The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India: A History of the Establishment and Progress of the Turkish Sultanate of Delhi, 1206–1290 A.D. c9.121

c9.121

Mangbarni had failed to organise any effective resistance in Persia and Iraq. The Mongols never caught him, but his gallant stand against terrible odds did no more than outline a singularly heroic character. Ghazni became a Mongol dependency even before his death. The accession of Uktae Khan to the Mongol Khanate was marked by a decision to gradually annex in the first instance, all the territories upto the Indus and then to extend the operations to the Indian provinces¹. By the end of Raziah's reign the Mongols had reached the Chinab and the governors of the western provinces were hard put to maintain a single-handed resistance; Delhi's failure to send assistance left them little alternative but to evacuate the territory or submit to the invaders. In 639/1241 occurred the first organised attack on Lahore. The local governor appealed for reinforcements but the *wazir*'s intrigues turned the royal army back to the capital. The governor was therefore obliged to flee the besieged city which fell the next morning². Although the Mongols withdrew shortly afterwards and Lahore was re-occupied, the province henceforth became "the frontier" where soon ambitious governors found good scope for self-assertion.