Page:History of India Vol 5.djvu/99

 STORMING HINDU FORTRESSES 71 After this, Mahmud advanced against the fort of Asi, which was ruled by Chandal Bhor, one of the chief men and generals of the Hindus. Around his fort there were broad and deep ditches, as well as an impenetrable and dense jungle, full of snakes which no enchanters could tame and so dark that even the rays of the full moon could not be discerned in it. When Chandal heard of the advance of the Sultan, he lost heart from excess of fear, and as he saw death with his mouth open toward him, he had no resource but flight. The Sultan therefore ordered that his five forts should be demolished to their very foundations, the inhabitants buried in the ruins, and the soldiers of the garrison plundered, slain, and imprisoned. Hearing of the flight of Chandal, the Sultan was sorely afflicted and turned his horse's head toward Chand Rai, one of the greatest men in Hind, who re- sided in the fort of Sharwa. Between him and Puru Jaipal there had been con- stant battles, in which many men and warriors had fallen in the field, so that at last they made peace to pre- vent further bloodshed and invasion of their respective borders. Puru Jaipal sought his old enemy's daughter that he might give her in marriage to his son Bhimpal, thus cementing the peace between them for ever. He sent his son to obtain his bride from Chand Rai, but the latter imprisoned the son and demanded retribution for the losses which had been inflicted by the father. Jaipal was thus compelled to refrain from proceeding against Chand Rai's fort and country, being unable