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Chapter 2 – From the Dynasty of Ghuzni to that of Toghluk, 1009–1321

Movements in Khorasan and Cabul

We have now reached the period when the Mahomedan empire in India may be said to have had a substantial beginning. The opulent regions of Khorasan and Transoxiana had been conquered by the Arabs in the first century of the hejira, and continued under the government of the lieutenants of the Caliphs, for more than 180 years. But after the death of Haroun-ul-Rashid, the most illustrious of that line of princes, their authority began to decline, and the different provinces aspired to independence, till at length, little, if anything remained of the once splendid empire of the Caliphs, except the city of Bagdad and its immediate dependencies. Among the governors who thus assumed royalty, was Ismael Samani, a Tartar and a Turk, who seized on Transoxiana and Khorasan as well as Afghanistan, about the year 862, and fixed the seat of his government at Bokhara. This dynasty, called that of the Samanides flourished for about 120 years. The fifth prince of the line had a Tartar slave of the name of Aluptugeen, a man of good sense and courage, who rose through the gradations of office to the government of Candahar, or

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Ghuzni. On the death of his patron, a controversy arose about the succession, and Aluptugeen voted against his son, who was, however, raised to the throne by the other chiefs. Aluptugeen having thus incurred his resentment, retreated to his own government, and declared himself independent; and after defeating two armies sent against him, was allowed to remain unmolested. He had purchased a slave of Turkistan, of the name of Subuktugeen, who, though claiming descent from the illustrious Persian dynasty of the Sassanides had been reduced to the most abject poverty. His master, who had discovered great powers of mind in him, gradually raised him to such trust and power, that he became the first subject in the kingdom, and in 976 succeeded to the throne.

Hindoos attack Subuktugeen, 977

The provinces in the extreme north of India, and more particularly the Punjab, had for many centuries been linked with the fortunes and policy of Cabal and Candahar which lay to the west of the Indus. Hence, the establishment of a powerful Mahomedan kingdom, under a vigorous ruler, at no greater distance from the frontier of India than Ghuzni, gave no little disquietude to Jeypal, the Hindoo chief of Lahore. He determined to anticipate any designs which Subuktugeen might form on India, and crossed the Indus with a large army to Lughman, at the entrance of the valley which extends from Peshawur to Cabul, where he was met by that prince. While the two armies faced each other, a violent tempest of wind, rain, and thunder arose, which is said to have terrified the superstitious soldiers of Jeypal to such a degree, as to constrain him to sue for an accommodation, that he might escape to his own country. The Hindoo was the aggressor, and the treaty was not granted except on the surrender of fifty elephants, and the promise of a large sum of money. The envoys of Subuktugeen followed Jeypal to Lahore for payment, but on hearing that his opponent had been obliged to march towards the west to repel an invasion, he was disposed to withhold it. The brahmins, says the native historian, stood on the right of the throne, and urged

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him to refuse the tribute, since there was nothing to be any longer apprehended from Ghuzni; while his kshetriyu officers, standing on the left, reminded him of the sufferings beyond the Indus which had extorted the contribution, and, above all, of his royal word which he had pledged to the Mahomedan prince. In an evil hour, Jeypal listened to the priests, and imprisoned the envoys. Subuktugeen speedily disposed of his enemies in the west, and marched with a large army towards the Indus, breathing vengeance against the author of the insult. Jeypal, notwithstanding his perfidy, succeeded in enlisting the aid of the kings of Delhi, Ajmere, Calinjer, and Cunouj, and advanced across the Indus, it is said, with 100,000 horse and countless infantry. The Hindoos were utterly routed, and pursued to the banks of the river. Subuktugeen found a rich plunder in their camp, and obliged all the tribes up to the Indus to submit to his authority.

Mahmood’s first and second irruption, 1001

Subuktugeen died in 997, and was succeeded, in the first instance, by his son Ismael, but he was superseded in a few months by his brother, the renowned Mahmood of Ghuzni, who inflicted the severest blow on the Hindoo power which it had ever experienced since its original establishment in India. From his early youth Mahmood had accompanied his father in his numerous expeditions, and thus acquired a passion and a talent for war. He succeeded to the resources of the kingdom at the age of thirty, burning with ambition to enlarge its boundaries. Having spent the first four years of his reign in consolidating his government west of the Indus, he cast his eye on the rich plains of Hindostan filled with idolaters, and invested with a romantic interest. In addition to the wealth he might acquire, the glory of extending the triumphs of Mahomedanism through new and unknown regions, possessed an irresistible charm for his mind. He began his crusade against the Hindoos in the year 1001, and conducted no fewer than twelve expeditions against the northern provinces, which, being held by various independent princes, fell an easy prey to his arms.

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He left Ghuzni in August with 10,000 chosen horse, and was met at Peshawur by his father’s old antagonist, Jeypal, who was totally defeated and taken prisoner, but released on the promise of paying tribute. According to the Persian historian, it was a custom or law of the Hindoos that a prince who had been twice defeated by the Mahomedan arms was considered unworthy to reign. Jeypal, therefore, resigned the throne to his son Anungpal, and closed the misfortunes of his reign by ascending the funeral pyre in regal state. Some of the chiefs subordinate to Lahore, however, refused to pay the contributions demanded of them, among whom was the raja of Bhutnere, situated at the northern extremity of the Bikaneer desert. The Sultan proceeded against him; the fort was taken after a siege of three days, and the prince, to avoid falling into the hands of the victor, fell upon his own sword.

His third and fourth expeditions, 1005–8

Mahmood’s third expedition was undertaken to subdue Daood, whom he had left governor of Mooltan, but who, under the encouragement of Anungpal, had revolted against his master. Mooltan was invested for seven days, but an irruption of the Tartars from beyond the Oxus, constrained Mahmood to accept the submissions of the governor. Having succeeded in driving the Tartars back to their seats, he returned to India on his fourth expedition to chastise Anungpal for the revolt he had instigated, and for his repeated perfidies. That prince had sent envoys to the Hindoo monarchs in the north of Hindostan to the kings of Oojein, Calinjer, Gwalior, Cunouj, Delhi, and Ajmere, who formed a confederation and assembled the largest army which had as yet taken the field against the Mahomedans. The Hindoo women are said to have melted down their gold ornaments and sold their jewels to support the war, which was considered holy. The Hindoo troops again crossed the Indus and advanced to Peshawur, where the two armies were encamped opposite to each other for forty days, before joining issue. Mahmood at length commenced the

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engagement by a large body of archers, but they were driven back with the loss of 5,000, by the impetuosity of the bareheaded and bare-footed Gukkers, a tribe of savages, living in the hills and fastnesses to the east of the Indus, the ancestors of the modern Jauts. The battle was long doubtful, but was at length decided by the flight of the wounded elephant of Anungpal, when the whole body of Hindoos, no longer having their leader before their eyes, dispersed in utter disorder, leaving 20,000 dead on the field.

