Page:Modern Hyderabad (Deccan).djvu/27

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MODERN HYDERABAD.
15

of Delhi suffered terrible hardships on the way to Deogiri (the ancient name for Daulatabad), that many died on the way there, and that those who arrived safely "pined among the idolaters." The sultan found his coffers empty, and caused the gold and silver coinage to be replaced by copper, saying that his brass was equal to the precious metals of other men; but business came to a stand-still and he was obliged to withdraw his coinage edict. And, later, cholera attacked his subjects, and he himself nearly died of it, and then, being somewhat chastened and subdued, he gave permission to his subjects to return to Delhi, and a handful of despairing men, women, and children went home.

The Bahmani Kings (1347-1527 a.d.).—The various Mahomedan Governors of the Deccan asserted their independence after the sultan of Delhi had gone away, and the first to assume the title of King were the Bahmani rulers, who established their capital at Gulbarga.

I visited the tombs of these kings there—small square stone buildings, with a bulbous roof, and containing a grave of the simplest character. Standing at some distance from the city, the tombs are cool and