History of the Khaljis, A.D. 1290–1320 c11.2

c11.2

The military enterprises of 'Alāūddīn were frequently interrupted by the invasions of the Mughal marauders from the north west. From times immemorial a race of barbarians had inhabited the secluded and wild region north of Gobi desert in China. In the 12th century it produced a "scourge of God". And within a couple of centuries after the birth of Changiz Khan¹ the Mughals or Mongols² became so irresistable and invincible that their very name inspired terror in the east and the west alike. Like a huge inundation their innumerable hosts spread from their mountain home in central Asia³ towards Russia, Turkey, Persia, Afghanistan, and India. Gibbon compares their rapid conquest "with primitive convulsions of nature, which have agitated and altered the surface of the globe".⁴ Powerful empires or petty states, all ended in smoke before these free-booters. Strong and cultured monarchies as the Khvarizm Shahi of Turkestan and the Caliphate of the Abassides were put to an end, the last Caliph Almustāsam Billāh being pounded to death.⁵ "No invasion in historical times can compare in its accumulated horrors or in its far reaching consequence with that of the Mughals."⁶ They annihilated populations and destroyed civilization.