Capture of Nagarcote, 1008

Mahmood determined to allow them no time to rally, but on reaching the Punjab found their discomfiture so complete so as to afford him leisure for a plundering expedition to the temple of Nagarcote, north-west of Lahore, a place of peculiar sanctity, built over a natural flame which issued from the mountain, and was the origin of its religious renown. It was so strongly fortified as to be deemed impregnable; it was therefore selected as the depository of the wealth of the neighbourhood, and was said at this time to contain a greater quantity of gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls than was to be found in the treasury of any prince on earth. It was, however, captured with ease, and Mahmood is said to have carried away 700 mauns of gold and silver plate, 200 maims of pure gold in ingots, and 200 mauns of jewels.

Capture of Thanesur, 1011

His next expedition was directed against Thanesur, about sixty miles from Delhi, one of the most ancient and opulent shrines in the north of India. Anungpal sent his brother to entreat the sultan to spare the temple which was held in the same veneration by the Hindoos as Mecca was by the Mahomedans. Mahmood replied, that the religion of the prophet inculcated this precept that the reward of his followers in heaven would be in proportion to the diffusion of its tenets and the extermination of idolatry. His mission to India was to root out the idols; how then could he spare Thanesur? The Hindoo princes were therefore summoned to its defence, but before their arrival, the shrine was captured and all the costly images, and shrines, and wealth, together with 200,000 captives were

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sent off to Ghuzni, which now began to wear the appearance of a Hindoo city.

Capture of Cunouj, 1017

During the next three years Mahmood was engaged in two expeditions to Cashmere, of minor consequence – reckoned the seventh and eighth; after which be subdued the whole of Transoxiana, and extended his dominion to the Caspian sea. In the year 1017 he resolved to penetrate to the heart of Hindostan, and assembled an army of 100,000 horse and 20,000 foot, drawn chiefly from the recently conquered provinces, the inhabitants of which were allured to his standard by the love of plunder and of adventure. He set out from Peshawur, and passed three months in skirting the hills, after which he marched southward, and presented himself unexpectedly before the city of Cunouj, which had been renowned in Hindoo history for twenty centuries. The description given of its grandeur, both by Hindoo and Mahomedan writers, staggers our belief, more especially when we consider the limited extent of the kingdom, and the ease with which it was subdued on this occasion. Its standing army is said to have consisted of 80,000 men in armour, 30,000 horsemen, with quilted mail, and 500,000 well equipped infantry. The city, moreover, is reported to have contained 60,000 families of musicians. The raja, taken unawares, was constrained to submit, and to enter into an alliance with the sultan, who remained in the city only three days and then turned his steps towards Muttra. This ecclesiastical city, the birth-place of the deified hero Krishnu, was filled with temples, and the shrines blazed with jewels. But it fell an easy prey to the Mahomedans, and was given up to plunder for twenty days, during which the idols were melted down or demolished. Some of the temples, however, were spared, on account either of their matchless beauty, or their solidity. “Here are a thousand edifices,” writes the sultan, “as firm as the creed of the faithful – most of them of marble, besides innumerable temples. Such another city could not be constructed under two centuries.” After capturing many other towns, and ravaging many districts, Mahmood at length returned to Ghuzni, laden

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with plunder and captives; and the latter became so common as not to be worth more than two rupees a head.

Somnath, 1024

Passing over two expeditions of less moment, we come to the last and most celebrated in which Mahmood was engaged, and which is considered by the Mahomedans as the model of a religious crusade – the capture and plunder of Somnath. This shrine was at the time one of the most wealthy and celebrated in India. It is affirmed that at the period of an eclipse it was crowded with 200,000 pilgrims, that it was endowed with the rent of 2,000 villages, and that the image was daily bathed with water, brought from the sacred stream of the Ganges, a distance of 1,000 miles. Its establishment consisted of 2,000 brahmins, 300 barbers to shave the pilgrims when their vows were accomplished, 200 musicians, and 300 courtesans. To reach the temple Mahmood was obliged to cross the desert with his army, 850 miles in extent, by no means the least arduous of his exploits. He appeared unexpectedly before the capital of the province, and the raja, though considered one of the most powerful princes in India, was constrained to abandon it and take to flight. Pursuing his route to the temple the sultan found it situated on a peninsula connected with the main land by a fortified isthmus, which was manned at every point with soldiers. As he approached it, a herald issued from the portal and menaced the invader with destruction in the name of the god. Mahmood ordered his archers to clear the fortifications; the defenders retired to the temple, and prostrating themselves before the image supplicated with tears for help. The next day there was a general charge by the Mahomedan troops; but the Hindoos were roused to the highest pitch of enthusiasm, and vigorously repulsed the assailants. On the third day the chiefs in the neighbourhood assembled their troops for the defence of the shrine. The battle raged with great fury, and was for a time doubtful. The Mahomedans began to waver, when the sultan prostrated himself to implore the Divine assistance, as he was accustomed to do in every

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emergency, and then leaping into the saddle cheered on his troops. Ashamed to abandon a prince under whom they had so often fought and bled, they rushed on their enemies with an impetuosity which nothing could withstand. Five thousand Hindoos fell under their sabres, and the remainder rushed to their boats. On entering the temple Mahmood was struck with its grandeur. The lofty roof was supported by fifty-six pillars, curiously carved and richly studded with precious stones. The external light was excluded, and the shrine was lighted by a single lamp, suspended by a golden chain, the lustre of which was reflected from the numerous jewels with which the walls were embossed. Facing the entrance stood the lofty idol five yards in height, two of which were buried in the ground. Mahmood ordered it to be broken up, when the brahmins cast themselves at his feet and offered an immense sum to ransom it. His courtiers besought him to accept the offer, and he hesitated for a moment; but he soon recovered himself, and exclaimed that he would rather be known as the destroyer than the seller of images. He then struck the idol with his mace; his soldiers followed the example; and the figure, which was hollow, speedily burst under their blows, and poured forth a quantity of jewels and diamonds, greatly exceeding in value the sum which had been offered for its redemption. The wealth acquired in this expedition exceeded that of any which had preceded it; and the mind is bewildered with the enumeration of treasures and jewels estimated by the maun. The sandal-wood gates of Somnath were sent as a trophy to Ghuzni, where they remained for eight centuries, till they were brought back to India in a triumphal procession by a Christian ruler.

Mahmood’s projects and death, 1030

Mahmood was so charmed with the beauty and the fertility of the country around Somnath, that he proposed at one time to make it the seat of his empire, and likewise to construct a navy to be sent in search of the pearls of Ceylon, and the gold of Pegu. But he had the wisdom to relinquish these projects, and, having placed a

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prince of his own choice on the throne of Guzerat, returned to Ghuzni, after a toilsome and perilous march through the desert. Two years after, his power reached its culminating point by the conquest of Persia, but his reputation was tarnished by the slaughter of some thousands of the inhabitants of Ispahan, who had obstinately resisted his arms. This execution was the more remarkable, as in all his campaigns in India, he never shed the blood of a Hindoo, except in the heat of battle, or in a siege. Soon after his return from this expedition, he expired at his capital in the year 1030, and in the sixtieth of his age. Two days before his death, he caused all the gold and silver and jewels of which he had despoiled India, to be spread out before him, that he might feast his eyes for the last time with the sight, and then burst into tears. The next day he commanded his army, infantry, cavalry, and elephants, to be drawn up in review before him, and wept at the prospect of leaving them.

