The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v2.c15.s2.t5.48.2

v2.c15.s2.t5.48.2

According to Baranī, Ulugh Khān had closely invested Warangal, and had reduced the defenders to extremities. Of the two forts that surrounded the city, the outer or the mud fort was about to fall, when Pratāparudra sued for peace and offered to submit to the authority of the Sulṭān and to pay the tribute demanded; but Ulugh Khān, who had set his heart on the capture of Pratāparudra and his capital, rejected the offer. In the meanwhile, a change came over the spirit of the Muslim army. Since the postal system had broken down, no recent news had reached the camp from the capital, and at this juncture the poet 'Ubaid and Shaikh Zāda-i-Dimashqī, who were intimate friends of Ulugh Khān, spread in the army the false rumour that the Sulṭān was dead in Delhi, that a usurper had seized the throne, and that the Khān was about to arrest some of the important chiefs of the army, their loyalty being suspect in his eyes on account of their Khalji sympathies. This information, coming as it did from the intimate companions of the Khān, created panic in their minds, and they fled from the camp with their followers. The Muslim army was thrown into confusion as a consequence of their flight, and the Hindus, taking advantage of the sudden misfortune that had overtaken their enemies, stormed into Ulugh Khān's camp and plundered it.