The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c20.34

v3.c20.34

In 1016 and 1017 Mahmūd was occupied in Khvārazm and in the northern provinces of his empire, and it was not until 1018 that he was able again to turn his attention to India. He now prepared to penetrate further into the country than on any former occasion, and to plunder the rich temples of Hindūstān proper. With an army of 100,000 horse raised in his own dominions and 20,000 volunteers from Turkistān, Transoxiana, and the confines of Khurāsān, soldiers of fortune eager to share in the rich spoils of India, he marched from Ghaznī in September, before the rainy season in India was well past, and, guided by the Lohara raja of Kashmīr, crossed with some difficulty the Indus and the rivers of the Punjab. On December 2 he crossed the Jumna and pursued his march southwards. Avoiding Delhi, he followed the eastern bank of the Jumna until he reached Baran, the modern Bulandshahr, the first strong place which lay in his path. Hardat, the governor, fled from the fortress and left the garrison to make what terms they might with the invader. They propitiated him by the surrender of a great quantity of treasure and thirty elephants, and he passed thence to Mahāban, on the eastern bank of the Jumna. Kul Chandra, the governor of this place, drew up his forces and made some attempt to withstand the Muslims but his army was put to flight and he first slew his wife and son and then committed suicide. Besides much other spoil eighty elephants were taken by Mahmūd at Mahāban, and he crossed the river in order to attack Muttra, the reputed birthplace of Krishna and one of the most sacred shrines in India. The city, though fortified and belonging to Bijayapāl, the raja of Delhi, was undefended, and Mahmūd entered it and plundered it without hindrance. His hand was not stayed by his admiration of its marble palaces and temples, unsparingly expressed in the dispatch in which he announced his success, and the temples were rifled and, as far as time permitted, destroyed. The plunder taken was enormous, but it is difficult to believe stories of a sapphire weighing over sixteen pounds and a half and of five idols of pure gold, over five yards in height, though the quantity of gold taken may very well have been over 548 pounds, as is recorded.