Mahmood was the greatest prince of his time; the Mahomedans, indeed, consider him the greatest prince of any age. He had all the elements of greatness, exemplary prudence, boundless activity, and great courage. His success in war has given him the highest military reputation, while the perfect order which prevailed throughout his vast dominions, notwithstanding his frequent absence in the field, proves that he likewise possessed the greatest talent for civil affairs. His court was the most magnificent in Asia; his taste in architecture was more particularly developed after his return from Cunouj and Muttra, when he determined to make his own capital worthy of his empire. He erected a mosque of granite and marble, called the Celestial Bride, which filled every beholder with astonishment, and became the wonder of Central Asia. His nobility vied with him in the erection of magnificent buildings, and in a short time the metropolis, which had been a mere collection of hovels, was ornamented with mosques, porches, fountains. reservoirs, acqueducts and palaces, beyond any other city in the east. He has been

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charged with avarice, but if he was rapacious in acquiring wealth, he was noble and judicious in the employment of it. Few Mahomedan princes have ever equalled him in the encouragement of learning. He founded a university at Ghuzni, and furnished it with a large collection of valuable manuscripts, and a museum of natural curiosities. He set aside a lac of rupees a year for pensions to learned men, and his munificence brought together a larger assembly of literary genius than was to be found in any other Asiatic court. In the space of thirty years, he extended his dominions from the Persian gulf to the sea of Aral, and from the mountains of Curdestan to the banks of the Sutlege; yet while in possession of this great empire, he considered it his highest glory to be designated the “image-breaker.”

Musaood, 1030–1040

Mahmood left two sons, twins; the eldest, Mahomed, had recommended himself to his father by his gentleness and docility, and was nominated his successor. The younger Musaood had become popular with the nobles and the army, by his martial qualities, and within five months of his father’s decease, marched to Ghuzni, deprived his brother of his throne and his sight, and made himself king. In the year 1034 he conducted an expedition to Cashmere, which he subdued, but was recalled to the defence of his dominions by the irruption of a horde of Turki-Tartars, denominated Seljuks. His father had on one occasion defeated them, but he let them off on easy terms, and they recrossed the Oxus in such numbers as to threaten the safety of his empire. Among the generals now sent to oppose their progress, was Jey-sen, the commander of Musaood’s Indian battalions, from which we infer, that even at that early period the Mahomedan invaders found the Hindoos ready to enlist under their banners, and even to cross the Indus and fight their battles. The Seljuks offered their submission and were admitted to terms, which only served to increase their ambition and cupidity; Musaood was impatient to renew his attacks on the Hindoos, but was opposed by advice of his

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wisest councillors, who represented to him that the incessant encroachments of the Seljuks required his exclusive attention. He persisted, however, in marching to India, where he captured the fortress of Hansi, but was recalled by a fresh invasion of the ever-restless Seljuks. Musaood appointed his son governor of the two provinces of Mooltan and Lahore, which were now permanently annexed to Ghuzni, and marched against the invaders in person, but after two years of indecisive warfare, Togrul Beg, the great Seljuk chief, advanced up to the gates of Ghuzni. At length, the two armies met on equal terms, when Musaood was deserted in the field by some of his Turki followers, and totally and irretrievably defeated. He then resolved to withdraw to India, in the hope of being able quietly to retrieve his fortunes in that country. But his army was totally disorganized, and, on crossing the Indus, deposed him, and restored his brother Mahomed to the throne. The blindness of that prince rendered him incapable of conducting the government, and he transferred it to his son, Ahmed, whose first act was to put the dethroned Musaood to death – in the tenth year of his reign.

Succession of kings, 1040–1118

Modood, the son of Musaood was at Balkh, watching the movements of the Seljuks, when he heard of the assassination of his father, and hastened to Ghuzni, where he was saluted king. He then set out for Hindostan, and at Lughman encountered the forces of Mahomed and Ahmed, who were defeated and slain. The Seljuks took advantage of these troubles to push their conquests, and having assembled at Nishapore, placed the crown upon the brows of their chief, Togrul Beg, and divided the country they had conquered, and that which they intended to occupy, into four parts; but Modood was able not only to maintain himself in Ghuzni. but to recover Transoxiana. Meanwhile, the king of Delhi took advantage of his absence, and, as the Mahomedan historian observes, “those, who like foxes, dared not creep from their holes, now put on the aspect of lions.” A large army of Hindoos was assembled. Thanesur,

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Hansi, and the Mahomedan possessions south of the Sutlege were recovered, and Nagarcote fell after a siege of four months. The idol which Mahmood demolished had been miraculously preserved – so at least it was announced – and was now discovered by the brahmins, and installed; the oracle was re-established, and the shrine was again enriched by the gifts of princes and people. All the other temples which had been subverted were restored, and recovered their sanctity. The Hindoos, flushed with success, thought themselves strong enough to expel the followers of the Prophet from the soil of India, and proceeded to lay siege to Lahore, but after besieging it seven months, were driven back by a vigorous sally of the besieged. Modood expired at Ghuzni, after a reign of nine years, in 1049, and was succeeded by four monarchs in succession, whose insignificant reigns extended over nine years. Then came Ibrahim, in 1058, remarkable for his mildness and devotion, whose first act was to make peace with the Seljuks, and to confirm them in possession of all the territories they had usurped. He extended the fast of the Ramzan to three months; he attended religious lectures, and bore patiently with priestly rebukes; he gave away large sums in charity; he presented two copies of the Koran of his own beautiful penmanship to the Caliph, and then died, after a reign of forty years, leaving thirty-six sons and forty daughters. The reign of his son, Musaood the second, extended over sixteen years, and the throne descended on his death to his son Arslan, who immediately imprisoned all his brothers. One of their number, Byram, was, however, so fortunate as to escape to his maternal uncle, the Seljuk monarch, who marched against Arslan, and defeated him, placing Byram on the throne. But on the retirement of the Seljuk army, Arslan returned and expelled Byram, and was in turn displaced a second time by Sanjar, the Seljuk general, and soon after overtaken and put to death; Byram, finally ascended the throne in 1118.

Byram, the last king of Ghuzni, 1118

Byram governed the kingdom with great wisdom

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and moderation, and like all the monarchs of his line, extended a liberal patronage to men of learning. Towards the close of his reign, which reached thirty-five years, he was involved in a feud with the ruler of Ghore, which cost him his life and his crown. His family was expelled from Ghuzni, and the seat of his kingdom transferred to Lahore, which his son, Khusro, governed for seven years, and then bequeathed to his son, Khusro Malik, under whom all the provinces which had ever been held by the Mahomedans, east of the Indus, were recovered. His reign extended to twenty-seven years, when he was overpowered by Mahomed, of Ghore, in 1186, and with him the family of Subuktugeen became extinct, at the close of the usual cycle of 200 years.

