The Gazetteers Department

Delhi Sultanat.—In 1294 Alauddin, nephew of Jalaluddin Khilji, the reigning emperor of Delhi, invaded the Deccan with the object of subjugating Devagiri of the wealth of which kingdom he had heard in the course of his forays in Central Asia. He halted at Ellichpur for two days and from thence marched towards Devagiri from where he carried off an enormous quantity of plunder. His route from Ellichpur to Devagiri lay through the Buldhana district, possibly by the ghat of Rohinkheda which was afterwards to be so well-known as the highway through Berar. Though the district of Buldhana was not directly affected by the ravages of war, one of the fruits of his victory was the assignment of the revenues of Ellichpur and northern Berar in which the Jalgaon and Malkapur talukas were probably included, to Delhi. Annexation was not attempted nor were Muslims introduced into the administration.

Ala-ud-di.n on his return marched through Berar [Yadav Madhav Kale, Varhadacha Etihasa, (1924), p. 81.]. He murdered his uncle and ascended the throne of Delhi on October 3, 1296. During his reign the district was traversed by Muhammedan armies from Delhi marching on expeditions to the Deccan, but we find no special mention of the district. In 1306, an expedition under the African, Kafur Hazardinari was sent against Devagiri in consequence of Ramachandra having failed to remit tribute and having allied himself with Rai Kama of Gujarat, who had refused to send his daughter Deval Devi to Delhi. [Briggs, I, p. 366; Haig, p. 112.] Ramachandra and his family were captured and sent to Delhi, but the emperor pardoned him and restored him to his throne, and it does not appear that the arrangement under which Ellichpur and northern Berar remained under Hindu administrators charged with the remission of the revenue to Delhi was disturbed.

Ramachandra died in 1310 and was succeeded by his eldest son Shankar, who rebelled against Delhi and refused to remit the tribute. In 1312 Kafur, now entitled Malik Naib, led an expedition to Devagiri marching through the district, defeated and slew Shankar, and annexed his kingdom, including Berar, to the empire. The Buldhana district thus came for the first time directly under Muhammedan administration.

Ala-ud-din Khilji died on January 2, 1316, and in the confusion which followed his death and the subsequent assassination of Malik Naib, Harpal, the son-in-law of Ramachandra, seized Devagiri and ruled it for a short time as an independent king, bringing Berar and with it the Buldhana district once again under Hindu rule; but by 1316 affairs at Delhi had been settled and Kutub-ud-din Mubarak Shah, who was then on the throne, marched southwards again through Buldhana district, attacked Harpal, captured him and caused him to be flayed, and placed his head above one of the gates of Devagiri [Briggs, p. 389; Haig, p. 121.]. Buldhana thus passed again, with the rest of Berar, into the hands of the Musalmans, and the province remained nominally under Muhammedan rule and administration until it was assigned under the treaty of 1853 to the East India Company.

Malik Yaklaki was appointed governor of the reconquered provinces and shortly afterwards rebelled. We are not told what part the officers in Berar took in the rebellion, which was suppressed.

Kutub-ud-din Mubarak Shah was assassinated by Malik Khushrav on April 14, 1320. Khushrav ascended the throne but he was defeated and slain on September 5, 1320, by Ghazi-Beg Tughlak, the Turki Governor of the Punjab [Haig, pp. 125-26.], who was raised to the imperial throne under the title of Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlak Shah. The expeditions to the Deccan in his reign are not directly connected with the history of Berar, but the resources of the province were doubtless taxed in an effort to furnish supplies for the armies from Delhi. The district which was traversed by many expeditions to the Deccan must also have suffered with the rest of the province. Tughlak died in February or March, 1325 and was succeeded by his son, Muhammad-bin-Tughlak, who in 1339 transferred the capital of the empire from Delhi to Devagiri, which he renamed Daulatabad [Haig, p. 150.]. It is likely that the importance of the District which was now in the immediate neighbourhood of the capital of the empire must have been greatly enhanced by this change, but Daulatabad did not long remain the capital.

Maharashtra was now divided into four sikks or provinces, and though the limits of these are not mentioned, it is probable that they corresponded roughly with the four tarafs or provinces into which the Bahamani kingdom was afterwards divided, and that Berar, with its capital at Ellichpur, formed one of them. The land revenue of the whole tract was assessed at seven crores of "white tankas" of 175 grains each, or about Rs. 35,00,000. This assessment seems to have been excessive, for we read that the action of the sikkdars or provincial governors in collecting it caused widespread discontent and a partial depopulation of the country. The Sikkdars were Malik Sardavatdar, Malik Mukhlis-ul-Mulk, Yusuf Bughra, and Aziz Himar or Khammar, but the names of their provinces are not given. All were subordinate to Kutlugh Khan, governor of Daulatabad, whose deputy was Imad-ul-Mulk, but Kutlugh Khan was recalled very soon after his settlement had been made, and it was then that the oppression of the sikkdars became unbearable. Immediately subordinate to these sikkdars was a class of officials styled centurions, military officers who also performed such civil duties as the collection of the revenue, the prevention and detection of crime, and the maintenance of order.

In 1347 Muhammad-bin-Tughlak marched to Gujarat to quell a rebellion which had broken out among the centurions of the province and, having quietened Gujarat, summoned the centurions of the Deccan, intending to replace those of Gujarat with them, but the officers of the Deccan whose loyalty was not above suspicion feared that they were being called for punishment and when they had travelled one day's march towards Broach, where they had been ordered to assemble, they slew the officers who had been sent to summon them and returned to Daulatabad. Here they rose in rebellion and elected Ismail Fateh, the Afghan, king of the Daccan, with the title of Nasir-ud-din [So styled by Ferishta; Badaoni and the author of the Burhan-i-Masir call him Nasir-ud-din. Briggs, I, p. 438; II, 289.] Shah. This news at once brought Muhammad-bin-Tughlak from Broach to Daulatabad. He defeated the rebels in the field, but the new king took refuge in the fort and Muhammad was unable to capture the place. Besides, news soon arrived that a rebellion had broken out afresh in Gujarat, [Haig, Turks and Afghans, 169.] which compelled him to return thither, leaving an army to besiege Daulatabad. This army was defeated and the amirs of the Deccan, on Nasir-ud-din abdicating, elected as their king, Hasan, styled Zafar Khan, who ascended the throne as Ala-ud-din Bahman Shah [This was his correct title, as a contemporary inscription and legend on coins show the fantastic epithets bestowed on him by various historians are connected with foolish stories. Haig, Turks and Afghans, f.n., pp. 170-71; 372-73.] on August 3, 1347.

Bahamanis.— Bahman Shah, the founder of the Bahamani dynasty of the Deccan, which reigned in fact until 1482 and in name until 1526, divided his kingdom into four tarafs or provinces, each under the governorship of a tarafdar or provincial governor. The provinces were Berar, Daulatabad, Bidar, and Gulburga [Haig, pp. 374-75.]. We have, unfortunately, very little information as to the details of provincial administration, but it is known that the powers of the taraf-dars were very extensive. The tarafdar of Berar, whose headquarters were at Ellichpur, governed a tract of country far larger than the modern province. Berar which is, east of Burhanpur, was bounded on the north by the Tapi and on the east by the Wardha and Pranahita rivers, and extended on the south to the southern Puma and Godavari rivers and on the west approximately to its present limits [Haig, op. cit., pp. 374-75.] marched on its south-western borders, corresponding generally with the western and southern boundary of the Buldhana district with the province of Daulatabad. In this large province the governor was almost independent. He commanded the provincial army, collected the revenues, and made all appointments, both civil and military, including appointments to the command of forts, which were among the most important of all. His duties to the central authority seem to have been confined to the regular remission of a proportion of the revenue and to attending on his sovereign with the army of the province, whenever he might be called upon to do so. We know little or nothing of the administrative divisions of Berar in these early days, but it was probably divided into two principal divisions, one on the north, with its capital at Ellichpur and one on the south with its capital at Mahur [Haig, p. 383.]. The existing paraganas date, almost certainly, from the period of Hindu rule, and the sarkars described in the Ain-i-Akbari were perhaps a legacy from the days of the Bahamanis.

It would thus appear that the occupants of Buldhana district whether Gonds or Yadavas were compelled to relax their hold when the Muslims consolidated their power in the Deccan. Under Bahman Shah, Berar was the northernmost province of his kingdom, the southern boundary of which was probably the Godavari. The fortress of Mahur, second in importance to only Gavilgad, dominated the southern part of Berar and its strength was usually sufficient to keep the Gonds at bay. A fortress of secondary importance existed at Kalam, and the garrisons of these two places of arms were able as a rule to prevent the Gonds of Chandrapur from crossing the Wardha.

Muhammad Shah Bahamani, who succeeded his father in 1358, elaborated the organization of the four tarafs and gave to each tarafdar a distinctive title, the governor of Berar being styled Majilis-i-Ali.

The first governor of Berar under the Bahamanis was a Persian, Safdar Khan Sistani. In 1362 he commanded the army of the province in Muhammad Shah's expedition into Telangana and was absent from Berar on this occasion for two years. [Haig, I, pp. 305, 309.] In 1366, while Muhammad Shah was waging war against Vijayanagar, Bahrain Khan Majindarani, deputy governor of Daulatabad, broke into rebellion at the instigation of Kondba Dev, a Maratha, and several of the nobles of Berar, who were related to Bahram Khan, were implicated in the rebellion with him. It is probable that the local officers of the Buldhana district, whose lands lay within easy reach of Daulatabad were among those who joined the rebels. The rebellion was suppressed and its leaders made good their escape into Gujarat. At this time highway robbery seems to have been rife in the Deccan, for Muhammad Shah found it necessary to issue special orders to the tarafdars for the suppression of the crime. The remedy was drastic. The male-factors were beheaded and their heads were sent to the capital. Twenty thousand heads were thus collected at Gulburga, and we may presume that Safdar Khan sent his share [Briggs, II, pp. 325-26; Haig, p. 383.].

The provinces were not neglected in the reign of Muhammad I, who toured in one of them every year unless occupied in war, and hunted for three or four months. This information may appear trifling, but it enables us to understand to some extent bow Berar was governed in former days and how it was that a kingdom organized as was that of the Bahamanis did not fall to pieces sooner than it did.

Muhammad I, died in 1377 [Ferishta, however, refers to 21st March 1375 as the date of death of Muhammad Shah I.] and was succeeded by his elder son, Mujahid Shah, who made war against Bukka I, of Vijayanagar Safdar Khan was summoned to the capital with the army of Berar and was sent to besiege Adoni. Bukka I, was defeated before this fortress fell and the siege was relinquished. Mujahid Shah returned slowly through the Raichur Doab, hunting as he went, and Safdar Khan and the governor of Bidar, knowing his rash and impetuous disposition, exerted themselves to restrain him from running needless risks in bis sport. The king, wearied of their good advice and much against their will, ordered them to return to their provinces. The two governors pursued their way slowly and unwillingly, and shortly after their departure Mujahid was assassinated, on April 15, 1378 [Haig, 384; Ferishta, however, gives the date as April 14, 1378.], at the instigation of his uncle, Daud, whom he had offended during the campaign against the Hindus. Daud hastened to Gulburga in order to ascend the throne, but Safdar Khan and the governor of Bidar refused to attend him there and turned aside to Bijapur, where the royal elephants were stationed. They seized these, divided them between themselves, and returned to their provinces with them. Daud Shah was assassinated on May 20, 1378 [Ferishta, gives the date as May 21, 1378.] and was succeeded by his nephew, Muhammad Sah II [Most English writers, in deference to Ferishta, who is obviously mistaken as t o his king's name, style him Mahmud, in spite of the evidence of coins, inscriptions, and other historians. Mahmud was his father's name—Vide Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol. LXXIII, Part I.].

On the accession of Muhammad II, Safdar Khan and the governor of Bidar made their submission and hastened to the capital to offer him their congratulations. Early in his reign there was a severe famine in Berar and the Deccan. A school for famine orphans was established at Ellichpur, where the children were brought up in the Muhammedan faith, and special allowances were given in all towns to religious teachers and to the blind. The district of Buldhana probably suffered equally with the rest of Berar from this severe famine.

Muhammad II, died on April 20, 1397. and was succeded by his elder son, Ghiyas-ud-din, who was 17 years of age [Briggs, II, p. 353.]. In his reign Safdar Khan Sistani, the governor of Berar, died in Ellichpur. His son, Salabat Khan, who had been a playfellow of the young king, was appointed governor of Berar in his father's place, with the title of Majilis-i-Ali. On June 14, 1397, Ghiyas-ud-din was blinded and deposed and his brother Shams-ud-din was placed on the throne. He, however, was deposed and imprisoned at the end of the year and was succeeded by his cousin Taj-ud-din Firoz Shah. The army of Berar, under Salabat Khan, took part in Firoz Shah's campaign against Harihara II. of Vijayanagar in 1398-99. The campaign was eminently successful and Firoz Shah on his return left Pulad Khan, another son of Safdar Khan Sistani, in charge of the Raichur Doab [Ibid., p. 375.]. But on this occasion the absence of the governor from Berar produced disastrous results, for Narsingh Dev, the Gond Raja of Kherla, had overrun the province from north to south and occupied it. Narsingh Dev established himself in Mahur. It seems strange that the attack was from Kherla rather than from Chandrapur, but Narsingh Dev was probably instigated by the Sultan of Malva and it is not certain that he received no help from Chandrapur. The whole of Buldhana district was now in the hands of the invaders. Firoz Shah hastened northwards and, after recapturing Mahur. pressed on towards Kherla. At Ellichpur he halted and sent on an army under the command of his brother Ahmad Khan, the Khan-i-Khanan, to punish the Gonds. Ahmad advanced to within a short distance of Kherla and was met by the Gond troops under Narsingh Dev. The Gonds fought with great determination and broke the centre of the Musalmans, slaying Shujat Khan, Rustam Khan, and Dila-var Khan [Briggs, II, pp.-376-77.]. The right wing under the command of Ahmad Khan, and the left under the command of Mir Fazl-ullah Anju Siraji still stood fast. Fazl-ullah was told that Ahmad Khan had fallen, hut wisely forbade his informant to circulate the rumour, which turned out to be false. He then caused it to be proclaimed that Firoz Shah had come in person to the relief of his troops and caused the great drums to be beaten. The scattered forces of the Muslims rallied to the sound and Mir Fazl-ullah and Ahmad Khan managed to join the forces and to attack the enemy. Gopal Raj, the son of Narsingh Dev, was taken prisoner, and the Gonds were pursued with great slaughter to the gates of Kherla, whither Narsingh Dev arrived only just in time to save his life. Ahmad Khan and Fazl-ullah then besieged the fortress and after a lapse of two months the Gonds offered to surrender on conditions. The Muhammedan generals replied that they had no power to offer terms, and that if Narsingh Dev desired to obtain them it was necessary that he and his chief nobles should make their submission to Firoz Shah in Ellichpur, to which place they were offered a safe conduct. This advice was followed, and the raja swore at the foot-stool of Firoz in Ellichpur that he and his successors would be faithful liegemen of the Bahamanis as their predecessor had been in the days of Bahman Shah. Narsingh Dev was dismissed with honour after paying tribute. After receiving the Gond chieftains humble submission, Firoz Shah returned to Gulburga but it is not certain whether he returned as he had come, or whether he followed the more usual route through Buldhana district in western Berar.

The names of the Muhammedan nobles killed at the battle of Kherla are worthy of attention, for, as we have seen, they probably provided the apocryphal Abdur Rahman with a local habitation and a name. They were four in number and it appears probable that the requisite tale of five was completed by Salabat Khan, the governor of Berar, for no more is heard of this tarafdar, and Firoz Shah, immediately before he left Ellichpur for Gulburga, appointed Mir Fazl-ullah Anju, governor of Berar.

In 1406 Firoz Shah was at war with Vijayanagar and the army of Berar under Fazl-ullah was employed in the siege of Bankapur. The expedition was successful. Bankapur, with the country surrounding it, was annexed to the Bahamani dominions [Ibid, p. 384; Haig, p. 392.], and Fazl-ullah and his army returned to Berar. In 1412 Firoz Shah indulged in an apparently purposeless campaign in Gondvana in which the army of Berar probably took a principal part [Haig, p. 393.].

