Page:Historic Landmarks of the Deccan.djvu/27

Rh Qutb Shahi dynasty in reducing to obedience the Hindus of eastern Telingana, but was, nevertheless, sometimes drawn into the quarrel, and on such occasions pursued a policy of apparently purposeless vacillation. This line of conduct was, however, dictated by prudence. Having become involved in the quarrel the king of Golconda would support his ally up to a certain point, but, when it appeared probable that the assistance rendered would enable one belligerent utterly to crush the other, he either withdrew or changed sides, for the mainspring of the foreign policy of the Qutb Shahi dynasty was the maintenance of the balance of power, and the kings of that line were astute enough to perceive that if, by any mischance, the kingdoms of Bijapur and Ahmadnagar should be welded into one, the independence of Golconda, which was a slightly weaker state than either, was doomed.

Berar in these quarrels sided sometimes With Ahmadnagar and sometimes with Bijapur, until a particularly acrimonious dispute between Burhan Nizam Shah and Ala-ud-din Imad Shah concerning the possession of the town and district of Pathri, which were included in Berar but were the patrimony of Burhan's Brahman ancestors, threw the smaller kingdom into the arms of Bijapur. This dispute, which led to frequent wars between Berar and Ahmadnagar, went near to imperilling the existence of both kingdoms when Ala-ud-din Imad Shah in 1529 was so ill-advised as to invoke the aid of the ambitious Bahadur Shah of Gujarat, whose intervention gave him a foothold in the Deccan which seemed at one time likely to become permanent.

Throughout all this wrangling the little kingdom of Bidar fought for its own hand, allying itself now with one power or combination of powers and now with another. The craft and political acumen of its rulers preserved the little state intact for a longer period than might have been expected, though its preservation is partly to be attributed to the jealousy existing between the three kingdoms of Bijapur, Ahmadnagar and Golconda which was for a long time sufficiently strong to ensure the combination of two of the three against an attempt by any one of them to absorb Bidar. Amir Barid not only intrigued incessantly with all three, but also coquetted with the Hindu empire of Vijayanagar.