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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
( JUNE, 1918
of the amirs who could for the time obtain possession of his person. The genuineness of his descent from the royal house had always been suspected and was now openly impugned and Muhammad II of Khandesh deemed the occasion opportune for asserting his claim to the throne, which was undoubtedly superior to that of Muzaffar, and invaded Gujarât with an army of 30,000 horse. He advanced to the neighbourhood of Ahmadâbâd but the amirs of Gujarat assembled an army of seven or eight thousand horse, utterly defeated him, and compelled him to retire to Asirgarh. Shortly afterwards Khandesh was overrun and plundered by the princes known as the Mirzás, distant cousins of Akbar, who had recently sought a refuge, whence they might trouble Akbar, in Gujarat, but had quarrelled with Changiz Khân and fled from the country. Muhammad II assembled his army with the intention of punishing them, but before he could take the field they had fled and passed beyond the confines of his kingdom.
In 1574 Murtaza Nizam Shah I of Ahmadnagar conquered and annexed the kingdom of Berar, carrying off from the fortress of Narnala, where they had been confined, all the members of the 'Imad Shahi family. He then marched against Bidar.
The annexation of Berar by Ahmadnagar, which threatened to upset the balance of power in the Dakan, was most distasteful both to 'Ali `Adil Shâh I of Bijâpûr and to Ibrâhîm Qutb Shâh of Golconda, and the latter sent a secret mission to Muhammad II of Khandesh urging him to attempt the recovery of Berar from Ahmadnagar, and promising help. A pretender to the throne of Berar, representing himself to be the son of Darya, the last of the 'Imad Shahỉ dynasty, appeared at the same time in Khandesh and sought Muhammad's aid. It appears to have been the ambition of Muhammad's minister, Sayyid Zain-al-din, that committed Khandesh to the support of the pretender's claim, and Muhammad, according to Firishtå, 20 placed at his disposal a force of 6,000 horse which, when it entered Berar, was reinforced by seven or eight thousand of the adherents of the 'Imad Shâhî dynasty; but according to the Burhan-i-Ma'asir, the author of which would be likely to magnify the difficulties with which Murtaza Nizâm Shâh had to contend, Muhammad II. sent into Berar, an army of nearly 20,000 horse, under the command of Sayyid Zain-al-dîn, having received encouragement and material assistance from 'Ali `Adil Shâh as well as from Ibrâhim Qutb Shâh. Berar had not settled down quietly under its conquerors and even one amir of Murtazâ Nizâm Shah had rebelled. On hearing of the approach of the invaders the amir appointed by Murtaza Nizam Shah to defend his conquest assembled at Elichpûr, the capital to concert measures of defence with Khurshid Khân, their leader. It was decided that the army of occupation was not strong enough to withstand the invaders and Khurshid Khân withdrew to Gâwilgash, where he was besieged by the army of Khandesh. The rest of the Ahmadnagar amirs withdrew from Gâwilgash and attacked another force of the invaders. which was besieging Narnâla, but were defeated and fled southwards to join Murtaza Nizâm Shah, who was preparing, at Cdgir, to invade the small kingdom of Bidar. They were overtaken by the army of Khândesh and again suffered a severe defeat, apparently on the banks of the Pengunga, in which river many were drowned. A remnant of the fugitives reached Murtaza Nizâm Shah's camp at Odgîr in sorry plight, and Murtaza at once perceived that the expedition against Bidar must be abandoned if he wished to recover and retain Berar, and marched northwards with his whole army, sending ahead an advanced guard of picked troops under the command of Sayyid Murtaza Sabzavari. The army of Ahmadnagar
20 ii. 268.
