第65章

Shortly after this,viz.,in 1557,Sultan Ibrahim died."During his illness he put to death several physicians who had failed in cure,beheading some,and causing others to be trodden to death by elephants,so that all the surviving medical practitioners,alarmed,fled from his dominions."He was succeeded by his eldest son,Ali Adil.

The new Sultan,immediately on his accession,cemented his father's alliance with Sadasiva and Rama Rajah by the execution of a new treaty,and sent ambassadors on a similar errand to Husain Nizam Shah,the successor of Burhan at Ahmadnagar.These,however,were badly received,and Sultan Ali,whose envoys at the Hindu capital had been warmly welcomed and hospitably treated,determined to establish,if possible,a real and lasting friendship with Vijayanagar.To this end he adopted a most unusual course,the account of which will be best given in Firishtah's own words.

"Ali Adil Shaw,who was intent on extricating his dominions from the losses of his father by alliance with Ramraaje,on the death of a son of that monarch,[315]with uncommon prudence and resolution went,attended by one hundred horse,to Beejanuggur,to offer his condolence on the melancholy occasion.Ramraaje received him with the greatest respect,[316]and the sultan with the kindest persuasions prevailed upon him to lay aside his mourning.The wife of Ramraaje adopted the sultan as her son,and at the end of three days,which were spent in interchanges of friendly professions,he took his leave;but as Ramraaje did not attend him out of the city,he was disgusted,and treasured up the affront in his mind,though too prudent to show any signs of displeasure for the present."[317]

The incident thus entirely failed in its intended effect.It produced a lasting irritation in the mind of the Sultan,and a haughty arrogance on the part of Rama Raya,who conceived that the fortunes of his hereditary enemy must be at a very low ebb when he could condescend so far to humble himself.

In the next year,1558,according to Couto,[318]Rama Raya made an expedition to "Meliapor,"or Mailapur,near Madras,where was an important establishment of Roman Catholic monks and the Church of St.Thomas.I quote the passage from the summary given by Senhor Lopes in his introduction to the CHRONICA DOS REIS DE BISNAGA(p.lxvi.)."The poor fathers of the glorious Order of St.Francis having seized all the coast from Negapatam to San Thome,they being the first who had begun to preach there the light of the Holy Gospel,and having throughout that tract thrown down many temples and destroyed many pagodas,a thing which grieved excessively all the Brahmans,these latter reported the facts to Rama Raya,king of Bisnaga,whose vassals they were,and begged him that he would hasten to their assistance for the honour of their gods."They succeeded in persuading him that the newcomers were possessed of enormous riches,and he proceeded against the place,but afterwards finding that this was not true,and that the inhabitants were loyal to him,he spared them and left them in peace.

On his return to Bijapur,Ali Adil peremptorily demanded from Hussain Nizam Shah the restoration of the fortresses of Kallian and Sholapur;and on the latter's contemptuous refusal (he "sent back a reply so indecent in expression as to be unfit to relate."says Firishtah)another war broke out.

"In the year 966(October 14,A.D.1558to October 3,1559),Ali Adil Shaw having called Ramraaje to his assistance,they in concert divided the dominions of Houssein Nizam Shaw,and laid them waste in such a manner that from Porundeh to Khiber,and from Ahmednuggur to Dowlutabad,not a mark of population was to be seen.The infidels of Beejanuggur,who for many years had been wishing for such an event,left no cruelty unpractised.They insulted the honour of the mussulmaun women,destroyed the mosques,and did not even respect the sacred koraun."[319]

This behaviour on the part of the Hindus so incensed the followers of Islam,not only the hostile subjects of Golkonda but even the allied troops and inhabitants of the Bijapur territories,that it laid the foundation for the final downfall and destruction of Vijayanagar.

In 1558Dom Constantine de Braganza became Viceroy of Goa,and his period of government was signalised by every kind of violence and aggression.In 1559Luiz de Mello carried fire and sword into the towns along the Malabar coast.He attacked Mangalore,set fire to the town,and put all the inhabitants to death.Later in the year he destroyed in similar manner a number of towns and villages on the same coast,and desolated the whole seaboard.

In 1560the See of Goa was elevated into an arch-bishopric,and the Inquisition,the horrors of which even excelled that of Spain,was established.The inhabitants of Goa and its dependencies were now forced to embrace Christianity,and on refusal or contumacy were imprisoned and tortured.In this year also,and those following,the predatory excursions of the Portuguese were continued.In 1564the Viceroy sent Mesquita with three ships to destroy a number of ships belonging to the Malabarese.Mesquita captured twenty-four of these,by twos and threes at a time,sunk them,beheaded a large number of the sailors,and in the case of hundreds of others,sewed them up in sails and threw them overboard.In these ways he massacred 2000men.

This resulted in a serious war in Malabar,as the wretched inhabitants of the country;driven to desperation,determined at all hazards to destroy the ruthless invaders of their land.The Portuguese were attacked at Cannanore,and a series of desperate struggles took place,in the course of which Noronha,the commandant,desolated the country and ruined many people by cutting down forty thousand palm trees.At last,however,peace was made.