In 1417 Firoz embarked on a disastrous war against Vira Vijaya of Vijayanagar, near Pangal. Mir Fazl-ullah Anju who, with the army of Berar, played a dominant role in the decisive battle of the campaign, in which the Muslims were defeated, was treacherously slain by a Kanarese attendant who had been bribed by his co-religionists. The affairs of the kingdom fell into great confusion and nobody was immediately appointed to succeed the slain tarafdar of Berar, but the government of the province was probably carried on by the deputy whom Fazl-ullah had left behind him when he set out on the fatal expedition.

In 1422 Ahmad Khan deposed his brother Firoz Shah and ascended the throne in Gulburga as Ahmad Shah I, on September 22, 1422. His first care was to bring the war with the Hindus to a successful conclusion, and in the attainment of this object he laid waste the territories of Vijayanagar. After one of his actions he was separated from his army while hunting and nearly fell into the hands of a band of resolute Hindu warriors, but was rescued by Abdul Kadir, a commander of 200 horse and captain of the guard, whose soldierly precautions averted the disaster which Ahmad's foolish behaviour courted. Abdul Kadir's reward was the vacant governorship of Berar with the title of Khan-i-Jahan [Briggs, II, pp. 402-03; Haig, pp. 397-98.] in addition to the ex-officio title of Majilis-i-Ali. Abdul Kadir, who held the governorship of Berar for nearly forty years, was the son of Muhammad Isa, the son of Mahmud, the son of a Turk named Malik Hindui who received the title of Imad-ul-Mulk from Bahman Shah, and held under that king the appointment of inspector-general of the forces. The Khan-i-Jahan was thus a Deccani of Turki descent.

Ahmad Shah made peace with Vira Vijaya and then set out to capture Warangal, which fell into the hands of Abdul Latif Khan-i-Azam, the Governor of Bidar. The king then returned to his capital.

The army of Berar bore an honourable part in Ahmad Shah's successes against the Hindus of the south, but the defeat of the Muhammedans before the deposition of Firoz, and the absence of the provincial army, had encouraged rebels to assert themselves in Eastern Berar. That the ruler of Chandrapur was largely responsible for these troubles is evident from the tact that Ahmad Shah, who had many other matters to occupy him and would not have been likely to waste his strength in acts of wanton aggression, sent an expedition from Kalam into the Chandrapur dominions where, besides ravaging the country the Muhammedans captured a diamond mine. The locality of the mine is not precisely indicated, but it is mentioned again at a later period, and it would be interesting to trace the situation of ancient diamond working in Vidarbha.

From Kalam Ahmad Shah marched to Ellichpur, his actions in which place, being directed principally towards strengthening the northern frontier with a view either to meeting attacks or to extending his dominions, do not directly concern the Buldhana District. Having completed his arrangements on the northern frontier he retired in a leisurely manner towards Gulbarga in 1428, and Hoshang Shah, of Malva, took advantage of this retrograde movement to attack Narsingh Dev of Kherla, whom he had been unable to detach from his allegiance to the Bahamani king. The army of Berar under Abdul Kadir, the Khan-i-Jahan, was ordered to march to the assistance of Narsingh Dev, while Ahmad Shah returned northwards to its support. His leisurely movements fostered the belief that he feared to meet Hoshang in the field, and Hoshang openly boasted that Ahmad dared not encounter him. Ahmad, much incensed by this boast, set forth to attack Hoshang but was dissuaded from doing so by the doctors of religion in his camp, and contended himself with sending a message to warn Hoshang against interfering with a vassal of Gulbarga. After the despatch of this message he retired southwards followed by Hoshang, who was now convinced that Ahmad feared him. Hoshang's entrance into Berar removed the religious scruples which had hitherto restrained Ahmad from attacking a brother Muslim, and he halted his army and awaited the advance of the army of Malva, which moved forward all unprepared for any opposition. The invaders suffered a severe defeat and Hoshang Shah fled, leaving the ladies of his harem in the hands of the victors. As he fled towards Mandu the Gonds of Kherla fell upon his beaten army and completed the heavy tale of slaughter. Ahmad Shah's religious scruples once more asserted themselves, and in compensation for the loss which had been inflicted on the army of Malva by an unbelieving foe he despatched Hoshang's ladies to him under the charge of a trusty guard, with many eunuchs whom he presented to him as a free gitt.

It is only fair to say that there is another version of this story of the war between Hoshang Shah and Ahmad Shah in Berar and that according to that version Ahmad Shah was the aggressor and was marching to attack Narsingh Dev when Hoshang came to the latter's aid. There is something to be said for this version for it is improbable that Narsingh Dev gave much thought to his allegiance to Gulbarga when Firoz Shah was in difficulties with Vira Vijaya of Vijaynagar, and it is not unlikely that he was concerned in the occupation of Mahur and Kalam; but on the whole the version first given is to be preferred. Narsingh Dev accompanied Ahmad Shah on his return march and parted from him at Mahur whence he was dismissed with many rich presents.

In 1433 the Bahamani kingdom was exhausted after a war with Gujarat. Hoshang Shah, taking advantage of its condition attacked the territory of the kingdom when Nasir Khan, king of Khandesh, intervened, prevented an outbreak of war between his two powerful neighbours, and proposed terms of peace which were accepted by both parties. These were that Hoshang Shah should retain possession of Kherla, and that Berar should continue to form part of Ahmad Shah's kingdom. These terms were most unfavourable to Ahmad Shah, and his acceptance of them is an indication of the extent to which his kingdom had suffered in the war with Gujarat. It is probable that in consequence of his weakness the Buldhana district as veil as the rest of Berar was subject to inroads from Malva and Chandrapur and the events of his son's reign bear out this view.

Ahmad Shah I, died on 19th February 1435 and was succeeded by his eldest son, Ala-ud-din Ahmad Shah II, who had married the daughter of Nasir Khan. This lady, in a fit of jealousy, complained to her father that her husband was neglecting heifer a Hindu mistress [Briggs, II, p. 424.], the daughter of the Raja of Sangameshvar by bestowing upon her the title of Ziba Chihra or 'beautiful face', and Nasir Khan prepared to invade his son-in-law's dominions. Having obtained the assent of Ahmad Shah of Gujarat to his enterprise he began to prepare his way by detaching the nobles of Berar from their allegiance to the Bahamani king. Nasir Khan claimed descent from the second Khalifa, Umar-ul-Faruk, and succeeded beyond expectation in persuading many of the officers in Berar that the one who fell fighting in the cause of the descendants of the greatest of the prophet's successors would receive the reward promised to martyrs tor the faith. It is not easy to understand how the officers of Berar were deceived; for Nasir Khan allied himself with Gonds and probably with the Korkus of the Melghat also, but many fell into the trap and formed a strong party in Berar against the Bahamani king. Nasir Khan accordingly entered into Berar marching southwards from Burhanpur through the Buldhana district with all the troops of Khandesh, a considerable force having been also sent to his aid by the Raja of Gondvana. The treacherous officers attempted to seize the governor, Khan Jahan, who was too firmly attached to the house of Bahamanis to join the invaders; and he, obtaining information of their designs, fled to the fortress of Narnala, where he shut himself up, and wrote accounts of the state of affairs to his court. The traitors, meanwhile, joined Nasir Khan, and not only read the khutba in his name as king of Berar, but marched with him to besiege Narnala.

Ala-ud-din Shah, on receiving this intelligence, called a council of his ministers and military chiefs, to concert measures for acting at such a critical moment. It was recommended that the king should proceed in person against the enemy, it being probable that both the kings of Gujarat and Malva, as also the Rais of Gondvana, were prepared to aid in assisting Nasir Khan. The king, however, suspecting the fidelity of his chiefs, appointed Khalaf Hasan Basri-Malik-ut-Tujjar, then governor of Daulatabad and leader of the foreigners, to conduct the campaign. He requested the king to give him the command of the household troops, and all the foreigners, without any Deccanis or Abys-sinians, to bring the royal affairs in Berar to a prosperous issue [Khalaf Hasan Basri, (Malik-ut-Tujjar) was a foreign merchant. The hostility of the Deccanis and Abyssinians to the Persians and Turks seems to have prevailed throughout the long period of the reign of the Deccan kings.]. 'Ala-ud-din Shah consenting, directed three thousand Moghal bowmen from the body-guards [Among these body-gaurds were two princes, Majnun Sultan and Shah Kully Sultan, both lineal descendants from the great conqueror Chungiz Khah.] to attend him, as also many Moghal officers, who had been brought up in the service of Firoz Shab and Ahmad Shah. Malik-ut-Tujjar left Daulatabad with 7,000 foreign horse, despatching an army on observation to the frontiers ot Gujarat and Malva and entered into Berar. Khan Jahan also, having found an opportunity of quitting Narnala, joined the king's army at Mehkar. Malik-ut-Tujjar now detached Khan Jahan with his troops to Ellichpur and Balapur, in order to prevent the Rais of Gondavana from entering Berar by that route, while himself moved with the main body towards the Rohinkheda Ghat.

Meanwhile, Nasir Khan had reached Rohinkheda where Khalaf Hasan Basri, marching northwards, met him. In the battle which was fought there Nasir Khan was defeated and fled to Burhanpur, closely pursued by Khalaf Hasan. On the approach of the Deccanis, Nasir Knan fled to the fortress of Laling [Ashirgarh, according to another authority.], where he took refuge, leaving Burhanpur to be sacked. Khalaf Hasan then succeeded in drawing Nasir Khan from his refuge and induced him to attack in the open. Nasir Khan sustained another defeat and many of the rebellious nobles of Berar, who had taken refuge with him, were slain. Khalaf Hasan then returned to Bidar laden with spoil.

In 1453 Jalal Khan, who had married Ala-ud-din Ahmad's sister, rebelled in Telangana and attempted to raise his son, Sikandar Khan, the grandson of Ahmad Shah I, to the throne. Ala-ud-din Ahmad Shah assembled his forces and Jalal Khan sent Sikandar Khan to Mahur in order that he might create a diversion there. Sikandar Khan occupied Mahur and sent a message to Mahmud Shah Khilji of Malva, informing him that the Bahamani king was dead but that his attendants were concealing the fact of his death for their own ends. He added that if Mahmud Shah took the field, Berar and Telangana would fall into his hands without a struggle. Mahmud Shah believed this report, and after consulting Adil Khan II, the ruler of Khandesh, invaded Berar in 1456 and encamped in the plains about the fortress of Mahur. On hearing of this aggression Ala-ud-din Ahmad Shah changed his plans. He left Khvaja Mahmud Gavan to act against Jalal Khan in Telangana; detailed the army of Berar to watch Adil Khan of Khandesh and to prevent him from cooperating with Mahmud Shah; ordered Kasim Beg Safshikan, governor of Daulatabad, to march on Mahur; and himself, with his household troops and the army of Bijapur, marched towards the same fortress. Mahmud Shah was very wroth when he learnt how he had been tricked by Sikandar Khan, and being unprepared to meet Ala-ud-din Ahmad in the field, fled towards Mandu by night, leaving behind him an officer with instructions to prevent Sikandar from returning to his former allegiance and to send him as a captive to Mandu should he show any inclination to make his submission to Ala-ud-din Ahmad. Sikandar Khan discovered that he was virtually in custody and contrived to elude his jailor and to escape from Mahur with two thousand men. He fled to Nalgonda, where Khvaja Mahmud Gavan was besieging his father, and here both father and son submitted and were pardoned. Fakhr-ul-Mulk, the Turk who had been governor of Mahur before he was ejected by Sikandar Khan, was reinstated by Ala-ud-din Ahmad Shah.

Ala-ud-din Ahmad II, died in 1458 and was succeeded by his son Humayun "the Tyrant" who had hardly ascended the throne when Jalal Khan and Sikandar Khan, the two nobles who had rebelled in the previous reign, again rose in rebellion. The governor of Berar who had visited the capital for the purpose of offering his congratulations to the new king was employed against the rebels, but was defeated, and the rising was ultimately suppressed by Humayun [Ibid, p. 114.]. We hear no more of Berar during this brief and troubled reign. When Humayun Shah was taken ill and thought that he would die, he appointed his eldest son, Nizam Shah, then only eight years of age, his successor. Having summoned Khvaja Jahan Turk from Berar, and Khvaja Mahmud Gavan from Telangana [Haig mentions that Khwaja Jahan, the Turk, and Nizam-ul-Mulk were sent to Warangal to fight the Hindus of Telangana and especially those of the district of Deurkonda, who had supported Sikandar Khan. One of the Rajas of Orissa helping the Hindus, Khwaja Jahan and Nizam-ul-Mulk were defeated. Khwaja Jahan basely attributed the disaster to his colleague, and Nizam-ul-Mulk was put to death by Humayun Shah. Khwaja Jahan was imprisoned. Haig. op. cit.,pp. 410-11.] he made his will, constituting them regents and guardians of his son during his minority and commanding them strictly, at the same time, to transact no business without the cognisance of the queen-mother [Makhaduma Jahan Nargis Begam.]. Humayun Shah died on September 4, 1461 and was succeeded by his son Nizam Shah, aged eight. In 1462 Mahmud Shah of Malva, taking advantage of the new king's young age, invaded the Deccan by the route through the Buldhana district which had been followed by Nasir Khan of Khandesh and was afterwards to become the highway to the conquest of southern India. The army of Bidar was employed in keeping off the rajas of Telangana and Orissa, who had invaded the Bahamani dominions of the east, and the armies of Berar, Daulatabad and Gulburga marched to meet Mahmud Shah. A battle was fought at Kandhar about seventy miles north of Bidar, and the Bahamani forces were defeated. Nizam Shah was carried off by his mother to Firozabad near Gulburga while Mahmud Shah of Malwa sacked Bidar. He had begun to lay siege to the citadel when he heard that Mahmud Shah of Gujarat, to whom Nizam Shah's mother had appealed for help, had reached the north-western frontier of the Bahamani kingdom with 80,000 horse. Mahmud Gavan, one of the chief nobles of Bahamani kingdom, joined the Gujaratis with five or six thousand cavalry, and continued to raise and borrow troops until he was able to take the field with an army of 40,000 Deccani and Gujarati horse. He sent 10,000 Deccani horse into Berar to cut off the invader's retreat and marched towards Bidar with the remainder of his force. Encamping between Bid and Kandhar he cut off the besiegers' supplies but would not risk a battle, though Mahmud Shah of Malva could not put more than 30,000 horse into the field. At length the army of Malva was starved out and Mahmud Shah of Malva, after blinding his elephants and burning his heavy baggage, retreated northwards through eastern Berar. He was pursued and harassed throughout his retreat by Mahmud Gavan and the ten thousand horse which had been awaiting him in Berar. In order to avoid Mahmud Gavan on the one hand and escape Mahmud Shah of Gujarat on the other, he resolved to retreat through the hills of the Melghat and engaged one of the Korku rajas of that tract as a guide. After leading him by Ellichpur and Akot the raja took him into the hills and there intentionally led him astray. In the Melghat the army of Malva perished by thousands from heat and thirst and by the attacks of the Korkus, who were instigated by their raja. When the remnant of the army at length emerged from the wild hilly country, Mahmud Shah of Malva had the Korku raja put co death [Bahamani Rajyacha Itihas, p. 134.].

In the following year he again invaded Berar through the Buldhana district, but the Deccanis were prepared for him and again sought help from Gujarat, whereupon Mahmud of Malva withdrew in haste to his own dominions.

Nizam Shah died on July 20, 1463 and was succeeded by his brother Muhammad III, surnamed Lashkari or "the soldier".

