The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c29.s2.104

v3.c29.s2.104

The legend that the Gahlots had met and defeated the Arab invaders of Sind has already been mentioned. It is to the effect that they repelled an invasion of Mewār led by one Mahmūd, whom they defeated and captured. It is certain that no Arab invader from Sind ever reached Mewār, and the name Mahmūd suggests confusion between the Arabs of Sind in the eighth century and the Turks of Ghaznī in the eleventh. It is possible that a Gahlot prince joined one of the confederacies against Mahmūd, or met that invader on his way to Gujarāt in the expedition in which he plundered Somnāth, but we have no record of the event. The fate of the prince of Chitor at the second battle of Tarāorī has been mentioned. The Gahlot legend, disfigured by some palpable falsehoods, represents him ‘as the Ulysses of the host; brave, cool, and skilful in the fight; prudent, wise, and eloquent in council; pious and decorous on all occasions; beloved by his own chiefs and reverenced by the vassals of the Chauhān.’