Rajatarangini (Dvitiya) 158

Having obtained water in the form of wealth from the Bhauṭṭas by selling the people of Kaśmīra, / the cloud of Riñcana, thundering, then covered all the quarters.

Covering the surface of the earth with an army of Turks, Tājiks, and Mlecchas, / Ḍulucya then arrived at the city, like Agastya at the ocean.

Like deer seeing a ferocious lion, or birds seeing Garuḍa, / the city dwellers fled upon seeing him arriving.

Those who fled were captured by him, as snakes by a snake-charmer; / some, fleeing in terror, entered mountain caverns.

Even the king remained somewhere in hiding out of fear, like an owl. / What then to say of the other people dwelling there?

A brāhman's curse upon kings has never been in vain: / consumption, once its signs appear, never turns back without killing.

The people who fell into their hands were first forced to yield their hidden wealth through harsh torture in captivity, / and were later sold by the Turks for horses.

Some were pierced, others bound, and some were maimed by him; / just as trees from fire suffer burning, drying up, or ruin.

Bound by a single leather strap through the collarbone, / it was hard for them even to catch sight of one another's faces.

Only for moments were the captives released by the Mlecchas to fetch loads of grass, firewood, and the like, / as mice [might be let loose] by cats.

Those who once felt revulsion at food merely touched by a cat / were forced by hunger, while in captivity, to eat the Mlecchas' leftovers and cattle bones.

Those who would not drink even the water of the Vitastā when thick with mud, / now, led into desert wastes as captives, drank urine in extreme thirst.

"Where is the food of Mlecchas, and where our lineage? Yet hunger is unbearable—what use is learning? / Even now, sleep does not come on the road." Thus they thought within themselves.

Whether they were walking, standing, eating, or even speaking, / there was not a moment when they were not forced to do work.

Some people were taken captive by Mlecchas, some by Khaśas, others by Daradas, / some by Bhauṭṭas, and some by Turks.

Leaving behind grain at home, wealth in the forest, and kin on the road, / others fled in panic out of fear of the Turks.

Pity, respect, and tender concern were abandoned by those fugitives / toward children, the aged, and frail women who were unable to flee swiftly.

The hungry did not eat on the road; the thirsty did not even drink; / what is more, panicked with fear, they did not even look behind them.

Some perished inside from hunger, some from thirst, some from fear, others from shame, / having entered into mountain caves out of terror.

Hearing that they had entered caves and desiring to drive them out, / those merciless Turks set smoke at the mouths of the caves.

The piles of bones of the men who perished inside from the smoke / and the black soot produced by the smoke can be seen at the cave entrances even today.

The king committed the wrong, but its fruit fell upon the subjects: / a woman's glance is wanton, but the cheek is bitten by teeth.