The Sultanate of Delhi, 711–1526 A.D. c12.s5: His Indian expeditions
The Sultanate of Delhi, 711–1526 A.D. c12.s5
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His Indian expeditions
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Historians are divided in their opinion regarding the number of Mahmud's invasions on India. Our authorities are so conflicting that it is not possible to ascertain correctly from their statements their exact number. Nor is it very necessary to do so. Some of the most important of these invasions must, however, be noted.¹ The earliest of them took place in 1000 A.D. when Mahmud occupied a few frontier forts. Next he proceeded against Jaipala who is branded by his enlightened historian as 'the enemy of God'. The Sultan had taken all possible precautions in this expedition and selected 15,000 of his picked cavalrymen by a personal inspection of the members of his army. A well-contested battle was fought near Peshawar on 27th November, 1001 A.D. Mahmud's cavalry manoeuvres proved to be effective and, inspite of his valour, Jaipala suffered defeat. He was taken prisoner along with his sons and grandsons and a number of important relatives and officers. Utbi writes that they "being strongly bound with ropes, were carried before the Sultan, like as evil-doers, on whose faces the fumes of infidelity are evident......and will be bound and carried to Hell. Some had their arms forcibly tied behind their backs, some were seized by the cheek, some were driven by blows on the neck." Mahmud's men appropriated a necklace of gems and rubies from the neck of Jaipala whose value was two lakhs of dinars, and similar ornaments from the raja's companions. The victors got spoils 'beyond all bounds of calculation'. Jaipala was released on promise to pay a huge ransom and to surrender fifty of his elephants. Mahmud followed his victory by advance to Wai Mahmud and his hordes and whetted their appetite for fresh conquests and booty.
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Mahmud's next important invasion was directed against Multan which was ruled over by Fateh Daud who was a Karmathian. The Karmathians were heterodox Shia Muslims and were hated by orthodox Sunnis. As a preliminary to the conquest of Multan, Mahmud led an expedition to Bhera on the left bank of the Jhelam. Anandapala opposed the invader; but he was hustled out of the way, and in 1006 A.D. Mahmud marched upon Multan which he conquered. This new conquest was placed in the hands of Sukhapala, a grandson of Jaipala, who was one of the hostages taken by Mahmud to Ghazni after the final defeat of Jaipala and was there made to embrace Islam. He was called Nausha Shah. Sukhapala, however, adjured his new religion and revolted against Mahmud, who returned to Multan in 1008 A.D. and captured and imprisoned him and Daud. Multan, thus, became a part of Mahmud's wide kingdom.
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By allying himself with the Karmathian Daud, Anandapala had given great offence to Mahmud. On the other hand, the conquest of Multan by the ruler of Afghanistan had exposed Anandapala's dominion to attack from two directions. A final and decisive clash between the antagonists was, therefore, only a question of time. Moreover, Mahmud felt that without occupying the Panjab he could not hope to penetrate into the heart of Hindustan and reap the harvests of rich plunder. Anandapala, too, did not fail to appreciate the significance of these developments. He collected a large army, which was probably reinforced by contingents from the neighbouring princes who were anxious to stem the tide of the Turkish expansion. At the head of this force Anandapala proceeded towards Peshawar. Mahmud met him on the plain opposite Waihand near about the year 1009 A.D. and succeeded in inflicting a crippling blow upon the *raja*. The Indian army broke down and it retreated in disorder. Mahmud pursued them and besieged the fort of Nagarkot near Kangara. This fort fell into the enemy's hands after three days' stubborn resistance. Mahmud acquired rich booty here, including immense gold and various other precious commodities. The entire country from the Indus to Nagarkot fell into the hands of the victor. Utbi, the historian of Mahmud, writes that at Nagarkot so much booty was acquired that "the treasures were laden on the backs of as many camels as they could procure, and the officers carried away the rest. The stamped coin amounted to 70,000 royal *dirhams* and the gold and silver ingots amounted to seven lakhs and 400 *mans* in weight, besides wearing apparel and fine clothes of Sus, respecting which old men said that they never remembered to have seen so fine, soft and embroidered. Among the booty was a house of white silver, like to the houses of rich men, the length of which was thirty yards and the breadth fifteen. It could be taken to pieces and put together again. And there was a canopy made of the linen of Rum, forty yards long and twenty broad, supported on two golden and two silver poles, which had been cast in moulds."