The dynasty of Ghore

The dynasty of Ghore, which superseded that of Ghuzni, and rapidly extended its dominion from the Caspian Sea to the Ganges, was flattered by Mahomedan poets and historians with an ancient and honourable lineage, but the founder of the family was Eiz-ood-deen Hussein, a native of Afghanistan, of little note. He entered the service of Musaood, the king of Ghuzni, and rose in his favour, until he obtained the hand of his daughter, and with it the principality of Ghore. His son, Kootub-ood-deen, espoused the daughter of Byram, who put him to death in consequence of some family disputes. Seif-ood-deen, his brother, took up arms to revenge the murder, and captured Ghuzni, from which Byram retreated in haste. Seif-ood-deen, who had sent back the greater part of his army, failed to conciliate his new subjects, and Byram was encouraged to return. He succeeded in defeating and capturing his opponent, whom he put to death under every circumstance of ignominy. His brother, Alla-ood-deen, on hearing of this tragic event, marched with a numerous army to Ghuzni, thirsting to revenge the murder. A long and bloody battle was fought under the walls of the city, which ended in the utter rout of Byram’s army, and his retreat to India, during the progress of which, fatigue and misfortune put an end to his life. Alla-ood-deen

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entered Ghuzni, and gave up this city, then the noblest in Asia, to indiscriminate plunder for three, and, according to some historians, for seven days. The superb monuments of the kings of Ghuzni were destroyed, and the palaces of the nobles sacked, while the most distinguished and venerable men in the city were carried into captivity. Whatever provocation Alla-ood-deen may have received in the murder of his brother, the savage vengeance wreaked on this magnificent capital, has fixed an indelible stain on his memory, and led the historians to stigmatize him as the “incendiary of the world.”

Alla-ood-deen Ghory, 1162

Alla-ood-deen, after having satiated his fury at Ghuzni, returned to his capital at Ferozekhoh, but was immediately summoned by Sultan Sanjar to make good the tribute which had been usually paid by his predecessor, Byram. The demand was refused, and the Seljuk Sanjar immediately marched to Ghuzni, and defeated and captured Alla-ood-deen. But on hearing that his own lieutenant in Kharism had revolted, and invited the Khitans, a Tartar horde, who had been driven from the north of China, to assist him, Sanjar replaced Alla-ood-deen on the Ghuzni throne, and marched against this new enemy, by whom he was defeated. He was enabled, however, to recover his strength, but was brought into collision with another tribe of Tartars, generally called the Euz, and though he assembled 100,000 men in the field was totally routed, and made prisoner. He died in the course of three years, in 1156, and with him ended the power which the Seljuks had been a century in building up.

Shahab-ood-deen, 1157

Alla-ood-deen died in the same year, and was succeeded by his son, an amiable but inexperienced youth, who was killed in the course of the year by one of his own nobles, when his cousin, Gheias-ood-deen, mounted the throne, and associated his own brother, Shahab-ood-deen, known in history as the renowned Mahomed Ghory, with him in the government. It is a most singular circumstance that in that age of violence, when the

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love of power overcame all natural affections, and instigated men to the murder of fathers, and brothers, and kindred, Mahomed should have continued faithful in allegiance to his feeble brother for twenty-nine years. It was he who established the second Mahomedan dynasty at Delhi, generally known as the house of Ghore.

State of the Hindoo princes, in 1191

Mahomed Ghory was the real founder of Mahomedan power in India; and it may therefore be of service to glance at the condition of the Hindoo thrones in the north, immediately on the eve of their extinction. The king of Cunouj, of the Korah family, had been compelled to make his submission, as already stated, to Mahmood of Ghuzni, which excited the indignation of the neighbouring Hindoo princes, who expelled him from the throne, and put him to death. The kingdom was then occupied by the Rathore tribe of the Rajpoots, and five princes of that line had governed it, when it was finally absorbed by the Mahomedans. The kings of Benares, who bore the patronymic of Pal, and professed the Boodhist religion, attained great power, and one of them is said to have extended his conquests to Orissa. The family, however, became extinct before the invasion of Mahomed Ghory, when the king of Bengal seized Gour and Behar, and the king of Cunouj, the western districts of Benares, which greatly increased his power and his arrogance. In the west, the kingdom of Guzerat was governed by the family of Bhagilas, who were generally found in alliance with the kingdom of Cunouj. Ajmere, then a powerful monarchy, was governed by the Chohans, and always sided with the sovereigns of Delhi, of the Tuar dynasty. The last king of this line having no son adopted his grandson, Prithiraj, the offspring of his daughter, who was married to the king of Ajmere. The king of Cunouj refused to acknowledge the superiority which had been conceded to the kings of Delhi; and they were engaged in incessant warfare. Thus, at the period when Mahomed Ghory was preparing to extirpate the Hindoo power in the north of

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India, its princes, instead of combining against the common foe, were engaged in mutual hostilities, or alienated from each other by family jealousies. Hindostan was divided into two irreconcilable parties – the one comprising Guzerat and Cunouj, the other Delhi, the Chohan of Ajmere, and the Hindoo raja of Chittore. It is asserted by some native authors that Jeychunder, the king of Cunouj, impelled by hatred of the young king of Delhi, invited Mahomed Ghory to invade India, but the evidence of this act of treason is doubtful, and the Mahomedan prince required no prompting to an enterprize of such large promise. But it is certain that the king of Cunouj assumed the arrogant title of lord paramount of India, and resolved to support his pretensions by celebrating the magnificent sacrifice of the horse. The other princes of the north hastened to pay their homage to him, but Prithiraj, the king of Delhi, supported by the raja of Chittore, refused to acknowledge the claim of superiority put forward by his rival. In this gorgeous ceremony it is required that every office, however menial, shall be performed by royal hands. As the king of Delhi refused to appear, an effigy of gold was made to supply his place, and planted at the entrance of the hall, to represent him in the capacity of the porter. In such acts of folly were the Hindoo princes in the north wasting their time and their energies, while the Mahomedan was thundering at their door.

Bhoje Raja

On the threshold of the great revolution produced by this invasion, we pause for a moment to record the civil virtues of Bhoje Raja, the last of the really great Hindoo sovereigns of Hindostan. He was of the race of the Prumuras, who still continued to reign, though with diminished splendour, at Oojein and at Dhar. Seated on the throne of Vikrumadityu, he determined to revive the literary glory of his court, and to render his own reign illustrious by the encouragement of literature. While the silly king of Cunouj was engaged in celebrating the sacrifice of the horse, and the princes of the north were hastening to that imperial

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pageant, the learned were crowding to the court of Bhoje, by whom they were entertained with royal hospitality. His memory is consecrated in the recollections of posterity, and his reign has been immortalized by the genius of poetry. His name is as familiar to men of the present age as that of Ramu and Yoodistheer; yet few recognise the fact that he reigned only seven centuries ago, and that he was the last Hindoo sovereign who had the wish as well as the power to patronise letters.

