Winter Being Near At Hand, Adel Khan Determined Upon A Great Effort To
Gain Possession Of The Island; For Which Purpose 9000 Men Were Brought
To The Pass Of Mercantor, Which Had Not Been Fortified By The
Portuguese As The River Was Very Wide At That Place.
Fortunately the
Portuguese heard the sound of a great drum in that direction, which is
never beat but when
The king marches in person; upon which they ran
thither and saw Adel Khan on the opposite side encouraging his men.
Advice of this was immediately conveyed to the viceroy, who sent several
parties to defend the pass, and marched thither himself, sending orders
for assistance to the various posts and quarters. In spite of every
opposition, five thousand of the enemy got over under the command of
Solyman Aga, a Turk who was captain of the guards of Adel Khan. By the
time the viceroy got to the place, he had collected a force of 2000 men,
with which he immediately attacked the enemy. The battle continued the
whole of the 13th of April from morning to night, and from the morning
of the 14th to that of the following day. During all this time, Adel
Khan surveyed the engagement from the opposite side of the river, often
cursing his prophet and throwing his turban on the ground in his rage;
and at length had the mortification of seeing his troops entirely
defeated, with the loss of Solyman Aga and 4000 men, while the
Portuguese scarcely lost twenty. Though in public he vowed never to stir
from before Goa still it was taken, he privately made overtures for
peace, in which he even ridiculously demanded the surrender of Goa.
About this time, the viceroy secretly entered into a treaty with Nori
Khan, the grand general of Adel Khan, whom he instigated to kill the
king, offering to support him in assuming the crown, or at least in
acquiring a preponderating influence in the government under the
successor. Nori Khan agreed to these proposals; but when the conspiracy
was ripe for execution it was detected, and Nori Khan, with all his
adherents, were secured.
When the siege had continued to the middle of July, the viceroy
endeavoured to stir up other princes to invade the dominions of Adel
Khan, that he might be constrained to abandon the siege. Both he and the
king were desirous of peace, but both endeavoured to conceal their
wishes; the viceroy giving out that he cared not how long the king
continued the siege, and the king pretending that he would persevere
till he gained the place. At length, towards the end of August 1571,
when the summer or fine weather had begun, and when the enemy might
still better have been able to keep the field, and to recommence active
operations, the number of the hostile tents could be seen plainly to
decrease, then the cannon were drawn off from the posts of the enemy,
and at last the men entirely disappeared; Adel Khan having abandoned the
siege without coming to any accommodation, after a siege of ten months,
in which he lost 12,000 men, 300 elephants, 4000 horses, and 6000
draught bullocks, partly by the sword and partly by the weather.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 359 of 423
Words from 187559 to 188103
of 221361
