The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c20.304

v3.c20.304

In 1306 the Mughuls invaded India to avenge ‘Alī Beg. A horde under Kabk crossed the Indus near Multān, marched towards the Himālaya, plundered the country, and was returning homewards in the hot weather when it found the passage of the Indus barred by a large army under Tughluq, who now bore the title of Ghāzī¹ Malik. Faint and weary, and well nigh perishing for want of water, they were compelled to attack the foe who stood in their path, and of fifty or sixty thousand no more than three or four thousand escaped. Kabk and many others were taken alive and carried by Ghāzī Malik to Delhi, where they were thrown under the feet of elephants. Traces of the column built of their heads on the plain outside the Budaun gate are said to have been visible more than two hundred and fifty years later, in the reign of Akbar. Their wives and children were sold as slaves in Delhi and in the principal cities of northern India. During ‘Alā-ud-dīn’s reign the Mughuls only once again ventured to invade his kingdom. In 1307–08 a chieftain named Iqbālmand led a horde across the Indus and was defeated and slain. The captives were, as usual, sent to Delhi and crushed to death, and this last defeat deterred the barbarians from invading India until the disorders arising from the misgovernment of ‘Alā-ud-dīn’s son, Qutb-ud-dīn Mubārak, invited their aggression.