12
SHAH JEHAN'S SECOND ENTRY. 12 CHAP, I.
STONE. "The Deccan, therefore, was as far as ever from being subdued; and Shah Jehan perceived the necessity General of returning in person to that country to make another effort to reduce it. He marched from Agra towards the end of 1635, and on arriving in the Deccan, he adopted his former plan of breaking his army into divisions, and sent them, in the first instance, to recover the kingdom of Ahmednugger. When they had driven Shahjee from the open country, and reduced many of his principal forts, Shah Jehan turned his whole force on Beejapoor, took several strong places, and constrained Mahommed Adeel Shah once more to shut himself up in his capital. The talents which had delivered him during the former siege did not desert him on this occasion. He laid waste the country for twenty miles round Beejapoor, destroy- ing every particle of food or forage; filled up the wells, and rendered it impossible for any army to support itself during an attack on the city. The Moguls were therefore reduced to the plunder of his territories, and met with frequent losses from the spirit and activity of his detach- ments. Both parties ere long were wearied with this sort of warfare; and Adeel Shah making the first overture, peace was concluded on terms much more favourable than he could have expected. He consented to an an- nual payment of 200,000%. a year to Shah Jehan; but he was to receive in return a share of the Nizam Shahee dominions, which much extended his territory on the north and east. At an early period of this invasion Shah Jehan had overawed the King of Golconda and had forced him to desist from reciting the name of the King of Persia in the public prayers, and to agree to pay a regular tribute. These transactions being concluded, Shah Jehan returned