Mahomed defeated, 1191

Mahomed now turned his attention to foreign conquest with all the vigour of a new dynasty. Having reduced the greater part of Khorasan to subjection, he led several expeditions to India, and at length defeated Khusro Malik, the Ghuzni prince of Lahore and Mooltan, and annexed those provinces to the empire of Ghore, thus extinguishing the Ghuznavede dynasty, and paving the way for the subversion of Hindoo power in Hindostan. At this period there was little trace left of the early Mahomedan invasions. The ravages committed by Mahmood had been repaired; population was renewed, and prosperity revived; the country was again filled with wealth and idols, and the Hindoo princes were engaged, as they had been from time immemorial, in fighting with each other. But the year 1193 brought with it a tempest of desolation which swept away the Hindoo monarchies and institutions, planted the standard of the crescent on the battlements of Delhi, and extended its triumphs throughout Hindostan. Prithiraj, the heroic but unthinking king of Delhi, had wasted his strength in a vain struggle with the house of Cunouj, and only 64 out of 108 of his military chiefs had survived it. But he still was able to bring 200,000 horse into the field, and a battle was fought at Tirouri, fourteen miles from Thanesur, on the great plain where most of the contests for the possession of India were subsequently decided. After performing prodigies of valour Mahomed found both the wings of his army give way, and was obliged to fly. He was pursued for forty miles by the victorious Hindoos, and was happy

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to escape across the Indus with the wreck of his army. Though he appeared outwardly to forget his disgrace, it was silently preying on his mind; and he stated in one of his letters that he “neither slumbered at ease, nor waked but in sorrow and anxiety.”

Defeat of the king of Delhi, 1193

Having in the course of two years recruited his army with Tartars, Turks, and Afghans, he moved again over the Indus, and entered Hindostan. A hundred and fifty chiefs rallied around the king of Delhi, who was enabled, on the lowest calculation, to bring 300,000 horse, 3,000 elephants, and a vast body of infantry into the field. The allied sovereigns, inflated with an idea of their superiority, sent Mahomed a lofty message, granting him their permission to retire without injury. He replied, with great apparent humility, that he was merely his brother’s lieutenant, to whom he would refer their message. The Hindoos misinterpreted this answer to denote weakness, and spent the night in revelry. The Caggar flowed between the armies. Mahomed crossed his army during the night, and fell upon the Hindoos before they had recovered from their debauch. But in spite of the confusion which ensued, so vast was their host that they still had time to fall into their ranks; and Mahomed, reduced again to difficulty, sounded a retreat. The Hindoos were, as he expected, thrown into disorder in the pursuit, when he charged them with his reserve; and as the historian observes, “this prodigious army once shaken, like a great building tottered to its fall, and was lost in its own ruins.” The gallant raja of Chittore, Somarsi, fell nobly fighting at the head of his Rajpoots; and the king of Delhi, who was taken prisoner, was butchered in cold blood. Mahomed then proceeded against Ajmere, and captured the town, and put several thousands of the inhabitants to the sword.

Progress of Kootub, 1194

Mahomed returned to Ghuzni laden with plunder, and Kootub-ood-deen, a slave who had gained his confidence by the display of great talents both as a

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general and as a statesmen, was left in charge of his conquests. He followed out his master’s plans, by the capture of Meerut and Coel, and eventually of Delhi which was now, for the first time, made the seat of the Mahomedan government of India. The kings of Cunouj and Guzerat, who had looked on with malicious delight while the Mahomedan smote down their Hindoo opponents, had no long respite themselves, Mahomed returned the next year to India with a still larger force, and a battle was fought at a place between Chundwar and Etawah, in which Jey-chunder, the king of Cunouj, was totally defeated, and perished, and the oldest Hindoo monarchy in the north was finally subverted. This reverse induced the whole tribe of the Rathores to emigrate in a body to Rajpootana, where they established the kingdom of Marwar or Joudhpore, which still continues to exist. Mahomed then advanced against Benares, which was captured with ease, and demolished 1,000 temples. And thus, in the short space of four years, was the Hindoo power in Hindostan completely and irrevocably extinguished.

Conquest of Behar and Bengal, 1203

Kootub lost no time in despatching one of his slaves, Bukhtiyar Ghiljie, who had risen to command by his native genius, to conquer Behar. The capital was sacked and the country subdued, and the army returned within two years to Delhi, bending beneath the weight of its plunder. An attempt was soon after made to supplant Bukhtiyar in his master’s favour, but it was defeated by the prowess he exhibited in single combat with a lion, which. his enemies at court had forced on him. This event established him still more firmly in the confidence of Kootub, who sent him in 1203 to reduce Bengal. That kingdom had for a long period been under the government of a dynasty of Vidyus, of the medical caste, who established an era which continued in vogue in the province till it was abolished by Akbar, two centuries and a half ago. The throne was then filled by Lucksmun Sen, who had been placed on it in his infancy, and had now attained the age of eighty. His long

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reign was distinguished by his liberality, clemency and justice. His court was usually held at Nuddea, though he occasionally resided at Gour, or Lucknoutee. On the approach of the Mahomedans, he was advised by his brahmins, in accordance as they said, with the instructions of their sacred books, to retire to some remote province. He refused to follow their advice, but he made no preparation for the emergency, and allowed himself to be surprised at a meal by Bukhtiyar, who rushed into his palace with a handful of troops. The king contrived to escape through a back gate to his boats, and did not pause until he had reached Jugunnath, in Orissa. It is worthy of remark, that while the king of Delhi offered an honourable resistance to the Mahomedans, and the king of Cunouj fell bravely defending his liberty, and Chittore made the most heroic struggle, Bengal fell without even an effort for its independence The whole kingdom was conquered within a single year, and submitted patiently to the rule of the Mahomedan for five centuries and a half, till he was supplanted by the Christian. Bukhtiyar delivered up the city of Nuddea to plunder, and then proceeded to Gour, which offered no defence. The Hindoo temples were demolished, and Mahomedan mosques, palaces, and caravanseras built with the materials. After the conquest of Bengal, Bukhtiyar marched with a large army to Bootan and Assam, but was signally defeated by those brave highlanders, and driven back to Bengal, where he died of chagrin, three years after he had entered the province.

Mahomed’s death, 1206

During these transactions, Mahomed was engaged in ambitious expeditions in the west. The empire of the Seljuks having fallen to pieces, he was anxious to come in for a share of it. Of the new kingdoms which had arisen upon its ruins, that of Kharism, on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea, had attained great power under Takash, against whom Mahomed now led his forces, but experienced a signal defeat, and was obliged to purchase a retreat by a heavy ransom. On his return to his own dominions,

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he resolved to punish the Gukkers for their incessant rebellions, and not only brought them under subjection, but is said to have constrained them to embrace the creed of the Prophet; but on his way back to Ghuzni, he was assassinated by two of the tribe as he was reposing in his tent, in the year 1206. He governed the kingdom in his brother’s name for forty-five years, and was king in his own right for only three. In the course of ten years, he completely demolished the Hindoo power from the banks of the Sutlege to the bay of Bengal, and at the period of his death, the whole of Hindostan, with the exception of Malwa, was under a settled and permanent Mahomedan government. The treasure he left, the fruit of nine expeditions to India, is stated at a sum which appears incredible, particularly when it is said to have included five manna of diamonds.