In 1467 Nizam-ul-Mulk, the Turk, who had commanded the left wing in the battle of Kandhar against Mahmud Shah of Malva, was appointed governor of Berar and was ordered to capture Kherla, where a Gond prince still owed allegiance to Malva. The army of Berar marched against Kherla and besieged it and the army of Malva, in an attempt to raise the siege, was signally defeated. Kherla fell, but two Rajputs [Haig, p. 480. Sayyad Ali says that he was killed by the commandant of the fort.] of the place approached Nizam-ul-Mulk under the pretence of making their submission to him and assassinated him. They then attacked his attendants and were put to death. The two officers next in authority to Nizam-ul-Mulk were Yusuf Adil Khan [There is some conflict of authorities here. Some historians give the name, of Yusuf Adil Khan, the Deccani, a much less distinguished person, but a bitter enemy of Yusuf Adil Khan Savai, as he was called. On the whole the account given in the text is the more probable.], afterwards the founder of the Adil Shahi dynasty of Bijapur, and Darya Khan, the Turk. These nobles argued that the desperate enterprise of the two Rajputs could not have been undertaken otherwise than at the instigation of some of the inhabitants of Kherla and a massacre of these unfortunates, with their wives and children, followed. Yusuf and Darya left a force to hold Kherla and returned to Bidar with the body of their late leader. Muhammad Shah approved of their action and bestowed Kherla upon them in jahagir. Mahamud Shah of Malva now sent an embassy to Muhammad Shah and reminded him of the treaty between Ahmad Shah Bahamani and Hoshang Shah of Malva, in which it was stipulated that Kherla should belong to Malva and Berar to the Bahamanis. He besought Muhammad Shah not to be a breaker of treaties, or the means of stirring up strife between Musalmans. Muhammad Shah returned to him a dignified reply by Shaikh Ahmad, the Sadr, and Sharit ul-Muik. He thanked god that no one of the race of Bahman had ever been known to break a treaty and reminded Mahmud Shah that when the affairs of the Bahamani kingdom were in confusion after the accession of the boy-king Nizam Shah it was Mahmud himself who had broken faith by invading the Bahamani dominions. In every corner of the empire of Karnatak, which was still in the hands of the infidels, there were many fortresses like Kherla and since these were ready to his hand he had no wish to deprive a biother Musalman of his fortresses. A new treaty was concluded whereby either sovereign bound himself by the most solemn oaths not to molest or invade the dominions of the other, and Kherla, which had been annexed to Berar, was handed back by Muhammad Shah to the king of Malva [Bahamani Rajyacha Itihas, p. 140.].

The governorship of Berar seems to have remained vacant for a few years after the death of Nizam-ul-Mulk, the Turk, until in 1471 Fateh-ullah Imad-ul-Mulk was made governor. This amir is worthy of special notice for he founded the Imad Shahi dynasty, which reigned in Berar for a period of eighty years. He was a Brahman of Vijayanagar who was captured by the Musalmans in 1422 early in the reign of Ahmad Shah and was bestowed on the Khan-i-Jahan, who was appointed governor of Berar immediately after the conclusion of the campaign, and was brought up as a Musalman, but never forgot his Brahman descent or his native land. Fateh-ullah had spent all his service, if we except temporary periods of absence in the field, in Berar and was a very fair instance of the strength and the weakness of the provincial system of the Bahamani kingdom. He seems to have been sincerely attached to the province, despite his pride of race and descent, and to have been at the same time a faithful servant of the Bahamanis. In his later years, when troubles gathered thick and fast around the head of the descendant of Bahman Shah and when the provincial governors were driven rather than tempted to rebellion, he was regarded as the Nestor of the Deccan, and his entire freedom from party prejudice was displayed in his grief and anger at the unjust execution of Mahmud Gavan, a foreigner, and in his unwavering friendship for Yusuf Adil Khan Savai, another foreigner, who differed from him in religion, being a staunch Shiah while Fateh-ullah was an equally staunch Sunni.

Buldhana district, with the rest of Berar and the Deccan, suffered from the terrible two years of famine in 1473, and 1474 and most of those who escaped death from starvation fled to Malva and Gujarat. In the third year rain fell, but prosperity was slow to return, for there were few left to till the soil and the wanderers returned by slow degrees. [Haig, p. 417.]

As stated earlier, Fateh-ullah Imad-ul-Mulk had been appointed Governor of Berar in 1471 and Khudavand Khan, an African, governed the southern districts of the province as his subordinate, having his headquarters at Mahur.

In the campaigns of Muhammad III, in Orissa, Telangana, and the Peninsula, Fateh-ullah, with the army of Berar, bore a share. In 1480, before these campaigns had been brought to a close, the four provinces into which the Deccan had been divided by Bahman Shah were sub-divided into eight by Muhammad 111, on the advice of his minister Mahmud Gavan. Berar was divided into the two new provinces of northern Berar, named Gavil, and southern Berar, named Mahur. The line of demarcation is not recorded, but it is not unreasonable to suppose that it followed the northern crest line of Balaghat plateau in which case the Chikhli and Melghat tahsils must have been included in the province of Mahur and the Malkapur, Khamgaon, and Jalgaon tahsils in that of Gavil. At the same time the powers of the provincial governors were much curtailed. Many paraganas of the provinces were made khas and were administered by officers appointed direct by the crown, while the governors were allowed to appoint a commandant only to the chief fort in each province, ail other commandants of forts being appointed direct by the king. These belated reforms caused much dissatisfaction among some of the tardfdars, but the faithful Fateh-ullah, though stripped of half his province, seems to have taken no exception to them and he and Khudavand Khan remained good friends and invariably worked in concert. The malcontents, however, entered into a conspiracy against Mahmud Gavan, the author of the reforms, and compassed his death on April 5, 1481 [Bahamani Rajyacha Itihas, p. 160.]. Muhammad III, who was their dupe, discovered his minister's innocence when it was too late and bitterly repented his action. Fateh-ullah Imad-ul-Mulk and Khudavand Khan, with the troops of Berar, left the royal camp and encamped at a distance of two leagues from it. When asked the reason of this move Fateh-ullah boldly replied that when so old and faithful a servant as Mahmud Gavan could be murdered on the lying reports of false witnesses nobody within the king's reach was safe. The wretched king, now smitten with remorse, sent a secret message imploring them to return that he might take counsel with them regarding the punishment of those who had brought Khvaja Mahmud to his death, but Fateh-ullah and Khudavand Khan replied that they would shape their conduct on that of Yusuf Adil Khan, who was then absent on a distant expedition. Yusuf was at once recalled and joined Fateh-ullah and Khudavand Khan. The three tarafdars then entered the royal camp and made their demands. They did not succeed in bringing the ringleaders of the conspiracy to punishment, but Yusuf obtained the province of Bijapur, which enabled him to make provision for the followers of the deceased minister. Shortly after this the tarafdars were dismissed to their provinces.

Fateh-ullah and Khudavand Khan were recalled from Berar shortly afterwards in order that they might attend Muhammad III, on a progress through the province of Bijapur. They obeyed the summons, but both on the march and in camp placed a distance between themselves and the royal camp, and saluted the king from a far when he marched. In this manner the armies reached Belgaon whence the tarafdars were ordered to accompany the king to Goa and the Konkan, which they refused to do. Yusuf Adil Khan, however, marched to the aid of Goa, then besieged by Rajashekhara of Vijayanagar, while Muhammad III, marched to Firozabad. Fateh-ullah and Khudavand Khan refused to accompany him any further, and returned to Berar without leave. Muhammad felt their defection deeply, but dared not resent it, for he knew that their mistrust of him was justified, and that civil war would but hasten the disruption of his kingdom.

Muhammad Shah died of drink on 22nd March 1482, and was succeeded by his son Mahmud Shah, a boy of twelve; all power in the capital was held by Malik Hasan Nizam-ul-Mulk, [Dr. B. G. Kunte: Ahmadnagarchi Nizamshahi, p. 2.] the principal enemy of the late Mahmud Gavan, who was now minister of the kingdom. Fateh-ullah Imad-ul-Mulk, on visiting the capital to congratulate the young king on his accession, was made titular minister of the kingdom, his son Shaikh Ala-ud-din being appointed his deputy in northern Berar, but the intrigues and massacres of the capital were not to the veteran's taste, [Haig, p. 423.] and he returned to Ellichpur without having exercised the duties of his post at the capital [Briggs, II, p. 528.].

Imad Shahi of Berar.— Malik Hasan Nizam-ul-Mulk was assassinated before 1485 and affairs in Bidar went from bad to worse. The young king; showed a precocious bent towards debauchery and the administration passed into the hands of Kasim Barid, a Turk. The tarafdars, well aware that all orders issued from the capital were the orders framed by this upstart ceased to heed them, and were practically independent attending only occasionally with their armies when summoned to do so. This attendance only accentuated the humiliation of the nominal ruler, whose splendour was utterly eclipsed by that of the armaments which the tarafdars brought into the field.

In 1490 Malik Ahmad, the son of Malik Hasan Nizam-ul-Mulk, having founded Ahmadnagar and made preparations for securing his independence, invited Yusuf Adil Khan of Bijapur and Fateh-ullah Imad-ul-Mulk of Gavil to join him in assuming the style and insignia of royalty [Haig, pp. 425-26, foot-note.]. Although Fateh-ullah Imad Shah was considered Sultan of Berar, parts of Buldhana district and the rest of southern Berar remained for some years under the rule of Khudavand Khan of Mahur, who was as independent of Gavil as he was of Bidar, though he seems never to have committed himself to a formal declaration of independence. The compact was sealed by the consent of each of these three provincial governors, and each had the khutba read in the mosques of his kingdom in his own name, omitting that of Mahmud Shah Bahamani. Henceforth these rulers will be known by the titles Yusuf Adil Shah, Ahmad Nizam Shah, and Fateh-ullah Imad Shah, though Yusuf and Fateh-ullah appear to have been very chary of using the royal title.

The supremacy of Kasim Barid in the capital had, however, convinced Fateh-ullah of the necessity for some decisive step, and the veteran statesman had already prepared himself for possible opposition by improving the defences of Gavilgad and Narnala.

Although Fateh-ullah had declared himself independent he still regarded himself, to some extent, as a vassal of the Bahamani king. Thus in 1494. when a rebel named Bahadur Gilani, who had established himself on the western coast of the Deccan, committed, in Gujarat, excesses which caused Mahmud Shah of that country to demand his punishment at the hands of Mahmud Shah Bahamani. Fateh-ullah Imad Shah, together with Yusuf Adil Shah and Ahmad Nizam Shah, responded to his old master's appeal and aided him against the rebel, who was defeated and slain after a long; and arduous campaign. But the aid thus rendered differed from the submissive attendance of the tarafdars in former times for the Sultans as now they did not attend in person but sent contingents.

In 1504 Yusuf Adil Shah, who was a Shiah, had the khutba read in the mosques of the Bijapur kingdom after the Shiah fashion, he being the first Muhammedan ruler in India to make this public profession of the Shiah faith. Amir Barid who had succeeded his father. Kasim Barid, in that same year sent notices in Mahmud Shah's name to Fateh-ullah Imad-Shah, Khudavand Khan of Mahur, and Sultan Kuli Kutub-ul-Mulk, who had been appointed governor of Telangana and had established himself at Golconda, asking them to combine to stamp out the heresy. The result of the appeal was curious. Sultan Kuli Kutub-ul-Mulk who was himself a devoted Shiah, responded to it at once, apparently on the ground that Yusuf Adil Shah's act was a more pronounced declaration of opposition to Bahamani traditions than his mere assumption of independence. Fateh-ullah Imad Shah, and Khudavand Khan, on the other hand, though both were professed Sunnis, showed very clearly their disinclination to act against their old ally, excused themselves. As to what followed, there is a conflict of authority. Ferishta, says that Amir Barid was much perplexed by the contumacy of the two chiefs of Berar and applied to Ahmad Nizam Shah for aid which was promptly rendered. Ali-bin Aziz-ullah Tabatabai, whose dates do not agree with those of Ferishta, though he is clearly referring to the same incident, writes that Mahmud Shah, on becoming aware of Fateh-ullah Imad Shah's refusal to take the field against Yusuf Adil Shah, marched into Berar, whereupon Fateh-ullah who was no more willing to take up arms against the Bahamani than against Yusuf, made his submission to him. Ferishta's account is to be preferred, for he was though sometimes misinformed, always impartial, whereas the author of the Burhan-i-Maasir was an uncompromising partisan of the Nizam Shahi kings and also strangely enough, a strenuous supporter of the fiction that Mahmud Shah was as independent a king as any of his forefathers. Moreover, immediately after its account of these events, the Burhan-i-Maasir goes wildly astray in its references to Fateh-ullah Imad Shah and Yusuf Adil Shah. The following is the true account of what happened. Amir Barid with Mahmud Shah, Sultan Kuli Kutub-ul-Mulk, Ahmad Nizam Shah, and Fakhr-ul-Mulk, the Deccani, marched against Yusuf Adil Shah, who finding that his external foes and the Sunnis in his own kingdom were too strong for him, left Fakhr-ul-Mulk, the Turk, to hold Gulburga and the surrounding country, sent his infant son Ismail with Kamal Khan, the Deccani, to Bijapur, and made the best of his way, with 5,000 horse, to the territories of his old friend Fateh-ullah Imad Shah, closely pursued by the allies who followed him almost to the gates of Gavilgad. Fateh-ullah was again greatly perplexed [Briggs, II, p. 548.]. He would not give up the refugee, he would not fight for the Shiah religion, and in no circumstances would he draw the sword against the Bahamani king. He, therefore, despatched Yusuf Adil Shah, to Daud Khan of Khandesh, while he proceeded to make terms with the invaders of Berar. His methods are a fair example of the astuteness which he seems always to have brought into play in the interests of justice and toleration. He sent envoys to Ahmad Nizam Shah and Sultan Kuli Kutub-ul-Mulk to apprise them of his view of the quarrel which was that Amir Barid, well-known, he said, as 'the fox of the Deccan'. was not actuated in his persecution of Yusuf Adil Shah by religious scruples, but merely desired to gain possession of Bijapur. Should he attain his object, the old diplomatist added, the position of those who held the other provinces of the kingdom would not be enviable, for Amir Barid already held the Bahamani king in the hollow of his hand and wanted but an addition to his territorial possessions to make him supreme in the Deccan. This entirely correct view of the situation impressed itself on Ahmad Nizam Shah and Kutub-ul-Mulk, who at once returned to their provinces without even going through the form of bidding Mahmud Shah farewell. The Sultan of Berar was now free to deal with the Sultan of Bidar. He represented to Mahmud that there was nothing to be gained by prosecuting the war and that the wisest course was to proclaim that Yusuf was pardoned and to return to Bidar. Mahmud Shah was inclined to accept this counsel, but Amir Barid did not intend to let Bijapur slip through his fingers so easily and was about to carry Mahmud off to besiege Bidax, but meanwhile Yusuf Adil Shah had heard of the retreat of Ahmad Nizam Shah and Kutub-ul-Mulk and returned with all haste from Burhanpur to Gavilgad. He now took the field against Mahmud Shah, or rather against Amir Barid, who perceiving that he was no match for Yusuf and Fateh-ullah in combination, hurriedly retreated to Bidar, leaving Berar in peace. The minister Amir Barid put the king under great restraint than before. Weary of the situation Mahmud Shah found the means to effect his escape to Gavil in Berar where he procured assistance from Imad-ul-Mulk who marched with him towards the capital. Amir Band shutting himself up in the citadel, applied for relief to Burhan Nizam-ul-Mulk, the son of the late Ahmad Nizam Shah [In 1509 Ahmad Nizam Shah died and was succeeded by his son, Burhan I.], who despatched Khvaja Jahan to join him with considerable force. Amir Barid and his ally now rallied forth against the troops of Imad-ul-Mulk, who prepared to receive them, and drew up bis army for action [It happened that the king was bathing at the time; and the messenger sent by Tmid-ul-Mulk to inform him of the enemy's approach insolently remarked, within his hearing, that it was no wonder a prince who could be so employed at such a critical moment should be the derision of his nobles. The king, stung with the reproof and enraged at what he thought proceeded from the insolence of Imad-ul-Mulk, joined Amir Barid's army. Briggs. cp. cit., IT. p. 551.]. The king joined the line as soon as possible, but suddenly spurring his horse, galloped over to Amir Barid's army. Imad-ul-Mulk immediately retreated with precipitation towards his own country and the minister returned triumphantly into the city with the king. Amir Barid, in 1507, found it necessary to march with the king to Mahur against Bashir Khan [Sharza Khan, the son and successor of Khudavand Khan of Mahur. Sharza Khan and one of his brothers were slain. Ala-ud-din Imad Shah matched to the relief of Mahur and compelled Amir Barid to retire.], who with his son, was slain in the battle and Mahur was conferred on Ghalib Khan, another son of Khudavand Khan.

