第58章

"Ibrahim Adil Shaw had not yet recrossed the Kistnah,when Ramraaje and the confederates,who had bribed many of the troops in the city,broke their newly made vows,and hastened towards Beejanuggur,resolved to put the roy to death,on pretence of revenging the murder of his predecessor.Hoje Termul Roy,seeing he was betrayed,shut himself up in the palace,and,becoming mad from despair,blinded all the royal elephants and horses,also cutting off their tails,that they might be of no use to his enemy.All the diamonds,rubies,emeralds,other precious stones,and pearls,which had been collected in a course of many ages,he crushed to powder between heavy millstones,and scattered them on the ground.He then fixed a sword-blade into a pillar of his apartment,and ran his breast upon it with such force that it pierced through and came out at the back,thus putting an end to his existence,just as the gates of the palace were opened to his enemies.Ramraaje now became roy of Beejanuggur without a rival."After this point in Firishtah's narrative we hear of no more "young Roies"or imprisoned sovereigns of the Second Dynasty."Ramraaje"alone is spoken of as king,and Kings Achyuta and Sadasiva --the latter of whom was undoubtedly recognised as king for some years though he was kept in custody --are not so much as mentioned.

Thus Firishtah and Nuniz both agree that Ibrahim Adil advanced as far as the city of Vijayanagar,and retired after payment of immense sums of money and the gift of many valuable presents.The date was A.D.1535--36.With this date ends the historical portion of the chronicle of Nuniz.[279]

We continue the narrative of events in Achyuta's reign as gathered from Firishtah.[280]As soon as he heard of the death of Hoje Tirumala and the seizure of the throne by "Ramraaje,"Ibrahim Adil Shah sent Asada Khan to reduce the important fortress of Adoni,which was undisputedly in Vijayanagar territory.Rama Rajah despatched his younger brother,Venkatadri,to its relief,and the latter hastened thither with a large force.

"Assud Khan,upon his approach,raised the siege and moved towards him.A sharp engagement ensued,and Assud Khan,finding that he was likely to have the worst of the action,from the vast superiority in numbers of the enemy,retreated in good order,but was followed fourteen miles by the victors,when he encamped;and Venkatadry,[281]in order to be ready to harass the retreat the next day,halted in full security at a distance of only two miles from him.Assud Khan,who had ardently wished for such an event;towards the dawn of day,with four thousand chosen horse,surprized the camp of Venkatadry,whose self-confidence had left him wholly off his guard against such a manoeuvre.Assud Khan penetrated to his tents before he received the alarm,and he had scarce time to make his escape,leaving his treasures,family,and elephants to the mercy of the victors.When the day had fully cleared up,Venkatadry collected his scattered troops,and drew up as if to engage;but seeing Assud Khan resolute to maintain his advantage,and fearing for the personal safety of his wife and children,he declined hazarding a battle,and,retiring some miles off,fixed his camp:from whence he wrote Ramraaje an account of his disaster,and requested reinforcements to enable him to repair it.Ramraaje immediately sent supplies of men and money,openly declaring his intentions of carrying on the war,but privately informed his brother that he had reason to imagine that Ibrahim Adil Shaw had not been led merely of his own will to besiege Oodnee;that he suspected the zemindars of that quarter had invited him to make war,and that many of the nobility with him were secretly in his interest;therefore,he thought he would act prudently by making peace with the mussulmauns at present,and procuring the release of his wife and family from Assud Khan.Venkatadry,in consequence of the desires of his brother,having procured the mediation and influence of Assud Khan,addressed the sultan for peace,which being granted,and all affairs settled to the satisfaction of both states,Ibrahim Adil Shaw returned to Beejapore with Assud Khan and the rest of his nobility and army."Asada Khan after this was greatly honoured by the Sultan,in spite of the intrigues which were fomented against him.Quarrels and disturbances,however,arose in the Bijapur dominions which lasted during the whole of the year 1542;in the course of which year King Achyuta died,and was succeeded nominally by Sadasiva,during whose reign Vijayanagar was practically in the hands of Rama Rajah and of his two brothers,Tirumala and Venkatadri.

Firishtah was a great admirer of Asada Khan and supported him in all that he did.[282]Asada was a Turk,who,beginning life under the simple name of Khusru in the service of Ismail Adil Shah,distinguished himself in his sovereign's defence during the attack on Bijapur in 1511,a defence celebrated on account of the heroic conduct of the Sultan's aunt,Dilshad Agha.Khusru was rewarded by Ismail with the title of "Asada Khan,"a name which he bore for the rest of his life,and a grant of the jaghir of Belgaum.He rose to be chief minister and commander-in-chief of the army of his master,and died full of years and honours in A.D.1549.

The Portuguese at Goa had a very low opinion of Asada's character.They held him to be an inveterate intriguer,ready at every moment to betray his best friends,even his sovereign,if only by so doing he could advance his own personal and selfish interests;and in this,owing to his consummate skill and tortuous ways,he invariably succeeded.If space permitted,many interesting stories could be narrated of him,culled from the various writings of the day.[283]