PENKONDA. 
5 
posterity, he built many handsome edifices, and 
a magnificent palace, which he proudly styled the 
Ghugun Mahal, the Palace of the Sky. Yet the 
memory of his former capital and all his lost 
wealth never forsook him, and, as his years in- 
creased, his enmity against his former despoilers 
was strengthened : so that, when his spirit was 
about to be absorbed into the essence of Brahma, 
he imposed a solemn injunction upon his son, 
Drooghi Raial, that he should never suffer a 
Moslem to enter the gates of the city, under any 
circumstances either of peace or of war. Drooghi 
Raial was filled with pious enthusiasm, and, imme- 
diately on the death of his father, issued a wise and 
sacred edict, announcing that if any of his subjects 
should admit a Mussulman to the city, or finding him 
already there, should omit to slay him, or should, 
either wittingly or in ignorance, assist or befriend 
a Mussulman, he should, even upon slender testi- 
mony thereof, be instantly condemned to a death 
of extreme torture. 
In these times, Penkonda was blessed by the 
favour and countenance of a most sanctified Brah- 
min, whose humble abode was upon the sacred hill 
of Pennakoel, on the east side of the city. One 
morning, while this venerable man was engaged in 
his usual religious exercises, he became so absorbed 
in devotion that he did not notice the approach of a 
stranger, leading a cow, until his blood spontaneously 
b 2 
