The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c27.98

v3.c27.98

The king returned to Gulbarga shortly before the time when the fierce heat of the dry months of 1423 should have been tempered by the advent of the seasonal rains, but the rain failed, and its failure was followed by a famine. He was in his capital at the same season of the following year, when the distress of his people was at its height and the usual signs of the approach of the rainy season were still absent. The calamity was attributed to the displeasure of heaven, and Ahmad imperilled his reputation, if not his person, by publicly ascending a hill without the city and praying, in the sight of the multitude, for rain. Fortune favoured him, the clouds gathered, and the rain fell. The drenched and shivering multitude hailed him as a saint, and he proudly bore the title.