A Forgotten Empire (Vijayanagar): A Contribution to the History of IndiaSewell, Robert
History
A Forgotten Empire (Vijayanagar): A Contribution to the History of India
Sewell, Robert
Vijayanagar (Empire) -- History
On Burhan again invading Bijapur territories, a party was formed to
depose Ibrahim and raise to the throne his brother Abdullah. This
prince, finding that the conspiracy had been discovered, fled for
safety to Goa, where he was well received. But when Ibrahim promised
certain provinces to the Portuguese if they would send Abdullah
away to a place where he could no longer disturb the peace of the
Bijapur territories, De Sousa accepted the conditions; receiving
the gift of Salsette and Bardes for the crown of Portugal, and the
whole of the vast treasures accumulated by Asada Khan at Belgaum as
a personal present for himself. Having pocketed as much as he could
of the bribe, however, he only took Abdullah as far as Cannanore
and then brought him back to Goa; and when, at the end of the next
year, De Castro succeeded De Sousa as Governor, the former refused
to surrender the rebel prince. This duplicity placed the Sultan in
great difficulty, and in February 1546 he executed a treaty of peace,
one of the terms of which was that no person belonging either to the
Dakhan, or to the territories of the Nizam Shah, or to those of the
king of Vijayanagar, with certain others specially mentioned, should
be permitted to have any communication with Abdullah or his family
until the reply of the king of Portugal was received to an embassy
which the Adil Shah proposed to send to him. There were other terms
also, and these not being acted up to by the Portuguese, the Sultan
in 1547 sent some troops into the provinces of Salsette and Bardes,
which were driven out by the Viceroy after a stubborn fight.
De Castro then concluded treaties with Vijayanagar on the 19th
September 1547, and with Ahmadnagar on the 6th October of the same
year, by the former of which the Hindu king was secured in the monopoly
of the Goa horse trade,[307] and by the latter a defensive alliance was
cemented between the Portuguese and the Nizam Shah. This constituted
a tripartite league against Bijapur.
Shortly afterwards a still more determined attack was made by the
Bijapur troops against the mainlands of Goa, and in the battle which
ensued one of the Adil Shah's principal generals was slain.
In 1548 the Viceroy concluded a more favourable arrangement with
Bijapur and also with the Rani of Bhatkal.
The Portuguese historians say that De Sousa and Asada Khan both joined
the ranks of the supporters of Abdullah, and that Asada Khan promised
to give the king of Portugal all the territories of the Konkan on the
downfall of Ibrahim, but the Viceroy changed his mind and withdrew,
while Asada Khans death put a stop to all intrigues in that quarter.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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