Hindu period.

12. It is not possible to compile a connected historical account of an area which, until little more than half a century ago, was never a distinct political entity; and the history of the Akola District must therefore be, in the main, a chronicle of noteworthy events which have occurred at various places within its present boundaries. The District, with the rest of Berar, must have formed part of the kingdom of Vidarbha in heroic times, if the kingdom described under that name in the Mahabharat ever existed, which may be doubted.

Berar formed part of the empire of Asoka Maurya (B.C. 272-231), but before the disruption of that empire in 184 A.D. was governed by an independent ruler referred to as the raja of Vidarbha. Neither his name nor his dynasty is mentioned, but we may perhaps assume him to be one of the Sakas, Pahlavas, or Yavanas, who made extensive conquests in the northern Deccan, Berar. If this assumption be correct we may identify him with the Saka satrap Rudradaman or his successor. It is probable, however, that southern Berar, including part of the Akola District, was within the dominions governed by Pulumayi II, the twenty-fourth king of the Andhra dynasty. This dynasty came to an end about 236 A.D., and from this time to 550 we know very little of the history of the Deccan; but Berar, with the rest of Maharashtra, was probably governed during a great part of this period by princes of the Rashtrakuta or Ratta clan, which in the middle of the eighth century became the leading power in the Deccan. There is, however, some trace of another dynasty, that of the Vakatakas, whose capital is conjectured to have been in the present Chanda District of the Central Provinces, and who probably ruled over the whole of Berar, but their dates, Unfortunately, are at present so uncertain that a recapitulation of their names cannot be said to add to our knowledge of local history. In 550 the Chalukya dynasty was founded, and in the early days of its existence its dominions included Berar and several States to the north. In the middle of the eighth century Dantidurga the Rashtrakuta extinguished the western branch of this dynasty and made himself supreme in the Deccan, which his successors ruled for two centuries and a quarter. In 973 a descendant of the Chalukyas overthrew the last of the Rashtrakutas but was not able at once to establish his authority in the northern provinces of the kingdom which had been ruled by them, and Berar remained part of the dominions of the raja of Malwa until the Chalukya reconquered it in 995. In the latter half of the twelfth century the power of the Chalukyas was broken by rebellions, and towards the end of that century the northern provinces of their dominions were seized by the Yadavas of Deogiri.

Muhammadan invasion of the Deccan.

13. The last independent raja of Deogiri was Ramachandra, styled Ramdeo by Muhammadan historians, who was defeated in 1294 by Ala-ud-din, the nephew and son-in-law of Jalal-ud-din Firoz Shah Khilji of Delhi, and became a tributary of the emperors of Delhi. Ramachandra was succeeded in 1309 by his eldest son Shankar, who rebelled, but was defeated and slain, his dominions being annexed to the empire. The Akola District thus came for the first time directly under Muhammadan administration. In the confusion which followed the death of the emperor Ala-ud-din and the assassination of his minister Malik Naib in 1316, Harpal, a son-in-law of Ramachandra, seized on his father-in-law's kingdom and ruled it for a short time as an independent king; but in 1318 he was defeated by Kutb-ud-din Mubarak Shah of Delhi, who caused him to be flayed alive, and placed his head above one of the gates of Deogiri.

Muhammadan period.

14. Kutb-ud-dln Mubarak Shah was assassinated in 1321 and the usurper who ascended his throne was defeated and slain before the end of that year by the Turki governor of the Punjab, who was raised to the imperial throne under the title of Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlak Shah. In his reign and in that of his son Muhammad-bin Tughlak, who succeeded him in 1325, the District was frequently traversed by expeditions from Hindustan to the Deccan, and in 1339 Muhammad-bin Tughlak transferred the capital of the empire from Dehli to Deogiri, which he re-named Daulatabad.

Rebellion of the amirs of the Deccan.

This measure, which probably invested Berar, and especially its western districts, with an artificial and fleeting importance, was afterwards revoked, and before the end of Muhammad's reign Delhi was once more the capital of India, while the oppressive rule of this most eccentric emperor provoked insurrections in all outlying provinces of the empire. In 1347 the centurions of the Deccan rebelled and elected one of their number as their king. Muhammad marched southwards and defeated them, but their king, Ismail Fateh, an aged Afghan who had taken the title of Nasir-ud-din [Or, according to some authorities, Nasir.] Shah, took refuge in Daulatabad, and there held out until the emperor was called northwards by news of a rebellion in Gujarat, when the centurions of the Deccan fell upon the imperial troops which had been left to invest Daulatabad, defeated them, and proclaimed Hasan, entitled Zafar Khan, king of the Deccan in place of the aged Ismail, who abdicated on finding that kingship had its responsibilities as well as its delights. Hasan assumed royal power in the Deccan under the title of Ala-ud-din Bahman [This was his correct title as a contemporary inscription and legends on coins show. The fantastic titles ascribed to him by most historians hare their origin in foolish traditions.] Shah, and made Gulbarga, where he had held a jagir before he was called to the throne, his capital.

The Bahmanis.

15. Bahman Shah divided his kingdom into four tarafs or provinces, each under the governorship of a tarafdar or provincial governor, whose powers were very extensive. These four provinces were Berar, Daulatabad, Bidar and Gulbarga. Muhammad Shah Bahmani, who succeeded his father in 1358, elaborated the organization of the four provinces and bestowed on each tarafdar a distinctive title, that of the governor of- Berar being Majlis-i-Ali.

Rebellion in Daulatabad.

16. In 1366, while Muhammad Shah Bahmani was waging war against Vijayanagar, Bahram Khan Mazandarani, the deputy governor of Daulatabad, rebelled at the instigation of a Maratha named Kondba Deva, and was joined by many of the nobles of Berar who were related to him. The rebellion was suppressed and the leaders made good their escape into Gujarat. At about this time highway robbery was rife in the Deccan, and Muhammad Shah found it necessary to adopt stringent measures for its suppression. The male factors were beheaded and their heads were sent to the capital, where the tale of heads collected amounted to 20,000. We may assume that Berar contributed its share, and that the " proud and refractory Hatgars " of Basim, afterwards mentioned in the Ain-i-Akbari, had their share both in the depredations and in the punishment which followed them.

Famine.

17. Akola suffered with the rest of Berar from the severe famine which occurred in the reign of Muhammad Shah, [Some writers, in deference to Firishta, who is obstinately mistaken regarding this, king's name, style him Mahmud in spite of the evidence of coins, inscriptions, and other historians. Mahmud was his father's name-vide Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, vol. 1xxiii; part I, extra number, 1904, pp. 6, 7] the fifth king of the Bahmani dynasty; who reigned from 1378 to 1397, but no. details of the extent of the suffering in this particular tract of Berar have been handed down.

