A Forgotten Empire: Vijayanagar by Robert Sewell (short story to read TXT) 📕

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]

Barros calls him “Sufo Larij,”[284] a name which some writers have derived from “Yusuf of Lar.” Castanheda spells the name “Cufolarim.”

Asada Khan is entitled to a chapter to himself, but, to avoid prolixity, I will only give one extract from the “Asia” of Barros.[285] Allusion has been made above to an attack on the mainlands of Goa by three Hindu chiefs, when Ponda was besieged. The inhabitants appealed to Nuno da Cunha, the governor-general, who hesitated to interfere for fear of bringing on a war with the Adil Shah. The principal danger was the lord of Belgaum, Asada Khan.

“Acadachan, like one who in a safe and lofty place watches some great fire spreading over the plains below, watched from his city of Belgaum the events that were passing;” — but did nothing till the Adil Shah wrote desiring him to return to Bijapur, which he had temporarily left owing to a disagreement, and to assist him in the government of the kingdom. Asada Khan replied craftily that he had done with the affairs of this life, and proposed to go and die at Mecca. At this Ismail flew into a passion and vowed revenge against his powerful subject, who, to save himself, wrote to Da Cunha, professing his unalloyed friendship for the Portuguese, and inviting them to take possession of certain tracts on the mainland; declaring that his master, the Sultan, was powerless to defend himself against the armies of Vijayanagar. This was, it must be borne in mind, long after the Hindu victory at Raichur. Da Cunha sent Christovao de Figueiredo, Krishna Deva’s valiant friend, to bear his reply, since the latter was on friendly terms with the lord of Belgaum. A conversation took place, in which Asada Khan said that he was afraid of his master, who was of variable and inconstant character, and that he desired of all things to preserve friendship with the Portuguese. He therefore begged to be allowed to visit Goa and cement an alliance with the governor-general, to whom he faithfully promised that the lands in question should become for ever the property of the king of Portugal. Accordingly the lands were seized by Da Cunha.

Immediately afterwards Asada began to intrigue with the king of Vijayanagar, and being invited to visit that city on the occasion of one of the great MAHANAVAMI festivals, left Belgaum with 13,000 men and 200 elephants. Before starting he wrote to Da Cunha, asking that Figueiredo might be sent to accompany him, and promising to obtain for the Portuguese a definite cession of the lands from the Raya, since these had formerly been the latter’s possession. Accordingly Figueiredo left for Vijayanagar, but learned that the Khan had already arrived there and had joined the king. The Raya received Asada favourably, and, as a present, gave him two towns, “Tunge and Turugel,”[286]since he hoped for his aid against the Sultan.

When the Sultan heard of Asada Khan’s defection he gave himself up for lost, but assembled an army and advanced to within twelve leagues of the king’s camp, where Asada Khan had pitched his tents at some distance from those of the Hindu lords. The Sultan thence wrote to the Raya demanding the delivery to him of his recalcitrant “slave,” and the Raya sent on the letter to Asada Khan, who told the king that he would never join the Muhammadans, but would remain faithful to Vijayanagar. A short pause ensued, during which the Raya learned that constant messages were passing between the camps of the Sultan and Asada Khan. Both armies then marched towards Raichur, the Raya to retake the place from the Sultan, the Sultan watching for an opportunity to attack the Raya.

On the third day Asada Khan started with his forces two hours in advance of the royal troops, crossed the river first, and hastened to join the Sultan. Adil Shah received him with great apparent cordiality, and at length freely forgave him on the Khan’s protestations that his intrigues with Vijayanagar and the Portuguese were only so many moves in a game undertaken for the advancement of the Sultan’s interests. Previous to this move the Khan had held a conversation with Figueiredo, in which he succeeded in totally deceiving him as to his intentions, and reiterated his promises to obtain the cession of the mainlands from the Raya, for whom he professed the greatest friendship.

In the end, says Barros, the Adil Shah, secretly fearful of Asada Khan’s duplicity, made a treaty of peace with the Raya, by which the Muhammadans retained Raichur but gave up some other territory.

Though this story differs from Firishtah at almost every point, it is permissible to think that it may refer to the events of 1535, when the Sultan visited Vijayanagar; for in continuing his narrative, Barros a little later mentions the year 1536. It seems hopeless to try and reconcile the conflicting stories of Nuniz, Barros, and Firishtah, but enough has been said to afford insight into the character of Asada Khan. Nuniz echoes the general sentiment when he writes of the Khan’s rescue of the Adil Shah, after his defeat at Raichur in 1520 A.D., as being effected “by cunning,” for his own purposes; and when he describes how, by a series of lies, Asada contrived the execution of Salabat Khan at the hands of Krishna Raya.

During this reign the Portuguese were busy establishing themselves at various places on the coast, and they built several forts there for the protection of their trade. They had been constantly at war with the Samuri of Calicut and other feudatories of Vijayanagar; but with the Raya himself they were on terms of friendship, and in 1540 they ratified a treaty of peace with the sovereigns of Bijapur and Ahmadnagar as well as with the Samuri.

Throughout the whole of their dealings with the Portuguese I find not a single instance where the Hindu kings broke faith with the intruders,[287] but as much cannot, I fear, be said on the other side. The Europeans seemed to think that they had a divine right to the pillage, robbery, and massacre of the natives of India. Not to mince matters, their whole record is one of a series of atrocities. It is sad to turn from the description given us by Paes of the friendship felt for the Portuguese, and especially for Christovao de Figueiredo, by the “gallant and perfect” King Krishna Deva, and then to read of the treachery of the Viceroy towards the great Hindu Government; with which the Portuguese had made alliances and treaties, and for which they openly professed friendship. Thus, to take one instance only, in 1545 the governor of Goa made ready a large fleet and a force of 3000 men, but kept all his preparations secret, for very good reason. His object was to sail round the coast to San Thome, near Madras, land his troops, march inland, and sack the great temple of Tirumala or Tirupati, purely for lust of gain. Luckily a severe storm prevented him from setting said, but he plundered and destroyed some rich temples on the western coast, and enriched himself with the spoil This was a mere wanton attack on property belonging to feudatories of the Vijayanagar empire, for there has never been any pretence that the peace-loving Brahmans attached to these temples had in any way offended or interfered with the Portuguese.

In the time of Achyuta a large number of grants were made by the nobles to temples throughout Southern India, and numerous inscriptions on stone and copperplates are extant relating to these charitable and religious donations. One of the most important has been published by Professor Kielhorn.[288] It relates that the king, being on the banks of the Tungabhadra on the 12th October A.D. 1540, at the temple of Vitthalasvami or Vitthalesvara — the splendidly sculptured pavilions of which remain to this day, even in their ruin and decay, an object of astonishment and admiration to all beholders —