campaign alluded to above, in which a combination of Hindus from
different States drove back the invaders. Here is Firishtah's
account of what took place.[37] He is speaking of the year A.H. 744,
which lasted from May 26, A.D. 1343, to May 15, 1344, and he says
that Krishna Naik, son of Rudra Deva of Warangal, went privately to
Ballala Deva and urged him to join a combination of Hindus with the
view of driving out the Muhammadans from the Dakhan. The Ballala
prince consented, and Krishna Naik promised, when the preparations
were complete, to raise all the Hindus of Telingana and place himself
at their head.

Ballala Deva then built the city of Vijayanagar,[38] raised an army,
and the war began. Warangal, then in the hands of the Muhammadans,
was reduced, and its governor, Imad-ul-Mulkh, retreated to Daulatabad
or Devagiri. The two chiefs then induced other Rajahs of the Malabar
and Kanara countries to join them, and the joint forces seized the
whole of the Dakhan and expelled the Muhammadans there, "so that
within a few months Muhammad Taghlak had no possessions in that
quarter except Daulatabad."

So far the Muhammadan historian. It is necessary to observe that
this success of the Hindus was only temporary, for their enemies
still swarmed in the Dakhan, and immediately after this contest
the Hindus appear to have retired south of the Krishna, leaving the
distracted country a prey to temporary anarchy. This, however, was
of short duration, for though the domination of the Sultan of Delhi
in that tract was completely destroyed, yet three years later, viz,
on Friday the 24th Rabi-al-akhir A.H. 748, according to Firishtah,
a date which corresponds to Friday, August 3, A.D. 1347, Ala-ud-din
Bahmani was crowned sovereign of the Dakhan at Kulbarga, establishing