The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c29.s2.22

v3.c29.s2.22

Hindu annals do not credit the Solankīs of Gujarāt with a share in the various confederacies formed to oppose the invader, but the considerations which led Mahmūd to undertake the most famous of all his expeditions, that to Somnāth, have been recorded³. Bhīm the Solankī then ruled Gujarāt, having his capital at Anhilvāra, in the neighbourhood of the modern Pātan. After the capture of Beyt Shankhodhar and the flight of Bhīm, Mahmūd, before returning to Ghaznī, made arrangements for the administration of Gujarāt. According to the legend related in some Muslim histories an ascetic named Dābshilīm, who had some claim to the throne, was brought to his notice as a fit person and was appointed by him to govern the country. At his request Mahmūd carried to Ghaznī for safe custody another Dābshilīm, a relative whose pretensions the newly made king dreaded, and detained him until king Dābshilīm was securely seated on his throne, when he sent him back to Gujarāt at the king's request. When the prisoner approached Anhilvāra the king, according to custom, went forth to meet him, and, arriving at the appointed spot before him, passed the time in hunting. At length, overpowered by the heat and by fatigue, he lay down under a tree to rest, covering his face with a red handkerchief. A bird of prey, taking the handkerchief for a piece of flesh, swooped down upon it and, driving his talons into the king's eyes, destroyed his sight. One so injured was disqualified from reigning, and the prisoner Dābshilīm, arriving at that moment, was acclaimed by the popular voice as king, while the blinded man was confined in the dungeon under the throne-room which he had destined for his relative.