Page:History of India Vol 5.djvu/96

 68 THE HOLY WARS OF ISLAM " If any one should wish to construct a building equal to this, he would not be able to do it without expending a hundred thousand thousand red dinars, and it would occupy two hundred years, even though the most ex- perienced and able workmen were employed." Among the idols there were five made of red gold, each five yards high, fixed in the air without support. In the eyes of one of these idols there were two rubies of such value that if any one were to sell such as are like them, he would obtain fifty thousand dinars. On another there was a sapphire purer than water and more spark- ling than crystal; the weight was 450 miskals (nearly six pounds Troy). The feet of another idol weighed 4,400 miskals (nearly fifty-six pounds Troy), and the entire quantity of gold yielded by the bodies of these idols was 98,300 miskals (almost 1,246 pounds Troy). The idols of silver amounted to two hundred, but they could not be weighed without breaking them to pieces and putting them into scales. The Sultan gave orders that all the temples should be burnt with naphtha and fire, and levelled to the ground. After this, the Sultan went on with the intention of proceeding to Kanauj. He left the greater part of his army behind and took only a small body of troops with him against Rai Jaipal, who also had but a few men with him and was preparing to fly for safety to some of his dependent vassals. The Sultan levelled to the ground every fort which Jaipal had in this country and the inhabitants either accepted Islam or took arms against Mahmud. He col-