Kootub-ood-Deen, 1246

Mahomed, who was childless, was in the habit of training up the most promising of his slaves, and raising them according to their merit, to posts of dignity and power. His nephew, Mahmood, who was in possession of Ghore, was indeed proclaimed king throughout all the provinces on both sides the Indus, but the kingdom was soon broken up into separate states. Of the slaves of the deceased monarch, Eldoze, the governor of Ghuzni, seized on Cabul and Candahar, while Kootub retained the sovereignty of Hindostan. Eldoze, who affected still to consider India a dependency of Ghuzni, marched against him, but was defeated at Lahore. Kootub followed up the victory and recovered Ghuzni, where he assumed the crown, but was soon after expelled by his rival, and driven back to India, with which, after this reverse, he determined to remain content. The establishment of the Mahomedan empire in India is, therefore, considered to date from this event, in the year, 1206. Kootub was the first of those Turki slaves who rose to sovereignty, and furnished a succession of rulers to India. Meanwhile, Takash, the great monarch of Kharism, having overrun Persia, marched against Eldoze and extinguished his brief reign, as well as that of

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Mahmood of Ghore, and annexed all the provinces west of the Indus to his possessions. Kootub did not enjoy his Indian sovereignty more than four years, when he was succeeded by his son, Aram, who was displaced within a twelvemonth by Altumsh, the slave and the son-in-law of Kootub, in 1211. He justified the preference of his master during a long reign of twenty-five years.

Jenghis Khan

It was in the tenth year of his reign that Jelal-ood-deen, the king of Kharism, was driven to seek shelter in India by the irruption of Jenghis Khan, the greatest conqueror of that age, and the original founder of Mogul greatness. The Moguls were a tribe of Tartars, who roamed with their flocks and herds on the northern side of the great wall of China, without any fixed abode. When their numbers increased beyond the means of subsistence they poured down on the fertile provinces of the south. The father of Jenghis Khan presided over thirteen of these nomadic tribes, whose number did not exceed 40,000. At the age of forty, Jenghis Khan had established his power over all the Tartar tribes, and at a general convention held about the year 1210, was acknowledged the great Khan of the Moguls by the shepherd hordes from the wall of China to the Volga. He had received no education, and was unable either to read or write; but a natural genius for conquest, and the fiery valour and insatiable cupidity of his followers, raised him to the summit of human power. The Moguls burst with impetuosity on China, overleaped the barriers which the Chinese monarchs had erected to exclude them; and after storming ninety cities compelled the emperor to cede the northern provinces to them and retire to the south of the Yellow river. In the west, the progress of Jenghis Khan brought him into collision with Mahomed, the great sultan of Kharism, who held in contempt the shepherd soldiers of Tartary, with no wealth but their flocks and their swords – and no cities but their tents. He put three of Jenghis Khan’s ambassadors to death, and refused all redress, and the Mogul poured down on his dominions

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with an army of 700,000 men. Mahomed met him with 400,000 troops, but was defeated and obliged to fly, leaving, it is said, 160,000 of them dead on the field. Mahomed then distributed his soldiers among his various cities in the hope of impeding the career of the enemy; but the cities fell to him rapidly, and the magnificent monarch of Kharism, recently the most powerful in Asia, died without an attendant in a barren island of the Caspian Sea. From that sea to the Indus, more than 1,000 miles in extent, the whole country was laid waste with fire and sword by these ruthless barbarians. It was the greatest calamity which had befallen the human race since the deluge, and five centuries have barely been sufficient to repair that desolation. The son of Mahomed, the heroic Jelal-ood-deen, continued to fight the Moguls at every stage, but nothing could arrest their progress. He encountered them for the last time on the banks of the Indus, when his whole army perished, and he sprung with his horse into the stream, attended by only a few followers, and sought an asylum from Altumsh; but that prince was too prudent to provoke the vengeance of the man who had made himself the scourge of Asia, and Jelal-ood-deen was obliged to seek some other refuge. After a variety of adventures he was killed about ten years after in Mesopotamia. The victorious and destructive career of the Moguls does not belong to the history of India, the soil of which they did not then invade. But Jenghis Khan effected a complete revolution in the policy and destinies of Central Asia, and gave a predominant influence to the Moguls, who, after the lapse of three centuries, were led across the Indus, under the auspices of Baber, and eventually established on the throne of India.

Altumsh, 1236

The emperor Altumsh was employed for several years in subduing his own insubordinate viceroys, and subjugating those provinces of Hindostan which still maintained some show of independence. He reduced the fortress of Rintambore in Rajpootana, captured Gwalior and Mandoo, and then proceeded against Oojein, the capital of Malwa, one of

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the sacred cities of the Hindoos, where he destroyed the magnificent temple of Muha Kal, erected 1,200 years before by Vikrumadityu, sending the images to Delhi to be broken up at the entrance of the great mosque. He died in 1236, and was succeeded by his son; but he was deposed for his vices within six months by the nobles, who raised his sister Sultana Rezia to the throne. This celebrated princess, endowed, according to the historian, with every royal virtue, governed the empire for a time with the greatest ability and success. She appeared daily on the throne in the habit of a sultan, gave audience to all corners, and set herself vigorously to the revision of the laws, and the reformation of abuses; but she exalted to the highest dignity in the empire an Abyssinian slave to whom she had become partial, and her jealous nobles took up arms against her. She fought them in two severe battles, but was defeated, captured, and put to death, after a brief reign of three years and a-half. The two succeeding reigns occupied only six years when Nazir-ood-deen, a grandson of Altumsh mounted the throne.

Nazir-ood-deen, 1246

Bulbun, a Turki slave, and the son-in-law of Altumsh was appointed his chief minister, and proved to be one of the ablest statesman of his time. Under his administration the government was strengthened by the more complete reduction of the Hindoo chiefs; and his nephew, Shere Khan, who was charged with the defence of the Indus against the Moguls, succeeded likewise in re-annexing the province of Ghuzni to the throne of Delhi. Bulbun was for a time supplanted in his office of vizier by an unworthy favourite of the emperor; but the disasters which followed his dismissal, and the remonstrances of the nobles, constrained his master to reinstate him. In the tenth year of this reign an embassy arrived from Hulakoo, the grandson of Jenghis Khan, before whom Asia trembled; and it was resolved to make every exertion to give his envoy the most honourable reception. The vizier himself went out to meet him with 50,000 horse and 200,000 infantry, 2,000 war elephants, and 3,000 carriages

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of fireworks. By this noble escort he was conducted to the durbar of the emperor, around whose throne stood twenty-five of the princes who had been expelled from their hereditary seats by the Moguls, and obtained an asylum at Delhi. Nazir-ood-deen’s private life was that of a hermit; his personal expenses were defrayed from the sale of the books which he transcribed; his fare, which was of the simplest character, was prepared by his wife, who was his sole female companion. He died without leaving any son, and was succeeded by his minister Bulbun.

Bulbun, 1266

This prince was equally renowned for his justice and generosity and for the vigour of his administration, though his cruelty on certain occasions has induced some of the historians to represent him as a monster. He continued the hospitality which his predecessor had shown to the dethroned princes of Tartary, Transoxiana, Khorasan, Persia, Irak, and other provinces, placed the royal palaces at their disposal, and granted them the most liberal allowances. These princes were accompanied by the accomplished scholars who had been assembled around them, and the court of Bulbun was thus considered the most polite and magnificent in Asia. He banished all usurers, players, and buffoons from its precincts, and set an example of the severest frugality and temperance. At the same time he endeavoured to curb the insolence of the royal slaves who had begun to arrogate great power; but he made it a rule to give no promotion to any Hindoo. He was advised to reconquer Malwa and Guzerat which had revolted, but wisely replied that the portentous cloud of Moguls, ever banging over his northern frontier, demanded his undivided attention. He resolved, however, to inflict a severe retribution on Togrul Khan, the viceroy of the opulent province of Bengal, who had omitted to remit the plunder recently acquired from a rebel chief, and on hearing of his master’s illness, had raised the red umbrella, and assumed the title of king. Two armies were sent in succession against him and defeated, and Bulbun took the field in person.

