The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India: A History of the Establishment and Progress of the Turkish Sultanate of Delhi, 1206–1290 A.D. c7.13

c7.13

Following these examples, Muizzuddin directed his forces against the Chalukya state of Gujrat, a province rich in resources and holding, as it might have been presumed, the key to the Indian hinterland. It held, at any rate, an effective paramountcy over the western Rajput states and was thus an obstacle to his plan of outflanking the Ghaznawides and opening up a route into Hindusthan. Passing through Multan and Uch in 1178, he struck across the Rajputana desert and arrived with an exhausted army at the foot of Mt. Abu where he found the fresh troops of Mularaja II waiting to oppose his progress. In the engagement, fought near the village of Kayadra² in a position which was not of Muizzuddin's choosing, he suffered a signal defeat. He was lucky to be able to escape with his beaten army.