The Dynastic History of Northern India (Early Mediaeval Period) v2.c31.148

v2.c31.148

But the most important incident in the history of Bhīma which has been omitted by the chroniclers and the inscriptions, is the famous raid of Maḥmūd of Ghazni on the temple of Somanātha (mod. Somnath) in 1025 A.D. Our earliest Persian source for this expedition, the recently published *Kitāb Zain ul Akhbār*² gives the following account of this expedition: "In Hindūstān, on the shores of the sea, there is a big city called Sūmnāt, which is as sacred to the Hindus as Mecca to the Muslims. In it there are a large number of idols made of gold and silver and the idol *Manāt*, which in the days of the Prophet was taken out of Ka‘ba and despatched to India,³ through ‘Adan......The way to it was very perilous and dangerous and full of hardships......When Maḥmūd arrived near the city and the Samans and the Brāhmans saw him, they began to pray round the idols, and the commander⁴ of that city came out and sitting in a boat with his family and relatives went into the sea and alighted on an island; and he remained there as long as the Muslim army remained in that country. When the Muslim army arrived near the city, its inhabitants closed the gates and began fighting; but after only a few days they opened the gates, and the army of Amīr Maḥmūd went in and killed many infidels......Maḥmūd then ordered the Mu‘azzin to go on the top of the *derā* and call the faithful to prayer......All the idols were broken, burnt and destroyed, and the *Manāt* stone⁵ was taken out of its roots and broken to pieces; part of it was placed on camels and brought to Ghazni and placed outside the mosque there. There was a treasure under¹ the idols. He carried away that treasure and got a huge amount of wealth, consisting of silver idols and their jewels……From that place Maḥmūd turned back, and the reason was that Param Deo,² who was the king of the Hindus, was in the way, and the Amīr Maḥmūd feared lest this great victory might be spoiled. He did not come back by the direct way, but took a guide and, marching by the way of Manṣūra and the bank of the Sīhūn, went towards Multān. His soldiers suffered heavily on the way both from the dryness of the desert and from the Jatts of Sind. Many animals and a large number of men of the Muslim army perished on the way, and most of the beasts of burden died, till at last they reached Multān.'"³