Page:Historic Landmarks of the Deccan.djvu/33

 whom he had married was a termagant, and his domestic troubles were accentuated by the interference of his mother-in-law, the Malika-i-Jahan, who espoused her daughter's cause and supported her in her opposition to her husband. Relations became so strained that the prince feared that his mother-in-law, who had great influence over her husband, the emperor, would contrive to compass his death. Ala-ud-din was at this time governor of the province of which Karra, on the Ganges, 42 miles north-west of Allahabad, was the capital. There he consulted with friends as to how he could best raise an army sufficiently strong to enable him to found a kingdom for himself in some strange land beyond the emperor's dominions, where he could forget his domestic troubles and be secure from the designs of the Malika-i-Jahan. To assemble a large army without the emperor's knowledge was impossible, and as a large army was necessary to the execution of his design, Ala-ud-din had recourse to artifice. He represented to the emperor that the safety of the empire required that Chanderi should be subdued, and asked for and obtained permission to undertake the task. He marched from Karra in 1294, keeping the real object of his expedition a secret even from his own troops. He had already heard, during an expedition to Bhilsa, vague rumours of the great wealth of the Rajas of Deogir, and resolved to attack that place. Passing through Chanderi he advanced southwards and arrived, after a march of two months' duration, at Ellichpur. Here he halted for a short time to rest his troops, and explained his presence by saying that he was one of the nobles of Delhi who was leaving the imperial service and wished to enter that of the Raja of Rajamahendri in Telingana. He then left Ellichpur by night and pressed on by forced marches towards Deogir. Fortune favoured his enterprise, and it so happened that Deogir was at this time almost denuded of troops, the army having accompanied the Raja's eldest son, Shankar Deo, who had gone on a pilgrimage. Ala-ud-din advanced as far as Lasura, about twelve miles from Deogir, without meeting with any opposition. Meanwhile Ramdeo, who had heard of the approach of the invader, had contrived to collect two or three thousand men and to despatch them to Lasura to stay his progress. This small force was easily defeated by the Muhammadan army and was pursued to the gates of Deogir. The Raja took refuge in the citadel, then a place of no strength and undefended even by