Page:A Comprehensive History of India Vol 1.djvu/91

 iAP. IT.] ALA-U-DIN AND SUCCESSORS.

he was received with acclamations, and fixed the seat of liis government. He d iivs.

f reigned till 1160, and was succeeded by his son Khosru Melik, at whose death,

in 1 186, the last wreck of the Ghuznavide empire passed to the house of Ghor,

and the Ghuznavide dynasty became extinct.

The two last reigns have anticipated the course of the narrative. In order

to resume it, it is necessary to return to Ala-u-din, and trace the history of the

house of Ghor through him and his successors.

After the signal vengeance taken for the murder of his two brothers, Ala-u- .ia udin

din acted as if the heroic part of his life had been played out; and, retiring to by (^l^uliL

the old Ghorite capital of Feruz Cob, he followed his natural bent by giving ""'"'"'

himself up to pleasure. He found it even more perilous than war would have

been, for the Seljuks, under Sultan Sanjar, during an invasion of Ghor and

Ghuznee, made him prisoner. He was soon, however, set at liberty, and

reinstated in his dominions, which he held for four years, till his death in 11.56.

Sliortly before, he had imprisoned his two nephews, Gheias-u-din and Shahab-

u-din, with the view of securing the succession to Seif-u-din, his son ; but this

young prince set them at liberty, and replaced them in their governments. His

confidence was not misplaced, but he had reigned little more than a year when he

fell by the hand of an a.ssassin. He was succeeded, in 1157, by the above cousins,

who ruled jointly and, contrary to the general rule in such cases, harmoniously.

Gheias-u-din superintended the territories in the west — Shahab-u-din gave his

attention to the east; and, from consolidating the Mahometan power there, has

sometimes been thought to have a better title even than Sultan Mahmood,

to be regarded as the true founder of the Mahometan empire in India.

In 1176, he took the town of Ooch, situated at the point where the rivers Exploits of

of the Punjab, united into one stream under the name of the Punjnud, join the di'n.'^ "

left bank of the Indus. In 1178 he undertook an expedition to Gujerat, but

it proved disastrous. His next expedition, after he had marched twice to

Lahore, and obliged Khosru Melik, the last of the Ghuznavides, to submit to a

disadvantageous treaty, and give his son as a hostage, was to Scinde. Having

completely overrun it, he once more attacked Kho.sru Melik. This prince,

assuming the courage of despair, made an alliance with the Gukkm's, and opened

the campaign with the capture of one of his enemy's strongest forts. Shahab-u-

diu, niuler the pretext that he was about to march for Khorasan, where affairs

nad assumed an alarming appearance, increased his army, and at the same

time made overtures of peace to Khosru Melik, sending back his son, whom he

held as a hostage, in proof of his sincerity. The stratagem succeeded. Khosru

Melik, thrown completely off" his guard, set out to welcome his returning son,

and was surpi'ised by Shaliab-u-din, who surrounded his camp with a strong

body of cavalry, and took him prisoner. The last of the Ghuznavides and his

family were sent to Gheias-u-din, who imprisoned them in a castle. Here,

after a long confinement, they were all. put to death.

Vol. I. 8