been visited by the Mussulman arms." Some time afterwards he made another expedition into India, accompanying the army himself. He is said to have penetrated further into the country than any previous conqueror. He took several cities and fortified places, and returned to Ghizni with much plunder and a great number of captives.* He reigned 42 years, and he left 40 sons and 32 daughters. He was succeeded by his son Masoud, who sent a large army into India under one of his distinguished generals. "This army crossed the Ganges, and plundered many rich cities and temples of their wealth." He transferred his court from Ghizni to Lahore, and made this city his capital during a part of his reign. He was the first Mohammedan sovereign who fixed his capital in India.

In the early part of the 12th century a violent civil war raged in Ghizni, and for several days the city was plundered and the inhabitants were massacred. Ferishta says, "The noble city was given up to flame, slaughter, and devastation. The massacre continued for the space of 7 days, in which time pity seemed to have fled the earth, and the fiery spirits of demons to actuate the bodies of men." The splendid mosques and palaces erected by Mahmoud and his nobles and successors, were burnt and demolished. All were destroyed except the tombs of Mahmoud, Masoud, and Ibrahim. Thus, this city, which had been made so magnificent by the plunder of the cities and temples of India, became itself a scene of desolation, and never again recovered its former splendor. From this time Lahore became the capital as long as the descendants of Mahmoud retained their power.

THE HOUSE OF GHORI, A.D. 1160-1206.

This civil war resulted in the triumph of Alla ud Deen, a prince of the province of Ghor, and hence the dynasty which he commenced took the surname of Ghori. His family after some reverses succeeded in establishing their power in Ghizni. They exhibited the too common qualities of the princes of central Asia, courage, cruelty, treachery, and revenge. In A.D. 1176, Shahab ud Deen of this family made his first expedition into

India, and took Uch, then a considerable city at the junction of the rivers of the Punjab and the Indus. Two years after he made an expedition into Gujerat. He was here defeated and was compelled to return with much loss and in great distress. He made two attacks on Lahore and compelled the prince Khusru Malik to deliver up his son as a hostage for fulfilling the treaty then made. He next invaded Scinde and overran the country to the mouth of the Indus. Returning from Scinde he again made an attack upon Khusru Malik, apparently determined to subvert his power and take possession of his kingdom. Khusru defended his kingdom with unexpected vigor, and Shahab ud Deen resorted to treachery to accomplish his purpose. He pretended that in consequence of alarming intelligence from Ghizni he was anxious to proceed there immediately with his army, and wished first to make peace with Khusru. And to show how anxious he was for peace he unbound Khusru's son, who had continued with him as a hostage, and sent him to his father with the proposals. The aged king not suspecting any treachery, went out with a small force to meet his son thus unexpectedly sent to him. In the mean time Shahab ud Deen with a select body of cavalry interposed by an unfrequented way between Khusru and his capital. He then surrounded him and took him prisoner. Lahore made no further resistance. Khusru and his family were sent prisoners to Ghizni, where after a while they were all put to death. Shahab ud Deen took possession of all Khusru Malik's dominions, and had no Mohammedan rival or power to oppose him or to interfere with his purpose of conquest.

India was at this time divided into many small kingdoms, and apparently no way prepared to contend with an army of Afghans, Tartars, and other tribes of central Asia, whose profession was war, and who had passed much of their life with their weapons in their hands. The Hindus, too, had much painful experience of the superior skill, courage, and prowess of the Mohammedans. The effect of Mahmoud's expeditions and victories was that the Mohammedans went into battle expecting to conquer, and the Hindus engaged in conflict with the expectation of being defeated. The fanatical spirit of the Mohammedans, their avowed principle that it was their duty to propagate

their faith in the use of all the means they had used, as the robbing and profaning of temples, the destruction of idols, and plundering and reducing to slavery all who resisted, all this was well known to the inhabitants of India. If the Mohammedans despised and abhorred the Hindus for their superstition and idolatry, these in turn dreaded and detested the former for their bigotry and intolerance, for the contempt they showed to all the rules of caste, and for the violent and sacrilegious manner in which they treated the most sacred persons, places, and things of the Hindu religion. If the Mohammedans believed that they were obeying the command of God, when compelling the Hindus to abandon idolatry and embrace the faith of their prophet, the Hindus were not less confident that they were themselves obeying their deities and securing their favor when defending their temples from being profaned, their idols from being destroyed, and themselves and their families from being polluted. The views of the Mohammedans in invading and conquering India, and of the Hindus in repelling such invasion and endeavoring to preserve their independence, involved motives and feelings of a very different character from those which are involved in the common wars of aggression and defence.

