Page:Historic Landmarks of the Deccan.djvu/217

 garden near the citadel, known as Nagina Bagh, and there stood under a cocoanut palm, where Razzaq threw himself down. On the morning of the next day some of Husaini Beg's men, who chanced to be passing, saw him and identified him. Moved with generous pity for so valiant a foe they raised him, half-dead, on to a bed, and conveyed him with his horse and arms to his house, and his family and servants busied themselves in attending to his wounds. I have placed on record this account of a fraction of his valour. What more I have to say regarding the loyalty of this most valiant hero will, please God, be related hereafter."

In the behaviour of Abul Hasan, when he received the news that the Mughals had at length effected an entrance into the fortress, there was nothing to recall the craven flight from Haidarabad to Golconda. He first betook himself to his harem, where he was assiduous in calming the fears aroused by the news that the rule of the Qutb Shahi kings was over. Then, having bidden farewell to the ladies, he arrayed himself in his robes of state and repaired to his throne-room, the diwan-i-khass, where he took his seat, for the last time, upon his throne, and awaited the arrival of his unbidden guests. When his usual meal-time arrived, he commanded food to be brought. The meal had no sooner been ordered than Ruhu-'llah Khan, Mukhtar Khan, and their companions arrived. They saluted the last Qutb Shah in the usual form, and he, "abating not one jot of his kingly dignity," replied "wa'alaikum as-salam." The king and the Mughal officers remained in converse till the morning, discoursing principally, it appears, on indifferent matters. The Mughal historian has nothing but praise for the carriage, behaviour, and dignified stoicism of the defeated monarch. When the meal which had been ordered was laid, the king invited the imperial officers to join him, an invitation which some accepted while others held aloof. Among the latter was Ruhu-'llah Khan, who was unable to contain his astonishment at the king's possessing any appetite for food at such a time. To him the king replied with quiet dignity that he trusted in God who had given him day by day his daily bread, that he was accustomed to eat at the hour at which this meal was served and that he saw no reason to forgo the enjoyment of the gifts of his Creator.