We hear nothing more from Firishtah regarding the affairs of
Vijayanagar till the early part of the reign of Ahmad's son and
successor, Ala-ud-din II., which began on Sunday, February 27,
A.D. 1435,[110] the day of Sultan Ahmad's death.
Ala-ud-din's first act was to despatch his brother Muhammad Khan with a powerful army against Deva Raya of Vijayanagar —
"who had withheld his tribute for five years and refused to pay the arrears. They laid waste the country in such a manner that the Roy in a short time was glad to procure peace by giving twenty elephants, a great sum of money, and two hundred female slaves skilled in music and dancing, besides a valuable present to Mahummud Khan."
Flushed with this victory, and in command of a large force, Prince Muhammad rebelled against his brother, and Firishtah states that in doing so he obtained aid from Deva Raya. The prince took Mudkal, Raichur, Sholapur, Bijapur, and Naldirak from the Sultan's governors, but in a pitched battle with the royal forces was completely defeated and fled. Shortly afterwards, however, he was forgiven by his generous sovereign, and the fortress and territories of Raichur were conferred on him.
About the year 1442 Deva Raya began to consider more seriously his situation in relation to his powerful neighbour at Kulbarga.
"He called[111] a general council of his nobility and principal bramins, observing to them that as his country of Carnatic in extent, population, and revenue far exceeded the territories of the house of Bahmenee; land in like manner his army was far more numerous, wished therefore to explore the cause of the mussulmauns' successes, and his being reduced to pay them tribute. Some said … that the superiority of the mussulmauns arose from two circumstances: one, all their horses being strong, and able to bear more fatigue than the weak, lean animals of Carnatic; the other, a great body of excellent archers always kept up by the sultans of the house of Bahmenee, of whom the roy had but few in his army.
"Deo Roy upon this gave orders for the entertainment of mussulmauns in his service, allotted them jaghires,[112] erected a mosque for their use in the city of Beejanuggur, and commanded that no one should molest them in the exercise of their religion. He also ordered a koraun to be placed before his throne, on a rich desk, that the mussulmauns might perform the ceremony of obeisance in his presence, without sinning against their laws. He also made all the Hindoo soldiers learn the discipline of the bow; in which he and his officers used such exertions, that he had at length two thousand mussulmauns and sixty thousand Hindoos, well skilled in archery, besides eighty thousand horse and two hundred thousand foot, armed in the usual manner with pikes and lances."
On a day which must have been between November 1442 and April 1443 a desperate attempt was made on the life of King Deva Raya by one of his closest relatives — a brother, according to Abdur Razzak, a nephew, according to Nuniz. Abdur Razzak's story is without doubt the more reliable of the two, since he is a contemporary witness. The story as told by Nuniz is given in the chronicle at the end of this volume.[113] Abdur Razzak was ambassador from Persia to Calicut and Vijayanagar, and his account is particularly important as it definitely fixes the date.
"During the time that the author of this narrative was still sojourning at Calicut (November 1442 to April 1443) there happened in the city of Bidjanagar an extraordinary and most singular occurrence….
"The king's brother, who had had a new house built for himself, invited thither the monarch and the principal personages of the empire. Now it is an established usage of the infidels never to eat in presence of each other. The men who were invited were assembled together in one grand hall. At short intervals the prince either came in person or sent some messenger to say that such or such great personage should come and eat his part of the banquet. Care had been taken to bring together all the drums, kettledrums, trumpets, and flutes that could be found in the city, and these instruments playing all at the same time, made a tremendous uproar. As soon as the individual who had been sent for entered the above-mentioned house, two assassins, placed in ambush, sprang out upon him, pierced him with a poignard, and cut him in pieces. After having removed his limbs, or rather the fragments of his body, they sent for another guest, who, once having entered this place of carnage, disappeared…. In consequence of the noise of the drums, the clamour, and the tumult, no one was aware of what was going on. In this manner all those who had any name or rank in the state were slaughtered. The prince leaving his house all reeking with the blood of his victims, betook himself to the king's palace, and addressing himself to the guards who were stationed in that royal residence, invited them with flattering words to go to his house, and caused them to follow the steps of the other-victims. So that the palace was thus deprived of all its defenders. This villain then entered into the king's presence, holding in his hand a dish covered with betel-nut, under which was concealed a brilliant poignard. He said to the monarch, 'The hall is ready and they only wait your august presence.'