Ahmad Shah visits Berar and repairs Narnala.

18. In 1425 Ahmad Shah, the ninth king of the dynasty, was compelled to visit his northern province owing to the invasion of eastern Berar by the Gonds. After driving the intruders from his dominions he halted for a year at Ellichpur, and while there built the fort of Gawli and repaired that of Narnala in the Akola District. These expressions, which are used by Firishta in connection with the two forts, have been understood to mean that the antiquity of Narnala is superior to that of Gawligarh, but they were probably used loosely, for there is no building in Narnala which can be assigned with any certainty to a period earlier than that of Ahmad Shah's sojourn in Ellichpur, and the evidence for the supposition that the covered cisterns in the fort were the handiwork of Jains of prae-Muhammadan times is most unsatisfactory.

War between the Deccan and Khandesh.

19. Ahmad Shah died in 1435 and was succeeded by his eldest son Ala-ud-din Ahmad II, who had married the daughter of Nasir Khan Faruki, ruler of Khandesh. Ala-ud-din Ahmad neglected his lawful wife for a Hindu maiden, the daughter of Rainal raja of Sangameshwar in the Konkan and the malika-i-jahan, or 'queen of the world,' as the principal queen of the Bahmani kings was always styled, wrote to her father and complained of her husband's conduct. Nasir Khan was not strong enough to attack his powerful son-in-law single-handed and therefore his first step was to detach the nobles of Berar from their allegiance. In this he succeeded to a great extent by setting forth the religious merit which would be acquired by fighting for a descendant of the Khalifah Umar al-Faruk, though he did not scruple to enlist the aid of infidel Gonds, and apparently Korkus also, against a brother Muslim Having thus corrupted many of the nobles of Berar, Nasir Khan invaded the province, while the treacherous officers plotted to capture the Khan-I-Jahan, the governor of Berar, who remained faithful to his master. He, perceiving their design, retired to Narnala, where he was besieged by the rebels, but contrived to send a message to Ala-ud-din Ahmad Shah informing him of the state of affairs. Khalaf Hasan Basri, governor of Daulatabad, was ordered to march northwards and meet the invader, and the Khan-i-Jahan succeeded in escaping from Narnala and joined Khalaf Hasan at Mehkar. It has been mentioned that Nasir Khan had obtained a promise of assistance from the " Gonds," and Khalaf Hasan, in order to prevent these allies of the enemy from ravaging Berar and falling on his flank, despatched some of the Deccani officers and troops who were with him to Balapur and Ellichpur. From the situation of these two places it appears likely that the "Goads" mentioned as Nasir Khan's allies were in fact Korkus of the Melghat, for the Muhammadan historians, like the British officers first appointed to administer Berar, fell into the error of believing the Korkus to be Gonds.

Defeat of the Sultan of Khandesh.

20. Khalaf Hasan defeated Nasir Khan at Rohankhed and drove him out of Berar and, having defeated him once more in the neighbourhood of his capital, Returned to the Deccan with much plunder.

War between Malwa and the Deccan.

21. In 1462, the year after the accession of the boy king Nizam Shah, the twelfth of the Bahmanids, Mahmud Shah of Malwa invaded the Deccan, entering the Bahmani dominions by the route followed by Nasir Khan in 1436, and occupied Berar. He defeated the Deccanis at Kandahar, about 70 miles north of Bidar, which Ahmad Shah Bahmani had made his capital, advanced on Bidar, captured the city, and laid siege to the citadel. Mahmud Shah of Gujarat now advanced to the frontier of Berar with 80,000 horse in order to support Nizam Shah, and Mahmud Gawan, an officer of Nizam Shah's, busied himself in raising troops until, after receiving aid from Mahmud of Gujarat, he was able to take the field with 40,000 Deccani and Gujarati horse. He sent 10,000 Deccani horse into Berar to clear the province of the intruders and to harass Mahmud of Malwa. on his retreat, and hastened southwards towards Bidar, where he compelled Mahmud of Malwa to raise the siege. The army of Malwa retreated northwards through eastern Berar and the Melghat, in which latter tract it was led astray and almost destroyed by the Korkus, and Mahmud Shah of Malwa reached Mandu, his capital, with much difficulty and with the mere remnant of an army. In the following year, however, he again invaded the Bahmani dominions, and advanced through Berar as far as Daulatabad, but, on hearing that Mahmud Shah of Gujarat was again marching to the aid of Nizam Shah, he repented of his enterprise and returned to his capital.

Famine.

22. In 1471 Muhammad Shah, who had succeeded his brother, Nizam Shah, in 1463, appointed Fateh-ullah Imad-ul-Mulk to the governorship of Berar, and two years later Berar suffered from a terrible famine which destroyed large numbers and caused wholesale emigration to Gujarat and Malwa.

Redistribution of the provinces of the Deccan.

23. In 1480 Muhammad Shah divided the four original tarafs of the Bahmani kingdom into eight provinces and under this arrangement Berar was divided into the two provinces of Gawil in the north and Mahur in the south. The position of the line of demarcation between these two has not been recorded, but it is probable that it followed the line of the northern face of the plateau of the Balaghat, and that the taluks of Basim and Mangrul were included in the province of Mahur while the rest of the District was included in Gawil. This measure, which was most distasteful to some of the older tarafdars whose powers it curtailed, led to a plot against its originator, Khaja Mahmud Gawan, against whom the conspirators fabricated evidence to support a false charge of treason. Muhammad III, while under the influence of wine, ordered the execution of his faithful minister without inquiring into the charge against him. The innocence of the Khaja became apparent after his death, and Muhammad Shah bitterly repented his swiftness to punish, but repentance was powerless to avert the consequences of the crime, which destroyed the confidence of the principal amirs of the kingdom in their king and alienated their affection from him. Chief among those who openly showed their disapproval of the unjust act were Yusuf Adil Khan, who afterwards founded the Adil Shahi dynasty of Bijapur, Fateh-ullah Imad-ul-Mulk of Gawil, and Khudawand Khan of Mahur. These amirs, though they still openly professed obedience to the Bahmani king, regarded him with suspicion and were not stow to justify acts of disobedience of his authority by open expressions of that suspicion.

Imad-ul Mulk repairs Naralia.

