Thomas Wolseley Haig

“ These break the monotony of the horizon, and the toilsome ascent of any one of them is rewarded by a view to which spaciousness lends grandeur. The vast plain lies spread out in all its fertility beneath the spectator's feet, and even in the aridity of summer the heat vibrations give an appearance of variety to the expanse.
The history of the Raichur Duab is the history of the struggle between the Muhammadan kingdom of the Deccan and the Hindu kingdom of the Peninsula for supremacy in Southern India. ”

“ The most beautiful of all the tombs in Bidar is that of Ali Barid Shah. The older Bahmani tombs excite what admiration they deserve by their massive bulk, but this tomb rather by its proportions, which are so perfect that the eye is deceived as to the size of the tomb, which is not insignificant. It is square in plan with an open arch on each side, and it is surmounted by a beautifully proportioned dome, which terminates in a spire, the total height of the building from the ground being 106 feet. ”

“ This great crime, perpetrated on April 6, 1481, was the primary cause of the dissolution of the Bahmani kingdom. The foreign nobles refused to trust a king who could thus reward his most faithful servant, and returned to their provinces without leave. Muhammad Shah soon learnt that he had shed innocent blood, and, after vainly trying to drown remorse with wine, died within a year of his minister, crying with his last breath that Mahmud Gawan was tearing at his entrails. ”

“ Throughout all this wrangling the little kingdom of Bidar fought for its own hand, allying itself now with one power or combination of powers and now with another. The craft and political acumen of its rulers preserved the little state intact for a longer period than might have been expected, though its preservation is partly to be attributed to the jealousy existing between the three kingdoms of Bijapur, Ahmadnagar and Golconda which was for a long time sufficiently strong to ensure the combination of two of the three against an attempt by any one of them to absorb Bidar. ”

“ Yet the town was selected as the capital of a famous dynasty and held its place as the chief city of an important kingdom through the reigns of eight kings, and it still contains some buildings which might entice even the amateur antiquary to the decayed and otherwise unpicturesque town, as well as one building which is, in its design, unique in India. Towards the end of the reign of Muhammad bin Tughlaq of Dehli the amirs in the Deccan, disgusted with his fantastic tyranny, revolted, and proclaimed Ismail Fath, the Afghan, king of the Deccan, under the style of Nasir-ud-din Shah. ”

“ The tomb of Qasim Barid Shah, which stands next to that of Ali Barid, was evidently intended to be a replica of it, but it was never finished, and entirely lacks ornament. There are many other interesting monuments, for Bidar is truly a city of tombs, but the exigencies of space prevent even a passing notice of them. All those who care for relics of the past must regret that this delightful old city, which has stood eight sieges, stands so far from the beaten track of the traveller that the pleasure of visiting it falls to the lot of comparatively few. ”

“ The city owes none of its interest to antiquity, for it is little more than three centuries old. In 1591 Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, the fifth king of the Qutb Shahi dynasty of Golconda, grew weary of his fortress capital, which was then so overcrowded with habitations as to be both unhealthy and unpleasant as a place of residence. While hunting one day on the south bank of the river Musi he was attracted by the fresh and green appearance of the site on which the city of Haidarabad now stands, about six miles from the fortress of Golconda, and selected it as the cite of his new capital. ”

“ Shah Alam, followed a middle course, and sent a most undignified message to Muhammad Ibrahim, the commander of the Golconda forces, to whom he condescended to explain the dilemma in which he found himself, representing that his unwillingness to pursue hostilities had drawn upon him the wrath of his father, and that the time had come when it was no longer possible for him to remain inactive. He then proceeded in a more dignified strain to explain that he personally had no wish to proceed to extremities, and advised Muhammad Ibrahim to evacuate the districts occupied by the imperial forces. ”