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The Hindushahi kingdom had now shrunk to a small principality, yet Anandapala, its brave ruler, did not lose his spirits. In fact, his repeated reverses made him all the more determined to resist the enemy to the bitter end. He shifted his capital to Nandanah, situated on the northern spur of the Salt Range. He gathered a small army and made an attempt to consolidate his position in the Salt Range region. He died here a peaceful death and was succeeded by his son, Trilochanapala. The new ruler, like his father, had no peace, for Mahmud went on gradually advancing and, in 1014 A.D., captured Nandanah after a brief siege in which Trilochanapala's son, Bhimapala, played an important part. After this defeat Trilochanapala took shelter in Kashmir. But Mahmud pursued him there and defeated a combined army of Trilochanapala and his new ally, Tunga, the commander of the Kashmir ruler. Mahmud did not consider it safe to penetrate into Kashmir, but Trilochanapala, too, did not like to end his days as a refugee in Kashmir. His ambition was to rule over the Panjab, his ancestral kingdom, and, therefore, he returned to the eastern part of the Panjab and established himself in the Sivalik hills. He entered into an alliance with the Chandela ruler of Bundelkhand, named Vidyadhar, who was one of the most powerful princes in northern India. Mahmud wanted to break this alliance and with that end in view he came to India once again in 1009 A.D. and defeated Trilochanapala in a battle near the Rama Ganga. Trilochanapala had now only nominal territory to rule over. The decline in his fortunes gave rise to dissensions among his followers, and he was assassinated by some of them in 1021-22 A.D. He was succeeded by his son, Bhimapala, who was but a petty chieftain. He died in 1026 A.D., and with him came to an end the once glorious and mighty Hindushahi dynasty of north-western Hindustan.
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The decline and decay of the Hindushahi kingdom, which was the first to bear the brunt of the Turkish onslaught, enabled Mahmud to penetrate into the heart of Hindustan. First of all he seiged, in 1004 A.D., the fort of Bhatinda which lay on the route from the north-west into the rich Ganga valley. It was bravely defended by the local ruler, named Bijai Rai, but Mahmud’s superior military strength succeeded in capturing it. All the inhabitants of the place, except those who became converts to Islam, were put to the sword. A huge booty was captured. Next, he decided to cover the flank of the Hindushahi territory so as not to leave the possibility of any danger from that side threatening his line of communication or the rear of the army of invasion. That was why he decided to conquer Multan from Fateh Daud, the Karmathian, in 1006 A.D., as already related.
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In 1009 A.D. Mahmud defeated Anandapala near Waihand and captured Nagarkot. In the same year he acquired possession of Narainpur in the modern district of Alwar. This place had great commercial importance and had become the emporium of foreign articles from Central Asia as well as indigenous ones from the various parts of our country. In 1014 A.D. Mahmud started from Ghazni in order to capture the sacred city of Thaneshwar, hallowed by the temple of Chakraswami. On his way to the place he was encountered by a Hindu ruler who inflicted a very heavy loss on Mahmud’s army; but, when he reached Thaneshwar, he was pleasantly surprised to find that the people offered no resistance whatever. Mahmud plundered the city and sent the image of Chakraswami to Ghazni where it was cast in the public square.
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Between 1015 and 1021 A D. Mahmud made two unsuccessful attempts to conquer Kashmir, but he was baffled both the times. At last he gave up the idea of enslaving that Happy Valley.
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Owing to the annihilation of the Hindushahi kingdom the flood-gates of Turkish invasions were opened up to submerge the very heart of Hindustan. Eager to exploit the opportunity to the best advantage, Mahmud now directed his march towards the Ganga-Yamuna Doab. He started from Ghazni in 1018 A.D. and proceeded towards Mathura which was one of the most thickly populated and wealthy cities. It was, moreover, the Hindu Bethelehem, being the birth-place of Shri Krishna. Mahmud found it a well-protected city, beautified by an array of imposing temples; but the garrison made no attempt to defend this holy city or its artistic shrines. The invading army destroyed many temples and captured immense treasure that had been accumulated there for generations. An idea of the splendour of Mathura and the destruction wrought by the Muslim fanatical invader can be had from a description of that city given by Utbi who says : “He (Mahmud) saw a city of wonderful fabric and conception, so that one might say there is a building of paradise, but its accidents or qualities could only come by the aid of the infernals, and an intelligent man would hardly receive favourably the account of it……Around it………they had placed 1,000 castles built of stones which they had made idol temples……And in the midst of the city they had built a temple higher than all, to delineate the beauty and decoration of which the pen of all writers and the pencils of all painters would be powerless, and would not be able to attain to the power fixing their minds upon it and considering it.” In the Memoir which the Sultan wrote of his journey he thus declares : “If any one should undertake to build a fabric like that he would expend thereon one lakh packets of a thousand dinar, and would not complete it in 200 years, with the assistance of the most ingenious architects.” These temples, according to Utbi, contained valuable idols of pure gold, five of which were of the height of five cubits, and in one of which there was a jacinth of the value of more than 50,000 *dinars*. Another idol had a sapphire of one solid piece, of azure water, of the value of 400 fine *miskals*. The invaders acquired a huge treasure buried under the feet of many an idol. They got from the feet of one *idol* as much treasure as was of the value of four lakh *miskals* of gold. There were many idols of silver which, too, were equally costly. Mahmud devastated the entire city and plundered it from one corner to the other. Vrindavan witnessed the same scene of plunder and arson, massacre and rape.
