The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c20.67

v3.c20.67

The affairs of the empire were now suffering from the loss of Mahmūd’s strong guiding hand. Western Persia was disturbed and a new governor was sent thither, but the Punjab was in even greater confusion, for no governor had been appointed since the recall of Ariyāruq, and the officers sent to seize his property and conduct a local inquiry into his administration were unable to cope with the opposition of his relations and their dependants and partisans. There was nobody at court fit for the important post of governor of the Indian province, and Mas‘ūd, with some misgivings, appointed to it his father’s treasurer, Ahmad Niyāltigīn, whose honesty was dubious and whose inexperience of civil and military affairs was notorious. It was believed that the retention of his son at Ghaznī as a hostage would ensure his fidelity and the instructions issued for the guidance of officials in India indicate the nature of the irregularities of Ariyāruq’s administration. They were not to undertake, without special permission, expeditions beyond the limits of the Punjab, but were to accompany Ahmad on any expedition which he might undertake; they were not to drink, play polo, or mix in social intercourse with the Hindu officers at Lahore; and they were to refrain from wounding the susceptibilities of those officers and their troops by inopportune displays of religious bigotry.