Page:Historic Landmarks of the Deccan.djvu/90

 less his own than that of the Raya of Vijayanagar, who, he said, had instigated him to oppose the Musalmans. Muhammad Shah at first turned a deaf ear to these entreaties, but at the instance of Bahadur Khan, who was probably actuated by motives other than an altruistic love of peace for its own sake, he agreed to negotiations for peace and appointed Bahadur Khan, the raja's intermediary, his plenipotentiary. Peace was concluded on the following terms: — Three hundred elephants, thirteen lakhs of huns, and two hundred horses were to be sent to Gulbarga, and the fortress of Golconda, with the district of which it was the capital, was to be ceded to Muhammad Shah. These terms were considered hard but Muhammad had already occupied Golconda and they were the best that could be obtained. Muhammad Shah retired to Bidar and left Azam-i-Humayun in Golconda and Bahadur Khan in Kaulas to see that the terms of peace were fulfilled. The latter received the envoys of Warangal at Kaulas and sent them on with the stipulated gifts to Muhammad Shah at Bidar, where they were courteously received. In a second audience the envoys presented to Muhammad Shah a magnificent jewelled throne which had originally been made by Prataparudradeva II for Muhammad bin Tughlaq. This throne, which was afterwards known as the takht-i-firuza, was made of ebony and was three yards in length and two and a half in breadth. It was overlaid with plates of gold heavily jewelled which were removable and could be packed in boxes for travelling. Successive kings of the Bahmani dynasty added more jewels until, in the reign of Mahmud Shah, the fourteenth king, the throne was valued at ten millions of huns, or about ₤400,000. Muhammad Shah, in consideration of this splendid gift, gave a solemn undertaking that he would regard Golconda as his frontier and would not seek to molest Warangal unless the raja should break the peace.

After this campaign the rajas of Warangal were left unmolested by the Bahmani Kings for many years. In 1417 their instalments of tribute had fallen into arrears and Firuz Shah, the eighth king of the Bahmani dynasty, sent messengers to demand payment, which was peaceably made. Ahmad Shah Wall, the brother and successor of Firuz Shah, made war on Devaraya II of Vijayanagar in 1422, and the latter summoned the Raja of Warangal to his assistance. Ahmad Shah halted on the north bank of the Tungabhadra for forty days while the allied