The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c20.180

v4.c20.180

These successes dismayed the Sayyid brothers and various plans of action were discussed. Conciliatory letters and an imperial rescript promising Nizām-ul-Mulk the viceroyalty of the Deccan were estimated at their true value, in view of the continued presence of the Deccan army in the field. The rainy season rendered any rapid military movement impossible, and after some futile negotiations and much tedious marching and counter-marching through the heavy soil of Berār the armies met between the towns of Bālāpūr¹ and Shevgāon² in Berār. On 10 August both armies advanced to the attack. One historian has asserted that Nizām-ul-Mulk’s cause was desperate and that his defeat was averted only by the death of the opposing commander, ‘Ālim ‘Alī Khān, the nephew and deputy of Husain ‘Alī Khān. Many of the troops on the losing side, with the facility of those who fight for gain alone, transferred their services to the victor. A few days after the battle the governor of Hyderābād and his brother, who had announced that they were marching to the aid of the Sayyids, made their submission to Nizām-ul-Mulk in his camp, his authority was established in the viceroyalty of the Deccan, and he sent the head of Sayyid ‘Ālim ‘Alī Khān to the emperor as that of a rebel.