A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c16.34

c16.34

Nor was Muhammad without other troubles, for during his excursion into Telengana, his cousin Bahram Khan Mazandarani, governor of Daulatabad, revolted. He made common cause with Kāpaya Nāyaka and sent a futile message to Delhi seeking the aid of Firuz Tughlak. Muhammad sent an army against Daulatabad, while he himself took the field once more against Telengana. Wārangal and Golconda were besieged; Kāpaya Nāyaka had to flee to the jungles and was only able to purchase peace by the promise of fealty and the cession of the town of Golconda, much gold and many elephants. He also yielded a throne studded with turquoises meant originally for Muhammad bin Tughlak. On 21 March 1365, Muhammad sat on the throne at Gulbarga, and celebrated the occasion with great *éclat*. He ordered, according to Ferishta, that the singers and dancers who entertained him on this occasion should be paid by a draft on the treasury of Vijayanagar, and despite his ministers' remonstrances he insisted on the literal execution of this rash order. When his messenger took the draft to Vijayanagar, Bukka (Ferishta calls him Krishnarāya) had him paraded on an ass in his city, and then crossed the Tungabhadra and seized Mudgal. Muhammad was furious and incontinently marched against Bukka though only with a moderate force. Bukka withdrew with his cavalry to Adoni, leaving the infantry to face the enemy and defend the country. Muhammad plundered and killed the defenceless inhabitants in the villages before he retired into Mudgal for the rains. The rest of his army then joined him; he marched in the direction of Adoni and, early in 1367, a battle was fought at Kauthal, south of the Tungabhadra. The Muslims gained the victory, thanks to their guns and their cavalry, the Hindu artillery not coming into play till it was too late, and their commander Mallinātha being mortally wounded. Ferishta is very definite that guns were used by both sides on this occasion and that the gunners were generally Europeans and Ottoman Turks. After his defeat, Bukka eluded Muhammad's pursuit for three months, and finally shut himself up in his capital. Not having the strength to besiege the vast city, Muhammad feigned sickness and retreated. Bukka ventured to attack him, but he had to retire into the city again after losing many men and some treasure. Muhammad then took to the promiscuous slaughter of all the inhabitants of the country and proclaimed his intention of not stopping until his draft was honoured by the ruler of Vijayanagar; the war was then ended by Bukka consenting to this. Four hundred thousand Hindus, ten thousand Brahmin priests among them, lost their lives in the massacre. So shocked were both sides by the dimensions of the slaughter that an agreement was made to spare non-combatants in future wars. Though violated on occasions, this agreement did do something to mitigate the horrors of the perpetual contest between the two states.