The Chachnāma (Fatḥnāma-yi Sind) 40.3

40.3

encourage your men.’ Then Muhammad Kásim repeated the name of the great and glorious God and ordered an assault. The káfirs held their position firmly, and the battle raged furiously. The flourishes of brilliant swords caused flames of fire to appear in the air, and swords and lances struck against one another till they broke. Then the men began to wrestle and tussle with one another. From early morn to eventide large numbers of the infidels were killed, and Rái Dahar was left with 3,000 horsemen only, chiefly those of royal blood, when the sun set. The gardeners of these beautiful flowers, and the writers of these beautiful tales, have stated that Rái Dahar was killed on Thursday the tenth of the holy month of Ramazán in the year 93 at about sunset. It is related by Abdul Hasan on the authority of Abillais Hindi, who had heard it from his father, that when the army of Islam rushed on the enemy, most of the infidels were cut to pieces in the fierce assault. All of a sudden, then, there was noise and confusion on the left hand side, and Dahar thought his men were running away. Dahar called out to them "Come to me, come to me, I am here," and the voices of some women in that melee replied: "O king, we are women, and have been caught and made prisoners by the Arab troops." Dahar said: "What (do you say)? I am still alive. Who can seize you"? So saying he drove his elephant on the army of Islam.