A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c17.27

c17.27

Abdur Razzak relates that while he was staying at Calicut in 1443, a brother of Devarāya II attempted to murder the king at a banquet. The plot was a failure, however, because the king excused himself on the score of health, though many nobles fell into the trap and lost their lives. Ala-ud-din Bāhmanī II evidently knew of the conspiracy, and tried to take advantage of the confusion by demanding from Devarāya the payment of ‘seven lakhs of varāhas’ (pagodas). Devarāya returned a defiant answer which he soon followed up by an invasion of the Raichur doab. The campaign began very well; Mudgal was taken, Raichur and Bankapur were besieged and the country up to Bijapur laid waste. But the Bāhmani forces soon rallied and compelled Devarāya to fall back on Mudgal. In the last of three engagements that followed, Devarāya’s elder son was killed, and his troops were driven back into the fortress of Mudgal. Two important Bāhmani generals, however, were taken prisoners until the sultan threatened a wholesale massacre of the Hindu population if they were not released; and Devarāya did not feel strong enough to refuse the Sultan’s terms.