Indian Antiquary Vol 47

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarkar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 155

JUXE, 1918)
THE FARUQI DYNASTY OF KHANDESH
145
observe towards them at least a benevolent neutrality; but the policy of inviting imperial interference in the domestic affairs of the Dakan was very far from commending itself to him and when his attempt to divert them from their purpose failed he sent against them a force which pursued them as far as the Narbada, the frontier of his kingdom, and took from them such elephants, horses, and baggage, as they had been able to save in their flight.
The two amirs reached the court of Akbar, who appointed each of them to the command of 1,000 horse and sent a message to Raja 'Ali Khân commanding him to restore the plunder he had taken from them, which order was promptly obeyed. At this time Akbar received another fugitive whose presence reminded him that there was work to be done in the Dakan. This was Burhan-al-dîn, the younger brother of Murtaza Nizâm Shah, who was no longer safe in his brother's dominions and fled to Agra by way of the Konkan and Gujarât. In August, 1585, Akbar, who was obliged by the death of his brother, Muhammad Hakim Mirza, at Kabul, to march towards the Panjab, appointed his foster-brother, Mirza 'Aziz Kaka, Khån-i-A'zam, governor of Malwa. With Kbân-i-A'ram's arrival in Malwa began, Raja Ali Khan's troubles. His true sympathies were with the independent kings of the Dakan, but his own kingdom formed the outpost of imperial aggression against theirs, he could not trust them to join whole-heartedly with him in any resistance to that aggression and it was impossible for him alone to stem its tide.
Khân-i-A'zam, having made Handiya his headquarters, demanded of Raja 'Ali Khân, early in 1586, passage through Khandesh for the army with which he proposed to invade the Ahmadnagar kingdom. Raja Ali Khân replied that the passage of so large a force would devastate his small kingdom and suggested that the best line for an army advancing from MAlwa to invade Ahmadnagar lay through Kherla, in north-eastern Berar, and, on the rejection of this proposal by Khån-i-A'ram, appealed for help to Ahmadnagar. Şalâ bat Khân, the regent of Ahmadnagar, largely reinforced the army of Berar, which had its headquarters at Elichpûr, and placed it at the disposal of Raja 'Ali Khân. In the meantime the imperial amirs, of whom many disapproved of Khân-i-A'zam's enterprise, were quarrelling among themselves, and Mîr Fathallâh Shîrâzî, whose duty it was to keep the peace between them, was much harassed. Khân-i-A'zam could ill spare Mîr Fathallâh, whose services in the turbulent camp were invaluable, but the unexpected opposition of Râja 'Ali Khân called for the intervention of his ablest negotiator, and Mir Fathallah was sent to Asîrgarh. In Raja All Khân, whose object it was to prevent the invasion of the Dakan without appearing to oppose the imperial policy, Mîr Fathallâh met his match. Raja 'Ali Khân secretly invited the army of Berar to invade his kingdom, in order that it might appear that in opposing the designs of Khân-i-A'zam he was acting under compulsion. As the army advanced he sent his minister, Agaf Khân, to Mîr Fathalláh to warn him that he stood in great danger and to conduct him on his way back to Handiya. Fathallâh had no choice but to retire and when Aşaf Khân left him his retirement speedily became a flight. On his arrival in Handiya Khân-i-Azam so rated him for his failure that he refused any longer to serve under him and withdrew with his contingent into Gujarat. Khân-i-Azam whose force was dwindling away, was now goaded into action. He invaded Berar and attempted an attack on Kherla, which was disastrous to the horses of his cavalry, but he plundered some of the northern districts of Berar and on March 20, 1586, sacked Elichpûr, which had been left defenceless by the advance of the army of Berar into Khandesh. In the meantime the army of Berar, under the command of Mirza Muhammad Taqi, having been royally entertained by Raja 'Ali Khân, had advanced, together with the army of Kbândesh, towards