.

415. Ferishta, vol. ii. p. 72. The remark shows that Deckani (a dialect of Hindostani) was the usual language of the Mussulmans in the beginning of the sixteenth century.

416. Grant Duff, vol. i. p. 84.

417. This was the second capture by Albuquerque in 1510.

418. Briggs’s Ferishta, vol. i. p. 134. Grant Duff, vol. i. p. 77.

419. On this occasion. Bahadur Shah showed his superiority by speaking Guzerati, his own language, and the Nizam Shah replied in Persian, which might be considered as common to both.

420. Briggs’s Ferishta, vol. iii. p. 243. This gun is four feet eight inches in diameter at the muzzle. The calibre is two feet four inches (Grant Duff, vol. i. p. 112.); it is only fifteen feet long (Colonel Sykes, Bombay Transactions), vol. iii. p. 62.); and weighs forty tons (Colonel Brigs, above quoted).

421. Briggs’s Ferishta, vol. iii. p. 208.

422. This is variously related in different places of Ferishta; but see vol. iii. p. 350, 351.

423. Dongarpur, Bhanswarah, &c.: these subsist to the present day.

424. Mr. Bird’s History of Guzerat, p. 181. and notes.

425. Ferishta, vol. i. p. 509., vol. iv. p. 18., and Bird’s Guzerat, p. 189.

426. Briggs’s Ferishta, vol. ii. p. 413. A somewhat different order is given to the same events in vol. iv. p. 27.

427. Ahmed Shah is said to have introduced the practice of giving to each soldier, land to the yearly value of half his pay, the whole having previously been issued in money. The measure is spoken of by the Guzerat historian with applause, although it appears calculated to injure both the discipline and the comfort of the soldier. (Bird’s History.)

428. The European travellers of his day seem to have formed a tremendous idea of this monarch. Bartema (in Ramusio, vol. i. p. 147.) and Barbosa are both full of him. One of them gives (Ramusio, vol. i. p. 296.) a formidable account of his personal appearance, and both agree that a principal part of his food consisted of mortal poisons; and so impregnated was his system with his diet, that if a fly settled on him it instantly dropped down dead. His usual way of putting men of consequence to death was to blow on them after he had been chewing bitel. He is the original of Butler’s “Prince of Cambay,” whose “daily food is asp, and basilisk, and toad.” The fate of his wives is related with perfect seriousness by the above authors.

429. Girnar was annually attacked from 1468 to 1470, AH 873 to 875, and Champaner was not taken till 1433, AH 888.

430. The Mahometan historians suppress this defeat, and say very little of their wars with the Portuguese, even when their own party was successful. Three or four years after this battle, an interview took place between Albuquerque and Aiaz, and the character of the latter, given by the Portuguese viceroy, is related in Faria (vol. i. p. 193.). “He said he had not seen a more perfect courtier, or fitter to deceive, and at the same time please, an understanding man.”

431. Among the property given up on this occasion, was a girdle of jewels, which had been taken from a former king of Guzerat, and which was afterwards sent with Bahadur Shah’s family to Medina, and found its way at last into the treasury of the grand signor. (Colonel Briggs’s note on Ferishta, vol. i. p. 141.) For the date of this first siege, see Bird’s History of Guzerat, p. 216. note.

432. p. 126.

433. See a full and judicious examination of the accounts of both parties in a note on Colonel Briggs’s Ferishta, vol. iv. p. 132.

434. Sir J. Malcolm’s Central India, vol. i. pp. 29. 40.

435. The early dates in this dynasty are uncertain. Ibn Batuta left Delhi, in 1342, and found Fakhr u din alive in Bengal at least a year or two after.

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