Indian Muslims: Who Are They c5.s5.4

c5.s5.4

Add to these losses the Mongol killings in India. In 1241 the Mongols under Tair Bahadur captured Lahore, slaughtered the Muhammadans and made their dependents captive.⁶⁸ Hasan Qarlugh wrested Multan in 1245 and the whole of Sindh was lost to the Mongols.⁶⁹ It was recovered by Ulugh Khan (Balban) but the next year the Mongols⁷⁰ again arrived under Sali Bahadur. By 1254, the territory up to and including Lahore had been taken by them. During Balbans reign the Mongol pressure increased all the more. His son, the Prince Martyr, lost his life fighting them. So great was the loss on this occasion, that according to Amir Khusrau, in Multan, in every house there was some dead to be wept for.⁷¹ Vigorous Mongol attacks.⁷² continued right up to the first decade of the fourteenth century; and this alone can give an idea of the losses suffered by Muslim (and Hindu) population.