A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c16.31

c16.31

Sultan Ala-ud-din Bāhman Shah reigned for eleven years till his death in February 1358. He spent most of his time waging war or conducting negotiations calculated to extend the territory under his sway. He had to encounter much opposition at first from nobles who were or professed to be loyal to their Tughlak suzerain. By a judicious mixture of force and clemency, Ala-ud-din changed the situation in a few years. Even Kāpaya Nāyaka of Wārangal had to surrender the fort of Kaulas and promise him tribute. As early as 1349 he attacked the territory of Vijayanagar and captured Karaichur. Five years later, as a result of an understanding with the new sultan of Madura who was a relative of his, Ala-ud-din attacked Vijayanagar a second time. While Muslim accounts claim for him the conquest of all territory up to the Tungabhadra, Hindu sources say that Harihara I inflicted a defeat on the sultan. However that may be, Ala-ud-din had become master of an extensive kingdom when he died. It extended up to the sea on the west and included the ports of Goa and Dabhol, the eastern limit was marked by Bhongir, while the Penganga and Krishna rivers bounded the kingdom on the north and the south. He gained recognition from the caliph, and his coin legend, ‘A second Alexander’, shows that he had further designs of conquest. He made Gulbarga his capital, and began adorning it with fine buildings. He organized the administration of the kingdom by dividing it into four provinces (tarafs) each under a governor; three were named after their chief cities—Gulbarga, Daulatabad, and Bidar—and the fourth was Berar.