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191
JULY, 1899.]
HISTORY OF THE BAHMANI DYNASTY.
Sultan Firds who was seated on the royal throne, and then stood in his old place; but Sultân Firûz descended from the throne and caught his brother to his breast, and they wept together for some time. Sultan Ahmad pleading excuses made many apologies, saying: "This boldness was due to fear of my life." Sultan Firûz said: " "Praise be to God that the sovereignty has fixed its residence in its own house: I have been to blame in that while having a brother such as you, I nominated another for the sovereignty; but since the Creator of the World has willed that it is to remain in our family, I now desire that you should treat your nephew Hasan Khan kindly, and that according to approved usages you should settle Firasabad upon him and his heirs for ever, and make no change in this arrangement; for it is fitting that the fruit of the friendship which has always existed between me and you should show itself in our posterity."
When Sultan Firûz had finished the expression of his testamentary wishes he took the sword from his waist, and binding it on that of Sultan Ahmad, took him by the arm and seated him on the throne.
Shortly after his abdication Sultan Firaz Shah died, and this event happened on the 11th Shawwal, A. H. 825 (28th September 1422 A. D.).
As to the cause of the death of this monarch of exalted dignity various accounts are related; but the most authentic is that Shir Khân, son of the Sultan's sister, convinced Sultan Ahmad that the existence of Sultan Firuz would give rise to sedition; and that since it is impossible for two swords to be in one scabbard, so also it is imposible for two kings to exist in one place. Led astray by the arguments of Shir Khân, Sultan Ahmad consented to have Firuz Shah put to death, and on the date above mentioned he employed some men to strangle him, but God only knows the truth of the matter.
Sultan Firuz was an impetuous and a mighty monarch, and expended all his ability and energy in eradicating and destroying tyranny and heresy, and he took much pleasure in the society of shekhs, learned men and hermits. His reign lasted twenty-five years, seven months and eleven days.
After the death of Sultan Firuz, Sultan Ahmad sent Hasan Khan and all the other sons of the late king, in accordance with his will, to Firûzâbâd, and assigned that city to them; bat in a short time Hasan Khan also bid farewell to this transitory world and joined his illustrious father.54
Note to Chapter VIII.
[The following is the account of the reign of Sultan Firuz Shah given in the Taşkarat-ulMulük.]
Reign of Sultan Firas Shah,
son of Ahmad Khan Bahmani.
He was a good, just, generous and pious king: he supported himself by copying the Kur,an, and the ladies of his haram used to support themselves by embroidering garments and selling them. As a ruler he was without an equal, and many records of his justice still remain on the page of time. One is a city which he built on the bank of the river Krishna;5 he erected a lofty building in that city, and completed it, and constructed fortifications one farsake in extent round it, made of cut stone; and for a long time he lived in that city in enjoyment and the gratification of his desires. It chanced that at one time heavy rain fell,
54 According to Firishtah (Briggs, Vol. II., p. 400) Hasan Khan lived till after the death of his uncle, Ahmad Shah, when he was blinded and kept a prisoner in his palace at Firüzâbâd.
Here ends the first Tabakah of the Burhan-i Ma,agir. 55 This should be the Bhima, a branch of the Krishna.
se 6,000 yards.