The date of the death of Fateh-ullah Imad Shah is variously given as 1504 and 1510. The latter seems to be a mistake. His age when he was taken from Vijayanagar in 1422 is not given, and we are merely told that he was then a boy [Briggs, III, pp. 485-86.]. Assuming his age to have been ten years at that time he must have been 82 years of age at the time of his death. Fateh-ullah was succeeded by his son Ala-ud-din Imad Shah, of whom Ferishta contradictorily says that he was the first of the dynasty to use the royal title. There can be little doubt that his father used it occasionally, certainly in his correspondence with Yusuf Adil Shah and Ahmad Nizam Shah, to whom he would not have admitted himself to be inferior, but it is likely that he refrained from using it in correspondence with the Bahamani king.

The early part of Ala-ud-din's reign is obscure. According to one authority he quietly succeeded his father, but according to another he was a prisoner in the fort of Ramgiri, in Telangana, at the time of his father's death, in the power of Amir Barid and remained in captivity until he was rescued by one of the sons of Khudavand Khan of Mahur. On his release Ala-ud-din is said to have proceeded at once to Gavilgad and to have assumed government of his father's kingdom, while Mahmud Shah Bahamani, at the request of Yusuf Adil Shah, conferred upon him his father's title of Imad-ul-Mulk. This story is improbable. In the first place the dates are wrong for Fateh-ullah is represented as having died before 1500, whereas he was certainly alive in 1504, and in the second place it is highly improbable that Fateh-ullah, who had, as we have seen, great power and influence in the Deccan would have left his son—his only son so far as we know—in the hands of his greatest enemy, 'the fox of the Deccan'. The more probable story is that which represents Ala-ud-din Imad Shah as quietly succeeding his father in Ellichpur.

In 1509 Burhan Nizam Shah succeeded his father Ahmad in Ahmadnagar at the age of seven [Briggs, III, p. 211.]. The administration of that kingdom was in the hands of Mukammal Khan [Ahmadnagarchi Nizamshahi, p. 41.], who had been Ahmad's minister, and the Deccani nobles of the State, whose predominance was distasteful to the 'foreigners', i.e., the Persian and Turki soldiers of fortune who always formed a political party of their own in the Deccan. The foreigners conspired to overthrow the Deccanis, and on the failure of their plot [Ibid, p. 41.] fled from Ahmadnagar with 8,000 horse and took refuge with Ala-ud-din Imad Shah in Ellichpur. They found no difficulty in persuading him that the affairs of Ahmadnagar were in hopeless confusion and that the conquest of that kingdom would be an easy task.

Ala-ud-din, without waiting to consider how far the interests of the fugitives had coloured their story, collected his troops from Gavilgad and Ellichpur and marched through Buldhana district to the borders of Ahmadnagar. Mukammal Khan was prepared and met him. After a severely contested battle victory declared itself for Ahmadnagar [Ibid, pp. 41-42.], and Ala-ud-din with the army of Berar fled to Ellichpur. The army of Ahmadnagar followed up its victory and laid waste the greater part of south-western Berar including Buldhana district pressing Ala-ud-din so hard that he deserted his country and fled to Burhanpur, where he besought Adil Khan III, the ruler of Khandesh, to use his good offices in the cause of peace [Briggs, III, p. 214.]. Adil Khan of Khandesh and his doctors of religion brought about a peace, but quarrels soon broke out afresh.

In 1514 Mahmud Shah made an abortive attempt to escape from the clutches of Amir Barid. It failed owing to his own slothfulness and readiness to take offence, and its failure seems to have exasperated Khudavand Khan of Mahur who occupied himself in raiding and ravaging Amir Barid's territory in the direction of Kandhar and Udgir until, in 1517, Amir Barid, taking Mahmud Shah with him, marched against Mahur and captured it, slaying Khudavand Khan and his eldest son, Sharza Khan. Another son, Mahmud Khan [In one passage called Ghalib Khan, apparently by a scribe's error.], was appointed to the command of Mahur as the servant of Ala-ud-din Imad Shah, a politic concession which was evidently intended to hinder the Sultan of Berar from interfering in the affairs of Bidar.

Khudavand Khan, though apparently independent, had always been on the most friendly terms with Fateh-ullah and invariably acted in concert with him; but Berar was once more united on the death of the governor of Mahur, and the Buldhana district became part of Ala-ud-din's kingdom.

Burhan Nizam Shah's grandfather, Malik Hasan Nizam-ul-Mulk, was descended of a Brahman family which had held the hereditary office of kulkarni or patvari in Pathri, near the Goda-vari river. For some reason or another, probably the proselytizing zeal of one of the Bahamani kings, the ancestor of Hasan had fled from Pathri and taken refuge in the Hindu kingdom of Ahmadnagar. Malik Hasan, whose original name was Tima Bhat, had been captured like Fateh-ullah Imad-ul-Mulk. in one of the campaigns against Vijayanagar. and brought up as a Muslim. When he attained power and the governorship of a province to the border of which his ancestral home was adjacent, his relatives nocked from Vijayanagar to Ahmadnagar and urged his son, Ahmad Nizam Shah, to include in his dominions the town of Pathri which lav on the southern border of Berar. Mukammal Khan wrote, by command of Burhan Nizam Shah proposing that Ala-ud-din Imad Shah should cede Pathri to Ahmadnagar in exchange for a richer paragana. Ala-ud-din refused to listen to this proposal and began to fortify Pathri. Mukammal Khan then complained that the establishment of a military post so close to the frontier would give rise to depredations on the part of the more lawless members of the garrison and consequent hostilities between Ahmadnagar and Berar. Ala-ud-din paid no heed to the protest, completed his fort and returned to Ellichpur [Ahmadnagarch.i Nizamshahi, p. 48 f.n.]. In 1518 Mukammal Khan, under the pretence that Burhan Nizam Shah wished to enjoy the cool air of the hills above Daulatabad and visit the caves of Ellora, collected a large army and marched in a leisurely way to Daulatabad, whence he made a sudden forced march on Pathri. The town was taken by escalade and the army of Ahmadnagar possessed itself of the whole paragana. Burhan having attained his object returned to his capital leaving Miyan Muhammad Ghori, an officer who had greatly distinguished himself in the assault, to govern the paragana with the title of Kamil Khan [Ibid, p. 48.]. Ala-ud-din Imad Shah was not strong enough to resent this aggression at the time, and though it rankled in his memory he suffered himself to be cajoled six years later by Mulla Haidar Astrabadi, an envoy from Ahmadnagar, into an alliance with Burhan Nizam Shah, who was then engaged in an acrimonious dispute with Ismail Adil Shah regarding the possession of the fortress of Sholapur [Briggs, III, pp. 216-17.]. In 1524 a hattle was fought at Sholapur and Ala-ud-din, whose army was opposed to a wing of the Bijapuris commanded hy Asad Khan of Belgaon, was utterly defeated and withdrew by rapid marches and in great disorder to Gavilgad, forsaking his ally. Burhan Nizam Shah was defeated and forced to retreat to Ahmadnagar.

Ala-ud-din Imad Shah now perceived his error in allying himself with Burhan, and Ismail Adil Shah, anxious to weaken Ahmadnagar as much as possible, persuaded Sultan Kuli Kutub Shah in 1577 to aid Ala-ud-din in recovering Pathri [Ibid, p. 217.]. The allies succeeded in wresting Pathri for a time from Burhan, but he entered into an alliance with Amir Barid of Bidar and marched from Ahmadnagar to Pathri, the fortifications of which place, in the course of a cannonade of two month's duration, he succeeded in destroying. The place fell again into his hands and once more the paragana was annexed to Ahmadnagar and bestowed upon some cousins of Burhan Nizam Shah who still adhered to the faith of their fathers. Burhan was not disposed to regard the recapture of Pathri as a sufficient punishment for Ala-ud-din. and having captured Mahur occupied southern Berar. He now turned his eyes towards Ellichpur and formed the design of annexing the whole of Berar to his kingdom. Ala-ud-din who had been deserted by Sultan Kuli Kutub Shah, was in no position to face the allied armies of Ahmadnagar and Bidar. He, therefore, fled from Ellichpur to Burhanpur and sought assistance from Miran Muhammad Shah of Khandesh. Miran Muhammad responded to the appeal and marched with his unfortunate ally into Berar. The armies of Berar and Khandesh met the allied armies of Ahmadnagar and Bidar in battle and were utterly defeated [Ahmadnagarchi Nizamshahi, p. 51 f.n.]. We are not told where this battle was fought, but it was probably not far south of Ellichpur, towards which place the invaders had marched from Mahur. and may have been in the immediate neighbourhood of the town. Burhan Nizam Shah now held practically the whole of Berar including Buldhana district and captured 300 elephants and the whole of Ala-ud-din's artillery and stores. Ala-ud-din and Miran Muhammad Shah fled to Burhanpur and thence sent a message to Bahadur Shah of Gujarat, imploring his assistance. Bahadur Shah snatched the opportunity of interfering in the affairs of the Deccan and in 1528 sent a large army by way of Nandurbar and Sultanpur towards Ahmadnagar, and also entered Berar. Burhan Nizam Shah was much perturbed by the appearance of this formidable adversary on the scene. He made a wild appeal for help to Babar, not yet firmly seated on the throne of Delhi, and more reasonable appeals to Sultan Kuli Kutub Shah of Golconda and Ismail Adil Shah of Bijapur. The former was engaged in warfare with the Hindus of Telangana and professed himself unable to send assistance, but Ismail sent 6,000 picked horse and -much treasure [Ahmadnagarchi Nizamshahi, pp. 51-52 f.n.].

Bahadur Shah entered Berar on the pretext of restoring Pathri and southern Berar to Ala-ud-din, but having seen the country he desired it for himself and made no haste to leave. This was very soon perceived by Ala-ud-din, who repented of his folly and ventured to suggest to Bahadur Shah that the Ahmadnagar kingdom should be the theatre of war. He promised that if Bahadur Shah would conquer that kingdom for him he would resign the kingdom of Berar. Bahadur Shah accepted the offer and advanced against Burhan Nizam Shah, who was now encamped on the plateau of Bid. Amir Barid fell upon the advancing foes and slew two to three thousand of the Gujaratis. This enraged Bahadur Shah, who sent 20,000 horse against Amir Barid. The battle soon became general, and the Deccanis were defeated and fled to Paranda. Being pursued thither they again fled to Junnar, while Bahadur Shah occupied Ahmadnagar. Here he remained until supplies, which the Deccanis cut off, became scarce. He then marched to Daulatabad and left Ala-ud-din Imad Shah and the amirs of Gujarat to besiege that fortress while he encamped on the plateau above it. Burhan Nizam Shah now made a fervent appeal to Ismail Adil Shah for further assistance. Ismail replied with expressions of goodwill, sent five hundred of his most efficient cavalary, and expressed regret that the hostile attitude of the Raja of Vijayanagar prevented him from leaving his capital. Burhan wanted the prestige of Ismail's presence with his armv, not a regiment of cavalry. In the circumstances he did the best he could, collected all the troops that could be raised between Junnar and Ahmadnagar and ascended to the Daulatabad plateau. Here a battle was precipitated by the incautious valour of Amir Barid. and although the issue hung for some time in the balance, the Deccanis were again defeated.

The problem now was not an equitable decision of the dispute between the kings of Berar and Ahmadnagar, hut the expulsion of an inconvenient intruder who was strong enough to upset entirely the balance of power in the Deccan. Burhan Nizam Shah opened negotiations with Ala-ud-din Imad Shah and professed himself ready to restore all that had been captured by him. Ala-ud-din and Miran Muhammad Shah were now as apprehensive as their former enemies of Bahadur Shah's intentions and approached Khudavand Khan, the latter's minister, with a request that his master should leave the Deccan. Khudavand Khan replied that Bahadur Shah had not come uninvited, and that if the Sultans of the Deccan composed their differences all would be well. The intimation was sufficient. Ala-ud-din Imad Shah sent his surplus supply of grain to the defenders of Daulatabad and returned to Ellichpur. Bahadur Shah and Miran Muhammad Shah decided that they would do well to return to their capitals before the rains rendered both the country and the rivers impassable. They retreated after stipulating that the boundaries of Berar and Ahmadnagar should remain in status quo ante helium, that the khutba should be read in both kingdoms in the name of Bahadur Shah and that both Ala-ud-din and Burhan should pay a war indemnity. Buldhana district was thus once more included in the dominions of Ala-ud-din Imad Shah. Miran Muhammad Shah, after his return to Burhanpur, called upon Burhan Nizam Shah to fulfil his obligations by restoring to Ala-ud-din Pathri and Mahur and all the elephants and other booty which had been captured near Ellichpur. Burhan's reply to this message was to return to Miran Muhammad some elephants which had been captured from him, on receiving which Miran Muhammad desisted from urging on Burhan the fulfilment of his compact with Ala-ud-din [Ahmadnagarchi Nizamshahi, p. 55 f.n.]. The inveterate plotter Amir 'Ali' Barid had tried to tamper with the loyalty of the contingent sent from Bijapur to the assistance of Ahmadnagar, and Ismail, to punish him, marched to Bidar. Amir Barid, now an old man, left the defence of the fortress to his sons and sought help of Sultan Kuli Kutub Shah. Ismail defeated a relieving force from Golconda and Amir Ali withdrew to Udgir and begged 'Ala-ud-din' Imad Shah to help him. 'Ala-ud-din' would not oppose Ismail, but he marched to Bidar and interceded with him, but Ismail refused to hear of any negotiations until Bidar should have surrendered. It was surrendered when Amir 'Ali', was about to be trampled to death by an elephant, and Ismail entered the capital of the Deccan and took his seat upon the turquoise throne. He made Amir 'Ali' a noble of the kingdom of Bijapur, and it was agreed that he and 'Ala-ud-din' Imad Shah should aid in recovering the Raichur Doab and then march northwards to recover Mahur and Pathri for Ala-ud-din [Krishnadevaraya of Vijayanagar had recently died and in the confusion which followed his death, Ismail was able to reduce both Raichur and Mudgal within three months; Haig, p. 437.].

The recovery of the Doab released Ismail from his vow of abstinence and he celebrated the occasion by a select symposium, at which only 'Ala-ud-din' and Asad Khan Lari at first sat with him, but both begged him to admit Amir 'Ali' and he consented, but when "the Fox" entered, quoted from the chapter "The Cave'' in the Koran the words, "their dog, the fourth of them". Amir Ali did not understand Arabic. But a burst of laughter from 'Ala-ud-din' apprised him that he was the victim of a jest, and he wept with humiliation and resentment, while the others laughed. Disturbing rumours that Bahadur meditated another invasion of the Deccan postponed the joint expedition for the recovery of Mahur and Pathri, and 'Ala-ud-din' hastily returned to Berar [Ismail restored Bidar to Amir Ali.].

This was not the last campaign in which the warlike but unfortunate Ala-ud-din was engaged. Sultan Kuli Kutub Shah of Golconda, who had proclaimed himself independent in 1515 [Briggs, III, p. 323.], was for many years troubled by a Turk entitled Kivam-ul-Mulk who had been appointed by Mahmud Shah Bahamani governor of eastern Telangana and resisted Sultan Kuli's claims to dominion over that tract [Briggs, II, p. 527.]. He maintained a guerilla warfare for years, with intermittent encouragement from Bidar and perhaps from Berar also, until he was defeated by Sultan Kuli at Gelgandal when he lied and took refuge with Ala-ud-din Imad Shah in Berar. Sultan Kuli sent an envoy to Berar to demand the delivery of the fugitive and also the restoration of certain districts of south-eastern Berar which in the time of the Bahamanis had belonged to Telangana. On Ala-ud-din's refusal to satisfy these demands Sultan Kuli marched northwards and Ala-ud-din marched from Ellichpur to meet him. A battle was fought near Ramgiri and the Beraris were utterly defeated. Ala-ud-din fled to Ellichpur and Sultan Kuli possessed himself of the disputed territory and returned to Golconda. Unfortunately the date of these operations is not given, but it appears probable that they took place after the departure of Bahadur Shah of Gujarat from the Deccan. The date of the death of Ala-ud-din Imad Shah is not certain, but he probably died in 1529 and was succeeded by his son Darya Imad Shah [Ibid, III, p. 489.].

