History of the Khaljis, A.D. 1290–1320 c11.52

c11.52

Towards the close of the year 1299 Qutlugh Khvājā, son of Dava,³⁴ left Transoxiana with twenty tumans (or 200,000 Mughals) for the invasion of Hindustan.³⁵ The humiliating defeat suffered by the Mughals in Sivistan prompted Qutlugh to come with full preparations; and this time they were bent upon the conquest of India. The invading hosts crossed the river Sindh, and by forced marches arrived near Delhi, without distrubing the territories they passed on their way, in spite of the fact that they were actually harassed by the commanders of the frontier posts like Multan and Samanah. The imperialists would retire into their strongholds in the day but would emerge at night and hover at the flanks of the invaders. But the latter were unmoved by these tactics, because they wanted to conserve their energy for the final struggle.