24. In the reign of Mahmud Shah, the son and successor of Muhammad III, the assumption of supreme power in Bidar by Kasim Barid, a Turk, disgusted the tarafdars, whose allegiance to Mahmud was, after the year 1487, merely nominal. Fateh-ullah Imad-ul-Mulk, who retained to the end an affectionate regard for Mahmud Shah, was resolved not to be the servant of the Turkish upstart, and now began to pave the way for an open declaration of his independence by repairing and strengthening his forts. The inscriptions over the beautiful Mahakali or Muhammadi gate of the fortress of Narnala, though they contain exaggerated expressions of. respect for the roi faineant Mahmud, record the fact that the gate, which is the strongest in the fort, was built by Fateh-ullah in 1487.

The Imad Shahi dynasty of Berar.

25. In 1490 Malik Ahmad Nizam-ul-Mulk, tarafdar of Daulatabad, who had founded Ahmadnagar, sent envoys to Yusuf Adil Khan of Bijapur and Fateh-ullah Imad-ul-Mulk,urging them to join him in assuming the royal title. They consented and eliminated the name of Mahmud Shah from the khutba, which they henceforward caused to be read in their own names. Fateh-ullah seems to have been chary of using the title of Shah, although he had formally proclaimed himself independent as governor of Berar, and it does not appear that he found it necessary to assert his authority over Khudawand Khan of Mahur, who always remained on the best of terms with him and measured his conduct by his. There is nothing of interest connected with the Akola District to record during the reign of Pateh-ullah Imad Shah, who died at a great age in 1504 and was succeeded by his son Ala-ud-din Imad Shah.

War between Berar and Ahmadnagar.

26. In 1510 Ala-ud-din, at the instigation of some foreign nobles of Ahmadnagar who took refuge with him after an unsuccessful attempt to oust from power the Deccani party in that kingdom and represented affairs there as being in great confusion, invaded the dominions of Burhan Nizam Shah, the young king of Ahmadnagar. He was defeated and fled to Ellichpur, and thence to Burhanpur, while the enemy occupied and ravaged the whole of south-western Berar, including the Akola District. With some difficulty Adil Khan of Khandesh, to whom Ala-ud-din Imad Shah had appealed for help, brought about a treaty of peace, and Burhan Nizam Shah retired from Berar.

Death of Ala-ud-din Imad Shah.

27. Ala-ud-din Imad Shah, after taking the falsestep of inviting Bahadur Shah of Gujarat to assist him against Ahmadnagar, was forced, as the price of getting rid of his inconvenient ally, to have the khutba read in his name in Berar. Very shortly after Bahadur Shah's return to his own country Ala-ud-din died in 1529, and was succeeded by his son Darya Imad Shah, who died. in 1561 after a reign during which no events of sufficient importance to be chronicled occurred in the Akola District. He was succeeded by his son Burhan Imad Shah, who was seized early in his reign by his minister, Tufal Khan, and confined in the fortress of Narnala.

Invasion of Berar by the Sultans of Bijapur and Ahmadnagar.

28. Tufal, Khan, who was now de facto ruler of Berar, refused to join the great confederacy of the Mahmmadan kings of the Deccan which in 1654 destroyed the Hindu empire of Vijayanagar, and in the following year Murtaza Nizam Shah of Ahmadnagar and Ali Adil Shah I of Bijapur united to punish him for this refusal. The allies invaded Berar from the south and south-west and devastated it with fire and sword as far as Ellichpur. They remained in the province, wasting the country and slaughtering its inhabitants, until the approach of the rainy season, when Tufal Khan, by means of an enormous bribe, enlisted the sympathies of Ali Adil Shah, who succeeded in persuading Murtaza that it would be wise to retire before the rains rendered the black cotton soil impassable for troops with their heavy baggage. Berar was then left in peace, but not for long.

Murtaza Nizam Shah invades Berar.

29. In 1572 Ali Adil Shah entered into a treaty with Murtaza Nizam Shah, in ac- cordance with the terms of which the latter was to be allowed to annex Berar and Bidar without objection from Bijapur, while the latter was to possess himself of so much of the dismembered territories of Vijayanagar as should be equal in revenue to those two provinces. Murtaza lost no time in taking advantage of his arrangement with Bijapur, and encamped at Pathri with the object of invading Berar. As a pretext for this aggression he pretended sympathy with Burhan Imad Shah and sent a letter to Tufal Khan calling upon him to release his sovereign, to be obedient to him in all things, and to refrain from interfering in the government of Berar. The letter concluded with a threat that disobedience would entail swift punishment. Tufal Khan took counsel of his son, Shamshir-ul-Mulk, who had a reputation for valour and was astute enough to perceive that Murtaza's real object was the annexation of Berar, and not the release of Burhan from confinement. He advised his father to rely on the resources of Berar and to return no answer to the letter. Murtaza Nizam Shah, on hearing of the dismissal of his envoy, set out from Pathri for Ellichpur. The army of Berar was defeated in a hotly contested battle, and Murtaza Nizam Shah, before advancing further, took steps to attach the Hindu revenue officials to his cause. He then pursued Tufal Khan and Shamshir-ul-Mulk through the Melghat. The former fled and attempted to take refuge with Miran Muhammad II of Khandesh, but Murtaza Nizam Shah informed that ruler by letter that his country would be invaded if he gave shelter to Tufal. Miran Muhammad sent the letter on to Tufal Khan without comment, and the latter understood that he was no longer safe in Khandesh and returned to Berar, where he took refuge in Narnala, while Shamshir-ul-Mulk shut himself up in Gawilgarh. Murtaza-Nizam Shah at once marched to Narnala and laid siege to the fort. When the siege had progressed for some months Murtaza Nizam Shah, who was already weary of campaigning, received news that a son had been born to him in Ahmadnagar, and proposed to return to his capital and celebrate the auspicious event, but his energetic minister, Changiz Khan, exerted all his influence to prevent his master from taking his hand from the plough. The effeminate Murtaza soon began to despair of ever capturing Narnala, when chance placed a weapon in Changiz Khan's hands. A merchant arrived in camp with horses and merchandise which had been ordered by Tufal Khan from Lahore, and besought Changiz Khan that he might be allowed to enter the fort and conclude his bargain with the nominal ruler of Berar. Changiz Khan granted this request on condition that the merchant should, on his return, enter the service of Murtaza Nizam Shah, adding that he could see he possessed both valour and acumen. The merchant, beguiled by this flattery, readily accepted the condition, and Changiz Khan caused a large sum of money to be hidden in a bale of merchandise, with which he sent one of his own followers with instructions to do all in his power to corrupt the defenders. The agent laid' out his money well and succeeded in leaving the fort at nightfall and rejoining his master. Changiz Khan, having thus established secret communications with Tufal Khan's nobles, succeeded in detaching large numbers of them from their allegiance, and night after night Berar officers with their followers secretly left the fort and joined Murtaza Nizam Shah's army, until there remained in Narnala no more than twelve men able to work guns. Asad Khan and Rumi Khan, who commanded the artillery of Ahmadnagar, now drew their guns up as close as might be to the walls, and soon made a practicable breach in one of the bastions and its curtain. The defenders of the fort were now so few that the result of an attempt on the breach was a foregone conclusion. The attack was made by night, and Changiz Khan's trumpeter went in advance of the attacking party and sounded his trumpet in the fort. Tufal Khan, aroused from sleep, fled through the northern gate into the hills of the Melghat, but was pursued by Saiyid Hasan Astrabadi, who captured him on the third day after the fall of Narnala. Murtaza Nizam Shah found Burhan Imad Shah in the fort and made him his prisoner, and also took possession of a large quantity of treasure. Shamshir-ul-Mulk surrendered Gawilgarh on hearing of the capture of Narnala. Burhan Imad Shah, Tufal Khan and Sham-shir-ul-Mulk, with their families and followers, numbering about forty souls, were sent to a fortress in the Ahmadnagar kingdom, where, after a short time, they perished, probably by suffocation. The Imad Shahi dynasty was thus utterly extinguished in 1572, and Berar was annexed to Ahmadnagar, Khudawand Khan and Khursaid Khan being appointed to govern it.

