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37 soon as he was relieved. Ahmad Nizam Shah reheved Qasim Barid and returned by way of Daulatabad. He laid siege to the fort for two months, and then, finding that he had no prospect of success, returned towards Junnar. On his way thither he was attracted by the situation now occupied by Ahmadnagar, and conceived that with his headquarters in this place he would be able to carry off the crops of the Daulatabad country twice every year, as harvest seasons approached, and starve out the garrison of the fortress. He therefore founded, in 1495, the city of Ahmadnagar, and, when it was completed, began his depredations in the neighbourhood of Daulatabad, carrying off as much of the harvest as he could, and burning the rest. He then formed an alliance with FathuUah Imad-ul-Mulk of Berar and Adil Khan Faruqi of Khandesh, and obtained a promise of 2,000 horse from the latter to assist in the reduction of Daulatabad. Adil Khan Faruqi, trusting to the power of his new ally, now withheld the tribute which he had been accustomed to send to his powerful neighbour, Mahmud Shah of Gujarat. Mahmud Shah, annoyed by the defection of his vassal, marched towards the Deccan under pretence of making a tour in the southern district of his kingdom, and Sharaf-ud-din contrived to communicate with him from Daulatabad, and complained bitterly of the persecution to which he was subjected by Ahmad Nizam Shah. Mahmud continued his march southwards with the avowed object of bringing the Sultan of Khandesh to his senses, but with the secret intention of obtaining possession of Daulatabad. The Sultans of Berar, Khandesh, and Ahmadnagar combined to resist the invader, and Ahmad Nizam Shah, by bribing Mahmud Shah's mahout to let his master's elephant loose at night and by simultaneously attacking the camp of the Gujaratis, routed Mahmud's army and forced Mahmud himself to flee. Peace was then concluded and Ahmad returned to Daulatabad. He encamped in the hills above the town and in the neighbourhood of Ellora, leaving his troops in the plains below to invest the fort. Sharaf-ud-din, now seriously alarmed by Ahmad's persistence, contrived to send another message to Mahmud Shah, promising, if the fortress were relieved, to send tribute yearly to Gujarat and to have the khutba read in Mahmud's name in Daulatabad. Mahmud, anxious to retrieve the disgrace of his flight as well as to gain possession of Daulatabad, marched southwards through Khandesh, where he collected