The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India: A History of the Establishment and Progress of the Turkish Sultanate of Delhi, 1206–1290 A.D. c7.112

c7.112

The date of this event, important as it is for the chronology of the subsequent conquest of Bengal, is not found in the Tabaqat-i-Nasiri and has only to be inferred from the sequence of events⁴. Occupation of the area brought the Turks to the Sena frontier; and yet, showing a shortsightedness characteristic of the contemporary Hindu strategists, they made no move to throw them out of Bihar or to strengthen their own frontier defence. Their very passivity was thus an invitation to the adventurous Khalji troop-leader. After the capture of Uddandapur Bakhtiyar visited Aibak and received commisions for further conquests but evidently no material reinforcement. The report of a rich demoralised country ruled by an almost incapacitated old man living a retired life and given to letters, decided his next move. A full-scale invasion of the Sena kingdom was beyond his resources; he could only aim at destroying the Sena morale by a lightning raid on the king's residence. He would gain prestige and, what is more, the wherewithal for bigger attacks in future; with luck, he might even obtain a defensible footing in the country.