The early years of Darya Imad Shah's reign were uneventful and his kingdom enjoyed a much needed rest. Nothing much is known about the history of Buldhana during the reign of Darya Imad Shah. On December 30, 1553 Husain Nizam Shah succeeded, not without opposition, to the throne of Ahmadnagar [Ibid, III, pp. 257-58.]. His younger brother, Abdul Kadir, was induced to make a fight for the tnrone but was overcome and took refuge with Darya Imad Shah, under whose protection he remained until his death [Ahmadnagarchi Nizamshahi, p. 101.]. Shortly after Miran Abdul Kadir's flight, Saif Ain-ul-Mulk, who had been commander-in-chief of the army of Ahmadnagar in the latter part of the reign of Burhan Nizam Shah and on his death had espoused the cause of Abdul Kadir, became apprehensive lest Husain Nizam Shah should punish him for his detection, and fled to Ellichpur, where he took refuge with Darya Imad Shah [Briggs, III, p. 105.]. He did not remain long in Berar but took service under Ibrahim Adil Shah of Bijapur, who interested himself in plots to dethrone Husain Nizam Shah. Ibrahim's interference brought about a war between Bijapur and Ahmadnagar and Husain sent a Brahman envoy named Vishvas Rav to Darya Imad Shah to ask him for aid. Darya sent 7,000 cavalry to his neighbour's assistance [Ahmadnagarchi Nizamshahi, p. 110.] and Husain then advanced to Sholapur, which place Ibrahim was besieging [Briggs, III, p. 490.]. In the battle which ensued the armies of Ahmadnagar and Berar were on the point of fleeing when Ibrah-him Adil Shah was attacked by doubts of the loyalty of Saif Ain-ul-Mulk, who commanded a large body of his cavalry, and for many years troubled by a Turk entitled Kivam-ul-Mulk who had been appointed by Mahmud Shah Bahamani governor of eastern Telangana and resisted Sultan Kuli's claims to dominion over that tract [Briggs, II, p. 527.]. He maintained a guerilla warfare for years, with intermittent encouragement from Bidar and perhaps from Berar also, until he was defeated by Sultan Kuli at Gelgandal when he fled and took refuge with Ala-ud-din Imad Shah in Berar. Sultan Kuli sent an envoy to Berar to demand the delivery of the fugitive and also the restoration of certain districts of south-eastern Berar which in the time of the Bahamanis had belonged to Telangana. On Ala-ud-din's refusal to satisfy these demands Sultan Kuli marched northwards and Ala-ud-din marched from Ellichpur to meet him. A battle was fought near Ramgiri and the Beraris were utterly defeated. Ala-ud-din fled to Ellichpur and Sultan Kuli possessed himself of the disputed territory and returned to Golconda. Unfortunately the date of these operations is not given, but it appears probable that they took place after the departure of Bahadur Shah of Gujarat irom the Deccan. The date of the death of Ala-ud-din Imad Shah is not certain, but he probably died in 1529 and was succeeded by his son Darya Imad Shah [Ibid, III, p. 489.].

After the death of Ibrahim Adil Shah I, in 1558 Hussain Nizam Shah persuaded Ibrahim Kutub Shah of Golconda to join in an attempt to capture Gulburga and the eastern districts of the Bijapur kingdom. The attempt failed owing to Ibrahim Kutub Shah's distrust of his ally and Ali Adil Shah, who had succeeded to the throne of Bijapur, resolved to revenge himself on Husain Nizam Shah, who sought strength in an alliance with Darya Imad Shah [Briggs, III, p. 239.]. In 1558 the kings of Berar and Ahmadnagar met at Son-peth on the Godavari where Daulat Shah Begam, Darya's daughter, was married to Husain, Sonpeth receiving the name of Ishratabad in honour of the event [Ahmadnagarchi Nizamshahi, p. 118.].

Meanwhile Ali Adil Shah had formed an alliance with Ibrahim Kutub Shah and. Sadashivaraya of Vijayanagar and in 1560 these allies invaded the dominions of Ahmadnagar. Husain Nizam Shah's trust lay in Ali Barid Shah of Bidar, Darya Imad Shah of Berar, and Miran Mubarak II, of Khandesh. Unfortunately for him influences had been at work to break up this alliance. The Khan-i-Jahan, brother of Ali Barid Shah, was friendly with Ali Adil Shah and had entered the service of Darya Imad Shah, whom he dissuaded from joining Husain Nizam Shah. He then led an army of 5,000 cavalry and infantry from Berar into the Ahmadnagar kingdom and laid waste those northern tracts which lay out of the way of the more powerful invaders from the south. Against this force Husain Nizam Shah sent nearly 3,000 horse under Mulla Muhammad Nishaburi [Briggs, III, p. 240.]. The army of Berar was utterly defeated and the Khan-i-Jahan, ashamed to return to Berar, joined the army of Ali Adil Shah [Ahmadnagarchi Nizamshahi, p. 122 f.n.]. Jahangir Khan, the Deccani, now became commander-in-chief of the army of Berar, and had an easier task than his predecessor, for by this time the members of the southern alliance had closed round Ahmadnagar and left Darya Imad Shah's army little occupation but that of plundering a defenceless country. The allies, however quarrelled. Ibrahim Kutub Shah, who had gradually been drawn into sympathy with Husain Nizam Shah, withdrew rapidly and secretly to Golconda, leaving behind him a small force which joined Husain. Jahangir Khan with the army of Berar also went over to Husain who was enabled, by this accession of strength, to cut off the supplies of Ali Adil Shah and Sadashivaraya, who were besieging Ahamadnagar. Sadashivaraya, who perceived that he had been drawn by Ali Adil Shah into no easy undertaking, was now in a mood to entertain proposals of peace, and when Husain Nizam Shah sued for peace he agreed to retire on three conditions, one of which was that Jahangir Khan, whose activity in intercepting the supplies of the besiegers had caused much suffering among them, should be put to death. Husain was base enough to comply and the commander of the army of Berar was assassinated [Ahmadnagarchi Nizamshahi, p. 123 f.n.]. Fortunately for Husain his father-in-law was either too weak or too poor spirited to resent this act of gross ingratitude, and the kingdom of Ahmadnagar was, by these shameful means, freed of its invaders. The war, the conclusion of which was not entirely honourable to Berar, does not seem to have been carried into the Buldhana district. Darya Imad Shah did not long survive his disgraceful acquiescence in his servant's death. He died in 1561 and was succeeded by his son, Burhan Imad Shah.

We have no certain information of the age of Burhan when he succeeded his father. He is described as a boy or a young man, but he was not too young to resent the murder of Jahangir Khan [Briggs, III, p. 243.] for when Husain Nizam Shah and Ibrahim Kutub Shah invaded the territory of Bijapur in 1562 and Ali Adil Shah and Sadashiva-raya of Vijayanagar marched against them, Burhan not only refused to respond to Husain's appeal for assistance but prevented Ali Barid Shah of Bidar from joining him. Husain Shah then abandoned the siege of Kalyani, in which he was engaged, and sent his ladies and heavy baggage to Ausa. The kings of Ahmadnagar and Golconda now found themselves opposed by Ali Adil Shah of Bijapur, Sadashivaraya of Vijayanagar, Ali Barid Shah of Bidar, and Burhan Imad Shah of Berar, and advanced to meet them halting within twelve miles of their camp. On the following day Husain and Ibrahim advanced against the enemy, the former making the camp of Sadashivaraya and the latter that of Ali Adil Shah, Ali Barid Shah, and Burhan Imad Shah his objective. When they were well on their way heavy rain fell, and Husain's artillery and elephants stuck fast in the mire [Ahmadnagarchi Nizamshahi, p. 125 f.n.]. Any further advance was out of the question, and Husain returned to his camp with only forty out of seven hundred guns. Meanwhile Murtaza Khan with the Maratha officers of Bijapur had been sent by Ali Adil Shah to warn the allies to prepare for battle. On his way he came upon the abandoned guns of Husain Nizam Shah, and learnt that Husain had returned to his camp. Murtaza informed his master of what he had found and Ali Adil Shah and Sadashivaraya sent troops to take possession of the guns. After securing the guns these troops fell in with the forces of Ibrahim Kutub Shah, attacked them, and defeated them. Ibrahim reformed his beaten army in rear of Husain Nizam Shah's camp and made a stand which enabled Husain Nizam Shah to come to his aid. The troops of Bijapur and Vijayanagar were repulsed, but Husain Nizam Shah was much dispirited by the result of the day's fighting and by Ibrahim's failure, and on the following day, when the armies of Bijapur, Vijayanagar, Berar and Bidar advanced to the attack, he and Ibrahim Kutub Shah fled in the direction of Ahmadnagar, leaving their camps in the hands of the enemy. At Ausa they separated, Ibrahim returning to Golconda, while Husain retired to his capital, followed by the allies. Husain did not venture to defend his capital but, having provisioned the fortress, fled onwards to Junnar. The allies sat down to besiege Ahmadnagar. Ali Adil Shah, however, persuaded Sadashivaraya to leave Ahmadnagar and to pursue Husain Nizam Shah to Junnar [Briggs, III, pp. 245-46.], but before the allies left Ahmadnagar, Burhan Imad Shah and Ali Barid Shah having quarrelled with the Raja of Vijayanagar, retired to their own kingdoms.

On Burhan's return to Berar he was seized and imprisoned in Narnala by Tufal Khan, the Deccani, one of his own amirs, who henceforth exercised regal functions in Berar [Ibid, p. 47.]. Tufal Khan refused to join the confederacy of the Muhammedan Sultans of the Deccan which was formed in 1564 for the purpose of over-throning the power of Vijayanagar and Berar had, therefore, no share in the decisive victory ot Falikota [Ahmadnagarchi Nizamshahi, pp. 140-41 f.n.]. Tufal Khan's refusal to join the Muhammedan league may be attributed to his sense of the insecurity of his position as a usurper to apathy to Hindu sympathies, or to the view that the power of Vijayanagar could always be usefully employed for the maintenance of the balance of power between the Muhammedan kingdoms of the Deccan, but the refusal, whatever the motive may have been brought much trouble and suffering to Berar.

On June 6, 1565, Husain Nizam Shah died and was succeeded in Ahmadnagar by his son, Murtaza Nizam Shah I, who persuaded Ali Adil Shah to join him in invading Berar in order to punish Tufal Khan for his refusal to join the league against Vijayanagar. In 1566 the allies invaded the kingdom from the south and south-west and devastated it with fire and sword as far north as Ellichpur, destroying all standing crops. The Buldhana district probably suffered severely from this invasion. The invaders remained in Berar, wasting the country and slaughtering its inhabitants until the approach of the rainy season, when Tufal Khan approached Ali Adil Shah with an enormous quantity of treasure and besought him to use his influence to induce Murtaza to retire. Ali undertook the task and succeeded in persuading Murtaza, on the pretext that the rains would render marching and campaigning on the black cotton soil of Berar a difficult task, to retire to Ahmadnagar, while he himself returned to Bijapur [Ibid, p. 141.].

The unfortunate little kingdom was not, however, destined to enjoy a long rest. In 1572 Changiz Khan, Murtaza Nizam Shah's minister, brought about a meeting between his master and Adil Shah at which the two kings entered into a treaty under the terms of which Murtaza was to be allowed to annex Berar and Bidar without hindrance from Bijapur while Ali was to be allowed to appropriate so much of the dismembered kingdom of Vijayanagar as should be equal in revenue to those two kingdoms [Ibid, p. 160.]. Ibrahim Kutub Shah was left out of the arrangement. In the same year Murtaza Nizam Shah, in pursuance of the treaty, encamped at Pathri and prepared to invade Berar. A pretext was not wanting. He sent Mulla Haidar of Kas to Tufal Khan to call him to account for keeping Burhan Imad Shah in confinement. Tufal Khan was ordered to release his king, to be obedient to him in all things, and to refrain from intertering in the government of Berar. The letter concluded with a threat that disobedience would entail punishment and with three couplets warning Tufal Khan against undertaking a task which was beyond his power. Tufal Khan was much alarmed by this message and took counsel of his son, Samshir-ul-Mulk, who had a reputation for valour and was astute enough to detect Murtaza's object. The solicitude for Burhan Imad Shah, he said, was mere pretence, and Murtaza's object was the annexation of Berar to Ahmadnagar [ Ahmadnagarchi Nizamshahi, pp. 162-63 f.n.]. He bade his father take heart, assuring him that the resources of Berar were equal to those of Ahmadnagar, which was not the case, and advised him to send Murtaza's envoy back unanswered. Murtaza, as soon as he heard of Mulla Haidar's dismissal, marched from Pathri towards Ellichpur, and Samshir-ul-Mulk, who commanded the advanced guard of the army of Berar, marched to meet him. The site of the battle is, unfortunately, not recorded [The battle was fought near Bidar, so tells Sayyad Ali Tabatabai—Ahmadnagarchi Nizamshahi, p. 163.]. Samshir-ul-Mulk fell upon the advanced guard of the army of Ahmadnagar and defeated it. Changiz Khan threw forward reinforcements and Samshir-ul-Mulk called upon his father for support.

Tufal Khan at once marched to support his son and Changiz Khan, being apprised of the approach of the main body of the army of Berar, sent forward Khudavand Khan, Jamshid Khan, Bahri Khan, Rustam Khan, and Chanda Khan to the support of the African amirs of Ahmadnagar, on whom the brunt of the fighting was falling, and followed them in person with Murtaza's guards and three thousand mounted 'foreign' archers, who were evidently regarded as the flower of the army of Ahmadnagar. The battle soon became general. Changiz Khan, who had as his body-guard five hundred of his own followers, spared no efforts to win the day. With his own hand he cut down Tufal Khan's standard bearer, and the army of Berar was routed. Tufal Khan and his son fled to Ellichpur and Changiz Khan returned with 270 captured elephants to the camp of Murtaza Nizam Shah, who no longer made any attempt to conceal the real object of his enterprise. He did not hasten in pursuit of his defeated enemy or attempt to gather at once the fruits of victory, but remained in his camp and issued farmans to all the Hindu revenue officials of Berar informing them that they had nothing to fear, and that if they would tender their allegiance to him they could find him a lenient and sympathetic master. The descendant of a line of Brahman patvaris knew with whom he had to deal. The hereditary Hindu officials cared little for Burhan, Tufal, or Murtaza but much for the blessings of peace, and they were not slow to perceive which was the stronger side. They hastened to the camp of the invader, where they were received with honour and whence they were dismissed with rewards and promises [Ahmadnagarchi Nizamshahi, p. 166.]. Murtaza Nizam Shan, having thus made sure his foothold, advanced on Ellichpur, whereupon Tufal Khan and Samshir-ul-Mulk, whose power had been so utterly broken in the field that the respite afforded to them by Murtaza's delay had prchited them nothing, fled into the Melghat. Through the hills and jungles of this tract they were pursued tor six months at the end of which time they found themselves hemmed in by the forces of Ahmadnagar in a position whence no outlet was apparent. The invader refrained from pressing his advantage and Tufal Khan succeeded in extricating himself and escaped to Burhanpur. Murtaba, having pursued him as far as the Tapi, sent a letter to Miran Muhammad Shah II, king of Khandesh, threatening to invade his country if the fugitives were harboured. Miran Muhammad sent the letter, without comment, to Tufal Khan, who at once understood that he could find no asylum in Khandesh and returned by an unfrequented road to Berar. At the same time he sent a letter to Akbar [Briggs, III, pp. 255-56.], then seated on the throne of Delhi, saying that he regarded himself as one of the emperor's soldiers and Berar as a province of the empire, which had been invaded by the Deccanis. He sought, he said the appointment of warden of the marches and asked for assistance, promising to surrender Berar to Akbar's officers when they should arrive. Akbar was not at this time prepared to undertake an expedition to the Deccan and no immediate answer was returned to Tufal Khan's effusion. Meanwhile both Tufal Khan and his son Sainshir-ul-Mulk now separated were hard pressed by Murtaza and were fain to seek the protection afforded by stone walls. Tufal Khan shut himself up in Narnala while Samshir-ul-Mulk sought refuge in Gavilgad [Ahmadnagarchi Nizamshahi, p. 167.], and Murtaza Nizam Shah laid siege to Narnala. Meanwhile Tufal Khan's letter had reached Akbar's camp in Gujarat and one of the emperor's amirs wrote to Murtaza Nizam Shah saying that Tufal Khan, having submitted to the emperor, was one of his vassals and that Murtaza would do well to desist from harassing him, and that Berar, which was the province of the empire, should be evacuated at once [Briggs, III, pp. 255-56.]. This absurdly bombastic message was treated with the contempt which it deserved and both Narnala and Gavilgad were closely besieged. The former fell before the end of the year, and Tufal Khan and Burhan Imad Shah fell into Murtaza's hands. Samshir-ul-Mulk on hearing of the fall of Narnala and the capture of his father surrendered Gavilgad to Murtaza's officers on condition that his life should be spared [Ahmadnagarchi N izamshahi, p. 171.]. Murtaza Nizam Shah sent Burhan Imad Shah, Tufal Khan, Samshir-ul-Mulk, and all their relatives and attendants, to the number of about forty souls, to a fortress in the Ahmadnagar kingdom where, after a short time, they all perished. We have various accounts of the manner of their death and in one passage it is hinted that they may possibly have died a natural death, but the sudden, simultaneous, and convenient extinction of so large a number of obnoxious persons cannot have been fortuitous. Another story is that the whole party was confined in a small room and the windows were shut upon them, the result being a tragedy similar in all respects to that of the Black Hole of Calcutta, save that in this case there were no survivors. Elsewhere it is said that the whole party was strangled or smothered individually. The Black Hole story appears to be the most probable, but whichever story is true the fact remains that the Imad Shahi dynasty was utterly extinguished in 1572 [There is a discrepancy as to this date. From the detailed account of the siege of Narnala it appears that the fortress did not fall until 1574, but the date of its fall is also given in a chronogram which works by 982—1572 A. D.] and that the Buldhana district with the rest of Berar became a province of the Nizam Shahi kingdom of Ahmadnagar.

