The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c27.10

v3.c27.10

The lesser Hindu chieftains of the Deccan, who had been bound only by the loosest of feudal ties to their overlord in distant Delhi, had followed the example of Dvāravatīpura and Warangal, and Bahman was engaged during his reign of eleven years in establishing his authority in the kingdom which he had carved out of Muhammad’s empire. He first captured the forts of Bhokardhan and Māhūr from the Hindu chieftains who held them, and then dispatched his officers into various districts of the Deccan to reduce the unruly to obedience. ‘Imād-ul-Mulk and Mubārak Khān advanced to the Tāpti and secured the northern provinces, and Husain Gurshāsp received the submission of the remnants of Muhammad’s army which had been left to continue the siege of Daulatābād, and which submitted readily on learning that Bahman Shāh was prepared to pardon their activity in the cause of the master to whom they had owed allegiance. Qutb-ul-Mulk captured the towns of Bhūm, Akalkot, and Mundargi, and pacified, in accordance with the principle approved by his master, the districts dependent on them. Landholders who submitted and undertook to pay the taxes assessed on their estates were accepted as loyal subjects, without too rigorous a scrutiny of their past conduct, but the contumacious were put to death, and their lands and goods were confiscated. Qambar Khān reduced, after a siege of fifty days, the strong fortress of Kaliyāni, and Sikandar Khān, who was sent into the Bīdar district, marched as far south as Mālkhed, receiving the submission of the inhabitants of the country through which he passed, and compelled Kānhayya Nāik of Warangal to cede the fortress of Kaulās and to pay tribute for the territory which he was permitted to retain.