Firishta's History (Gulshan-i Ibrāhīmī) 6.8.1

6.8.1

The author of the Jama ool Hikayat relates that when Mahmood was in Guzerat he saw a small black idol under an arch, which to all appearance was suspended in the air without support. The King, amazed at this phenomenon, consulted the philosophers of his court, who told him that they believed the image to be iron, and the stone of the arch magnetic. The King observed, that he thought the equilibrium of weight and attraction could not be so exactly found. He, however, by way of experiment, ordered a stone to be struck out of the arch, which was no sooner done, than the idol fell to the ground; the stone was therefore pronounced to be a magnet. The Caliph of Bagdad, being informed of the expedition of the King of Ghizny, wrote him a congratulatory letter, in which he styled him "The Guardian of the State, and of the Faith;" to his son, the Prince Ameer Musaood, he gave the title of "The Lustre of Empire, and the Ornament of Religion," and to his second son, the Ameer Yoosoof, the appellation of "The Strength of the Arm of Fortune, and Establisher of Empires." He at the same time assured Mahmood, that to whomsoever he should bequeath the throne at his death, he himself would confirm and support the same.