Page:The Nizam.djvu/34

8 AKBAR'S EXTENSION POLICY. of the Shahs of Beejapoor, Golconda, and Ahmednugger in 1564, enabled them to subvert the empire of Beeja- nugger and reduce the power of its chief to that of a petty raja. The kingdom of Beder, which had fallen to the share of Ameer Bereed, was, during the reign of his grandson, destroyed, and its territories, which were not large, divided among the other usurpers of the Bahmanee dominions. A similar fate awaited the portion of Ahmed, which consisted of the southern part of Berar; it sub- sisted as a kingdom only four generations, and was an- nexed to his dominions by the King of Ahmednugger in the year 1574. Deccan was therefore, at the time when its invasion was projected by the Moguls, divided among the sovereigns of Beejapoor, Ahmednugger, and Golconda." In the year 1593, when Akbar, the Emperor of Delhi, found "himself master from the mountains of Persia and Tartary to the confines of the Deccan, he cast his eyes on the contiguous land. He gave directions to his governors in the provinces nearest the Deccan to prepare as nume- rous armies as possible, and to omit no opportunity of extending the empire. He despatched ambassadors to the kingdoms of Deccan more with a design to collect informa- tion than to settle disputes. And at last a great army un- der Meerza, the son of Behram who had reduced Goozerat, marched in execution of this project of unprovoked aggres- sion and unprincipled ambition. . . . In addition to this army Akbar sent orders to his son Morad, to whom he had committed the government of Goozerat, to join him with all his forces: Meerza had already been reinforced with the troops of Malwa, governed by another son of the emperor, and by 6000 horse belonging to the King of Khandeish, who had endeavoured, by submission, to avert the ruin which resistance would insure. The .