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MAY, 1921 ]
HISTORY OF THE NIZAM SHAHI KINGS OF AHMADNAGAR
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Thus the country was relieved of the oppression of the infidels by means of the wisdom and wise policy of the Malika-yi-Jahân, and the Muslims again breathed freely after their intolerable sufferings at the hands of the idolators.
When Husain Nigam Shah was relieved of his anxiety with regard to the infidels, he returned to his capital and devoted all his attention to making reparation for the suffering which they had caused and to devising plans which would prevent their repeating their insolence.
LXVI. AN ACCOUNT OF THE CAUSES OF THE UPROOTING AND OVERTHROW OF SAD SHIVARAYA, THE CHIEF OF THE INFIDELS, BY GOD'S PREDESTINATION, AND BY MEANS OF HUSAIN NIZAM SHAH.
A.D. 1564. When Husain Nizam Shah had rest from settling the affairs of his kingdom and restoring peace and plenty to all his subjects, he bethought himself that both merit and profit were to be gained by the inauguration of a holy war against the infidels of Vijayanagar, and he devoted all his attention to preparations for the conflict.
Sadashivaraya was distinguished above all the kings of Vijayanagar for the strength of his army and for his power and was puffed up with pride owing to the extent of his dominions. He possessed the whole of the kingdom of Vijayanagar with its sixty sea-ports. Its length was near 600 leagues and its revenue 120,000,000 hûns and that accursed infidel had reigned over this kingdom for a long time. From the time of the prophet, no Muḥammadan king had attempted to subdue this kingdom, but all had sought the friendship of its kings and had treated them with courtesy,145 But Sadashivaraya, in the pride of his power, had broken the treaties which he and his predecessors had made with the sovereigns of Islâm, and had invaded the territories of Islam and deluged them in blood, and had destroyed the dwellings of Muslims and slain large numbers of them. Now, therefore, Husain Nizam Shah determined to be revenged on him and took counsel with his advisers as to the best means of overcoming the enemies of religion and of the faich. His counsellors, chief among whom were Qasim Beg and Maulânâ 'Inayatullah, applauded the king's intention, but said that it was impossible to attack Sadashivaraya with any hope of success so long as an alliance existed between him and 'All 'Adil Shâh, and advised the king to open negotiations with 'All Adil Shah. The king then, by the advice of the counsellors, first approached Ibrahim Qutb Shah on the subject of an alliance of the Muhammadan sovereigns, and Ibrâhîm Qutb Shah, who was delighted with the idea, sent Sayyid Mustafa Khân, one of his chief amirs, to Ahmadnagar to carry on negotiations. Sayyid Mustafa Khân went on from Ahmadnagar to Bijapur and there set himself to induce 'All 'Adil Shah to join the league. He said that it was common knowledge that the Dakan, even when it was subject to the rule of one powerful king, always suffered from the inroads of the idolators, and that now that the
166 This misstatement is so palpable as to be ridiculous. The author has himself chronicled the numerous wars between the Bahmani kingdom and the Hindu kingdom of Vijayanagar. No Bahmani King had been able to subdue Vijayanagar, and fortune was not constant, but the balance of success was largely in favour of the Muhammadan Kingdom.
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Historians naturally disagree in the assignment of the honour of being the prime mover in the confederacy against the infidels. Firishta, the historian of Bijapur, assigns it to 'All 'Adil Shah, but the author of the T.M.Q.8. agrees with Sayyid Ali in assigning it to Husain Nigam Shah. Sayyid All naturally omite to mention that it was 'Alf 'Adil Shah who threw down the gauntlet to Sadashivaraya by sending an envoy to Vijayanagar to demand the retrocession of the Raichur Düab and the districts of Hippargi and Akalkot. The envoy was received with gross discourtesy and expelled from the city, whereupon Alt Adil Shah declared war on Vijayanagar.