Berar a province of the kingdom of Ahmadnagar.

30. Murtaza Nizam Shah having annexed Berar marched towards Bidar, but was re- called by news of an attempted revolution in favour of the son of Burhan Imad Shah's foster-mother, who was set up by Miran Muhammad II of Khandesh as a son of Darya Imad Shah. The Sultan of Khandesh was defeated and the rebellion was quelled.

Invasion of Berar by the Mughals.

31. After the suppression of this rebellion no historical event of any importance occurred in the Akola District until 1584, when the Mughals made their first appearance in the Province, The cavalry of the Khan-i-Azam, Akbar's foster-brother and governor, invaded Berar from the north, plundered Ellichpur, and then moved on into the Akola District, where they plundered Balapur, then second only to Ellichpur in importance. The activity of Murtaza Nizam Shah's troops and of Raja Ali Khan of Khandesh, who had not yet been won over to the imperial cause, and the dissensions of the Mughal officers, rendered the raid abortive, and the cavalry left Berar as rapidly as they had entered it. In 1590 chance provided Akbar with a pretext for interfering in the affairs of the Deccan. Shahzada Burhan, who had plotted unsuccessfully against his brother, Murtaza Nizam Shah, had been compelled to flee for refuge to Akbar's court. In 1588 Murtaza died and was succeeded by his son Husain Nizam Shah II, who was put to death after a reign of two months. Ismail, the young son of the fugitive Burhan, was then raised to the throne, whereupon Akbar made preparations for assisting Burhan to obtain the throne, to which he had an undoubted right. The assistance of Raja Ali Khan of Khandesh was enlisted, and he helped Burhan to defeat the adherents of Ismail and to ascend the throne of Ahmadnagar. Burhan Nizam Shah was thus placed under an obligation which was regarded by Akbar as giving him a right to interfere in the affairs of the Deccan, but active interference was delayed for some years.

Sultan Murad invades the Deccan.

32. Towards the end of 1595 party strife in Ahmad nagar reached such a height that one of the disputants invited Sultan Murad, Akbar's fourth son, who was then in Gujarat with a commission to invade the Deccan whenever a favourable opportunity should present itself, to assist him. The opportunity was seized, and Murad marched to Ahmadnagar and besieged the city. He did not succeed in capturing it, but was not to be bought off by any less price than the cession of Berar to the empire.

Berar a province of the Mughal empire.

33. Henceforward Berar was a province of Delhi, and the Mughals, who ever kept in view the prospect of a general advance on the Deccan, made Balapur, which lay near the road between Burhanpur and the Rohankhed ghat, then regarded as the highway between Hindustan and the Deccan, their headquarters, and maintained an advanced post at Jalna. For some time after this, Balapur was in fact, though not in name, the capital of Berar and the residence of its governor. Here the Mughals maintained their largest garrison, and here, even when the, greater part of the province was overrun by the Deccanis, as often happened, they contrived to maintain a military post. From Ahmadnagar Murad retired to Balapur and at a distance of some twelve miles from the town he built himself a palace at a village which he re-named Shahpur, where the ruins of his residence may still be seen.

Quarrels between the imperial officer.

34. Although Berar had been formally ceded to Akbar, its principal fortresses had not been surrendered, and Gawilgarh and Narnala were still held by officers of the king of Ahmadnagar. Meanwhile the Khan-i-Khanan, who was the real commander-in-chief of the Mughal forces in the Deccan, had established himself at Jalna and engaged on the banks of the Godavari in a campaign which is not immediately connected with the history of the District, while Murad spent his time in debauchery and excessive drinking in Shahpur. In 1598 a quarrel occurred between the prince and the general. Murad proposed to complete the conquest of the Ahmadnagar kingdom by capturing its capital and taking possession of its other provinces, but the Khan-i-Khanan insisted that the first thing to be done was to render Berar secure by capturing Gawilgarh and Narnala. The result of the quarrel was that the Khan-i-Khanan was recalled and Abul Fazl was sent to the Deccan. He captured the two great fortresses of Berar, but complaints that he had failed to support the Mughal governor of Bir when he was hard pressed reached the ears of Akbar, and Abul Fazl was recalled. It was now recognized that the Khan-i-Khanan was the only one of Akbar's officers who was fit to have charge of affairs in the Deccan, and his only disqualification was his intolerance of the drunken and slothful Murad. Murad solved the difficulty by dying in Shahpur in 1599 from drink and the effects of incontinence, and Sultan Daniyal, Akbar's youngest son, was appointed nominal governor of the Deccan under the tutelage of the Khan-i-Khanan. He had not reached Berar when Akbar, in consequence of a report received from Abul-Fazl, set out from Agra for the Deccan, but discovered as he advanced that his presence would not be required in Ahmadnagar. He therefore laid siege to and captured Asirgarh, the principal fortress of Khandesh, sending Daniyal and the Khan-i-Khanan on to Ahmadnagar, which place fell into their hands later in the same year (1599), when Bahadur Nizam Shah was captured and sent to Akbar at Burhanpur. Akbar then returned to Agra, leaving Daniyal as governor of the three provinces of Berar, Khandesh, now re-named Dandesh, and Ahmadnagar.

The Ain-i-Akbari.

