A history of the Deccan . olatrous Hindoos, and, taking religionas his excuse, he determined to plunder them. In reality, whathe wanted the riches for was to use them as a means ofgaining his father-in-laws throne. Without mentioning hisproject to the emperor, Ala-ud-Din marched southwards witha large army, and was absent for more than a year. Duringthis time no one knew what had become of him, but therewere vague rumours that he was lighting with the Hindoosin Deogiri. This, indeed, was the case, and for a great partof this time he was besieging the fortress of Deogiri, afterwardsDowlatabad.
A history of the Deccan . olatrous Hindoos, and, taking religionas his excuse, he determined to plunder them. In reality, whathe wanted the riches for was to use them as a means ofgaining his father-in-laws throne. Without mentioning hisproject to the emperor, Ala-ud-Din marched southwards witha large army, and was absent for more than a year. Duringthis time no one knew what had become of him, but therewere vague rumours that he was lighting with the Hindoosin Deogiri. This, indeed, was the case, and for a great partof this time he was besieging the fortress of Deogiri, afterwardsDowlatabad. This fortress is situated on an isolated hill, 640feet in height. The hill is cone-shaped, and in addition tothe steepness of the rock it was very strongly fortified withwalls, bastions, and moats. There were in reality three distinctforts, one within another, and at the foot was the city whichwas the centre of a considerable trade. At the time of Ala-ud-Dins invasion. Ram Deo was king of Deogiri. Zia-ud-Din Barni, the Maliom-Ldaii historiai],says: The peopleof that coinitrv hadnever heard of the Miis-sidmans; the Mahrattaand liad never beenpunished by their armies;no JMiissidman king orprince had penetrated sofar. Deogiri was exceed-ingly rich in gold andsilver, jewels and pearls,and other Deo sent an armyto meet the Mahomedaninvader, but it wastotally defeated, andAla-ud-Din then investedthe fortress of fort was not taken,and the Rajah saved itonly by agreeing to giveup an immense amountof treasure, consistingof gold, jewels andelephants, with whichAla-ud-Din returned toKarra, his seat of govern-ment. So great was thistreasure that it is saidnothing had ever beenseen like it before, andAla-ud-Din used it to win 4 HISTORY OF TEE DECCAN. over as many to liis side as ])ossil)le. When the Ein])eror Jelal-lul-Din heard that his soii-iii-law had returned after so successfula campaign, he sent to congratuhite him and to ask why he didnot come
Size: 1040px × 2403px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookidhistoryofdec, bookyear1896
