Page:History of India Vol 3.djvu/33

 IBN KASIM'S SIEGE OF DAIBQL 9 nage a Mohammedan quarter was laid out, a mosque built, and a garrison of four thousand men detached to hold the city. After the storming of Daibul, the young general marched up the right bank of the Indus in search of the main body of the enemy. Discovering their out- posts on the other side, he tied a string of boats to- gether, filled them with archers, made one end fast to the west bank, and then let the whole floating bridge drift down and across, like an angler's cast of flies, till it touched the opposite side, where it was made fast to stakes under cover of the archers' arrows. The enemy, unable to oppose the landing, fell back upon Rawar, where the Arabs beheld for the first time the imposing array of Hindu chiefs, mounted on armoured war-ele- phants, and led by their king Dahir. Naphtha arrows, however, threw the elephants into confusion and set fire to the howdahs; the king was slain, the Hindus fled, and " the Moslems were glutted with slaughter." The Indian women showed the desperate courage for which they were famous. The king's sister called them together, on seeing the defeat of their men; and, refus- ing to owe their lives to the " vile cow-eaters " at the price of dishonour, they set their houses ablaze and perished in the flames. Another victory at Brahmana- bad opened the way to Multan, the chief city of the upper Indus, which surrendered at discretion, but not without an exhausting siege. The fighting men were massacred, and the priests, workmen, women, and chil- dren were made captives.