35. The account of Berar in the Ain-i-Akabari was added- to that work in 1596-97. The greater part of the Akola District was included in Akbar's sarkar or revenue district of Narnala, but some of the parganas of this sarkar are now included in Buldana, while Akola, on the other hand, includes three parganas of Akbar's revenue district of Basim. The whole revenue demand for the area now included in the Akola District seems to have been nearly twenty-four lakhs of rupees. The only special notice of any places in the District has reference to Balapur, Shahpur, and Basim. ' Near Balapur,' says Abul Fazl, ' are two streams, about the borders of which are found various kinds of pretty stones, which are cut and kept as curiosities. Six kos distant were the headquarters of Sultan Murad, which grew into a fine city under the name of Shahpur.' Of Basim he writes,' About Basim is an indigenous race, for the most part proud and refractory, called Hatgars: their forces consist of 1000, cavalry and 5000 infantry.' He adds that the Hatgars are Rajputs, which is a mistake, for they are a branch of the Dhangar caste. It is strange that according to the figures of the census of 1901 Hatgars were exceptionally weak in numbers in the late Basim District.

Death of Akbar.

36. After the fall of Ahmadnagar Balapur was still the principal garrison town of Berar, but Daniyal preferred Burhanpur, where he died of drink in 1605, as his viceregal capital. The death of his favourite son was a severe shock to Akbar, who survived Daniyal only for a few months, and died in October 1605, when he was succeeded by his eldest son Salim, who took the title of Jahangir.

Malik Ambar in Berar.

37. In 1609 Jahangir appointed his second son Parvez to the governorship of the Mughal provinces of the Deccan, and the prince chose Burhanpur as his headquarters. Owing partly to his lack of enterprise and partly to dissension between his officers, over whom he had little real control, the administration of Parvez was a dismal failure. In 1610 Malik Ambar, the African, who still supported a representative of the Nizam Shah dynasty in Ausa, attacked Ahmadnagar, repulsed Parvez when he advanced to its relief, and overran the greater part of Berar. A Mughal garrison was still maintained in Balapur, but for some time its principal occupation was to look to its own safety, and its sphere of influence did not extend far beyond the walls of the town. So small a part had the Mughals in the administration of Berar that Malik Ambar introduced a settlement of the land, and, though the imperial officers probably succeeded in collecting some revenue from the northern parganas of the province, the garrison at Balapur was the only evidence of the emperor's nominal sovereignty. This state of affairs lasted until the beginning of 1616, when the prestige of the Mughal arms was somewhat restored. Dissensions in Malik Ambar's camp drove some of his  officers to offer their services to Shahnawaz Khan, a gallant officer who. at this time commanded at Balapur. Shahnawaz Khan, taking advantage of Malik Ambar's difficulties, marched from Balapur with such troops as he could collect and, after defeating the Deccanis in the field, laid waste Ambar's capital, Khirki, afterwards known as Aurangabad, but was not strong enough to maintain a permanent hold on any of Ambar's dominions beyond Berar, and fell back again to Balapur. This raid, however, restored for a time the authority of the Mughals in Berar, and the Akola District was now in fact, as well as in name, in the hands of Shahnawaz Khan.

Drunkenness of the imperial officers.

38. The climate of Balapur had an unfortunate effect on the Mughal officers. Akbar's son Murad had already died there from the effects of drink, and in 1617 Raja Mahan Singh, a distinguished and valued officer of Jahangir's, died there from the same cause. Shahnawaz Khan succumbed to the same fate a few years later.

Shahjahan appointed to the Deccan.

39. Early in 1617 the prospects of the imperial army were improved by the removal of the indolent Parvez and the appointment of the enterprising Khurram, Jahangir's third son, to the command in the Deccan. This appointment produced an immediate effect on the Deccanis, who surrendered to the imperial officers many of their recent conquests and ceased to molest Berar. Later in the year Khurram was recalled to Mandu, where the emperor was then in camp, and was honoured-with the title of Shahjahan, under which he afterwards ascended the throne. At the same time the Khan-i-Khanan, the father of Shahnawaz Khan, who now held the position of governor of Berar and Ahmadnagar, was appointed viceroy of the Deccan. Two years later Shahnawaz Khan, to the emperor's great grief, died of drink in Burhanpur. His younger brother, Darab Khan, succeeded him as governor of Berar and Ahmadnagar, and took up his residence in Balapur.

In 1620 Malik Ambar took advantage of Jahangir's absence in Kashmir to besiege Khanjar Khan, the Mughal commandant of Ahmadnagar, while he also drove in the commanders of military posts in the Balaghat of Akola and Buldana and forced them to take refuge with Darab Khan in Balapur. Darab Khan collected his forces, advanced into the Balaghat, and thence to Ahmadnagar, where he fell upon and dispersed the besiegers. But supplies were scarce and dear, and the Mughal army could not maintain itself in the Ahmadnagar country. Darab therefore retired on Balapur, where he encamped until supplies should be collected. A force of the Deccanis hung on the rear of the retreating army and followed it as far as Balapur, where the intruders were defeated by Raja Narsingh Deo who captured and beheaded Mansur, one of Ambar's African officers. This trifling success did not suffice to stay the progress of the Deccanis. The siege of Ahmadnagar was vigorously pressed forward, and most of the fortified posts in the Ahmadnagar country and Berar were captured from the imperialists, while the enemy ravaged nearly the whole province of Berar and burnt the standing crops. Malik Ambar's strength increased with his prestige, and he was now able to put into the field 60,000 horse, including the contingents furnished by the kings of Bijapur and Golconda. Darab Khan made an effort to check Ambar's further advance by moving from Balapur to Mehkar, where he remained for three months, but in spite of his successes against the Deccanis in the field their Maratha horse succeeded in cutting off his supplies until he was compelled to fall back once more on Balapur The enemy followed him and repeated at Balapur the tactics which had compelled him to leave Mehkar. The activity and mobility of the Marathas enabled them to destroy the crops and to intercept all supplies until the imperial troops were reduced to such straits that numbers of them deserted daily to the enemy. Darab Khan had now no choice but to retreat to Burhanpur, and the fortunes of the Mughals were at a lower ebb than at any time since their first interference in the affairs of the Deccan. Malik Ambar even ventured to besiege the imperial troops in Burhanpur and to cross the Nerbudda and ravage the southern districts of Malwa, but early in 1621 Shahjahan was again sent to the Deccan. He drove the Deccanis from the neighbourhood of Burhanpur, and pressed on through. Berar to Khirki, which he demolished. Malik Ambar, now in dire straits, agreed to a humiliating treaty of peace, one of the articles of which was to the effect that the southern frontier of the empire should be advanced thirty miles to the south. This provision secured Berar for the emperor, the southern tracts of the Akola District were again brought under the management of Mughal officers, and Balapur was again garrisoned.

