Page:A Comprehensive History of India Vol 1.djvu/110

 /^ HISTORY OF TNniA. [Ik.oK I.

AD. i2fl3. obstinate conflict, the Moguls were defcHted. It is prol»able that the vict^jry was not decisive, for Jelal-u-din gave the Moguls free permission Uj withdraw from his dominions, and excljanged j^resents with them in thew, who had pieviously V>een governor

by Ala- of Kurra, obtained in addition to it the government of Oude, and began to entertain schemes of conquest, with a view to ultimate independence. One of his expeditions is interesting as the first which the Mahometans maxle to the Deccan. It was directed against Ram Dew, Rajah of Dewghur or Dowletabad, who is described as possessing the wealth of a long line of kings. Ala-u-din, after reaching the Deccan frontier, pressed forward towards the capital. The rajah happened to be absent, and hastened home in great alarm. Having sud- denly collected a force, composed chiefly of citizens and domestics, he encountered the Mahometans about four miles from the city; but, though he behaved gallantly, was easily repulsed, and driven back into the fort. Its ditch, which is now one of the most remarkaVjle sights of the Deccan, the scarp being in many places 100 feet, excavated in the solid rock, was not then in existence, and the chief defence was a bare wall. The city was taken at once, and pillaged. Many of the inhabitants, after hea-vy contributions had been levied from them, were cruelly tortured for the discovery of their property. The fort still held out, but Ram Dew began to despond, as the Mahometans had given out that their present force was only the advanced guard of the King of Delhi's army. He therefore offered a large ransom, which Ala-u-din, who had begun to feel the difficulties of his position in the centre of a hostile country, was fain to accept.

The terms had just been concluded when Shunkul Dew, the rajahs eldest son, was seen advancing with a numerous army. His father sent a message to him, intimating that peace was concluded, and ordering him to desist from hostilities. The youth refused, and sent messengers to Ala-u-din with a letter, in which he said, " If you have any love for life, and desire safety, restore what you have plundered, and proceed quietly homeward, rejoicing at your happy escape." The Mahometan indignation was so roused that the messengers, after having their faces blackened with soot, were hooted out of the camp. Defeat of the Ala-u-din immediately moved out to meet the approaching enemy, leaTiig Dowieta- Only Mullik Noosroot, with 1000 horse, to invest the foit and prevent a sally. In the contest which ensued, the jIahometans were overpowered by numbers, and falling back on all sides, when the sudden aiTival of Mullik Noosroot, who had left his station at the fort without orders, changed the fortune of the day. The Hindoos, supposing that the royal army, of which they had heard so much, was actually arrived, were seized with a panic, and fled in all