Storia do Mogor 271: GULKANDAH KINGS.

271

The kingdom of Gulkandah was given to another slave of the same race, also a renegade. He had charge of the hawks, falcons, and the royal hunting establishments. For this reason he is painted with a falcon on his hand of the kind called Baram.' Upon the death of the emperor (Ram Raja) he, too, adopted a title, and called himself —
1. Baram 'Ali Qutb Shah, and reigned 38 years 5 months and 7 days. His descendants are:
2. Sultan Jamshid Qutb Shah, reigned 7 years 9 months and 11 days. [At this point are interpolated two pages, 425 and 426, which belong to No. 7, Sultan Abu,l Hasan.]
3. [427] Sultan Ibrahim Qutb Shah, reigned 31 years, 4 months and 13 days.
4. Sultan Muhammad Qutb Shah, reigned 31 years 3 months and 29 days.
5. Sultan Mahmud Qutb Shah, reigned 14 years 1 month and 15 days.
6. Sultan 'Abdullah Qutb Shah, who gave his daughter in marriage to Sultan Muhammad, son of Aurangzeb, as I have already stated (I. 163). He reigned 48 years 11 months and 29 days.
7. Sultan Abu,l Hasan Qutb Shah, reigned 16 years 3 months and 29 days. This king was the last of this dynasty, and Aurangzeb deprived him of his throne in the year 1686, and sent him a prisoner to the fortress of Daulatabad, with an allowance of ten rupees a day for his support. These kings were styled Qutb Shah — that is, ' Star of the North.'
[425] A few years before this last king was deprived of his kingdom, it happened that he lost from his room a dagger worth half a million of rupees. It was covered all over with valuable jewels, and to get it back he made many efforts. The thief was afraid he would be found out; he was a favourite of the king's, a doctor of the law. This man, therefore, produced the dagger before the king and made excuses, saying he had taken possession of it for the sake of safety. The king was aware that he must be the thief and was deserving of death. But he did not punish him, since he passed as a virtuous man, and one learned in the Muhammadan law. The king ordered him to be paraded throughout the city, while a drum was beaten, and proclamation made in the streets that anyone declaring that this man stole His Majesty's dagger would lose his life. In this way the king proved both his wisdom and his sense of justice.
This king was very fond of listening to music and the playing of instruments. Without these sounds he could not sleep. The greater part of his time was passed among his women, neglecting the necessary attention to the government of his kingdom. But from motives of policy he made an inspection twice a year of his cavalry. These great men in India have a notion that we have no cavalry in Europe, and do not know how to use them. They say that Europeans are great navigators, and only skilful at sea.