were left dead on the field. The booty which fell into his hands, was very considerable. Among other articles, were sixteen jewelled necklaces, one of which, belonging to the Rajah himself, was estimated at 180,000 dinaurs (equal to 82,5007. sterling).* On this occasion, Mahmoud is stated to have extended his ravages as far as Bahtindah or Batneir, in the province of Delhi, which he reduced. He released his royal captive on the promise of a stipulated tribute; but Jeïpal, having now been twice a prisoner to the implacable enemies of the gods of his country, was rendered incapable, according to the customs of his nation, of retaining the sovereign authority. Having made over the government to his son, Anundpal, he ordered a funeral pile to be prepared, upon which he sacrificed himself to his gods.+

Mahmoud's further designs against this devoted country, were suspended by an expedition against the prince of Seistan, whom he defeated and made his tributary; and it was upon this occasion that he assumed the title of sultan, with which the subjugated prince had the policy to salute his conqueror. In the year 1006, he again entered India, and subdued the cities of Behautiah and Moultaun; but was recalled to defend his native dominions against a formidable invasion by the Uzbek monarch of Kashgar, and his ally, the sovereign of Khoten. The adverse hosts met and joined battle about four leagues from Balkh. Mahmoud's troops, overwhelmed by numbers, were beginning to give way, when the Sultan, by an effort of desperate valour, rekindled their enthusiasm, and

*Price, ii. 281. Dow makes Ferishta say, that "round the neck of Jeipal were found sixteen strings of jewels, each of which was valued at 180,000 rupees, about 320,000. of our money."-Vol. i. p. 38.

+ See Mod. Trav., Persia, i. 130. Price, li. 281."

turned the tide of victory against the invaders. The rival khans with difficulty effected their escape 'across the Jyhoon. The severity of the season prevented him from following up his success; but, before he took up his winter-quarters in his capital, he hastened to Peishawir, to chastise and dethrone a Hindoo prince who had relapsed from a feigned conversion into the double crime of revolt and apostacy.*

In the spring of the year 1009, Mahmoud was called to encounter the united forces of all the Hindoo princes from the west of the Ganges to the river Nerbuddah, assembled on the plains of Peishawir, under Pal, the son of Anundpal, the monarch of Lahore, to punish the sacrilegious enemy of their common faith and country. During the space of forty days, the two armies remained encamped in presence of each other, without coming to action, while the numbers of the Hindoos were continually increasing by fresh reinforcements. Mahmoud had covered both his flanks with strong intrenchments, while his front was protected by a thousand archers. In this strong position, he was at length attacked with such fury, that 5000 Moslems were speedily slain, and his destruction seemed inevitable; when, on a sudden, the elephant of the Hindoo generalissimo took fright, it is said, at the report of some fire-arms, and the idea that their

* See Mod. Trav., Persia, i. 130, 1. Ferishta calls this renegade Zab Sais; Major Price calls him Nowausah Shah, probably his Moslem name. He fled at Mahmoud's approach, but was pursued and overtaken by a detachment of cavalry; and the Sultan, "without further trouble, took the direction of his capital."

† According to Dow, the princes of Oojein, Gwalior, Kallinjur, Kanouje, Delhi, and Ajmeer. They were joined by the Gickers (Guikkers or Kahkares), a formidable tribe of savages, who had nearly proved more than a match for the Moslems. They inhabited the northern and largest division of the hilly tract situated between the Behut, the Sinde, and Cashmeer; the southern division being occupied by the Joudis.-RENNELL, P. 110.

rajah was fleeing from the field of battle, spread a panic through the undisciplined hosts, who dispersed in every direction. For two days and two nights, the fugitive idolaters were pursued by the Moslem cavalry; and 20,000 are stated to have been put to the sword, besides those who fell in the conflict. The impregnable fortress of Bheim-nugger, containing immense treasure, surrendered to the conqueror; and he returned to Ghizni, laden with inestimable wealth.† In a magnificent festival of three days, Mahmoud displayed to his subjects the spoils of Hindostan, laid out on tables of gold and silver; and the gorgeous spectacle closed with a liberal distribution of a portion of this wealth to the ministers of the Mohammedan faith and to the indigent.

