Page:History of India Vol 2.djvu/391

 MOHAMMEDAN INVASION 345 the hands of the Pala dynasty, the power of which was then much circumscribed. Gangeyadeva of Chedi, as has been already mentioned, was recognized as the sovereign of Tirhut in 1076 A. D. But his supremacy did not last long, and an independent local dynasty of Northern Tirhut was established at Simraon early in the thirteenth century. In Bihar and Bengal both " Palas " and " Senas ' were swept away by the torrent of Mohammedan inva- sion at the end of the twelfth century, when Kutb-ud- din's general, Mohammed, the son of Bakhtiyar, stormed Bihar in 1193 A. D. (A. H. 589), and surprised Nudiah (vulgo Nuddea) in the following year. The name of the last Hindu ruler of Bihar is given by tra- dition as Indradyumna, who is supposed, but not proved, to have belonged to the Pala line. The Mussulman general, who had already made his name a terror by repeated plundering expeditions in Bihar, seized the capital by a daring stroke. The almost contemporary historian met one of the survivors of the attacking party in 1243 A. D., and learned from him that the fort of Bihar was seized by a party of only two hundred horsemen, who boldly rushed the postern gate and gained possession of the place. Great quan- tities of plunder were obtained, and the slaughter of the " shaven-headed Brahmans," that is to say, the Buddhist monks, was so thoroughly completed that, when the victor sought for some one capable of explain- ing the contents of the books in the libraries of the monasteries, not a living man could be found who