The Dynastic History of Northern India (Early Mediaeval Period) v2.c31.176

v2.c31.176

According to the *Zain ul-Akhbār*, when Maḥmūd appeared before the gates of Somnath, the local commander left the city and took shelter in a boat on the sea. The defence was mainly organised by the priests.⁴ The Muslim accounts leave no doubt that the temple-priests resisted the invader with the courage of despair. Thus Khond Amīr tells us: "The army of Ghaznīn full of bravery, having gone to the foot of the fort brought down the Hindus from the tops of the ramparts with points of eye-destroying arrows, and having placed scaling ladders, they began to ascend with loud cries of *Allāh-u-Akbar*. The Hindus offered resistance, and on that day, from the time that the sun entered upon the fort of the turquoise-coloured sky, until the time that the stars of the bedchambers of heaven were conspicuous, did the battle rage between the two parties. When the darkness of night prevented the light of the eye from seeing the bodies of men, the army of the faithful returned to their quarters. The next day having returned to the strife, and having finished bringing into play the weapons of warfare, they vanquished the Hindus. Those ignorant men ran in crowds to the idol temple, embraced Sūmnāt, and came out again to fight until they were killed. Fifty thousand infidels were killed round about the temple, and the rest who escaped from the sword embarked in ships and fled away.”¹