How on the death of Crisnarao his brother Achetarao was raised to
be king.
Before[588] the death of King Crisnarao from his disease as has been
before recounted, being sick and already despairing of his life, he
made a will, saying that of his three brothers whom, at the time when
they raised him to be King, he had sent to be confined in the fortress
of Chamdegary[589] with his nephew, son of the King Busbalrao,[590]
they should make King his brother Achetarao[591] who now reigns;
for the latter seemed to him to be better fitted for that than any
of the others, for the reason that he himself had no son of fit age
for the throne, but only one of the age of eighteen months. After his
death Salvanay became minister of the kingdom, and governed it till
the coming of King Achitarao from the fortress of Chamdegary where
he was detained. And he further left in his will that he should take
Billgao,[592] and should make war on the Ydallcao.
Which King Chytarao, after he ascended the throne, gave himself over to
vice and tyranny. He is a man of very little honesty, and on account of
this the people and the captains are much discontented with his evil
life and inclinations; for he has never done anything except those
things that are desired by his two brothers-in-law,[593] who are men
very evilly disposed and great Jews. By reason of this the Ydalcao,
learning of how little weight he was, determined to make war on him,
believing that he would easily succeed since the King was not inclined
to war; so he made his forces ready, and began to invade the King's
territory, and arrived within a league of the city of Bisnaga. Chetarao
was in the city with such great forces and power that he could easily
have captured him if his heart had allowed him to take action, since
the Ydallcao had with him only 12,000 foot and 30,000 horse; yet
with this small force the Ydallcao entered Nagallapor a league from
Bisnaga and razed it to the ground. The King never tried to go out
against him, nor had he the stomach for a fight, and there were only
small skirmishes by some captains, good horsemen. These spoke to the
King, asking that His Highness would give them leave to attack, and
saying that his own presence was unnecessary for so slight an affair;
but the King was terrified, and by the advice of his brothers-in-law
(of which they gave not a little) decided to send and make peace with
the Ydallcao. The Ydallcao was very glad and made a peace with him
which was to last for a hundred years, on condition that the King
should give him ten LAKHS of gold PARDAOS, each LAKH being 100,000
PARDAOS, and further should yield up to him the city of Rachol which
the King Crisnarao had taken from him, and which had a revenue with
its lands of 150,000 PARDAOS, as well as jewels which could easily
be valued at a LAKH. The King accepted these terms, and the Ydallcao
departed well pleased with this money; and after all was done the
King sent to him a diamond stone weighing 130 MANGELLINIS,[594]
with fifteen other similar ones worth fully a LAKH. This money he
soon afterwards recovered and put in his treasury, exacting payments
from his captains and people so ruthlessly that they say that in six
months he had recovered and put the whole in his treasury.
Wherefore the captains and troops, both because he made this peace
and because he exacted this sum of money contrary to the wishes of
them all, have lived greatly discontented, and have held that if this
kingdom should ever be brought to destruction, it must take place in
the lifetime of King Chitarao; for he had destroyed the principal
people of his kingdom and killed their sons and taken their goods,
all owing to the bad counsel of his brothers-in-law, by whom he
was dominated.
I will tell you of one who was called Crisnaranarque whom he seized
one night, and who, before he surrendered himself, killed all his
wives, in number two hundred, and then killed himself with poison in
presence of the King. This was because the King wanted to kill his son
in his presence. By sale of the captain's arms, namely daggers, swords,
spears, battle-axes and other things, which were all ornamented with
gold and silver, the King realised more than 3000 PARDAOS. In this way
the kingdom has been deprived of its principal men and of those who
sustain it, wherefore the Ydalcao holds it in so little esteem that he
puts upon it every day a thousand affronts and requisitions. Of this
King there is nothing more so far to recount, save that he is a man
that they hold to be of little force of character, and very negligent
of the things which most concern the welfare of his kingdom and State.