Nizam Shahi of Ahmadnagar.—Murtaza apportioned the district of Berar to his nobles and now wished to return to Ahmadnagar and enjoy the fruits of victory, but Changiz Khan incited him to further exertions. Ali Adil Shah, he said, was occupied with the siege of Bankapur, and the opportunity of gaining possession of Bidar, to which as well as to Berar, his treaty with Bijapur entitled him, was too good to be lost. Murtaza was thus persuaded to march against Bidar, and while he was thus employed, affairs in Berar took a new turn. Miran Muhammad II, of Khandesh seized the opportunity of harassing an inconveniently powerful neighbour, and, as soon as Murtaza Nizam Shah was engaged with Bidar, set up the son of Burhan Imad Shah's foster mother as king of Berar alleging that he was a son of Darya Imad Shah and sent the pretender to the frontier of Berar with 6,000 horse [Briggs, III, p. 256.]. Many adherents of the extinct family either believed the fable or were willing to adopt any pretext for maintaining the independence of Berar, and rose in rebellion, driving the officers of Murtaza Nizam Shah from their military posts. A revolt in which the governor recently appointed by Murtaza lost his life, encouraged Muhammad to intervene, and he sent an army under the command of his minister Zain-ud-din into Berar to support the cause of the preten-de [Ahmadnagarchi Nizamshahi, p. 172.]. The rebels numbered eight or nine thousand, and their activity was a serious menace to the stability of the newly established authority. Khudavand Khan and Khurshid Khan, the two officers who had been appointed to administer Berar, sent a message to Murtaza Nizam Shah imploring him to return. The king recalled Changiz Khan, who had preceded him to Bidar, despatched Sayyad Murtaza Sabzavari with 8,000 horse to Berar and followed him with the main body of the army [Ibid, p. 174.]. Changiz Khan returned from Bidar by forced marches and begged the king to make a short halt in order that the troops might rest. Murtaza Nizam Shah refused to listen to the proposal and pressed on. Miran Muhammad Shah, who was hovering on the border of Berar, ready to make a decent as soon as Murtaza Nizam Shah should be safely out of the way, was much disconcerted by his adversary's activity and fled in haste to his fortress capital of Ashirgad. Sayyad Murtaza, who preceded Murtaza Nizam Shah, having come up with the Berar pretender, at the head of eight thousand horse, obliged him to flee, and his adherents to disperse. The army of Ahmadnagar advanced by forced marches through the Buldhana district and invaded and laid waste Khandesh and Ashirgad was on the point of falling into their hands when Miran Muhammad Shah bought off Murtaza Nizam Shah with a large sum of money [Haig, p. 455.]. Murtaza Nizam Shah now returned to Berar where, in the course of a complicated intrigue connected with the invasion of Bidar, he poisoned Changiz Khan in 1574. He then returned to Ahmadnagar and in 1575 appointed Sayyad Murtaza Sabzavari, governor of Berar [Ahmadnagarchi Nizamshahi, p. 181.]. The new governor was assisted in his administration of the province by a large number of amirs, the chief of whom were Khudavand Khan, the Muval-lad. Jamshid Khan. Bahri Khan, Kazibash, Rustam Khan, the Deccani. Chaghtai Khan, the Turkman, Tir Andaz Khan Astra-badi. Shir Khan Tarsizi, Husain Khan Tuni, Chanda Khan, the Deccani, and Dastur, the Eunuch.

Another pretender, styling himself 'Firuz' Imad Shah, arose in Berar, but was captured and put to death by Sayyad Murtaza In 1576 it was reported that Akbar was preparing to invade the Deccan [Haig, p. 456.]. Murtaza Nizam Shah, now sunk in sloth and debauchery, made a feeble and confused effort to take the field. He moved to the north, with a few troops, but in a covered litter, to observe the movements of the Moghal army, and to be in readiness to defend his dominions [Ahmadnagarch i Nizamshahi, p. 183.], and would have marched to attack the Emperor, had he not been prevented by the entreaties of his nobility. Berar was placed in a state of defence, one of the officers employed there being Akbar's rebellious kinsman, Muzaffar Husain Mirza. The Imperial troops were withdrawn and the danger passed but the restless and turbulent Muzaffar Husain Mirza turned against those who had befriended him and attempted to make himself master of Berar, but Sayyad Murtaza defeated him at Anjangaon [Ibid, p. 184.] and he fled into Khandesh. He was better served in Berar than he deserved. Bahram Khan, who was commandant of Gavilgad under Sayyad Murtaza Sabzavari, put the fortress into a state of thorough repair and has left a record of his zeal in an inscription on the bastion which bears his name. The chronogram in the inscription gives the date A. H. 985 equivalent to A. D. 1577. Fortunately these precautions were unnecessary, for Akbar's journey was no more than a trip from Agra to Ajmer and Ahmadnagar and Berar were left for a time in peace. The rumour of danger from the north had, however, galvanized the wretched Murtaza Nizam Shah into something like activity, and early in 1578 Sayyad Murtaza Sabzavari was summoned to Ahmadnagar in order that he might parade the army of Berar before the king. This effort to secure military efficiency in the frontier province had most unfortunate results. Murtaza Nizam Shah's unworthy favourite Sahib Khan, a Deccani, grossly insulted one of the foreign officers of the army of Berar, with the result that the old quarrel between the foreigners on one side and the Deccanis and the Africans on the other was renewed [Briggs, III, p. 262.]. A fight followed in which the king identified himself with the Deccanis, whereupon most of the foreign officers left his service and entered that of Golconda and Bijapur. In the confusion which followed. Salabat Khan grasped the reins of government and Murtaza Nizam Shah was left powerless. He attempted to recover possession of Sahib Khan and bespoke the good offices of Sayyad Murtaza Sabzavari to this end, but Sayyad was unable, and probably unwilling to save the wretch and Sahib Khan was ultimately slain by Khudavand Khan, one of the amirs of Berar [Ahmadnagarchi Nizamshahi, pp. 197-98.]. Salabat Khan was now regent of Ahmadnagar and Sayyad Murtaza Sabzavari retained the governorship of Berar.

In 1584 Salabat Khan sent an order to Jamshid Khan Shirazi, who has been already mentioned as one of Sayyad Murtaza's officers, directing him to join an embassy which was about to leave Ahmadnagar for Bijapur. As the order had not been countersigned by Murtaza Nizam Shah, Jamshid Khan replied that he could not obey it without the sanction of his superior officer, Sayyad Murtaza. The latter was much annoyed by Salabat Khan's assumption of the right to communicate an order to Jamshid direct, and refused to permit Jamshid to leave his post in Berar. The quarrel reached such a point that Sayyad Murtaza Sabzavari assembled the army of Berar and marched towards Ahmadnagar with the intention of overthrowing Salabat Khan, but the amirs at the capital intervened and brought about a temporary peace, and Sayvad Murtaza returned to Berar.

Towards the end of the same year the quarrel was renewed and Sayyad Murtaza of Berar again marched on Ahmadnagar. Salabat Khan advanced to meet him, defeated him near the capital and pursued him through the Buldhana district. Unable to withstand his powerful enemy Sayvad Murtaza and his lieutenant fled by way of Burhanpur to the court of Akbar [The battle was fought at Jeurghat, a distance of a few miles from Ahmadnagar. For further details see Ahmadnagarchi Nizamshahi, pp. 232-35.]. Meanwhile Shahzada Burhan, a brother of Murtaza Nizam Shah, had been persuaded by a party in Ahmadnagar to make an attempt to dethrone Murtaza and seize the throne. The plot was frustrated by Salabat Khan and Burhan was forced to flee in the guise of a darvesh to the Konkan whence he reached Gujarat and joined Akbar's court.

Akbar now resolved to attempt the conquest of the Deccan and ordered his foster-brother, Mirza Aziz Kuka entitled Khan-i-Azam, who was then governor of Malva to assemble the army of Malva and march against Ahmadnagar taking Burhan with him. Salabat Khan replied by sending 20,000 horse to Burhanpur. Mirza Muhammad Taki, who commanded this force, succeeded in attaching Raja Ali Khan of Khandesh to the cause of Ahmadnagar despite an attempt by the Khan-i-Azam to secure his adherence to the imperial cause. The Khan-i-Azam's expedition was delayed by a quarrel between him and Sahib-ud-din Ahmad Khan, the governor of Ujjain and Mirza Muhammad Taki and Raja Ali Khan carried the war into the enemy's country and encamped over against the Khan-i-Azam at Handia. The Khan-i-Azam was unwilling to risk a battle, but by a rapid night march eluded the Deccanis and entered Berar by a circuitous route through the district of Buldhana. The Moghal horse plundered Ellichpur, hastened thence to Balapur, and before the Deccanis, who had turned back from Handia to meet them, could come up with them, retreated bv wav of Nandurhar into Malva [Ahmadnagarchi Nizamshahi, pp. 236-37.]. Raja Ali Khan then returned to Burhanpur and Mirza Muhammad Taki to Ahmadnagar. Akbar did not at once pursue his project of adding the Deccan to his empire and the district with the rest of Berar was not seriously disturbed and remained at peace until the Moghals undertook the conquest of Deccan in earnest.

In June, 1588, Murtaza Nizam Shah, who had attempted to destroy his son Miran Husain by setting fire to his bedding, was in return, suffocated in his bath by the prince, who succeeded him as Husain Nizam Shah II. Husain II, was put to death after a reign of less than ten months on April 1, 1589 and the amirs of Ahmadnagar raised to the throne Ismail, the son of the fugitive Burhan [Briggs, III, pp. 271-73.]. Jamal Khan, who had been one of Sayyad Murtaza's lieutenants in Berar. was now regent in Ahmadnagar. He belonged to the heretical sect of the Mahdavis and in the name of Ismail Nizam Shah, who was too young to understand theological disputes, established their religion in Ahmadnagar with the result that the kingdom became a refuge for most of the Mahdavis throughout Tndia. The amirs of Berar were much annoyed by the spread of the heresy and in 1589 released Salabat Khan [Ahmadnagarchi Nizamshahi, pp. 266-67.], who had been imprisoned by Murtaza Nizam Shah in Kherla, and induced him to lead them against Ahmadnagar, while Ibrahim Adil Shah II, of Bijapur invaded the kingdom from the south. Jamal Khan defeated the amirs of Berar at Paithan on the Godavari, then the southern boundary of the province, and the Bijapuris at Ashti. Salabat Khan made his peace with Jamal Khan and returned to his Jahagir to die.

In 1590 the time was ripe for the invasion of Berar and the Deccan by Akbar. The amirs of Berar were disaffected and disgusted with the heterodox doctrines now fashionable at the court of Ahmadnagar and the elevation to the throne of the young Ismail, the son of. the emperor's protege Burhan, furnished Akbar with a pretext for aggression. He offered Burhan as many troops as he should consider necessary for the purpose of gaining the throne of his ancestors, now unjustly held by his son, but Burhan had no desire to reign at Ahmadnagar as Akbar's puppet and declined the proffered aid. Akbar then bestowed upon him the paragana of Handia in jahagir and gave him letters to Raja Ali Khan of Khandesh who was ordered to render him all the assistance in his power. Burhan took up his quarters at Handia and issued letters to the principal officers and landholders of Berar and the rest of the Ahmadnagar kingdom reminding them that he was their lawful king and exhorting them to be faithful to him. These letters were well received and Burhan received many assurances of loyalty and offers of assistance, including one from Jahangir Khan, the African, warden of the northern marches of Berar. Burhan now entered Berar, with a small force of horse and foot which he had collected, by way of the Melghat, but Jahangir Khan had repented of his promise, and attacked and defeated the small army, forcing Burhan to retire to Handia in great disorder. From Handia he went to Burhanpur where he sought assistance from Raja Ali Khan who received him kindly and not only promised him aid but invoked the aid of Ibrahim Adil Shah II, of Bijapur who, smarting under the recent defeat of his forces by Jamal Khan, readily sent an army northwards.

Jamal Khan again defeated the Bijapuris [Ahmadnagarchi Nizamshahi, pp. 272-74.] but had not recovered from the fatigue of the fight when he heard that the nobles of Berar had declared for Burhan, who was on the point of entering Berar. He, therefore, hastened northward to confront this new danger, but the army of Bijapur was not so broken as to be incapable of pursuit, and the Maratha horse hung upon the flanks and rear of his army and cut off his supplies. When he entered the Buldhana district desertions from his army to that of Burhan were numerous. By this time Burhan and Raja Ali Khan had advanced as far as the plateau above Rohinkheda, where they awaited the arrival of Jamal Khan. Jamal Khan hesitated to attack the enemy in front, and, with the object of attacking them either in flank or in rear, descended the Rohinkheda ghat by a circuitous and difficult route. The way was long and waterless and the month was May, and the Mahdavis reached the foot of the hills in a condition of great exhaustion, and halted in a position where no water was to be found. Here information was received that there was, within six or seven miles of the spot where they had halted, a camping ground well supplied with water, and Jamal Khan had no choice but to press on with his jaded troops. Meanwhile the invaders had received information of the straits to which Jamal Khan was reduced and took up a position covering the water course towards which he was making his way. The Mahdavis were in no condition to fight for that which they so sorely needed, and were fain to halt and seek for water which could be had without fighting. They made for a grove of date palms within a distance of two miles from their position and found a supply of water only just sufficient to satisfy the want of man and beast for that day. Jamal Khan, whose forces, though weary, were refreshed for a time, preferred to attack the enemy at once rather than to run the risk of having to lead on the morrow an army refreshed by rest and sleep but again thirsty, and on the afternoon of May 8th, 1590, drew up his troops for the attack. It was only the religious zeal of the exhausted Mahdavis which enabled them to traverse the distance which lay between them and the army of the allies, but they advanced boldly to the attack and in the first onset gained the advantage, but Jamal Khan was laid low by a musket shot in the forehead and the other Mahdavi leaders, the chief of whom were Yakub Khan, Khudavand Khan, and Suhail Khan, the eunuch, were not disposed to continue the fight, and fled from the field, taking with them the young Ismail Nizam Shah. The fugitives were closely pursued by Burhan's officers, and were overtaken. Yakub Khan and Khudavand Khan were slain and Suhail Khan, the eunuch, effected his escape, leaving Ismail in his father's hands. Burhan now ascended the throne of Ahmadnagar as Burhan Nizam Shah. He appointed Nurkhan, Governor of Berar.