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The refractory governor fled to Orissa, and was pursued by the imperial troops. Mullik, one of the emperor’s generals, advanced to the camp of the enemy with only forty followers, and rushing into Togrul Khan’s tent shouted “Victory to king Bulbun,” cutting down all who opposed him. The viceroy, imagining that the whole of the imperial army was upon him, took to flight, and his army was entirely dispersed. Bulbun made an ill use of his victory, by putting to death every member of the rebel’s family, even to the women and children. During these transactions the Moguls again burst on Hindostan; and Mahomed, the accomplished son of the emperor, who had collected around him the men most celebrated in Asia for learning and genius, marched to oppose them. The Moguls dispersed after a long and sanguinary action. Mahomed pursued them with imprudent haste and, on his return was unexpectedly enveloped by a body of their cavalry, superior in number to his own followers, and fell in the combat. With him perished the hopes of the dynasty. The army and the empire was equally filled with lamentation, for he was the idol of both; and his father, then in his eightieth year, soon after died of a broken heart.

End of the dynasty, 1288

The son of the deceased prince was appointed to succeed him, but was speedily superseded by Kei-kobad, another of Bulbun’s grandchildren, and the son of Kurrah, who had been appointed governor of Bengal after its reconquest. He was a youth of eighteen, addicted only to pleasure, and the slave of a profligate minister, who endeavoured to pave his owls way to the throne by encouraging him in every vice. Kurrah, aware of the dangers which surrounded his son, succeeded, after great difficulty, in extorting his consent to an interview; but the minister imposed so many humiliating ceremonies on him as he approached the royal presence that he burst into tears. The son was overpowered by this sight, and leaping from the throne threw himself at his father’s feet. Many happy meetings took place between them during a period of twenty days, when Kurrah, after giving his

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son the most salutary advice, returned to his own government. But the youth again abandoned himself to indulgence on his return to the capital, and it terminated in palsy. Then came a scramble for power between the Tartar mercenaries around the throne, and the Afghan mountaineers of Ghuzni and Chore denominated the Ghiljies. The Tartars were cut to pieces: Kei-kobad was killed in his bed, and the Ghiljie chief, Feroze mounted the throne at the age of seventy, taking the title of Jelal-ood-deen. Thus closed the dynasty which has been denominated that of the slaves, which commenced with the slave Kootub, in 1206, and terminated in 1288, within three years of the death of the slave Bulbun.

Feroze, 1288

The period of thirty-three years, during which the Ghiljie family occupied the throne of Delhi, was rendered memorable in the history of India, by the subjugation of the Deccan to the Mahomedan arms. Feroze, on mounting the throne, put to death the infant son of the late king, whose cause had been espoused by the opposite faction; but this was the only act of cruelty during his reign, which was, on the contrary, marked by a very impolitic lenity, which seemed to multiply crime, and to weaken the authority of government.

Expedition to the Deccan, 1294

In the fifth year of his reign, in the year 1294, a century after the battle of Thanesur, which gave the final blow to Hindoo power in Hindostan, his nephew, Alla-ood-deen, a man of great energy and violent ambition, but without a conscience, carried his arms across the Nerbudda, and paved the way for the conquest of the Deccan. He had been appointed to the government of Oude and Korah, and was successful in subduing some refractory chieftains in Bundlecund and Malwa, which led him to project a marauding expedition to the south. He collected an army of 8,000 men, and swept across the Nerbudda with a degree of rapidity, which confounded the native princes, and suddenly presented himself before Deogur, the Tagara of the Roman writers, the Dowlutabad of modern history. The raja, living in the security of perfect peace,

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was ill prepared for resistance, but he contrived to assemble a respectable force, which was, however, signally defeated. The town was captured and given up to pillage, but the raja shut himself up in the citadel, which was considered impregnable. Alla-ood-deen spread a report that his force was only the advanced guard of a vast Mahomedan army advancing from Delhi, and the raja, from whom all his Hindoo neighbours held aloof, was so alarmed at the prospect before him, that he sent proposals of peace, with the offer of a large ransom. During the negotiation, his son advanced with an army to his relief, but was defeated, and the terms of the ransom were raised. Some idea of the immense wealth which Alla-ood-deen obtained, may be formed from the assertion, that the jewels were counted by mauns, even though the maun may have been of a lower denomination. From this daring exploit Alla-ood-deen returned on the twenty-fifth day, passing through various and hostile provinces without molestation, from which we gather that the same fatal want of political unity which had paved the way for the conquest of the north, existed also in the Deccan. It was this expedition which exposed the wealth and the weakness of the Hindoo princes of the south to the Mahomedans, and opened the door of plunder and conquest.

Accession of Alla-ood-deen, 1295

Feroze was delighted to learn that his nephew, who had suddenly disappeared, was returned covered with glory, and laden with wealth. The latter he already reckoned his own, but his wary courtiers suspected that the victor had other views than those of submission, and advised the emperor to adopt measures for his own security; but the generous prince resolved to repose confidence in the fidelity of his nephew, and was insidiously encouraged to advance and meet him. Alla-ood-deen fell at his feet, and the affectionate old man was patting him on the cheek, when the assassins, who had been posted in ambush, rushed in and despatched him. His reign extended to seven years. Alla-ood-deen hastened to Delhi and ascended the

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throne, and endeavoured to divert the people from the odious crime to which he owed his elevation, by the exhibition of games and amusements. He was unable to read or write when he became king, but applied to letters with such assiduity, as to become a good Persian scholar; after which, he surrounded himself with learned men, and took great pleasure in their society. His government was stern and inflexible, but admirably suited to the exigencies of the time. The insurrections which broke out in various provinces immediately on his accession, were quelled by his promptitude and energy; and his reign, which was prolonged to twenty-one years, was constantly occupied in efforts to repel the Moguls in the north, and to subjugate the Hindoos in the south.

Conquest of Guzerat, 1297

Two years after he had mounted the throne, he dispatched an army to Guzerat, where the raja had resumed his independence. The country had recovered from the effect of previous invasions, and was again smiling with prosperity, but this new torrent of destruction swept away every vestige of improvement, and the Hindoo power sunk to rise no more. The magnificent city of Puttun, with its marble edifices, built from the quarries of Ajmere, was completely demolished. The images of its opulent shrines were destroyed, and a Mahomedan mosque erected in front of the principal temple. Among the prizes of this campaign the historians particularly note Kowla Devee, the wife of the king, a woman of unrivalled beauty, who was transferred to Alla-ood-deen’s seraglio, and Kafoor, a handsome slave, who rose to distinction at Court, and eventually became the scourge of the Deccan.

