Page:A Comprehensive History of India Vol 1.djvu/82

 •t'S 11IS'|-|;V OF INDIA. flJooK I.

A.D. 1022. passage has been preserved: — "Here there are a thfjusand e«lifices as finn as the faith of the faitliful, inost of thcin iiiarhle, besides innumerable temples; nor is it likely that this city has attained its present condition but at the expense of many millions of dinars; nor could such another h»e coastructed und<'r a jxM'iod of two centuries."' After leaving Muttra, Mahmood stormed several other town.s, laid waste a large extent of country, and then returned to Ghuznee, with an incalculable am')unt of spoil and above 5000 captives. riist Of the two next Indian expeditions of Sultan Mahmood, which took place

M.iiionietan respectively in 1022 and 102-3, the second only is deserving of notice, becau.se luOia"" '" <Jiii'hig it a Mahometan garrison was, for the first time, permanently stationed beyond the Indus. This unenviable distinction belongs to the city of Lahore, whose rajah, Jeipal II., the successor of Anangpal, after submitting to Mahmood and living for some time on friendly terms with him, was tempted in an evil hour to throw off his allegiance. The result, which might easily have been foreseen, was the loss of all his territories, whicii were forthwith annexed to Ghuznee. Capture and We liave now arrived at Sultan Mahmood's last expedition to India. It is somtiauth. generally reckoned as his twelfth, and has made more noise than all the rest, though its political results were not important. Its destined goal was Somnauth, one of the most celebrated seats of Hindoo superstition, situated near the shore of the Arabian Sea, in the south of the peninsula of Gujerat. To this expedi- tion, fanaticism and the love of plunder appear to have been the actuating motives. The way from Ghuznee to Somnauth lay for hundreds of miles through a parched sandy desert. The army, whose numbers are not stated, set out in Septembei', 1024<, and reached Mooltan in October. For transport, 20,000 camels had been provided ; and as the soldiers had moreover been ordered to carry as large a supply as possible of provisions, water, and forage, the difficulties of the desert were surmounted without any serioas disaster, and the expedition made its appearance in the cultivated country around Ajmeer. The Hindoos, though aware of the threatened attack upon their temple, had calcu lated on a different route, and were, in consequence, so totally unprepared for resistance, that their only safety was in flight. The usual devastation followed, and the city of Ajmeer was given up to plunder. Continuing his progi-ess, Mahmood entered Gujerat, and arrived at Anhulwara, its capital. He might easily have made himself master of it, for the rajah had fled ; but he was intent on higher game, and refused to be turned aside from it. At lencrth Somnauth was reached. It was situated on a peninsula, which a fortified isthmus connected with the mainland. Here he was met by a herald, who defied him in the name of the god, and menaced him with destruction. ]Iahmood only answered with a shower of arrows, and cleared the walls of defenders, who hastened to the idol to prostrate themselves before it and implore its help. Meantime the besiegers

' Brigg's Ferishta, vol. i p. .53.

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