The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c20.73

v3.c20.73

On August 29, 1036, Mas‘ūd sent his second son, Majdūd, to India, as governor of the Punjab, and vowed, when he himself fell sick in the following year, that if he recovered he would lead an expedition into India and capture the fortress of Hānsī. On his recovery his advisers warned him in vain of the folly of engaging in a purposeless enterprise in India while the Saljūqs were threatening his northern and eastern provinces: Mas‘ūd insisted on the fulfilment of his vow and on October 5, 1037, he left Ghaznī for India. On November 8 he reached the Jhelum and was detained there for a fortnight by an illness serious enough to startle his conscience into abjuration of the sin of wine-bibbing, and his wine was poured into the river and the use of intoxicants forbidden in his army. By November 29 he was able to take the field and on December 20 arrived before Hānsī and opened the siege of the fortress. In spite of an obstinate resistance the town was stormed on January 1, 1038, after the walls had been breached in five places, and was sacked; the Brāhmans and the fighting men were put to the sword and the women and children were enslaved.