The five separate kingdoms which arose in the Dakhan were those of the Adil Shahs of Bijapur, with whom we have most to do; the Barid Shahs of Bidr or Ahmadabad; the Imad Shahs of Birar; the Nizam Shahs of Ahmadnagar; and the Qutb Shahs of Golkonda. Adil Shah was the first of his line at Bijapur, and he proclaimed his independence in A.D. 1489. The unhappy king Mahmud II. lived in inglorious seclusion till December 18, A.D. 1517, and was nominally succeeded by his eldest son, Ahmad. Ahmad died after two years' reign, and was followed in rapid succession by his two brothers, Ala-ud-din III. (deposed) and Wali (murdered), after whom Kalim Ullah, son of Ahmad II., was nominally placed on the throne but was kept a close prisoner, and with his death the Bahmani dynasty fell for ever. CHAPTER 9 The First Kings of the Second Dynasty (A.D. 1490 to 1509) Narasimha usurps the throne -- Flight of the late king -- Saluva Timma -- Vira Narasimha -- Bijapur again attacks Vijayanagar -- The Portuguese in India -- They seize Goa -- Varthema's record -- Albuquerque. In my "Sketch of the Dynasties of Southern India," published in 1883 (p. 106), the following passage occurs: -- "We now come to the second or Narasimha dynasty, whose scions became more powerful than any monarchs who had ever reigned over the south of India. Dr. Burnell fixes A.D. 1490 as the initial date of Narasimha's reign, and at present no inscription that I can be sure of appears to overthrow that statement. I observe, however, that Bishop Caldwell, in his 'History of Tinnevelly' (p. 48), fixes the date of the beginning of Narasimha's ... reign as A.D. 1487.... WE HAVE YET TO LEARN THE HISTORY OF HIS ACQUIRING THE SOVEREIGNTY OF VIJAYANAGAR AND OUSTING THE OLDER DYNASTY." Nothing has since transpired to throw light on this subject, and the whole matter has remained up to the present in its primeval darkness; but this newly-found chronicle of Nuniz gives us the entire story in most interesting form though I can by no means vouch for its accuracy. It is, nevertheless, a RESUME of the traditional history of the early sixteenth century, written within fifty or sixty years of the events with which it deals. He tells us that Virupaksha Raya ("Verupacarao") was a weak and unworthy sovereign, in whose days large tracts of land were lost to the Muhammadans, including Goa, Chaul, and Dabhol; and this statement, at least, is historically accurate. Virupaksha was despotic, cruel, and sensuous, "caring for nothing but women and to fuddle himself with drink," so that the whole country was roused to indignation and rebellion. Eventually he was murdered by his eldest son, who in his turn was slain by his brother "Padearao," in whom the nation merely found repeated the crimes and follies of his dead sire. Disgusted with this line of sovereigns, the nobles rose, deposed their king, and placed on the throne one of their own number, Narasimha -- "Narsymgua, WHO WAS IN SOME MANNER AKIN TO HIM."