“ The insignificant successes of the Hindu troops during Muhammad Shah's retreat did not console the Raja of Warangal for the loss of his son and the sufferings inflicted on his people by the Musalmans, and in 1363 he sent a petition to Firuz Shah of Delhi beseeching him to order the amirs of Malwa and Gujarat to march against Muhammad, and promised, with the aid of Bukka of Vijayanagar, to invade the Bahman dominions simultaneously from the south and south-east, and to submit himself to the emperor and pay tribute regularly as a vassal of Delhi. ”

“ On the following morning Vinayaka Deva was summoned to the royal presence and was asked how he had dared to appropriate horses reserved for the Bahmani King. Ignorant of the fact that Muhammad Shah was inclined to be merciful, and deeming that death would in any case be his meed, he gave rein to his tongue, and indulged himself after the fashion of the Deccan, with foul and scathing abuse of his conqueror. ”

“ Many deserted to Abul Hasan, and many more who had not the courage openly to desert, but who heartily wished for an end to the apparently interminable siege, rendered the besieged what assistance they could. We do not read that any of the deserters from the fortress returned to their former allegiance. It would rather seem that Abul Hasan was the loser in this exchange of deserters, for, whereas he was forsaken by his principal nobles, no leaders of the first rank, and probably no one of any importance, left the emperor. ”

“ As the siege progressed Shayista Khan, the governor of Malwa, and other chiefs joined Aurangzib's army. Golconda was reduced to serious straits when a message suddenly arrived from the old emperor at Delhi commanding Aurangzib to desist, and conveying an assurance of forgiveness to Abdullah Qutb Shah. Shah Jahan was at this time under the influence of his eldest son, Dara Shikuh, who was jealous of Aurangzib's success, and probably had no difficulty in persuading his father that the conqueror of the wealthy city of Golconda would lose no time in becoming the emperor of Delhi. ”

“ Here in days of old we might have found stately pavilions and luxurious summer-houses, half hidden in cool gardens, kept green by pleasant tanks. Of all this the tanks alone remain, and even they are for the most part dry. The rest is dust and decay. To the south-west and north the Penganga may be seen winding through its fertile valley. Beyond this valley the low hills which lie between it and the Berar valley on the north, and form the Balaghat of Berar, stretch away to the horizon. Immediately behind the town rises a steep and, in most parts, inaccessible hill. ”

“ The extent of the ruins enables us to judge of the size of the ancient town, now a dreary and sleepy village, but at one time the capital of a province of the Muhammadan empire of the Deccan. Narrow roads, ankle deep in dust, lead us now between mean houses, and anon between the ruins of more pretentious buildings, taking us at length out to what were formerly the suburbs of a large town. ”

“ The principal mansabdars received each a horse, as a present, and all received robes of honour and were permitted to return to the imperial camp. Sarbarah Khan, before he was dismissed, was taken round the store-houses and magazines, when he saw great store both of grain and powder piled up to the roof. It is impossible not to admire Abul Hasan's policy on this occasion. He must have known that the captives had endured and would endure in the famine-stricken camp of the besiegers hardships which would make the lot of a prisoner of war in Golconda appear enviable in their eyes. ”

“ Mahmud Shah now made Sultan Quli Qutb-ul-Mulk, a Turk of a noble family of Hamadan, governor of Warangal, and marched with all speed on the capital. Hasan had no troops wherewith to withstand the royal army and, having secured the treasure, made preparations to flee to Junnar but Dilpasand Khan prevented him from carrying out this design and informed the king by a secret message that he was faithful and had merely feigned to fall in with Hasan's plans in order to detain him in Bidar and prevent him from joining his son. ”

“ He desired, in short, to satisfy the emperor's demands from his own treasury, and save his people from the exactions of an imperial officer who would undoubtedly regard the conquered province as his special spoil, and would, after satisfying his master's demands, bleed the people to the utmost in order to satisfy his own. He then agreed to pay to the emperor a crore of rupees for every assault that the imperial troops had made on Golconda, and a like sum for every halt that they made within the territory of Golconda, on their return to Hindustan. ”