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From Mathura Mahmud proceeded to Kanauj which was the imperial seat of northern India since the days of the great Harsha. It was ruled by Rajyapala, the last Gurjara-Pratihara ruler, who fled as soon as he heard of the news of Mahmud's approach. The city was besieged and conquered without much resistance. It witnessed the same plunder and massacre that the holy city of Mathura had already seen. Here, too, Mahmud acquired treasure and booty ‘beyond all calculation’. After this he returned to Ghazni, conquering a few small forts on the way.
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The desecration and destruction of the beautiful temples of the holy Mathura touched the conscience of some of the notable leaders, prominent among whom was the Chandela ruler of Bundelkhand. This notable chief (who is variously called Ganda or Vidyadhar), made an attempt to organise a league of some prominent rulers for the defence of their religion and country. The members of this league were dissatisfied with Rajyapala of Kanauj who had fled from his capital without offering any resistance to the invader. So they attacked Rajyapala and defeated and killed him. This brought Mahmud once again to our country, for he was naturally anxious to prevent the formation of a league against him. Starting from Ghazni at the end of 1019 A.D., he met opposition from Trilochanapala of the Hindushahi dynasty. Trilochanapala was defeated and Mahmud proceeded towards Bundelkhand. The Chandela prince tried to obstruct his passage and met him at the head of a powerful army. But, for some unrecorded reason, he left the field during the night, and Mahmud, who was about to give way to despair at the sight of so big a force, ravaged the Chandela territory and became the master of an enormous booty. He returned to Ghazni in 1022.
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Towards the end of the same year he returned to India to crush the power of the Chandelas. While on his way to Kalinjar, an important Chandela fortress, he tried to capture Gwalior, the ruler of which was one of the feudatories of the Chandela prince; but Gwalior was so formidable a fortress that it could not be captured. Mahmud did not like to be delayed on the way and so he made peace with the Kachhawaha ruler of that place and resumed his journey to Kalinjar. Kalinjar was besieged, but it could not be easily captured. The siege lasted for a long time and Mahmud, anxious to return to Ghazni, made peace with the Chandela prince who agreed to the payment of a tribute in the form of 300 elephants. It is said that the Chandel ruler even composed a poem in praise of the invader which so pleased Mahmud that he rewarded him with the government of fifteen fortresses. After this peace he returned to Ghazni with his spoils.
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Mahmud’s last famous expedition to Hindustan was that to Somanath. It is said that the Brahmans of the Somanath temple, situated on the coast of Kathiawar, had boasted that Lord Somanath was displeased with other dieties; that was why they had been sacked and broken to pieces by Mahmud, the Idol-breaker. It was this vaunt which is said to have been responsible for Mahmud’s resolve to attack Somanath. Starting from Ghazni on 17th October, 1024 A.D., with the biggest army that he had so far commanded, he reached Multan on 20th November. He took elaborate precautions on the way, for his route lay through the inhospitable desert of Rajputana. Every trooper had to carry with him food, water and fodder for seven days. Besides this Mahmud had arranged to have provisions and water for the entire army sufficient for the duration of the march through the desert, which was loaded on 30,000 camels. On his arrival at Anhilwara in January, 1025 A.D., Mahmud was pleasantly surprised to learn that Raja Bhima Deo, with most of his followers, had fled from the place. Those who had remained behind were defeated and plundered. The people in the town and in the shrine of Somanath, however, stuck to their places, believing that they would be absolutely safe owing to the protection given to them by Lord Somanath. Mahmud captured the place without much difficulty and ordered a general slaughter in which more than 50,000 persons are said to have perished. The idol of Somanath was broken to pieces which were sent to Ghazni, Mecca and Madina and cast in streets and the staircases of chief mosques to be trodden by the Muslims going there for their prayers. This idol was considered to be one of the great wonders of the place. “It was in the middle of the temple, without anything to support it from below or to suspend it from above. It was held in the highest honour amongst the Hindus, and whoever beheld it floating in the air was struck with amazement whether he was a Musalman or an infidel. Mahmud ordered the loadstones in the canopy to be removed. The idol, therefore, fell to the ground. It was then broken to pieces.” It is said that the value of the spoils found in the temple exceeded twenty lakhs of dinars. Laden with this rich booty, Mahmud returned to Ghazni through Sindh. His last expedition was undertaken only against the Jats of Sindh who had harassed him during his return march from Somanath to Ghazni in the previous year. This ended his Indian career. He died in 1030 A.D. !