A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c17.49

c17.49

After this preliminary canter against his foes, Krishnadeva spent some time in his capital reorganizing his army and converting the motley feudal levies into an effective fighting force. He then invaded the Raichur doab and took the Raichur fort, finding his opportunity in the differences that had arisen between Bijapur and the Bāhmani sultan. Yusuf Adil Khan had been succeeded by his young son Ismail Adil Shah as nominal ruler in Bijapur, but Kamal Khan was all powerful and had his own designs on the throne; Kamal Khan also knew that Krishnadeva was friendly with the Portuguese, and so the opposition from Bijapur to Krishna's invasion on this occasion was very feeble. Kamal Khan was assassinated in May 1511 by a hireling employed by Ismail's mother, which led to fresh troubles for Bijapur from Persian and Khurasani nobles who were the friends of the murdered regent. Krishnadeva, however, was entirely free to pursue his designs, so that after the capture of Raichur he marched on Gulbarga, defeated Amir Barid, the minister and gaoler of Mahmud II, and took the city. From there he marched on Bidar, captured it after a short siege, released Mahmud II and assumed the title ‘establisher of the Yavana (Muslim) kingdom’.