Burhan died on April 28, 1595, after a troublesome reign of rather more than four years, and was succeeded by his elder son Ibrahim Nizam Shah, who had been previously passed over in favour of his younger brother Ismail on the score that his mother was a negress and his personal appearance unkingly. The affairs of the State were now in the utmost confusion. Rival factions contended at the council board while Ibrahim Adil Shah on the south and Akbar on the north prepared to invade the kingdom. Ibrahim Nizam Shah after a reign of less than four months was slain in battle with the Bijapuris, and a faction attempted to raise to the throne on August 16, 1595, Ahmad, son of Shah Tahir, who had pretended to be the son of Sultan Muhammad Khudavand [Ahmadnagarchi Nizarnshahi, p. 282 f.n.] one of the sons of Burhan Njzam Shah I. But the circumstances of Shah Tahir's birth had already been secretly investigated, and there were those at the capital who knew the details of the inquiry and published them. Nevertheless the imposter's faction held the field for a time, and when they were hard pressed in Ahmadnagar they sent a message to Sultan Murad, Akbar's fourth son, and implored him to come from Gujarat to their aid. Murad had a general commission from his father to attempt the conquest of Berar and Ahmadnagar whenever the time should seem propitious and at once made preparations to invade the Deccan. Meanwhile, however, an unexpected quarrel in the camp of those who opposed the impostor's claim enabled Miyan Manju, his chief supporter, to emerge from Ahmadnagar and attack them. He defeated them on October 1, 1595, and, deeming himself now strong enough to dispense with foreign aid, began to regret his invitation to Murad. Murad, however, was already on his way and when he reached the borders of the Ahmadnagar kingdom with the Khan-i-Khanan, Abdur Rahim and Raja Ali Khan of Khandesh, Miyan Manju leaving Ansar Khan, in whose charge was Chand Bibi, in command of Ahmadnagar, fled with his protege Ahmad to Ausa, where he attempted to raise as army and to enlist the aid of Ibrahim Adil Shah II, and Muhammad Kuli Kutub Shah of Golconda.

Moghals.— Chand Bibi soon asserted her supremacy in Ahmadnagar and had Bahadur, the infant son of Ibrahim Nizam Shah, proclaimed, king in place of the impostor set up by Miyan Manju. The imperial army meanwhile closely besieged Ahmadnagar, and though Sultan Murad did not succeed in capturing the city he was only bought off by a treaty of peace concluded in April, 1596, one of the conditions of which was the cession of Berar to the empire. On the conclusion of peace Murad occupied Berar which thus became once more, after the lapse of two centuries and a half, an appanage of the crown of Delhi. After the withdrawal of the imperial army Bahadur Nizam Shah was seated on the throne of Ahmadnagar while the pretender Ahmad was provided for bv the Sultan of Bijapur. Murad took up his headquarters near Balapur and governed it in his father's name.

Hostilities with Ahmadnagar were renewed by an attempt to seize Pathri, and on February 8, 1597, the Khan-i-Khanan was defeated at Sonpeth on the Godavari by the troops of Ahmadnagar aided by contingents from Bijapur and Golconda. On the following day, however, he retrieved his defeat and put the allied Deccanis to flight. Having returned to Jalna, his headquarters, the Khan-i-Khanan ordered the despatch of troops of Gavilgad and Narnala, but Murad now interfered, and announced his intention of taking the field against Ahmadnagar, and when the Khan-i-Khanan insisted that the fortresses of Northern Berar should first be reduced. Murad wrote to bis father and complained of the Khan-i-Khanan's apathy. In 1598 that officer was recalled and Abdul Fazl was sent to the Deccan in his place with orders to reduce Gavilgad and Narnala, which duty he carried out. He failed, however, to send aid to the Moghal governor of Bid who, having; been defeated and wounded in the field, was besieged in that fortress, and reported to Akbar, Abdul Fazl's failure to come to his aid. Akbar now recognised that the only officer capable of managing affairs in the Deccan was the Khan-i-Khanan, whose only fault was his intolerance of the slothful and drunken Murad. The difficulty was solved by the death of Murad is 1599 at Shahapur, his palace near Balapur. from the effects of drink and incontinence. Sultan Daniyal, Akbar's youngest son, was now sent to the Deccan under the tutelage of the Khan-i-Khanan. In the year 1600 A. D. Ahmadnagar was captured by the Khan-i-Khanan and Ashirgad by Akbar, and Sultan Daniyal became governor of Khandesh now renamed Dandesh-Berar and Ahmadnagar. It may be noted that the theatre of war during these conflicts lay to the south and beyond the Buldhana district but it is probable that the district was much disturbed especially in its south western corner.

A detailed account of Berar was added to the Ain-i-Akbari in 1596-97, immediately after the treaty of Ahmadnagar under which the province was ceded to the empire, and as the Moghal officers could not have had time, before the account was written, to settle the province and re-adjust boundaries of its administrative divisions we may regard this description as an account of the province as it was administered by the Nizam Shahi and Imad Shahi kings, and probably also by the Bahamanis. It was divided into thirteen sarkars or revenue districts. The present district of Buldhana comprised a large part of Akbar's sarkar of Narnala and Baitalwadi, and the greater part of the sarkar of Mehkar. The demand on account of land revenue, including suyurghal, amounted to more than sixteen lakhs of rupees, but it is extremely doubtful whether anything approaching this sum was ever realized. The only place within the district of which a particular account is given is Lonar, which is thus described:—

'Lonar is a division of Mehkar, and is a place of great sanctity. The Brahmans call it Bishan Gaya. There are three Gayas, where the performance of good works can be applied as a means of deliverance to the souls of deceased ancestors: namely Gaya in Bihar, which is dedicated to Brahma, Gaya near Bijapur, dedicated to Rudra, and this one. Here is also a reservoir, having a spring in it, of great depth, and measuring a kos in length and in breadth, and surrounded by lofty hills. The water is brackish, but when taken from the centre, or at its sides, it is sweet. It contains the essential materials for the manufacture of glass and soap, and saltpetre is here produced and yields a considerable revenue. On the summit of a hill is a spring at the mouth of which is carved the figure of a bull. The water never flows from this spring to the other, but when the thirtieth lunar day falls on a Monday its stream flows into the large reservoir. In the neighbourhood is a zamindar called Waila, of the Rajput tribe, commanding 200 horse and 2,000 foot. Another is called Sarkath, also a Rajput, and possesses 100 horse and 1,000 foot '.

After the imprisonment of Bahadur Nizam Shah in Gvalior in 1599, Malik Ambar, the African, the most powerful remaining adherent of the Nizam Shahi dynasty, raised to the throne Murtaza Nizam Shah, the son of Shah Ali, one of the sons of Burhan I, and established him in the fortress of Ausa.

In 1605 Sultan Daniyal died of drink at Burhanpur and in October of the same year Akbar died and was succeeded by his eldest son, Salim, who assumed the title of Jahangir. It is unnecessary to follow in detail the tedious progress of the warfare between his generals and Malik Ambar. Throughout his reign the Moghal tenure of Berar was very uncertain. At times Malik Ambar occupied the whole province, and even introduced his own land settlement. At other times his officers were driven back to the neighbourhood of Khirki, but it was seldom that his hand was not felt in Berar. It will be sufficient to notice hostilities between the Deccanis and the imperialists so far as they immediately affected the Buldhana district. In 1610, Sultan Parwez, Jahangir's second son, being viceroy of the Deccan, the Deccanis made a determined attack on Ahmadnagar, then held for the emperor by Khvaja Beg Mirza Saffavi. Parwez made an attempt, by way of Rohinkheda and the Balaghat of Buldhana, to relieve the beleaguered town, but the way was too rough for his slothful and disorganized army and he was compelled to fall back on Burhanpur while the Moghal garrison of Ahmadnagar, disappointed of its hope of succour, abandoned the fortress and followed him to Khandesh.

At this time Malik Ambar overran nearly the whole of Berar which for the greater part of Jahangir's reign was more often in the hands of Malik Ambar than in those of the imperial officers. So far as the land revenue was concerned the administration was probably do-amli each party collecting what it could, but the Moghals regarded Burhanpur as their chief stronghold in the Deccan, and though a military post was usually maintained at Balapur, their hold in Berar can have been but slight. In 1612 a combined attack on Malik Ambar was undertaken by the express desire of Jahangir. Abdullah Khan, the subahdar of Gujarat, was to advance on Daulatabad, by way of Nasik, with an army of 14,000 men, while Raja Man Singh, the Khan-i-Jahan, and the Amir-ul-Umara were to advance towards the same objective by way of Rohinkheda and the Balaghat of Buldhana. It was arranged that the two armies should arrive simultaneously at Daulatabad and should there envelop and overwhelm Malik Ambar, but the enterprise was wrecked by the contemptible jealousies of the imperial officers. The officers from Berar would not co-operate with those from Gujarat and Malik Ambar was allowed to cope with the two armies separately, with the result that Abdullah Khan was driven back to Gujarat and Raja Man Singh retreated through the Buldhana district to Burhanpur, leaving Berar once more in the hands of the Deccanis. Early in 1616 Shahnavaz Khan, the subahdar of Berar, who commanded at Balapur, received an accession of strength from Malik Ambar's army, some of the latter's principal officers having deserted him and joined the Moghal governor in a fit of pique. Shahnavaz Khan advanced by way of Rohinkheda and the Buldhana road on Khirki, in the neighbourhood of which town he signally defeated Malik Ambar. He was not, however, strong enough to maintain himself in Malik Ambar's country, and was forced to retreat on Balapur by the road by which he had advanced. In 1616 Jahangir's third son, Sultan Khurram, better known as Shah Jahan, was appointed to Berar, and drove the Deccanis out of all their strongholds in the province. Sultan Khurram was recalled later in the vear and received the title of Shah Jahan.

In 1618 Amrullah, the son of the Khan-i-Khanan, captured a diamond mine in Gondvana which had been the property of a zamindar of Khandesh. It is probable that this diamond mine was in the former Central Provinces, within measurable distance of Kalam, and was identical with the diamond mine captured by the officers of Ahmad Shah Bahamani I, in 1425, for diamond mines are not common in this part of India.

In 1620 Malik Ambar again took the field, profiting by Jahan-gir's absence in Kashmir. He besieged Khanjar Khan in Ahmad-nagar and drove out the commanders of outlying posts in the Baiaghat of Buldhana and Akola, forcing them to take refuge in Balapur with Darab Khan, who had succeeded his father Shah-navaz Khan as governor of Berar. Darab Khan collected his forces, and advanced to Baiaghat and thence to Ahmadnagar, where he fell upon and dispersed the besiegers, but supplies were scarce and dear and the imperial army could not maintain itself in the Ahmadnagar country. Darab Khan, therefore, retired through the Buldhana district to Balapur, where he encamped until supplies should be collected. A force of the Deccanis hung on the rear of the retreating army and followed it as far as Balapur, and though the Moghals defeated them in the neighbourhood of that town, they did incalculable mischief in Berar, burning the crops and destroying supplies. Darab Khan made another effort and advanced as tar as Mehkar, where he remained for three months, engaging the enemy almost daily. He was victorious in three pitched battles, but victories in the field made very little impression upon the enemy's Maratha horse, and all supplies were cut off. Darab Khan was thus compelled to fall back once more on Balapur, whither he was followed by the enemy, who repeated the tactics which had been so successful at Mehkar. Darab Khan was now compelled to fall back on Burhanpur and the enemy followed him and laid siege to that town, the whole of Berar and Khandesh being now in their hands.

In 1621 Shah Jahan was again appointed to the viceroyalty of the Deccan. He relieved Burhanpur and compelled Malik Ambar to flee through Berar towards Daulatabad. Shah Jahan followed him through the Buldhana district and razed his capital, Khirki, to the ground. He then relieved Ahmadnagar, where Khanjar Khan still held out, and entered into a treaty under which the Moghal frontier was advanced thirty miles southwards and Malik Ambar agreed to pay a large indemnity. It was at this juncture that Jadhav Rav of Sindkhed transferred his allegiance from Malik Ambar to the emperor, and thus gave the Moghais a secure foothold in south-western Berar. The family of Lakhuji Jadhav Rav was the leading Hindu family of Berar. Of its descent we have various accounts, but it claims the purest Rajput lineage. A somewhat doubtful legend traces its origin to a village named Karauli in Rajputana and tradition connects it with the Yadava Rajas of Devagiri, but they now intermarry with the Marathas. It was this family which gave in marriage a daughter who became the mother of Chhatrapati Shivaji. In 1622 Shah Jahan rebelled against his father, drawing into rebellion with him, Darab Khan, the governor of Berar. After extensive operations in Hindustan and Gujarat the prince took refuge after many vicissitudes in the Balaghat of Buldhana and Akola. He then proceeded to Mahur. At Mahur, Shah Jahan left his elephants and heavy baggage under the charge of Uday Ram and Yadava Rav of Sindkhed while he fled to Golconda, where he took refuge with Muhammad Kutb Shah. Subsequently Yadava Rav and Uday Ram removed his elephants from Mahur to Burhanpur where they presented them to Parwez. The Deccanis, in spite of Shah Jahan's rebellion, effected no lodgment in Berar, which remained in the hands of Parwez who appointed Asad Khan Mamuri, governor of Ellichpur [Kale, p. 37.]. In 1624, however, Yakut Khan, the African, marched through Berar and besieged Burhanpur, but fled when he heard of the approach of the Khan-i-Khanan and Parwez who had been temporarily transferred to Bengal in consequence of Shah Jahan's appearance in arms in that province.

In 1625 Shah Jahan submitted to his father and was pardoned and in 1626 Parwez, now governor of Berar and the Deccan, died in Burhanpur of colic and epilepsy brought on by excessive drinking. In the same year Malik Ambar died, in the eightieth year of his age, and his place was taken by his son Fateh Khan. Later in the same year Umdat-ul-Mulk Khan-i-Jahan, who had been sent to the Deccan in consequence of the renewed activity of Murtaza Nizam Shah and Fateh Khan, treacherously sold the Balaghat of Berar to Hamid Khan, the African, the agent of Murtaza Nizam Shah for three hundred thousand rupees. The greater part of the Buldhana district thus passed once more out of the hands of imperial officers. The commanders of military posts in the Balaghat under orders from the Khan-i-Jahan surrendered them to the Deccani officers and retired to Payinghat. Kalam and Mahur were probably among the posts so surrendered. This treasonable bargain must have thrown the affairs of the whole province into great confusion.

Jahangir died on November 7, 1627, and in the course of the ensuing disputes regarding the succession, the affairs of Berar and the Deccan fell into great confusion, and between the Khan-i-Jahan, who was plotting with the enemy entirely for his own hand and other imperial officers who favoured the cause of Shahriyar, Shah Jahan's youngest brother, the fortunes of the Moghals in Berar and the Deccan were at a very low ebb. Shah Jahan sent messages from Gujarat to the Khan-i-Jahan at Burhanpur promising to retain him in this appointment if he would support his cause, but the Khan-i-Jahan continued to conspire with Murtaza Nizam Shah and Hamid Khan and confirmed their possession of the Balaghat.

Shah Jahan ascended the imperial throne in Agra on February 4, 1628, and was thereafter, free to attend to the affairs of the empire [The Badshah-Nama gives the date as February 15th. The Muntakhab-ul-lubab as February 14th and the Tuzuk-Jahangiri March 5th]. At the beginning of his reign the Khan-i-Jahan was still governor of Berar and Khandesh, but his bargain with the Deccanis was disturbed; for the officers of Murtaza Nizam Shah evacuated the Balaghat in obedience to an imperial farman. Buldhana district thus fell again into the hands of the Moghals. The Nizam Shahi commandant of Bid alone held out and the Khan-i-Zaman was sent against him.

When this officer advanced into the Balaghat of Buldhana, Murtaza Nizam Shah sent a force of 6,000 Maratha horse under Shahaji Bhosle to threaten his line of communication with Burhanpur. This army occupied positions in the Malkapur, Jal-gaon and Akot tahsils. Unfortunately for the schemes of the Deccanis, the commandant of Bid surrendered, and Darya, the Rohilla, fell upon Shahaji's Maratha horse and dispersed them [Y. M. Kale, p. 139.]. The Khan-i-Jahan was now summoned to court and deprived of his title, whereupon he fled to the Deccan through Bundelkhand and Gondvana and entered the service of Murtaza Nizam Shah and on Murtaza refusing to surrender him Shah Jahan set out for the Deccan at the end of 1629, reaching Burhanpur early in 1630, where he was joined by Iradat Khan who had been appointed governor of Berar, Khandesh, and the Deccan in the place of the disgraced Khan-i-Jahan. He dispatched three armies one of 20,000 men and the others of 15,000 each into the Balaghat of Buldhana. Azam Khan who held the chief command passed the rainy season of 1630 in Deulgaon Raja. At the end of the rains he was superseded by Asaf Khan Yamin-ud-daulah and the war was carried beyond the confines of Berar. In the campaign which followed Shah Jahan's arrival at Burhanpur the Deccanis were driven from the Balaghat of Berar which they had again occupied. The war lasted until the fall of Daulatabad in 1633 when the last remnants of the sovereignty of the Nizam Shahi dynasty were entirely destroyed. The Moghals had now advanced well into the Deccan and though the Buldhana district, with the rest of Berar, suffered severely from demands for supplies for the forces in the field it was freed from the curse of war within its borders.

