EARLY MUHAMMADAN INVASIONS: MAHMUD OF GHAZNI. 177

dynasty in the extreme south, and on the western or Malabar coast. These have already been mentioned in the section on the decline of Buddhism.

In Orissa the Kesari or 'Lion' kings ruled for centuries at Jájpur and afterwards at Katak; and they were followed by the 'Gangetic' dynasty (Gangá Vansa). The Hindu kings of Orissa bore the title of Gajpati, or 'Lord of Elephants.'

§ 5. The Puranas.-The religion which gradually became established in India on the expulsion of Buddhism differed considerably from the early religion of the Vedas, as also from the philosophic teachings of the Darsanas. It has been briefly explained in the chapter on Religions in the Introduction. The full exposition of this religion is to be found in the series of religious and historical writings called the Puránas. The recognised Puránas are eighteen in number, and are called Puránas because they profess to teach that which is 'old '-the old faith of the Hindus. They are generally supposed to date only from 800 A.D., many of them being of much later date. But they give a view of the religion of the revival of Bráhmanism, and are mainly devoted to an interpretation of the beliefs of the various sects of worshippers of Vishnu, Siva, &c. Besides this they are storehouses of mythological and legendary stories; they contain not only genealogies and lives of gods, but also genealogies of kings and heroes; and from some of the latter, gleams of historical truth may be derived.

CHAPTER VIII.

EARLY MUHAMMADAN INVASIONS.-MAHMUD
OF GHAZNI.

§ 1. Early Muhammadan Invasions. § 2. Sabaktigin of Ghazni. § 3. Mahmud of Ghazni. § 4. Decline and Fall of the Ghaznavi Dynasty.

§ 1. Early Muhammadan Invasions. We have now arrived at the period when the Muhammadans first began

N

to invade and conquer India; and from this time the history is full and clear, for the Muhammadans were always fond of the study of history, and there were always some Muhammadan writers who wrote down an account of events shortly after their occurrence.

As early as the year 712 A.D., and only ninety years after the foundation of the Muhammadan religion in Arabia, a Musalmán Arab, named Muhammad Kásim, invaded and conquered Sind, and held it for a short time. But it was not until the end of the tenth century, when the religion of the Prophet had spread over Afghánistán and all those regions of Central Asia to the north-west of India, that the great Muhammadan invasions took place.

At this time the great empire of Kanauj extended far westward into Rájputána, and probably into Sind; and hardly less powerful, and occasionally even paramount, were the Rajput dynasties of Ajmer, in Rájputána, and Anhalwára or Patan, in Gujarát. These, with the Brahman dynasty of Lahore, the Tuár Rájputs of Delhi, and the Sesodia sept of the Gehlot Rájputs of Maiwár, were the Hindu sovereignties that were first attacked by the Muhammadan invaders.

§ 2. Sabaktigín of Ghazni.-Sabaktigín, Sultán of Ghazni, in Afghánistán (called the first of the Ghaznavi dynasty), was originally a Turki1 slave; by his bravery and abilities he rose to be monarch of a vast empire, including Afghánistán, Balochistán, and Túrkistán. A pleasing legend is told by some of the old historians to illustrate the kind and merciful disposition of Sabaktigín, which so much endeared him to his followers. It happened,

The wandering hordes of Tartars that inhabited the whole of Central Asia from the Caspian Sea to the north of China were divided into three great races: (1) the Manchus, who lived farthest to the east, in the north of China; (2) the Mongols or Mughuls, who lived in the centre, from Thibet northward; and (3) the Turkis, who lived west of the Mughuls.

when he was only a poor horseman in the service of the Chief of Ghazni, that he was hunting one day in the forest. He saw a deer grazing with her fawn; on which, putting spurs to his horse, he rode up and seized the fawn, laid him across his saddle, and rode away homewards. When he had gone a little way he looked back, and saw the mother of the fawn following with piteous cries and moans. The soul of Sabaktigín melted into pity; he untied the feet of the fawn and let him go. The happy mother ran away with her fawn to the forest, but often looked back, as if to thank Sabaktigín for his generosity. That very night Sabaktigín had a dream, in which he thought a celestial being appeared to him and said: "The kindness and pity which you have this day shown to a distressed animal has been pleasing to God, and it is therefore recorded that you shall one day be King of Ghazni. But take care that greatness does not destroy your virtue, or make you less kind to men then you now are to dumb animals.'