Rebellion of Shahjahan.

40. In 1622 Shahjahan rose against his father and was in rebellion for three years, during which period the imperial cause in the Deccan suffered much, though the Mughals never again lost their hold on Balapur and the Akola district. After Shahjahan's submission to his father Pira Lodi, an Afghan who held the high title of Khan-i-Jahan and was one of the principal nobles of the empire, was appointed governor of Berar. The Afghan betrayed his trust with a shamelessness which eclipsed all former dealings of the Mughal officers in Burhanpur with Malik Ambar. Their traffic with the enemy had at least been carried on under the cloak of secrecy, and their treason was never unveiled; but the Khan-i-Jahan openly sold the Balaghat of Berar, which comprised the southern parganas of the Akola District, to Murtaza Nizam Shah, the creature of Malik Ambar, for twelve lakhs of rupees, and insisted on the fulfilment of his bargain by his subordinates, compelling all commanders of posts in the Balaghat to return to Balapur. This was the situation of affairs in Berar when Shahjahan, early in 1628, ascended the imperial throne in Delhi. The new emperor ignored the nefarious bargain of Pira Lodi and ordered Murtaza Nizam Shah to vacate the military posts in the Balaghat, and the latter did not venture to disobey the command. Pira Lodi was summoned to court and, discovering on his arrival there that his treachery was well known and was likely to be punished, fled towards the Deccan, where he was harboured by Murtaza Nizam Shah, who refused to surrender him. Shahjahan now prepared for war and advanced to Burhanpur.

Invasion of the Deccan.

41. Early in 1630 three imperial armies invaded the Balaghat, and Rao Ratan with 10,000 horse was sent to occupy the valley of the Penganga near Basim. there to await an opportunity of advancing into Telingana. A marauding force of the Deccanis succeeded, however, in evading him and, having entered Berar, committed extensive ravages. Rao Ratah was inclined to turn back and pursue them, but received orders to stand fast in Basim while Vazir Khan was sent from Burhanpur in pursuit of the invaders and dispersed them. Later in the year Rao Ratan, 'who was deficient in enterprise, was relieved in Basim by Nasiri Khan. The war was now carried beyond the confines of the Akola District and calls for no further notice here.

Famine.

42. In 1630 the rains failed, and a severe famine which affected the whole of Berar was the result. The province had been for many years the scene of hostilities and neither of the hostile armies was in the habit of respecting the rights of private property, while the invariable tactics of one of them consisted in the destruction of crops with the object of depriving the other of supplies. It is therefore not surprising that the famine was more severe than any which has occurred in recent-years. The official chronicler of Shahjahan's reign describes it in the following terms:-' Buyers were ready to give a life for a loaf, but seller was there none. The flesh of dogs was sold as that of goats and the bones of the dead were ground down with the flour sold in the market, and the punishment of those who profited by this traffic produced yet more dreadful results. Men devoured one another and came to regard the flesh of their children as sweeter than their love. The inhabitants fled afar to other tracts till the corpses of those who fell by the way checked those who came after, and in the lands of Berar, which had been famous for their fertility and prosperity, no trace of habitation remained.' Some mention is made of measures of relief, but it is very clear that these were utterly inadequate.

Operations in Telingana and against Daulatabad.

43. In 1632 Shahjahan returned to Agra and Mirza Isa Tarkhan was appointed governor of Ellichpur while Yamin-ud-daulah was viceroy of the Deccan. The viceroy directed two campaigns, one in Telingana which ended with the fall of Kandahar, and the other in the Daulatabad country which ended with the fall of Daulatabad in 1633. Basim was the base of operations in the former campaign and Balapur in the latter.

Reorganization of the Mughal conquests in the Deccan.

44. Towards the end of 1634 Shahjahan issued a farman redistributing his conquests in the Deccan. Hitherto Khandesh, Berar and the conquests from the Nizam Shahi dominions had formed an unwieldy subah under one subahdar. This arrangement was now changed. Berar, Khandesh and the Ahmadnagar kingdom were divided into two subahs, the Balaghat on the south and the Payanghat on the north. The line of demarcation between the two new subahs was the edge of the plateau of southern Berar, and the Akola District was thus divided between the two, the taluks of Akola, Akot, Balapur and Murtizapur lying in the Payanghat and those of Basim and Mangrul in the Balaghat. The new arrangement was not of long duration. In 1636 Shahjahan appointed his third son Aurangzeb, viceroy of the Deccan, which was divided into the four subahs of Daulatabad, Telingana, Khandesh, and Berar.

Accession of Aurangzeb (Alamgir).

45. No event worthy of note occurred in the District during the remainder of the reign of Shahjahan, and in 1658 Aurangzeb, after a fratricidal struggle, ascended the throne of Delhi under the title of Alamgir. There is nothing to chronicle during his long reign, towards the end of which Akola was held in jagir by his prime minister Asad Khan, whose local agent was Khaja Abdul Latif. This officer built the walls of Akola, which he named Asadgarh in compliment to his master, and the idgah to the north of the town.

Accession of Bahadur Shah.

46. In 1707 Aurangzeb died and was succeeded by his eldest surviving son, Shah Alam, who took the title of Bahadur Shah.

Recognition of chauth and sardeshmukhi.

47. In 1718, during the reign of the wretched Farrukhsiyar, a regular system of buying off the Maratha marauders was inaugurated, and was sanctioned by the emperor's advisers. In consideration of refraining from ravaging the six subahs of the Deccan these freebooters were to be allowed to collect, under the name of chauth, blackmail amounting nominally to one-fourth of the revenue; and to indemnify them for their trouble in collecting chauth they were to be permitted to collect a cess, known as sardeshmukhi, amounting to a tenth of the revenue. This disgraceful compact amounted to no more than an imperial confirmation of a practice which had for some years past been usual among the slothful amirs of the Deccan. Its effects on the wretched cultivators of Berar must have been disastrous, and are briefly described by Sir Alfred Lyall in the Gazetteer of Berar as follows: 'Wherever the emperor appointed a jagirdar the Marathas appointed another, and both claimed the revenue, while foragers from each side exacted forced contributions; so that the harassed, cultivator often threw up, his land and helped to plunder his neighbour.'

Campaign of Balapur.

