Indian Antiquary Vol 51

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

Page 245

DECEMBER, 1922] HISTORY OF THE NIZAM SHAHI KINGS OF AHMADNAGAR
XCVIII. THE CONCLUSION OF PEACE BETWEEN THE NIZAM SHAHI AND 'ADIL SHAHÎ DYNASTIES, AND THE MARRIAGE BETWEEN SHAHZADA MIRAN SHAH HUSAIN AND THE SISTER OF IBRAHIM 'ADIL SHAH II.
Before Asad Khan was deposed from the office of vakil and pishvá, a sister of Muhammad Quli Qutb Shâh had been selected as the bride of Mîrân Husain, but after the deposition of Asad Khan, who had always cultivated the alliance with Telingâna, Salâbat Khân, making the approach of the army of Telingana his pretext,267 reproached Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, and set about preparing the way for a marriage between the prince and the sister of Ibrâhîm 'Adil Shah I, and, having obtained the king's consent thereto, he opened negotiations for the marriage. It was necessary to send an embassy to Bîjâpûr for the purpose, and the officers selected were Hakim Qasim Beg, Mîrzâ Muhammad Taqi Vazir-ul-Hukûmah, and Jamshid Khân, one of the amirs of Berar. A farman was sent to summon Jamshid Khân from Berar, but as he feared artifice on the part of Salâbat Khân and regarded this farmân as part of a plot for his undoing he hesitated to obey the summons.268 Salâbat Khân, in order to reassure Jamshid Khân, wrote to him and told him that he might proceed direct from Chîtâpûr to Bîjâpûr, and need not appear at the capital, but Jamshid Khân was still suspicious and wrote to Sayyid Murtaza and all the amirs of Berar, instigating them to rise against Salâbat Khân. The amirs, in accordance with their former bond, marched from their districts with all their troops and assembled at Chîtâpûr, which was the jagir of Jamshid Khân. Sayyid Murtazâ also marched from Bâlâpûr, which was his capital, in the middle of Shawwâl, 263 with all his troops and encamped before Chîtâpûr. The amirs of Berar, being now all net together at Chîtâpûr, with a large and united army, renewed their engagements each with the others, and Sayyid Murtaza, with the assent of the rest, raised the vazir Mîrza Husain Isfahânî, who had been appointed by the king vazir of the whole of Berar, to the rank of amîr, assigned the Elichpur district to him in jagîr and entrusted the protection of Berar to him and Chaghatâî Khân, who both marched from Chitâpûr back to Berar and entered upon their duties. The rest of the amirs then marched with their armies towards the capital.
237
When the news of the advance of the amirs of Berar was received in Ahmadnagar, Şalâbat Khân set about preparing the royal army for the field, and calling upon the amirs and the officers of the army to swear fidelity to him. Many of the principal men of the army, who were outwardly partisans of Salâbat Khân secretly sent messages to Sayyid Murtazâ, promising that when the amirs were face to face they would desert Salâbat Khân and join the army of Berar, and so co-operate with it in the attempt.to overthrow Salâbat Khân. Some even, such as Mirzâ Yâdgâr and Shâhvardî Khân, openly broke with Salabat Khân before the near approach of the army of Berar and left Ahmadnagar to join Sayyid Murtazâ. But since it had been eternally decreed that the army of Berar, which was in truth in rebellion against its lord and master, should be defeated and flee, their strength and numbers availed them nothing, for victory depends on the will of God and not on numbers.
The amîrs of Berar, with their great army, reached the pass of Jeûr, 270 which is two leagues from the city of Ahmadnagar, on Zi-l-Hijjah 5, in the year above mentioned, (Dec. 8, A.D. 1584) and encamped there for that night. On the next day, Zi-l-Hijjah 6, they lay
267 It is not quite clear how this can have been made a pretext for breaking off negotiations with Golconda, unless the army of that State were menacing the frontier. No such movement is recorded,
368 Firishta gives a slightly different account of this affair. See note 263.
269 October, 1584.
370 Jeur, in 19° 18′ N. and 74° 49′ E. about thirteen miles north-east of Ahmadnagar.