Page:History of India Vol 3.djvu/81

 KISE OF A NEW POWER 53 a century there had been, if not peace, at least little war. The later kings of Ghazni had been mild, unam- bitious rulers, and had left the Pan jab very much to itself. Probably their Hindu troops and Hindu officials had to some extent Indianlzed them, and the last de- scendants of Mah- mud made their home at Lahore without difficulty. The attempt of B a h r a m ' s son, Khusru Shah, to recover the com- mand in Afghanis- tan failed utterly; he found Ghazni and the other towns in ruins, the tribes disloyal, and the Ghuzz Turkmans overrunning the land. The compar- atively orderly rule of the kings of Ghazni had given place to anarchy, and so it remained for many years. Ala-ad-din, the " World- burner/' was content to rule his clan at Firoz-kuh; but after his death in 1161, and that of his son two years later, his nephew Ghiyas-ad-din ibn Sam became chief of Ghor, and with his accession the Afghan highlanders entered upon a new phase of activity. Ghiyas-ad-din A COLUMN AT GHAZNI.