48. In 1720 the two Saiyid brothers of Barha, Abdullah Khan and Husain Ali Khan, who had long held all real power at Delhi, began to conspire against their most dangerous rival, the brave and astute Chin Kiliz Khan, better known by his titles of Nizam-ul-Mulk and Asaf Jah. Asaf Jah was appointed subahdar of Malwa in the hope that he would be defeated and perhaps lose his life in attempting to quell disturbances sedulously fostered from Delhi, or that he would be entrapped into some overt act of rebellion which would expose him to attack by the imperial army from Delhi under the command of the brothers and by the army of the Deccan under the command of their nephew, Alam Ali Khan. Asaf Jah, however, held his own at Burhanpur, where he was joined by his uncle Iwaz Khan, the subahdar of Berar, and by most of the principal officers in Malwa. The Saiyids now repented of having allowed him to strengthen himself in Malwa, and Husain Ali Khan prepared to oust him from his appointment and to assume it for himself. Alam Ali Khan was ordered to attack him from the south while Saiyid Ali Khan, another member of the family, was sent from Delhi with instructions to attack him from the north should success appear probable, or to avoid him and join Alam Ali Khan without risking an action. Meanwhile Asaf Jah had been attacked by and had defeated and slain at Ratanpur, within forty miles of Burhanpur, Dilawar Ali Khan, another relative of the Saiyid brothers. Husain Ali Khan, who had intended to march in person against Asaf Jah, was detained at Delhi, but Alam Ali Khan marched from Aurangabad into Berar. Asaf Jah sent the corpse of Dilawar Ali to Alam AH for burial, informing him at the same time that he might retire with his family to Hindustan without molestation. Alam Ali Khan, however, was not disposed to give up the Deccan without a struggle, and Asaf Jah marched towards the Purna river, the south bank of which was now held by Alam Ali Khan. The rains were heavy, the river was in flood, there were no boats, and the country was well nigh impassable owing to the deep mire. Asaf jah accordingly moved eastwards along the bank of the river until he heard of a ford in the direction of Balapur. With the assistance of Iwaz Khan, and the local zamindars he crossed the river and awaited the arrival of Alam Ali Khan at Shegaon. Here his army suffered great discomfort. Rain fell incessantly, supplies could not be obtained, and the Marathas hung around the camps so that the baggage animals could not be sent out for grass. Many of the rank and file deserted and fled to their homes and many of the horses and baggage animals, standing up to their girths in mud, died of exhaustion and disease. As soon as the rain ceased Asaf Jah marched from Shegaon towards Balapur. The Marathas molested his army on its march but were attacked and defeated. The army then halted at a deserted village six miles from Balapur and some supplies were collected, but Asaf Jah was compelled to bury some of his heavy guns at this place as the debilitated bullocks could not drag them through the mud. The army then pressed on to Balapur, where supplies were plentiful. Here they encamped, and Asaf Jah selected a defensive position within six miles of the town. Alain Ali Khan had been following him as rapidly as the state of the country permitted,' and Asaf Jah had no. more time at his disposal than was necessary for the selection of his position and the preparation of his troops for battle.

Battle of Balapur.

49. The armies met on August 12th, 1720. In the artillery combat which preceded the actual conflict Asaf Jah had the advantage, but this advantage was nullified by the vigour with which Alam Ali's men delivered their attack. Asaf Jah's first line was broken, but Alam Ali, in pursuing his advantage, pressed on at such a pace that his companions could not keep up with him. He fought valiantly and was once repulsed, but returned to the attack, while the defence was weakened by the necessity for detaching a force to deal with the Marathas, who had already plundered some of Asaf Jah's treasure. Alam Ali at length fell, covered with wounds, and his army was defeated and dispersed with comparatively small loss to Asaf Jah, who now became supreme in the Deccan. The families of Dilawar Ali Khan and Alam Ali Khan fled to Daulatabad, where they took refuge, and shortly after this the Saiyid brothers were destroyed and Muhammad Shah was freed from their domination.

Asaf Jah Independent of Delhi.

50. In 1724 Asaf Jah defeated at Shakarkhelda in the Buldana District Mubariz Khan, the subahdar of Hyderabad, who was instigated to attack him by intriguers at Delhi, and henceforth ruled Berar and the Deccan virtually as an independent sovereign, though he never formally proclaimed his independence.

The Nizams of Hyderabad.

51. The status of the Marathas in the imperial provinces of the Deccan has already been explained, and during the rule of the Nizams of Hyderabad these freebooters tightened their grip on the land. The Bhonslas of Nagpur acquired a recognized position as mokasadars, or assignees of a share of the revenues of Berar, and maintained an establishment of revenue collectors, and before the death of Asaf Jah in 1748 they had become possessed of the Melghat and its two fortresses, Narnala and Gawilgarh. These they held nominally as feudatories of the Nizam, but actually as a guarantee for their share of the revenue, and they retained possession of them until the close of the third Maratha war.

The Akola campaign.

52. In 1758 Nizam Ali Khan, subahdar of Berar, took the field against his brother, the Nizam Salabat Jang, marched from Burhanpur, his headquarters, towards the Deccan, and halted during the rainy season at Basim, leaving his lieutenant, Shaikh Amin Ahmad, at Burhanpur to organize and equip his artillery train. Salabat Jang succeeded in gaining over to his cause Janojl Bhonsla of Nagpur, who, as soon as the cessation of the rains rendered field operations possible, raided Berar. The first care of Nizam Ali, who had spent the rainy season in Basim was to draw the claws of Janoji Bhonsla, and he was preparing to march against him when he heard that his artillery park in Burhanpur was ready to join him, but that Bapu Karandiya, Bhonsla's lieutenant, was only waiting for it to leave Burhanpur in order to fall upon it. Nizam Ali therefore wrote to Shaikh Amin Ahmad bidding him be upon his guard and cautioning him against leaving Burhanpur until he was joined by his master. Nizam Ali followed his letter by way of Akola, beyond which place he had to fight his way to Burhanpur. The Marathas opposed him in the field on each day of his march and were daily repulsed. Janoji, seeing that his lieutenant was no match for Nizam Ali, marched to his assistance, and the Marathas so harassed Nizam Ali on his march that his troops had rest neither by day nor by night At last, when Nizam Ali had reached the bank of the Purna, probably in the vicinity of Patharda, he saw and seized his opportunity. The Marathas had encamped for the night, when Nizam Ali directed Sidi Ambar Khan and Kadir Sahib, to fall upon them. The night attack was successful and both Janoji Bhonsla and Bapu Karandiya fled in confusion. Janoji succeeded in rallying a force sufficient to harass Nizam Ali and so keep him on the alert, but the spirit of the Marathas was broken and they would not face the Mughals in the field. Janoji now forsook Salabat Jang and threw in his lot with Nizam Ali, whom he advised to march on Hyderabad. The advice was followed and in 1761 Nizam Ali deposed his brother and took his place as Nizam.

