The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c19.22

v3.c19.22

He appointed a governor and a judge to Aror and marched towards Multān. On his way thither he first reached a fortress to which Kaksa, a cousin of Dāhir, had fled from Aror. Kaksa submitted to him, was taken into his confidence and became one of his most trusted counsellors. Continuing his march north-eastwards he came to a fortress of which the name has been so corrupted that it cannot be identified, but it lay on the northern bank of the Beas, as it then flowed. It was bravely defended for seven days, but was then deserted by its governor, a nephew of the ruler of Multān, who took refuge in Sika, a fortress on the southern bank of the Rāvī. The people, left to themselves, surrendered the fortress and were spared, but the garrison, to the number of four thousand, was put to the sword, and their wives and children were enslaved. After appointing an Arab governor Muhammad crossed the rivers and attacked Sika, the siege of which occupied him for seventeen days and cost him the lives of twenty-five of his best officers and 215 men. When the commander of the fortress fled to Multān and the place fell, he avenged the death of his warriors by sacking it and passed on to Multān. The Hindus were defeated in the field and driven within the walls but held out until a deserter pointed out to Muhammad the stream or canal which supplied the city with water, and this was destroyed or diverted, so that the garrison was obliged to surrender. In the great temple were discovered a golden idol and such quantities of gold that the Arabs named the city ‘The House of Gold.’ The fighting men were put to the sword and their wives and children, together with the attendants of the temple, numbering six thousand souls in all, were enslaved, but the citizens were spared. Amīr Dāūd Nasr was appointed to the government of the city and another Arab to that of the province, and Arabs were placed in charge of the principal forts.