Page:History of India Vol 5.djvu/91

 THE BATTLE AT THANESAK 63 chief of Thanesar was obstinate in his infidelity and denial of God. The Sultan marched against him, there- fore, with his valiant warriors, for the purpose of plant- ing the standards of Islam and extirpating idolatry. He marched through a desert which had never yet been crossed, save by birds and wild beasts, for the foot of man and the shoe of horse had not traversed it. There was no water in it, much less any other kind of food. The Sultan was the first to whom God had granted a passage over this desert, in order that he might attain the fulfilment of his wishes. Beneath Thanesar flowed a pure stream; the bottom was covered with large stones, and the banks were pre- cipitous and sharp as the points of arrows. The Sultan reached this river at a place where it takes its course through a hill-pass, behind which the infidels posted themselves, in the rear of their elephants. The Sultan adopted the stratagem of sending some of his troops to cross the river by two different fords and attack the enemy on both sides; and when they were all engaged in close conflict, he ordered another body of men to go up the bank of the stream, which was flow- ing through the pass with fearful impetuosity, and to attack the enemy among the ravines, where they were posted in the greatest number. The battle raged fiercely, but about evening, after a vigorous attack on the part of the Mussulmans, the enemy fled, leaving their elephants, which were all driven into the camp of the Sultan, except one, which ran off and could not be found. The largest were reserved for the Sultan.