The Sultanate of Delhi, 711–1526 A.D. c12.s5.3

c12.s5.3

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."