During the year 1010, 11, Mahmoud resumed his operations against the Indian territory; and on his return from this inroad, he is stated to have been followed to his capital by the suppliant envoys of thẹ paramount sovereign of the Hindoo princes, (probably Anundpal,) who offered, as terms of peace, an annual

* The fortress of Bheimnugher, Bheemghur, Nuggerkûte, or Naugracut, is described as a strong hill-fort, erected by Rajah Bheim, one of the ancient monarchs of the country, which had been used by the Hindoos as a secure repository for their most sacred images, and by the surrounding rajahs for their treasure and jewels. Either through a rash confidence of success, or in reliance on the natural strength and sanctity of the fortress, it had been left without any other garrison than priests.

+ The plunder of specie is said to have amounted to upwards of 300,000l. sterling, besides 700 maunds of gold and silver plate, 200 maunds of pure gold, 2000 of unwrought silver, and 20 of precious stones.-PRICE, ii. 285.

It was apparently in this incursion, that he plundered and destroyed the celebrated temple of Tanasar, about 70 miles north of Delhi, carrying off the great idol Jug-soom, and that he took the city of Delhi. Ferishta (according to Dow) places this event in A.H. 402.-See MOD, TRAV., Persia, i, 132,

tribute of fifty elephants, besides specie and precious commodities. The Sultan consented to this accommodation, and a commercial intercourse is said to have been opened or renewed between the subjects of the adverse powers. The next year, he found employment for his arms in subduing the Afghans of Ghour, a mountainous territory to the north of Ghizni, whose princes afterwards overthrew the house of Mahmoud, and utterly destroyed his proud and splendid capital. He then proceeded to undertake the conquest of Cashmeer and the hilly districts adjacent, which appears to have furnished him with sufficient employment for more than one campaign.* By this means he opened a route for his army into the Gangetic countries, through Tibet, without violating the territory of the Lahore rajah; and accordingly, he now determined to march through Cashmeer against the great city of Kanouje, which, according to Ferishta, from the time of Gushtasp, the father of King Darab of Persia, had never been visited by a foreign enemy. "In the beginning of the year 409 (A.D. 1018), as soon as the sun began to wake the children of the spring, Mahmoud, with a hundred thousand chosen horse and thirty thousand foot, raised in the countries of Tur

* In the Cashmerian annals, we find no trace of this conquest; but, at the period referred to, Cashmeer was under the government of the Queen Dowager, Didda Rana, daughter of Sinha Rajah, king of Lahore; and the country appears to have been the scene of successive revolutions and disorders, which might afford a favourable opportunity to a foreign invader. Prithivapala, who is apparently the Pitterujepal of Dow, attempted to overthrow the queen's faction, but was defeated, and saved his life by becoming tributary to the sovereign of Cashmeer. This prince could hardly be, as Ferishta represents, king of Lahore. It is very likely, however, that Tounga, by whom he was defeated, was the prince whom Mahmoud had established in Cashmeer.-See Journ. Asiat. tom. vii. p. 84.

kestaun, Maver-ul-nahr, Khorassan, and the adjacent provinces," undertook this distant expedition. "Kanouje was distant from Ghizni, a three months' march; and seven great rivers rushed across the route. When Mahmoud reached the confines of Cashmeer, the prince whom he had established in that country, sent him presents of every thing curious and valuable in his kingdom. When the Sultan had with much difficulty conducted his army through the mountains, he entered the plains of Hindostan, drove all opposition before him, and advanced to Kanouje. He there," continues Ferishta, "saw a city which raised its head to the skies, and which, in strength and structure, might justly boast to have no equal. The Indian prince of this rich city, whose name was Korra, and who affected great pomp and splendour, being thus unexpectedly invaded, had not had time to put himself in a posture of defence, or to collect his troops together. Terrified by the great force and warlike appearance of the king, he, in his embarrassment, resolved to sue for peace, and accordingly went out with his family to the camp, where he submitted himself to the mercy of Mahmoud. Some authors relate, that he even turned true believer." *

From Kanouje,+ where he remained only three days, the conqueror marched to Meerut in the Doab, the

* Dow, vol. i. p. 53.

† Dow, vol. i. p. 52. Kanouje is represented in the Mahabharat, as having succeeded to the imperial honours of Oude, the more ancient capital. In the beginning of the sixth century, it had become so populous, that it is said to have contained 30,000 shops in which betel was sold; and 60,000 musicians and singers paid a tax to the government. The route by which Mahmoud reached the Ganges, was probably the same as that by which, ages before, Krishna entered Bahar, and took by surprise the monarch of Pali bothra.