Firishta's History (Gulshan-i Ibrāhīmī) 119.7
History of the Rise of the Mahomedan Power in India (Briggs) 119.7
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119.7.1
The eunuch, as might be expected, fell a victim to his conduct. Ally Adil Shah having left no children was succeeded by his nephew Ibrahim, the son of his brother Tahmasp; but as the death of his uncle was succeeded by internal commotions, and as Ibrahim was himself very young, Moortuza Nizam Shah took the opportunity of attacking his territories; for which purpose he appointed Behzad-ool-Moolk Toork, with an army, to invade Beejapoor. Behzad-ool-Moolk was opposed by the Beejapoor troops at the village of Darasun, situated between Nuldoorg and Sholapoor, where he sustained a defeat, and was pursued to the neighbourhood of Bidur. The Nizam Shahies, in their retreat, formed a junction with Syud Moortuza, a Nizam Shahy general who had marched from Berar to assist in the siege. Moortuza Nizam Shah now recalled Behzad-ool-Moolk from the field, giving the supreme command to Syud Moortuza, who, after having been joined by Ameer Shah Meer and the Kootb Shahy auxiliaries, marched to Nuldoorg, where the army of Ibrahim Adil Shah was still encamped. Another action ensued, after which the Beejapoor troops took refuge in the fort. A great part of the Beejapoor army being now closely besieged in Nuldoorg, it was thought advisable for the allies to proceed to Beejapoor itself. Accordingly they marched at midnight; but the troops in Nuldoorg hearing of their intention quitted the fort soon after sunset, and proceeded with expedition to their capital, which they reached before the enemy.
119.7.2
On the arrival of the allies they were opposed by Yekhlas Khan and Dilawur Khan with great bravery, who had nearly defeated the Nizam Shahy troops, when the Golconda cavalry charging, turned the fate of the day, and the Adil Shahies were compelled to seek shelter within the walls of the city, leaving two elephants, Atushpara and Koohpara in the hands of the enemy. On the following day, a body of Abyssinians made a sally from the fort, but were repulsed. At this time news arrived, that Ameer Zein, who had been sent with a division of Kootb Shahy troops from Golconda to reduce the districts of Nakavy, Culloor, and Kakny, after having occupied those places, was on the march to join the allies at Beejapoor; but Ibrahim Adil Shah determining, if possible, to prevent this junction, directed Mirza Noor-ood-Deen Nyshapoory, with five thousand cavalry, to march at night and intercept the detachment under Ameer Zein. The districts of Kakny, Culloor, and Nakavy, were originally taken by Sooltan Koolly Kootb Shah from the Hindoos; but in the short reign of Soobhan Koolly, Ally Adil Shah had wrested them from the Golconda officers; and although Ibrahim Kootb Shah was at all times ready to assert his just claims, yet from the constant warfare in which he had been engaged it was not thought politic to demand them from Ally Adil Shah while he was in alliance, or desirable to engage in war merely for their sake. The demand was, therefore, never made;
119.7.3
but now, an opportunity presented itself of recovering them that could not be resisted; for which purpose, Ameer Zein with a considerable force had been appointed. This general was at first opposed by Dowlut Khan and Meean Boodoo, who were defeated, and compelled to fly. The towns of Kakny, Nakavy, and Kurnul, fell into Ameer Zein's hands; and having left garrisons in each, he proceeded to the fort of Culloor, which was also taken without opposition. At this time, Ameer Zein received information that one hundred and fifty elephants belonging to Ibrahim Adil Shah, which were at Sagur, were proceeding to Beejapoor; he accordingly marched to intercept them; but the elephants had returned to Sagur, and he was disappointed of his prey. The commandant of Sagur, Syud Ashruf, with a party of three thousand Marratta cavalry, attacked the Kootb Shahies, but was defeated with great loss, and himself taken prisoner. Ameer Zein now set fire to the town of Sagur, and proceeded to reduce the fort of Madurgy, which soon fell, thence he marched to Etgeer, where he defeated another detachment of Adil Shahy troops. Having recovered all the estates formerly belonging to the Golconda government, Ameer Zein was directed to levy a lack of hoons (40,000l.), and to collect ten thousand candies of grain from the inhabitants, and march to Beejapoor. The enemy made great exertions to intercept this convoy;
119.7.4
and fifty thousand infantry, from the forts of Nulgonda, Koolburga, and Sagur, attacked Ameer Zein at the village of Ulmulla; but they were defeated with the loss of two thousand men, after which the convoy continued its march. It was again intercepted by thirty thousand infantry, and measures adopted to prevent his cavalry from obtaining forage: indeed every effort was made on the part of Beejapoor to cut off Ameer Zein's detachment before its junction with the allied army; for which purpose Mirza Noor-ood-Deen Nyshapoory, with five thousand cavalry, had been detached from the fort. The besiegers, having intimation of his march, sent an equal force to pursue him; which overtaking the Beejapoor troops on the second day routed them, and enabled Ameer Zein, with his valuable supply of money and provisions, to join the allies in spite of all the exertions of the enemy. At this time a civil war raged within the town; and Kishwur Khan and Ein-ool-Moolk, two of the principal officers of the Beejapoor court, were compelled to fly from the fury of the Abyssinians, and to seek protection in the allied camp.
