Chap. III.] TREACHERY OF ALA-U-DIN. 77
directions. Ala-u-din returned to the fort, the besiegers of which were now a. d. 1295 pressed for provisions, it liaving been ascertained that a great number of bags, supposed to contain grain, were filled with salt. Ram Dew was obliged to sub- mit to any terms; and Ala-u-din, besides obtaining the cession of Elliciij)Oor and its dependencies, retired with an immense ransom. He had many difficulties to contend with, as his route lay through the hostile and powerful kingdoms of Malwah, Gundwana, and Candeish ; but he siu-mounted them all, and arrived safely at Kurra, where, from the interruption of the communications, nothing had been heard of him for several months.
Jelal-u-din, on hearing of the immense booty which liis nephew was Jeiain.iia bringing with him, was overjoyed, because he had no doubt that the greater aI^u jinf part of it would go to enrich the royal treasury at Delhi. His more sagacious ^*'"'"^' servants thought otherwise, and hinted that Ala-u-din had ultimate designs of a treasonable nature, and would use the booty as a means of accomplishing them. The king refused to entertain suspicions which might prove unfounded; and, on receiving a letter from his nephew, couched in the most submissive terms, felt only anxious to assure him of his continued ffivour.
Meanwhile, the crisis was approaching. Partly by flattering letters from visits .ia- KuiTa, and partly by the treacherous advice of counsellors at Delhi, the king ""' '"' was inveighled into the fatal resolution of paying a visit to his nephew in 1295. When the royal canopy appeared in sight, Ala-u-din di-ew out his troops under pretence of doing honour to his majesty, and sent his brother Almas Beg forward to arrange for his reception. Almas was deep in the plot, and artfully suggested that if the king advanced with a large retinue, Ala-u-din, who feared he had incui-red the royal displeasure, might be alarmed. So plausible was the tongue of Almas Beg, that the king embarked in his own solitary barge with only a few select attendants, and, as if this had not been enough, ordered them to unbuckle their armour, and lay their swords aside. In this defenceless state, he reached the landing-place, and ordered his attendants to halt, while he walked forward to meet his nephew, who advanced alone, and threw himself pros- trate at his feet. The old king raised him up, embraced him, and, tapping him familiarly on the cheek, exclaimed, "How could you be suspicious of me, who have brought you up from yom- childhood, and cherished you with a fatherly affection, holding you dearer in my sight, if possible, tlian my own oflspring?" This kind-hearted appeal was answered by the nephew by a .signal to his soldiers, one of whom made a cut "with his sword, and wounded Jelal-u-din in the shoulder. He immediately ran to regain his barge, crying, "Ah! thou villain, is murdered. Ala-u-din I" but, before he reached it, was overtaken by another of the soldiers, who threw him on the ground, and cut off his head, which was fixed on a spear, and carried in triumph through the cam]). The ATetch whose sword completed the bloody deed is said to have suffereil a thousand deaths in imagi- ■nation before he died. He became mad, and expired, screaming incessantly
