Page:History of India Vol 5.djvu/95

 67 close conflict, but when the infidels found all their efforts were in vain, they deserted the fort and tried to cross the foaming river which flowed on the other side of their stronghold, thinking that beyond it they would be in security; but nearly fifty thou- sand of them were slain, taken, or drowned in the attempt, and went to the fire of hell. Kulchand himself, drawing his dagger, slew his wife, and then drove it into his own body. By this victory the Sultan obtained 185 powerful elephants, besides other booty. The Sultan then departed from the environs of the city, in which was a tem- ple of the Hindus. The name of this place was Maharat-al-Hind (Mathura). The wall of the city was constructed of hard stone, and two gates, erected upon strong and lofty foundations to protect them against the floods of the river and the AN INDIAN DAO ' GER. rains, opened on the stream which flowed beneath the town. On both sides of the city there were a thousand houses to which idol-temples were attached, all strengthened from top to bottom by rivets of iron, and all made of masonry work; and opposite them were other buildings, supported on broad wooden pillars to give them strength. In the middle of the city there was a temple larger and firmer than the rest, which can neither be described nor painted. The Sultan wrote thus concerning it: