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but afterwards took into his harem the daughter of the petty Raja of Sangameshvar in the Konkan, giving her the name of Ziba Chiltra, or

    • Beautiful face." Agha Zainab, who was neglected for the Hindu

girl, wrote to her father and complained of her husband's behaviour. Nasir Khan espoused his daughter's cause and resolved to punish his son-in-law, but, well aware that he was not strong enough to attack the Bahmani kingdom single-handed with any hope of success, he prepared his way by corrupting the officers serving in Berar, and as soon as his machinations had met with some measure of success, he followed them up by invading Berar in 1437. The officers who had been won over by Nasir Khan were besieging their governor, the Khan- i-Jahan, in the hill fort of Narnala, and the invaders were left free to advance unmolested in the direction of Daulatabad. Here Khalaf Hasan Basri, who had once more been selected for the command of an expedition, was assembling his forces. He was joined by the Khan-i- Jahan, who managed to effect his escape from Narnala, and marched northwards through Berar, inflicting a crushing defeat on the invaders at Rohankhed. Nasir Khan was pursued to his capital, which was sacked, and the troops of Daulatabad returned with much booty.

In 1461, during the reign of the young king Nizam Shah Bahmani, Mahmud Shah Khalji of Malwa invaded the Deccan and took the capital, Bidar, but was unable to reduce its citadel. The province of Daulatabad was overrun by the invaders, but the old fort held out and once again was a base of military operations against the invaders. Mahmud Shah of Gujarat came to the assistance of the Bahmani king, and in the neighbourhood of Daulatabad joined forces with the soldier-statesman of the Bahmani kingdom, Mahmud Gawan, thus threatening the communications of the invaders, who retreated hastily througli the jungles of the Satpuras closely pursued by Mahmud Gawan. In the following year Mahmud Shah Khalji again invaded the Daulatabad province, but before he could attack its capital he received news that Nizam Shah was advancing against him from the south-east and would probably be joined by Mahmud Shah of Gujarat from the north-west. He had no hope of resisting successfully such a combination, and hastily retreated to Malwa. In 1471 Yusuf Adil Khan, who afterwards founded the Adil Shahi dynasty of Bijapur, was appointed governor of Daulatabad,