A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c16.13

c16.13

The political revolution in Delhi which ended Khilji rule and ushered in that of the Tughlaks gave Pratāparudra II the opportunity of declaring himself free once again. His example spread and caused disaffection even in that part of Mahārāshtra which was under a governor of the sultanate. Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlak resolved, therefore, to do away with the Hindu kingdoms of the South one after another until the sway of Islam extended to Cape Comorin. He began in 1321 by sending against the kingdom of Warangal an expedition led by his son and heir, Ulugh Khan. The army marched as usual by way of Devagiri, laying waste the country and investing fortresses as soon as it entered Telengana. Pratāparudra retreated and shut himself and his forces up in the well stocked and strongly fortified capital city. The siege that followed lasted six months, at the end of which dissensions arose in the camp of the invaders, his lieutenants turned against Ulugh Khan and entered into negotiations with Pratāparudra. The Hindu monarch agreed to let them go back in peace, and when they did so, he fell upon the rump of the army under Ulugh Khan and compelled it also to retreat. Nor was it left in peace until Ulugh Khan entered into negotiations with the rebel section of his army and succeeded in interposing it between himself and the Warangal forces, so that his further retreat to Devagiri might be unhampered. On his way, however, he came by another section of the army which, under the command of Majir Abu Rija, was engaged in the vain attempt to reduce the fortress of Kotgir. Majir was cordial to Ulugh Khan and offered to help him in dealing with his rebel lieutenants; he sent instructions round that zamindars and heads of districts were to attack the rebels, seize them and send their chiefs to the court of the king. He then accompanied Ulugh Khan back to Devagiri. His way of dealing with the rebels proved effective; some of them fell fighting, others fled and hid themselves, and others were caught and sent to Delhi to be executed under the orders of the sultan.