119.7.5
On the following day, the Abyssinians sent one of their party privately to Syud Moortuza, commander-in-chief of the Nizam Shahy troops, proposing to replace Shah Abool Hussun, the son of Shah Tahir (who was a great friend of Syud Moortuza), in the situation of minister at Beejapoor, on condition that the Nizam Shahy troops should attack Ameer Shah Meer, the commander-in-chief of the Kootb Shahy troops. So little care was taken by the parties to conceal this proposal, that it accidentally came to the ears of Ameer Shah Meer himself. Syud Moortuza, finding the secret had been discovered, instantly went to Ameer Shah Meer and communicated to him, with apparent frankness, the overtures which the Abyssinians of Beejapoor had made, and they agreed to take the most solemn oaths to support each other. The Abyssinians, defeated in this plot, devised another method of raising the siege. They employed ten thousand Marratta cavalry to harass the foragers, and so cut off supplies. In this system of warfare they were so successful that the allies found it impossible to continue the blockade, and therefore determined to ravage the country. They accordingly raised the siege, and laid waste and plundered the districts of Mirch, Raybagh, Punala, Satara, and Hookery. Thence they proceeded towards Koolburga, and determined to besiege the fort of Nuldoorg.
119.7.6
At this time news arrived of the death of Ibrahim Kootb Shah of Golconda, and of the accession of his son, Mahomed Koolly Kootb Shah, to the throne. When the late king, Ibrahim Kootb Shah, had settled the countries of the Hindoos on his southern frontier, and despatched his commander, Ameer Shah Meer, to oppose the armies of his Mahomedan neighbours, he vested the management of the affairs of his government in the hands of one Moorhary Row, a Marratta bramin, to whom was attached a body of ten thousand infantry, under the command of Mahomedan officers of rank, with permission to beat the nobut. Moorhary Row was in every respect the second person in the state, not even excepting the princes of the blood-royal. In the latter end of the late king's reign, this unprincipled infidel proceeded with a force towards a famous temple near Adohy, where he attacked the inhabitants, laid waste the country, and sacked it of its idols, made of gold and silver, and studded with rubies. He levied also four lacks of hoons (160,000l.) from the inhabitants. At sight of the idols the King was taken seriously ill, and never recovered. He died on Thursday the 21st of Rubbee-oos-Sany, A. H. 988, in the thirty-first year of his reign, and fifty-first of his age, and was buried in the Lungur gardens. Ibrahim Kootb Shah had thirty children, of whom six sons and thirteen daughters arrived at the age of maturity.
119.7.7
The eldest son, Abdool Kadur, entitled Shah Sahib, was confined in the fort of Dewurconda, where he died in his twenty-first year, and was buried in the Lungur gardens at Golconda. The second son, Mirza Hoossein Koolly, was drowned while bathing in the Namumpilly tank, at the age of twenty-six, in the year 994; but his body was found, and buried in the Lungur gardens at Golconda. The third son was Mahomed Koolly, who succeeded his father on his throne. The fourth son was Mirza Abdool Futteh. He was thirteen years of age at his father's death, and died in his twenty-eighth year, in a fit, A. H. 1003. The fifth son was Mirza Mahomed Khoodabunda, full-brother to Mahomed Koolly. He was famed for his bravery; but in the year 1018 he engaged in a plot to dethrone his elder brother, and being confined in the fort of Golconda, died, A. H. 1020, in the thirtieth year of his age. The sixth son was Mirza Mahomed Ameen. He was the youngest child of his father, and died a natural death, A. H. 1004, in the twenty-fifth year of his age. It is not related in any history that the army of this prince was defeated while he commanded in person. In the camp he was attended by learned men, whom he used to consult on points of law ; and such was the vigilance of his authority and the excellence of his police administration, that an old woman might pass with a tray of gold on her head from Golconda to Bengal, to Beejapoor, or to Ahmudnuggur, without fear of molestation ;
119.7.8
a circumstance the more to be wondered at, when we consider the dexterity and the boldness of the robbers of Tulingana. Of the conquests achieved in this reign the principal are those of Cossimcota, Rajmundry, and Condbeer. Among the many edifices erected for the purposes of charity, for public offices, for royal residences, or for general utility, the following are the most conspicuous : — The fortifications around the hill of Golconda ; the Ibrahim Gardens ; the Goolshun, or Flower Garden ; the Lungur, or Alms-house, dedicated to the twelve Imams ; the Tank at Ibrahimputtun ; the Tank called Hoossein Sagur ; the Dam at Boodwul, and the Kala Chubootra, or Black Terrace at Golconda, besides numerous mosques and colleges which were erected under his direction. During the just reign of Ibrahim Kootb Shah, Tulingana, like Egypt, became the mart of the whole world. Merchants from Toorkistan, Arabia, and Persia, resorted to it ; and they met with such encouragement that they found in it inducements to return frequently. The greatest luxuries from foreign parts daily abounded at this king's hospitable board ; and praise be to God that the virtuous habits of this illustrious house still increase ; and may they continue to do so till the end of time !