The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India: A History of the Establishment and Progress of the Turkish Sultanate of Delhi, 1206–1290 A.D. c13.33

c13.33

note, that the Mongol commander Turtai, “retired after plundering the neighbourhood of Malikpur”. Howorth, as well as Bartold, also make the mistake of supposing that Multan was besieged on this occasion. If in 618 the Mongols really reached as far as Multan it is strange that they could not find the fugitive; all writers agree that when he left India, he did so to avoid another Mongol expedition sent in his persuit; if we accept the view that Multan was invested in 618 by the Mongols, the proceedings of the second expedition under Turtai in 621, will have remained absolutely unknown to us. The date of Mangbarni’s departure from India and that of the Mongol investment of Multan, in 621, makes it clear that in 618, the Mongols did not proceed far into the Punjab. See Howorth: Mongols I, p. 90; Bartold: Turkestan, p. 446; Minhaj, p. 143; en-Nessawi, p. 94; Tarikh-i-Muhammadi: Or 137, f. 334a; Juwaini is not consistant in his account of the forces sent into India by Changiz; see for example, I, pp. 108, 110, 112, and II, p. 144 and 147.