A Forgotten Empire (Vijayanagar): A Contribution to the History of India c13.12

c13.12

Ghiâs-ud-dîn, a boy of seventeen, eldest son of the late Sultan Mahmûd, had succeeded his father on the throne of Kulbarga; but on June 14, 1397,⁴ he was treacherously blinded during an entertainment by an ambitious slave, after a reign of only one month and twenty days. His younger brother, Shams-ud-dîn, was then placed on the throne, but after a reign of five months was blinded and deposed by his cousin Fîrûz, second son of the late Sultan Dâûd. Fîrûz was by birth undoubtedly of the elder branch, and he became one of the most celebrated monarchs of his line, ascending the throne on November 15, A.D. 1397.⁵ He must have then been well advanced in years, as Firishtah says he was "old" in A.D. 1419.