In 1630 the rains failed completely in Berar and the Deccan and partially elsewhere, and this calamity, combined with the heavy tax which the war had placed upon the tracts which it most affected, produced one of the most severe famines ever known in Berar. We have no detailed information of the extent to which the district as compared with other tracts was affected, but the general description of the effects of the famine probably applies accurately to the Buldhana district where the imperial forces numbered 50,000. " Buyers were ready to give a life for a loaf, but seller was there none. The flesh of dogs was sold as that of goats and the bones of the dead were ground with the flour sold in the market, and the punishment of those who profited by this traffic produced yet direr results, men devoured one another and came to regard the flesh of their children as sweeter than their love. The inhabitants fled afar to other tracts till the corpses of those who fell by the way impended those who came after and in the lands of Berar, which had been famous for their fertility and prosperity, no trace of habitation remained [Elliot and Dowson, Vol., VII,p. 24, c/f Abdul Hamid Lahori Badshah-Nama.]". This account, taken from the official record of Shah Jahan's reign, is obviously hyperbolical, but cannot be dismissed as entirely imaginary. Berar had suffered much from protracted hostilities during which it had been the prey of hostile armies which had little respect for the rights of property, and the measures of relief undertaken were utterly inadequate. However, nothing particular seems to have been attempted in Buldhana district which slowly recovered from this calamity.

During the campaign which ended in the fall of Daulatabad, Rohinkheda was an important depot on the line of communications of the Moghal army. In October 1634, Shah Jahan's son, Shah Shuja, encamped at Malkapur on his way to the siege oi Paranda. Towards the end of 1634 Shah Jahan issued a farman redistributing his territories in the Deccan. Hitherto Khandesh, Berar, and the conquered part of the Ahmadnagar country had formed a province under a viceroy. These tracts were now divided into two subahs, or revenue divisions, each under the government of a subahdar, an arrangement which caused the temporary dismemberment of the old province of Berar. The northern subah, known as the Payinghat, consisted of Khandesh and Berar as far as the crest line ot Balaghat of Buldhana, Akola, and Yeotmal; and the southern subah, the Balaghat, comprised all the Moghal conquests to the south of that line. Of the present tahsils of the Buldhana district, Malkapur, Jalgaon and Kham-gaon lay in the Payinghat, and Chikhli and Mehkar in the Balaghat.

This scheme of reorganization was very soon amended. In 1636, Shah Jahan appointed his third son, Aurangzeb, to the viceroyalty of the Deccan, where the possessions of the empire were redistributed into four subhas or divisions [Y. M. Kale, p. 141.]:

(1) Daulatabad and Ahmadnagar, the nominal capital of which was Daulatabad, while Aurangzeb resided at Khirki, which he renamed Aurangabad, (2) Telengana which included those tracts of north-western Telangana, which had been annexed to the empire, (3) Khandesh, the administrative capital of which was Burhanpur, while its principal military, post was Ashirgad, and (4) Berar, the capital of which was Ellichpur, in the neighbourhood of which lay rhe fortress of Gavil, situated! on the crest of a hill and noted for its great strength. Berar of which Buldhana district formed part now became once more a homogeneous province. Each of these division was governed by a subhedar in immediate subordination to Aurangzeb as viceroy, and the Khan-i-Dauran was retained as subhedar of Berar, with Sipahdar Khan as deputy governor in Ellichpur.

In 1637 the Khan-i-Dauran with Sipahdar Khan and the army of Berar undertook an expedition through the northern district of the kingdom of Golconda, where they collected tribute and thence they marched 'through the sarkar of Pavnar to besiege' Nagpur, which was held for Kokiya, the Gond ruler of Chandra-pur and Nagpur was taken. It was probably at this time that the sarkar or Devgad was added to the province of Berar [Y. M.Kale, p. 28. ].

In 1642 Shah Beg Khan, a commander of 4,000 horse, was appointed subhedar of Berar in place of the Khan-i-Dauran and two years later Allah Vardi Khan was made a commander of 5,000 horse and received Ellichpur in jahagir on the death of Sipahdar Khan.

Early in 1658 Aurangzeb left the Deccan in order to participate in the contest for the imperial throne which ensued on the failure of Shah Jahan's health and in 1659 having worsted his competitors he gained the prize. He appointed Raja Jai Singh to the viceroyalty of the Deccan and made Irij Khan subhedar of Berar. In 1661, Diler Khan accompanied by Irij Khan, the subhedar of Berar and the faujdar of the province marched through Berar to attack the Gond Raja of Chandrapur. The Raja submitted and the expedition terminated on the Raja paying to the imperial exchequer a crore of rupees and promising to pay an annual tribute of 2 lakhs and to raze his fortifications. At this time a new power was gaining ascendency in the Deccan, viz., that of the Marathas under the leadership of Shivaji. Inspired by the ideal of carving a separate State, and backed by the zeal of his followers he had made deep incisions in the Adil Shahi kingdom of Bijapur and had carried out daring attacks against the Moghal possessions in the Deccan. Aurangzeb had sensed this danger and had sent his generals, Shaista Khan, Mirza Raja Jai Singh and Diler Khan to contain Shivaji's activities in 1665. Shivaji realizing the tactical superiority of the Moghals, submitted and entered into an understanding with the Moghals under the terms of the treaty of Purandar. But the struggle with the Moghals which had begun was to last till the death of Aurangzeb in 1707. In 1667 Mirza Raja Jai Singh was recalled from the subhedari of the Deccan and Prince Muazzam was appointed in his place. Shivaji, while carrying on preparations for war with the Moghals, adopted a conciliatory tone and came to terms with the new viceroy. Sambhaji was made a Moghal mansabdar and was given a jahagir in Berar comprising the paraganas of Balapur and Avandhe. This was confiscated later towards the recovery of the amount of 1 lakh of rupees sanctioned to Shivaji as expenses when he visited Agra in 1666. Sambhaji visited prince Muazzam at Aurangabad on 4th November 1667 and after a short stay returned to Rajgad while Maratha officers continued to stay in Aurangabad. Within two years Shivaji made thorough preparations for war with the Moghals. In 1670 he attacked and drove away the Moghals from the swarajya. He also invaded the imperial Moghal territory in all directions and carried daring raids into Khandesh and Berar. In December 1670, he attacked, when least expected, the rich city of Karanja in Berar and looted it completely [Sarkar, Shivaji, p. 178.]. Shivaji died in 1680. His son Sambhaji succeeded him. Soon after his accession, early in 1681 Sambhaji's generals invaded Berar. They then moved with 20,000 troops towards Burhanpur, attacked and sacked it. The Marathas kept up a continuous pressure on Khandesh and Berar. In 1684 they attacked Dharangaon in Khandesh. Sambhaji was captured and executed in 1689 by Aurangzeb. His son Shahu was made a prisoner. Sambhaji's brother, Rajaram and his able commandants Santaji, Dhanaji, Parasoji and Nemaji made relentless attacks against the Moghals. Aurangzeb was forced to deploy his best officers as subhedars in the provinces of Khandesh and Berar [The following Moghal officers administered Berar as subhedars [from 1675 till the death of Aurangzeb in 1707:—

Khan Zaman was appointed subhedar in December 1675. He was succeeded by Irij Khan who died on 13th August 1685. In August 1686 Hasan Khan was appointed subhedar. He was succeeded by Mahabat Khan (appointed in September 1686) and prince Kam Baksh (appointed on 26th September 1686) and again on (24th December 1697). In 1698 Askar Ali Khan was appointed subhedar. He was succeeded by the leading Moghal general Firoz Jang.], and renowned Moghal generals like Zulfikar Khan and Gazi-ud-din Firoz Jang were continuously striving to contain the Maratha activities in the Deccan. After the fall of Jinji in the South in 1698, Rajaram returned to the svarajya territory and reached Vishalgad in February 1698. Meanwhile Bakht Buland, the Gond Raja of Devgad, was carrying on struggle against the Moghals. Rajaram's generals, Nemaji Shinde and Parasoji Bhosle, were successfully ravaging Khandesh and Berar exacting chauth from the Imperial territory. In 1699 Rajaram himself planned an invasion of Berar. This was checked by the Moghals under prince Bedarbakht and Zulfikar Khan. Rajaram returned to Sinhgad where he died on 2nd March 1700. The death of Rajaram brought about no lull in the fighting between the Marathas and the Moghals. The Marathas, under the able leadership of Tarabai (widow of Rajaram), Ramchandrapant Amatya, Shankaraji Narayan, Dhanaji Jadhav and others, continued the struggle vigorously. They ravaged Moghal territory in Malva and Gujarat. In 1703 Berar was again raided when Sharza Khan, the deputy governor of Berar was captured by Nemaji Shinde. The struggle continued till the death of Aurangzeb on February 20, 1707.

At the time of Aurangzcb's death Gazi-ud-din Firoz Jang was the governor of Berar.

On 20th February 1707 Aurangzeb died at Ahmadnagar and was shortly afterwards buried at Rauza afterwards called Khuld-abad, near the caves of Ellora and about seven miles from Daulat-abad. The usual conflict for the throne followed the death of the emperor and victory finally declared itself for Shah Alam, the eldest surviving son, who ascended the throne under the title of Bahadur Shah. Firoz Jang at first held Berar for prince Muhammad Azam by whom he was transferred, as subhedar, to the province of Gujarat, but the cautious amir was a lukewarm partisan and readily made his peace with Bahadur Shah who confirmed him in his appointment in Gujarat.

Towards the end of 1707 Zulfikar Khan Nusrat Jang was viceroy of the whole of the Deccan, and it was now that the officers of the imperial army first began to enter into regular agreements with the Marathas for the payment of chauth and sardeshmukhi. It may here be mentioned that after the capture of Sambhaji in 1689, Rayagad fort, the capital of the Marathas, fell to the Moghals. Shahu, the son of Sambhaji along with his mother Yesubai, was made a prisoner. He remained with Aurangzeb till the latter's death in 1707.

Shahu was allowed to go back to the Deccan from the imperial camp [From the river Narmada.] in 1707. At the time of the release of Shahu by Azam Shah, the terms of the release were (1) that he was to rule the small svarajya of his grandfather as a vassal of the Moghal empire, (2) that he was to serve his liege lord, whenever called upon to do so with his contingent of troops, and (3) that he was also permitted to collect chauth and sardeshmukhi from the six Moghal provinces of the south which included Berar of which Buldhana district formed a part. Parasoji Bhosle, the ancestor of the later Bhosle rulers of Nagpur, was then in possession of Berar and Gondvana [Parasoji's uncles were in the service of the Nizamshahi kingdom of Ahmadnagar and were contemarpores of Shahaji, the father of Chhatrapati Shivaji. They were granted Amravati and Bham in jahagir for the services rendered by them. Panto made Bham in Yeotmal district his headquarters.]. He hastened to west Khandesh with his army to join Shahu, whereupon Shahu, along with other prominent Maratha chiefs crossed the Godavari and reached Satara. Tarabai, widow of Rajaram, however, not desiring to acclaim Shahu, had won over Parashuram Pratinidhi and Bapuji, elder brother of Parasoji, to her side. Tarabai, under the pretence of ascertaining whether Shahu was real, sent Bapuji, who was the eldest person known in the Bhosle House, to Shahu's camp. But Bapuji not only joined Shahu's forces but partook food in the same dish with Shahu and convinced all other Maratha chiefs of his blood royal. They now readily joined his standard. Shahu in appreciation of Parasoji's services to his cause, granted him sanad for Gavil, Narnala, Mahur, Khedale, Pavnar and Kalamb, and declared him "Sena Saheb Subha" in 1707.

[The details of the sanad granted by Shahu at that time were as under:—

Pram Ritapur and Sarkar Gavel, Prant Varhad, Prant Devgad, Chanda and Gondwan:—

The details of the Anagondi etc., Mahals of Varhad prant:—

1	Sarkar Gavel Mahal	46
1	Sarkar Narnala Mahal	37
1	Sarkar Nahur Mahal	19
1	Sarkar Khelda Mahal	21
1	Sarkar Pawnar Mahal	5
1	Sarkar Kalamb Mahal	19
6		147

Thus making a total of six sarkars with a charge of rupees nine, annas eleven in every hundred.

Y. M. Kale, Nagpur Prantacha Itihas, page 47.]

Parasoji collected tributes from Berar but in 1709, on his return from Satara, died at Khed near Wai.

Bahadur Shah died in 1712 and was succeeded by his eldest son, Muizuddin who took the title of Jahandar Shah. On his death the two Sayyad brothers of Barha, who were now all-powerful at Delhi, raised to the throne Farrukhsiyar. It was in his reign, in 1719, that the imperial court formally acknowledged the claim of the Marathas to chauth and sardeshmukhi. In consideration for refraining from ravaging Berar and the other five subhas of the Deccan they were allowed to collect one-quarter of the revenue under the name of chauth and in addition to this a further proportion of one-tenth under the name of sardeshmukhi, which was regarded as a recompense for the trouble and expense of collecting the chauth. It was the imperial recognition of these claims which laid the foundation of that system of government known as do-amli.

These terms pertaining to svarajya, chauthai and sardeshmukhi stated.—(1) that all territories known as Shivaji's svarajya together with the torts therein should be delivered to Shahu, (2) that such territories as had been recently conquered by the Marathas in Khandesh, Berar, Gondvana, Hyderabad and Karnatak should also be ceded to him as part of the Maratha kingdom, and (3) that the Marathas should be allowed to collect chauthai and sardeshmukhi from all the six subhas of the south. This sanad thus unequivocally upheld, the de jure sovereignty of the Marathas over the territories conquered by them in the Deccan including the subha of Berar, by giving them the right to collect chauth and sardeshmukhi in the six subhas of the Deccan including Berar, and legalised their right of doing so. Shahu accordingly issued orders to his local officials in the six subhas of the Deccan to enforce the terms of the above agreement and make collections of chauthai and sardeshmukhi. The imperial confirmation of these terms in the form of Sanads of svarajya, chauthai and sardeshmukhi was obtained in 1719 when Balaji Vishvanath paid a personal visit to Delhi along with a strong contingent of Maratha troops including Khanderav Dabhade, Udaji, Kesoji and Tukoji Pavar, Ranoji and Santaji Bhosle. While the Peshva was in Delhi a clash of arms ensued between the Maratha and imperial troops and about 1,500 to 2,000 Maratha horsemen were killed. Among those killed was Santaji Bhosle, the son of Shahu's benefactor Parsoji Bhosle. Shahu at the time of the grand darbar held in Satara on the return of Balaji Vishvanath amply rewarded Ranoji, the brother of Santaji with fresh inams and gave him the title of Savai Santaji.

It may here be pointed out that Nizam-ul-Mulk the founder of the state of Hyderabad during his brief viceroyalty of the Deccan from 1713, never accepted the Maratha right of collecting chauth and sardeshmukhi in the six subhas of the Deccan.

It is not necessary to follow in detail the course of the intrigues of the Sayyad brothers at Delhi. After deposing Farrukhsiyar and setting up two nonentities to succeed him, they raised to the throne in 1719 Raushan Akhtar, who took the title of Muhammad Shah. In 1720 they hatched a plot against Asaf Jah Nizam-ul-Mulk, son of Gazi-ud-din Firoz Jang; and sent him as subhe-dar to Malva in the hope that he would either be disgraced in the vain attempt to quell the disturbances which they fomented against him or would rebel. To their disappointment he was joined by all the men of importance in Malva and also by his uncle Ivaz Khan, subhedar of Berar. Alam Ali Khan, the nephew of the Sayyads, who was viceroy of the Deccan, now appointed Anvar Khan, subhedar of Berar but he too joined Asaf Jah. The plot of the Sayyads failed. Asaf Jah met their nephew, Alam Ali Khan who had marched through Buldhana district to oppose the former at Balapur on 31st July 1720 and there defeated and slew him. He then returned to Delhi and was appointed subhedar of Gujarat while his son Gazi-ud-din Khan Firoz Jang was appointed to Malva

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