Battle of Argaon.

53. The history of the District is uneventful from this period till the time of the second Maratha war. The battle of Assaye was fought on September 23rd, 1803, and Major-General Arthur Wellesley and Colonel Stevenson, after much marching and countermarching occasioned by the movements of Daulat Rao Sindhia and Raghuji Bhonsla, met on November 28th and marched to Patharda on the Purna with the object of attacking the Marathas, now awaiting them at Argaon (Argaum) in the Akot taluk. The Maratha armies, though nearly as numerous as at Assaye, were neither so well disciplined nor so well appointed, and their artillery consisted of no more than thirty-eight guns. Their position was thus described by Wellesley in his despatch to his brother, the Governor-General:-

' The enemy's infantry and guns were in the left of their centre, with a body of cavalry on their left. Sindhia's army, consisting of one very heavy body of cavalry, was on the right, having upon its right a body of Pindaris and other light troops. Their line extended above five miles, having in their rear the village and extensive gardens and enclosures of Argaum; and in their front a plain, which, however, was much cut by water-courses, etc.'

The troops engaged at Argaon were the King's 19th Light Dragoons, 74th Highlanders, 78th Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs), and 94th Foot, the Company's artillery, the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th Madras Native Cavalry and the following battalions of Madras Native Infantry:-1st battalion 2nd (now the 62nd Punjabis), 2nd battalion 2nd (now the 80th Carnatic Infantry), 1st battalion 3rd (now the 63rd Palamcottah Light Infantry), 1st battalion 4th (now the 64th Pioneers), 1st battalion 6th (now the 66th Punjabis), 2nd battalion 7th (now the 79th Carnatic Infantry), Ist battalion 8th, 2nd battalion 9th, 1st battalion 10th, 1st battalion 11th (now the 81st Pioneers), and 2nd battalion 12th (now the 84th Punjabis). The infantry were drawn up in one line with the 78th on the right, having the 74th on its immediate left and the 94th on the extreme left of the line. The cavalry were formed in a second line, the regular cavalry being on the right and the Mughal and Mysore horse on the left. The right of the line was somewhat thrown forward in order that the first blow might be struck at the enemy's left.

As the lines were forming at a distance of about 1200 yards from the enemy the latter opened a cannonade which did no actual damage but threw nearly three. entire battalions of native infantry; which had behaved admirably under a much heavier fire at Assaye, into confusion. They took refuge in a village behind which the cavalry were halted prior to deployment, leaving the Highlanders and the artillery alone in the field on the right. Fortunately Wellesley was close at hand and was able to rally these battalions, but much valuable time was wasted. When the line was reformed the troops advanced in perfect order, the march of the 78th being directed against a battery of nine guns on the enemy's left. As this battery was approached a body of about 800 infantry, supposed to have been Persians, but more probably Arabs, which had been sheltered behind it, charged with the apparent intention of breaking through the interval between the 74th and the 78th. These two regiments, however, closed the interval and pressed on with ported arms to meet the enemy. A deep muddy nullah unfortunately prevented them from closing with the bayonet, but they maintained a steady fire until their assailants, who displayed the most obstinate courage, were entirely destroyed. Sindhia's cavalry charged the 6th Native Infantry on the left of the line, next to the 94th, but were repulsed, and the Maratha army then broke and fled in confusion, leaving the whole of their artillery and ammunition in the hands of the victors. The British cavalry pursued them for many miles, destroying great numbers and capturing many elephants and camels and much baggage, and the Mughal and Mysore cavalry continued the pursuit with much slaughter. Wellesley wrote that had there been one hour's more daylight not a man of the enemy would have escaped, and the delay caused by the unaccountable panic of some of his best native infantry was a great disappointment to him. The Marathas were, however, completely demoralized. Vithal Pant, who commanded Bhonsla's cavalry, was killed and Gopal Bhau, who commanded Sindhia's cavalry, was wounded. After this signal victory Wellesley marched' towards Ellichpur for the purpose of attacking Gawilgarh.

Maladministration of Berar.

54. After the close of the Maratha war of 1803 the Akola District was nominally at peace, but the people suffered much from the depredations of the Pindaris and from the results of maladministration. Extravagance at the capital led to wholesale borrowing, and the approved method of satisfying creditors was the farming to them of Districts in Berar. The lessee's term was uncertain, for a more importunate creditor sometimes obtained a lease over his head, with authority to oust him, and it was therefore to his interest to make as much money as he could in the shortest time possible, without regard to the fate of the cultivators. Puran Mal, a great moneylender of Hyderabad, in this way held most of Berar in farm, In 1839 he was ousted by Pestonji and Company, an enterprising Parsi firm whose methods with the cultivators contrasted very favourably with those of other farmers. Pestonji, however, was deprived of his lease in 1845, in spite of his plea that forty lakhs were still due to him, and his revenue collectors were forcibly ejected, not without bloodshed, from Akola and Balapur. They were succeeded in Akola by a rapacious talukdar who robbed the people without protecting them from other robbers and drove many of them to Amraoti for refuge.

The Assignment. Boundaries of the District.

55. In 1853 the Akola District, with the rest of Berar, was assigned to the East India Company. The province was at first divided into the two Districts of East and West Berar, Akola being the headquarters of the latter, which included the present Akola District, except the taluk of Murtizapur, the Buldana District, and the Pusad taluk of the Yeotmal District. In 1864 the Buldana District, at first called the South-West Berar, and afterwards the Mehkar, District, was formed, and in 1875 the Basim District, which had for some years been an independent subdivision, was separated from Akola. In August 1905, when the six Districts of Berar were reconstituted, the limits of the Akola District, which had till then consisted of the five taluks of Akola, Akot, Balapur, Khamgaon, and Jalgaon, were extensively modified. Murtizapur was received from Amraoti, Khamgaon and Jalgaon were transferred to Buldana, and Basim and Mangrul were received from the Basim District, which was broken up.

Progress since the Mutiny.

56. The Mutiny did not affect the Akola District, the history of which is, since that time, merely a record of steady progress, broken only twice by famine. The nature of the administration before the Assignment has already been described. Its effect was, in very many cases, to drive the cultivators from their holdings The establishment of British rule was the signal for the repopulation of the province, and the Akola District, which contains some of the richest land in Berar, was one of the first tracts to welcome back the cultivator. The opening of the Nagpur branch of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway established railway communication with Bombay and greatly increased the cotton trade, which was enormously stimulated by the American Civil War. Since that time both agriculture and commerce have progressed steadily.