The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c31.s5.6

c31.s5.6

Although Kanauj had been captured several times by hostile armies during the ninth and tenth centuries, it recovered quickly from its wounds, and when Mahmūd appeared before its walls, at the end of A. D. 1018, was still a great and stately city, defended by seven distinct forts or fortifications and reputed to contain 10,000 temples. The Sultan destroyed the temples, but seems to have spared the city. The removal of the capital of Panchāla to Bārī must have greatly reduced the population and importance of Kanauj, although it revived to some extent under the rule of the Gaharwār Rājas in the twelfth century. The subjugation of Rāja Jaichand’s territory, including the city, in A. D. 1194 (A. H. 590), by Shihāb-ud-dīn, reduced it to insignificance for ever. Its final destruction was the work of Shēr Shah, who built a new town close by, called Shēr Sūr, to commemorate his victory over Humāyūn in 1540. The Muhammadan historian who chronicles the event observes that he could not find any satisfactory reason for the destruction of the old city, and that the act was very unpopular.²