Page:Historic Landmarks of the Deccan.djvu/82

 Kakatiyas when the Musalmans appeared on the scene affords little indication of the relations between the two dynasties, for it was probably dictated by unavoidable subservience to the hand which held the sword.

It is now necessary to notice very briefly the first invasion of southern India by the Musalmans. In 1294, twenty years before the battle of Bannockburn. Ala-ud-din Khalji, nephew and son-in-law of Jalal-ud-din Firuz Shah Khalji, the reigning emperor of Delhi, descended like a thunderbolt on the Deccan, hitherto an unknown land to the Muhammadans of northern India, and in the course of a brief campaign succeeded, by the mere force of almost incredible rashness and effrontery, in reducing the Yadavas of Deogir to the condition, of vassals of the empire of Delhi. Ala-ud-din, on his return from Deogir, murdered his uncle and usurped his throne, and having learnt during his raid the position and power of the Hindu kingdoms of the south despatched an expedition in 1309 under the African Kafur Hazardinari, who bore the title of Malik Naib, to Warangal. The invading army was assisted by Ramchandra of Deogir with men, money, and supplies, and on passing Indur,* the frontier post between Deogir and Warangal, began to plunder and devastate the country. The wretched inhabitants fled headlong to the capital, where they took refuge in the outer fort surrounded by Rudramma Devi's earthen wall, while the Raja Prataparudradeva II and his nobles remained in the stone fort which was the inner line of defence. The Hindus, hemmed in by the invader, had little chance of obtaining relief from without, as any convoys destined for Warangal would have been compelled to run the gauntlet of the Muhammadan army; but Malik Naib had instructions to content himself with a substantial acknowledgment of suzerainty, and the scion of the Kakatiyas preferred submission to extinction. He sent his Brahmans and Bhats to Malik Naib and offered to deliver to him all the treasures, jewels, elephants, and horses then in Warangal and thenceforward to send annually to Delhi a fixed tribute of treasure and elephants : Malik Naib accepted without hesitation terms which accorded so well with his instructions, and, after receiving lOO elephants, 7,000 horses and a large quantity of jewels and precious stuffs, returned to Delhi in 1310.