History of the Khaljis, A.D. 1290–1320 c11.s2.3

c11.s2.3

Secondly, the numbers that invaded India seem to be exaggerated. Women, children and old men—all accompanied the invaders, and although as such the number of the invaders was inflated, their military efficiency was marred. On many occassions ‘Alāuddīn took prisoner a large number of women and children and sold them in the market of Delhi or put them to the sword. Thirdly, the qualities of the early Mughals which had given them magnificent successes in the early days of their history were now extinct. The agility, the mobility and the qualities of patience and endurance no longer marked the Mughals who invaded India, and it is strange indeed that on the occassion of the two sieges of Delhi in 1300 and 1303, ‘Alāuddīn exhausted the patience of the Mughals and they retired without giving tough fights such as were needed for the conquest of an empire.