Mogul invasion, 1298

The expedition to Guzerat was no sooner completed, than the attention of the emperor was distracted by another Mogul invasion. Two hundred thousand horsemen, under Kutlugh Khan, crossed the Indus, and marched down upon Delhi. The wretched inhabitants were driven before them like sheep into the city, and famine began to stare that vast multitude

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in the face. The emperor marched out at the head of his troops, and the native historian affirms, that on no former occasion had so great a multitude of human beings been collected together in India in one place. The Indian troops won the day, chiefly through the exertions of Zuffer Shan, the most distinguished of the emperor’s generals. But in the pursuit of the enemy he was carried away by his impetuosity; the emperor’s brother who was jealous of his increasing power withheld all succour from him, and he was cut to pieces after having performed prodigies of valour. His ungenerous master who dreaded his genius, did not hesitate to say, that his death was as fortunate a circumstance as the defeat of the Moguls.

Capture of Chittore, 1303

In the year 1303, Alla-ood-deen attacked the fortress of Chittore, the seat of the Rajpoot family, which now reigns at Oodypore. The siege was pushed with great vigour, and when all further defence appeared hopeless, a large funeral pile was kindled in the fort, into which the queen, Pudmanee, a woman of exquisite beauty, and the females of the noblest families, threw themselves. After this fearful sacrifice, the gates were thrown open, and the raja, with his faithful followers, rushed on the weapons of the enemy, and obtained the death they sought. The emperor destroyed all the temples and palaces which had adorned the city, but spared the residence of the king and queen. From these transactions he was recalled by another invasion of the Moguls, who extended their ravages up to the gates of Delhi, and retired in consequence, it was said, of a panic created among them by the prayers of a saint. These invasions were renewed in 1305 and 1306, but the Moguls were defeated in both expeditions. To make an example of them, the emperor ordered the heads of all the male prisoners to be struck off, and a pillar to be constructed of them at Delhi, and the women and children to be sold into slavery. After this event, there was but one farther irruption of these tribes during the reign.

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Invasion of the Deccan, 1306

The first expedition to the Deccan in this reign in 1303 was interrupted by the invasion of the Moguls; and the generals who were left to conduct it, when the emperor was recalled, were unsuccessful. Another army was assembled in 1306, under the command of Kafoor, once the slave, but now the favourite general of his master, and sent to chastise the raja of Deogur, who had neglected to pay up his tribute. It was in this expedition that Kafoor subdued the Mahrattas, whose name now appears for the first time in history. Ram-deva, the king of Deogur, made his submission, and proceeded to Delhi to wait on the emperor, when he was restored to power. Kafoor, likewise, recovered Dewal Devee, the daughter whom the empress had borne to her former husband, and who had inherited all her mother’s beauty. After a long pursuit she was overtaken near the caves of Ellora – and this is the earliest notice of them – and on her arrival at Delhi became the bride of the emperor’s son; at so early a period do we find intermarriages between the Hindoos and the Mahomedans. An expedition sent from Bengal along the coast to Warungole, which was for nearly two centuries the capital of Telingana, having failed, Kafoor was sent against it in 1309. He ravaged the northern provinces, obtained a great victory, and took the fort after a siege of some months. The raja was condemned to pay tribute, and Kafoor returned to Delhi.

Farther Deccan expedition, 1310

The next year he was sent with a large army to the Deccan to reduce the raja of the Carnatic, of the Renal family. After a march of three months he reached the capital of Dwar Sumooder – literally the gate of the ocean – which has been identified with the modern town of Rallabee, a hundred miles north west of Seringapatam. Banal Deb fought a great battle, but was defeated and made prisoner, and with him terminated the Bellal dynasty of the Deccan. The capital was captured and neglected; and, ceasing to be the abode of royalty, dwindled down, like other regal seats, into a hamlet. Kafoor does not appear to have

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proceeded farther down on the western or Malabar coast; but he overran the whole of the eastern provinces on the Coromandel coast, to the extreme limit of the Peninsula; and at Ramisseram, opposite Ceylon, erected a mosque, as a memorial of his victories. He returned to Delhi, in 1311, laden with the plunder of the Deccan; the value of which has been calculated by “sober” historians at 100 crores of rupees. The emperor made a liberal distribution of this wealth, but his generosity was forgotten in the barbarous massacre of 15,000 of the converted Moguls who had manifested a disposition to revolt on being capriciously dismissed from his service. In the year 1312, Kafoor was again sent into the Deccan to coerce the son of Ram-deva, the raja of Deogur, who had succeeded his father, and “withdrawn his neck from the yoke of obedience.” He put the raja to death, annexed his kingdom to the throne of Delhi, and carried his arms over the whole of the Camata and Mahratta territories.

Extinction of the Ghiljie dynasty, 1321

Towards the latter period of his reign Alla-ood-deen gave himself up to indulgence, which enfeebled both his mind and his body; but the vigour which he had infused into the government still continued to animate it. At length his infatuated attachment to Kafoor, whose baseness was equal to his talents, created general discontent. It was at the instigation of this wretch that he imprisoned his queen, and his two elder sons. Rebellions broke out in rapid succession in the countries he had conquered. Hamir, the renowned Rajpoot chieftain, recovered Chittore; the son-in-law of Ram-deva raised a revolt in the Deccan; Guzerat was for a time in a state of insurrection, and the emperor sunk into the grave amidst these dark clouds, not without the suspicion of poison. It was during his reign that the Mahomedan arms were first carried to Cape Comorin, and the authority of the emperor for a time predominated through the length of India; but the more southern conquests were transient. Though he was often capricious, and sometimes cruel, his rule was energetic and beneficial; the incessant

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wars of the Hindoo princes with each other were suppressed by his sovereignty, and a general feeling of security gave prosperity and wealth to the country, and magnificent buildings rose in every direction. Alla-ood-deen had thoughts at one time of setting up for a prophet, but he gave up the project, and contented himself with assuming the title of a second Alexander on his coins. Kafoor produced a pretended will of his patron, appointing his youngest son his successor, and himself regent. Then began the usual destruction of the royal family in the struggle for power. Cafoor put out the eyes of the two eldest sons. The officers of the court in a few days caused Cafoor himself to be assassinated, and placed the third son, Moharik, an the throne, who immediately put to death the instruments of his elevation, and extinguished the sight of his youngest brother. On the other hand he released 17,000 prisoners, restored lands which had been unjustly confiscated, and repealed oppressive taxes. He put himself at the head of his army, and by an act of vigour reduced Guzerat, and captured the insurgent son-in-law of Ram-deva, whom he caused to be flayed alive. But on his return to the capital he gave himself up to the most degrading debaucheries, while his favourite Khusro, a converted Hindoo, was sent to ravage the maritime province of Malabar which Kafoor had left untouched, though by some the expedition is supposed to have extended only to the province of Coorg. Khusro returned to Delhi with abundance of treasure, assassinated his master, and usurped the throne. To secure the possession of it, he proceeded to put every surviving member of the royal family to death; but Ghazee Toghluk, the governor of the Punjab, soon after marched on Delhi, with the veteran troops of the frontier province, disciplined by constant conflicts with the Moguls, and put an end to the reign and life of the monster.

This collection transcribed by Chris Gage
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