Page:Historic Landmarks of the Deccan.djvu/103

91 to his own, and bade defiance to Yusuf. Yusuf Adil Shah marched against the presumptuous African and defeated and slew him, thereafter capturing the forts of Gulbarga and Sagar, which, together with all the territory which had been in the hands of Dastur Dinar, he annexed to his dominions.

In 1511, in the beginning of the reign of Ismail Adil Shah, Yusufs son and successor, Kamal Khan, one of the principal nobles of Bijapur, entered into a conspiracy with Amir Barid of Bidar, the maire du palais of Mahmud Shah Bahmani, to take possession of and divide the Bijapur kingdom, and in pursuance of this design Amir Barid, taking with him Mahmud Shah Bahmani, invaded Ismail's territories, captured some of the forts in the vicinity of Gulbarga, and laid siege to Gulbarga itself. The rebellion in Bijapur was crushed and the principal rebels were slain. Ismail Adil Shah was now in a position to deal with the invaders. He defeated an army of 20,000 horse led against him by Mahmud Shah Bahmani and Amir Barid, while Jahangir Mirza, one of his nobles who had been forced to take refuge in Ahmadnagar during Kamal Khan's rebellion, relieved Gulbarga. The assumption of the royal title by the provincial governors of the Bahmani kingdom had been due not to dis- loyalty, but to the fixed determination of the governors not to serve the Barids, who were the de facto rulers of the Bahmani dominions. Accordingly we find Ismail Adil Shah, who was not inclined to abate a jot of his actual independence, paying homage to Mahmud Shah Bahmani immediately after he had defeated his troops, and making an effort to release him from the influence of Amir Barid. But the roi faineant^ who cared nothing for the business of the state or for actual power, so long as he had the means of gratifying his passions, hugged his chains and refused to be separated from the minister who was in fact his master. Ismail's intention to induce Mahmud Shah to visit him in Bijapur was thus frustrated, for Amir Barid was too wise to place himself in the power of the man whom he had wronged. The two kings repaired, therefore, to Gulbarga, where Ismail Adil Shah married his sister, Bibi Sati, with great pomp, to the young Prince Ahmad, son of Mahmud Shah. Soon after the ceremony Amir Barid gained possession of the persons of Mahmud Shah, his son, and the bride, and carried them oflf to Bidar.