Shahab ud Deen's first battle was with the Rajas of Delhi and Ajmere, who had united their armies to resist him. Ferishta says the united army of these princes contained 200,000 men and 3,000 elephants. The battle was fought on the great plain a few miles from Panniput, where the fate of the empire of India has been several times decided. The Afghan armies consisted chiefly of cavalry, and their mode of fighting was to make successive charges at full speed upon the centre of their enemies, till they gave way and were thrown into confusion. The Hindu mode of fighting was to outflank their enemies and so inclose them on three sides. In this battle they succeeded by their superior numbers in nearly surrounding the Afghans. Shahab ud Deen fought with great valor till he was severely wounded, when he escaped with much difficulty, and his army fled. The Hindus pursued them with great slaughter for many miles. At Lahore Shahab ud Deen collected the remains of his army, and putting the city in a state of defence, proceeded to

Ghizni. Here he collected an army of Afghans, Tartars, and Turkish adventurers, who were ready to follow the fortunes of war under his command in India. The Raja of Delhi expecting he would return, had collected an immense army and proceeded to meet him. Shahab ud Deen found an opportunity of attacking the Hindu army unexpectedly with a part of his force in the night. The attack at first caused some confusion, but daylight soon appearing, order was restored, and the Hindus prepared to become the assailants. Having failed in his original design, Shahab ud Deen now retreated before them till they became disordered in pursuit, when suddenly turning "he attacked them at the head of 12,000 chosen horse in steel armor, and this prodigious army once shaken, like a great building tottered to its fall and was lost in its own ruins." The victory was complete, and the loss of the Hindus, among whom were several of their princes, was very great. After this battle Shahab ud Deen extended his conquests in India, taking and plundering Kanouj, Benares, Gwalior, Gujerat, and many other places and provinces. When encamped on the bank of the Indus, the state and circumstances of his tent were carefully observed by some Gakkars, whose friends he had caused to be put to death, and who were watching for an opportunity to take revenge. Twenty of these men swam over the river in the night, and entering his tent assassinated him when he was asleep. He had reigned 32 years. His conquests in India were greater than those of Mahmoud, and they were of a more permanent character. Mahmoud retained possession of only a small part of what he conquered and plundered. Shahab ud Deen annexed the provinces he conquered to his own dominions, and as far as possible retained possession of them. The treasures he accumulated were immense, requiring 4,000 camels to carry them. At the time of his decease nearly all India north of the Nerbudda, together with Bengal, Scinde, and Gujerat, had acknowledged his authority. He had no sons, and one of his nephews, Mahmoud Ghori, was proclaimed his successor. No opposition was made to this course, but it was soon obvious that he would not succeed to his uncle's power. Shahab ud Deen had educated several Turkish slaves, and then put them into responsible situations. At the time of his death, Cuttub ud Deen, one of these

slaves, was governor of the provinces in the northern part of India, and another, Nasir ud Deen, was in charge of Multan and Scinde. These governors became virtually independent princes on Shahab ud Deen's death in A.D. 1206.

In

CUTTUB UD DEEN AND HIS SUCCESSORS-A.D. 1206-1288. From the death of Shahab ud Deen the Mohammedan dominions in India became entirely separated from the countries west of the Indus, and so formed an independent kingdom. Cuttub ud Deen, the first independent sovereign, was originally a Turkish slave, and was purchased by Shahab ud Deen, who finding that he possessed good natural abilities and had been well educated, intrusted him with some important transactions. these matters he exhibited so much capacity, moderation, and faithfulness that Shahab ud Deen intrusted him with the administration of the government when absent himself from his capital on political affairs at Ghizni, or pursuing his career of conquest in India. Cuttub ud Deen had been intrusted with the administration of Delhi and its dependent provinces for most of the time for several years previous to Shahab ud Deen's death, and soon after that event he was generally acknowledged to be sovereign, or emperor. He was respected for his ability, moderation, and justice, but unhappily for his subjects he lived only 4 years after his accession to the supreme power.

Cuttub ud Deen was succeeded by his son Aram, who soon showed that he had not capacity for administering such a government, and was removed to make room for his brother-in-law Altumsh, who had for some time been commander-in-chief of the army. Altumsh had the reputation of being the son of a Tartar chief, but being the favorite of his father he was envied by his brothers and sold to some travelling merchants, who carried him into Bochara and again sold him. He was remarkable for his beauty and his abilities, and having passed through various hands and lived in different places, he was at length purchased at Delhi by Cuttub ud Deen, and became a great favorite with his daughter. He was occupied for several years after his accession to power in suppressing insurrections in different parts of his dominions. The Hindus were ready to