Sabaktigín was once attacked, in the valley of Pesháwar, that leads from Afghánistán into the Punjab, by the Bráhman King of Lahore, named Jaipál; and in revenge he twice overran the whole of the Punjab, and carried back a vast amount of plunder to Ghazni-having totally defeated, not only Jaipál himself, but also all his Rájput allies, who had assembled from Delhi, Ajmer, and Kanauj, to aid in repelling the fierce invader.

NOTE.—The Bráhman dynasty that was at this time reigning in Lahore, the chief town of the Punjab, is sometimes called the 'Bull and Horseman' dynasty, because their coins bear the device of a bull and a horseman.

§ 3. Mahmud of Ghazni.—In these battles between the Sultán of Ghazni and the Rájá of Lahore there was present the young prince MAHMUD of Ghazni, the son of Sabaktigín. He observed with keen pleasure both the great riches of the Indian Rájás, and the ease with which even the bravest of the Rajputs were slaughtered by the hardy and strong mountaineers of Ghazni; and he determined that, on suc

ceeding his father as Sultán of Ghazni, he would devote himself to the conquest of India.

In the year 996 A.D. Sabaktigín died; and Mahmud immediately proceeded to carry out his early determination. His earnest wish was both to possess himself of the wealth of India, and also to force the proud Rájputs to accept the Muhammadan religion; and in honour of his zeal for Islám the spiritual head of the Muhammadans, called the Khalíf, sent him a khilat of extraordinary magnificence, together with the high-sounding titles of ' Right Hand of the State, Guardian of the Faith, and Friend of the Chief of the Faithful.' The Chief of the Faithful' was, of course, the Khalíf himself, who doubtless hoped that Mahmud would diffuse the Muhammadan religion throughout India. Mahmud hereupon vowed that 'every year he would undertake a holy war against Hindustan.'

During the thirty-four years of his reign Sultán Mahmud of Ghazni invaded India seventeen times; and of these seventeen expeditions twelve are famous. His zeal in the destruction of Hindu temples and idols obtained for him the name of the Image-breaker'; and the vast plunder which he carried away from India greatly enriched his own country, and made Ghazni the most beautiful and the wealthiest city of the age. The richest spoils were those of the great Hindu shrines of Nagarkot, in the Himálayas ; Tháneswar, between the Saraswatí and the Jamnah; and Somnáth, in Gujarát; and those of the sacred city of Mathurá.

It may be noted that Mahmud's expeditions extended as far eastward as Kanauj, in Oudh, and as far southward as Somnáth, in Gujarát; but he only made a permanent settlement in the Punjab, where he established a Viceroy at Lahore. This was the commencement of Musalmán dominion in India.

The most famous of Mahmud's expeditions were the twelfth and the sixteenth. The twelfth expedition, in A.D. 1018-19, was against Kanauj and the sacred city of

Mathurá or Muttra, on the Jamnah. Mahmud was now determined to penetrate into the heart of Hindustan. His army consisted of 100,000 horse and 20,000 foot; these were gathered from all parts of his dominions, including the recent conquests which he had made in Bukháṛa and Samarkhand. He marched from Peshawar along the foot of the mountains, crossing the Punjab rivers as near to their sources as possible, and presented himself before Kanauj. This was a stately city full of incredible wealth ; and its kings, who often held the title of Mahárájá Adhíráj, kept a splendid court. The Rájá threw himself on the generosity of Mahmud, who admitted him to his friendship, and after three days left his city uninjured.

From thence he advanced to Mathurá, sacred as the birthplace of Krishna, which was given up to the soldiers for twenty days. Its temples struck Mahmud with admiration, and kindled in him the desire to cover the barren rocks of Ghazni with similar edifices. Hindu slaves after this were sold in the army of the conqueror at two rupees each.

The sixteenth expedition-which was also the last, except a small and unimportant one a little later—was undertaken by Mahmud in 1026–27 A.D. against the famous temple of Somnáth, in the Gujarát peninsula. The march was long, including 350 miles of desert; and Mahmud made extraordinary preparations for it. He passed through Multán, and thence across the desert to Anhalwára, whose Rájá, named Bhím, fled before him. The struggle before Somnath was terrible, and lasted three days. The Rájput princes assembled from all parts to defend their holiest shrine; but their desperate valour was unavailing against the bravery and enthusiasm of Mahmud and his veterans. The treasure obtained was immense; some of the Muhammadan historians say that the image of Somnáth—which the Brahmans had offered to ransom by the payment of many crores of gold coins-when broken by Mahmud's own hand was found to contain a mass of rubies and other