“ Ramdeo sent a message to his son, ordering him not to attack the "Turks," who were terrible men, as he had just concluded a treaty with them. Shankar Deo, whose army outnumbered that of the invaders by two to one, disregarded his father's orders and sent a message to Ala-ud-din ordering him to restore all the plunder that he had taken and leave the kingdom. Ala-ud-din disgraced the messengers by parading them through his camp with their faces blackened, and then, leaving Malik Nusrat with a thousand men to watch Deogir, marched against Shankar Deo. ”

“ At the same time Aurangzib issued a proclamation formally annexing to the empire the kingdom of Golconda. Its issue may seem to have been premature, seeing that the capital had not yet fallen, and that Abul Hasan still had troops of his own in the field besides his allies, the Marathas, but it was not in fact so, for the ultimate fate both of the fortress and of the kingdom was assured, and it was by no means too early for arrangements for the better administration of districts in which anarchy prevailed, all semblance of civil administration being of necessity wanting. ”

“ The raja of Urisa, elated by his victory at Devarkonda, summoned to his aid the zamindars of Telingana, now thoroughly disaffected and in noway cowed by the presence of a Muhammadan army in their midst, and invaded the Bahmani kingdom, laying waste the country as far as Kaulas. The young king's mother, with the help of the Khaja-i-Jahan and Mahmud Gawan, assembled an army of 40,000 horse at the capital and marched to meet the invaders, who had advanced to within twenty miles of Bidar. ”

“ From Ahmadnagar his body was carried, in accordance with his will, to Rauza, there to be buried in a humble grave on which the grass should always grow, surrounded by the tombs of saints of whose company he professed to be unworthy, and whose holiness is now over-shadowed by his greatness. ”

“ The great nobles present in the capital at the time of Mahmud's accession were the minister, Hasan Nizam-ul-Mulk, Qivam-ul-Mulk the elder, and Qivam-ul-Mulk the younger who, though foreigners, believed that they had won the regard of the Deccanis, and Qasim Barid, a foreigner, who, for reasons of his own, one of which was probably hatred of Yusuf Adil Khan and another, probably, attachment to the Sunni faith, often identified himself with the Deccanis. ”

“ Ala-ud-din was at this time governor of the province of which Karra, on the Ganges, 42 miles north-west of Allahabad, was the capital. There he consulted with friends as to how he could best raise an army sufficiently strong to enable him to found a kingdom for himself in some strange land beyond the emperor's dominions, where he could forget his domestic troubles and be secure from the designs of the Malika-i-Jahan. To assemble a large army without the emperor's knowledge was impossible, and as a large army was necessary to the execution of his design, Ala-ud-din had recourse to artifice. ”

“ On Sultan Quli's return to Golconda after his campaign against Ala-ud-din Imad Shah his nobles reported to him that Shitab Khan had ravaged the borders of the kingdom and was preparing for war. No attempt was made by Shitab Khan to hold Warangal, which passed without a struggle into Sultan Quli's hands while he marched on southwards to the siege of Belamkonda. After a protracted campaign, in the course of which Shitab Khan received much assistance from his Hindu allies, the whole of eastern Telingana, as far as the sea coast, was conquered and included in the Qutb Shahi dominions. ”

“ Ala-ud-din Bahman Shah divided his kingdom into four tarafs or provinces, Gulbarga, Daulatabad, Berar, and Bidar, appointing to each a governor whose powers were almost regal. Each maintained an army and made all civil and military appointments in his province, and it is strange that rebellion was not more frequent. This was checked by frequent royal tours in the provinces and by the regular employment of the provincial armies, under the king's command, in the campaigns against Vijayanagar. ”

“ In 1459 Humayun Shah Bahmani set out to punish the zamindar of Devarkonda, who had assisted the rebel Sikandar Khan, and marched to Warangal, which he made his headquarters. Khaja-i-Jahan the Turk and Nizam-ul-Mulk Ghori were sent against Devarkonda and, after defeating the Hindus in the field, besieged them in the fortress. The defenders were hard pressed and sent to the Raja of Urisa for assistance. He sent to their aid a large force with several elephants and assured them that he would soon arrive on the scene in person. ”