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 84 iriSTOHY OV INDIA. [Book i.

I' An. iiioit. any inspecti(jn. I'lie jtrinceHs wa.s not then;, but in lier stea<J several trusty

H dependants of her family comj)l(it(iIy arrned, who, as 80on as they were admitted

within the prison, cut down the sentinels, and set the rajah free. He made liis escape to the hills, from which he continued to make frequent desaints, and avenge himself on the Mahometans for the insults and sufferings which he harl endured. A new Mogul In 1305, tlic Moguls again, under the leadership of an officer of the namt^

invaBion do- ,

feated ol Elbuk Khan, crossed the Indus, and after i-avaging Mooltan, proceeded to Sewalik. Ghazy Beg Toghlak, aware of the route by which they would return, placed himself in ambush near the banks of the Indus, and rusliing out suddenly, defeated the invaders with great slaughter. Seeing their return cut off, the survivors had no alternative but to return into the desert. It was the hot season, and, in a short time, out of 57,000 cavalry, and camp followers who outnumbered them, only 3000 remained alive. When taken to Delhi, they were trodden to death by elephants, and a pillar was raised before the Budaoon gate with their skulls. Another invasion shortly after having met with no better success, the Moguls were so discouraged, as well as exhausted, that they not only desisted for many years from entering Hindoostan, but found them- selves placed on the defensive, Ghazy Beg Toghlak scarcely allowing a season to pass in which he did not cross to the west bank of the Indus, and plunder the provinces of Cabool, Ghuznee, and Kandahar.

Conquest of Ala-u-din, now rid of his most formidable enemies, had time to resume his conquests in the Deccan ; and with this view despatched Mullik Kafoor, who had been originally purchased as a slave, with an army against Ram Dew, Rajah of Dewghur, who had neglected for three years to pay his stipulated tribute. The army, when it set out, mustered 100,000 horse, and was reinforced on the way by the troops of the governors of Malwah and Gujerat. Mullik Kafoor, after encamping on the frontiers of the Deccan, was so strenuously opposed, that for a time he made little progress, and had nothing to plume himself upon except the capture of a daughter of the beautiful Kowla Dey>% who, from being the wife of a Hindoo rajah, as already mentioned, had become the favourite of the Delhi harem. The daughter had a similar fate, for she was on the way to become the bride of a rajah when she was captured ; and after- wards, on being brought to Delhi, was married to Khizr Khan, Ala-u-din's son. On a second expedition to the Deccan, in 1309, Mullik Kafoor proceeded by way of Dewghur towards Wurvmgole, a place of great strength. After appearing at Indoor, about ninety miles north of Hyderabad, and causing great conster- nation among the inhabitants, wdio had never seen the Mahometans before, he sat down before Wui'ungole, which made a valiant defence, but was ultimately taken by assault. In the following year he proceeded still further south, reached the Malabar coast, and then, turning inland, continued his victorious career to the frontiers of Mysore. Much of his time was employed in plundering