The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c20.69

v3.c20.69

Mas‘ūd suffered for his neglect of the warning. Ahmad led his troops to Benares¹, indulged them with twelve hours’ plunder of the city and in 1034 returned to Lahore with enormous wealth. He reported his success in glowing terms to Mas‘ūd, but his report was not accompanied by the expected remittance of spoil. Abu-’l-Hasan reported at the same time that Ahmad was employing the plunder of Benares in the raising of a large army recruited from the most turbulent and disaffected ruffians of Lahore and the Punjab, that he openly boasted of being the son of Mahmūd, and that he was on the point of repudiating his allegiance. This report was corroborated by Ahmad’s conduct and it was decided to treat him as a rebel. There was an awkward pause when Mas‘ūd asked who would undertake the task of crushing the rebellion. The Muslim nobles, who understood the difficulty of the enterprise and disliked the Indian climate, were mute, and their silence was the opportunity of the Hindu Tilak, who offered his services as a native who knew the country and for whom the climate had no terrors.