Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v1.c20.t1.32

v1.c20.t1.32

² Divested of allegory, it means simply that the supply of water was rendered impure, and consequently useless to the Hindus, which compelled them to abandon their defences and meet death in the open field. Alau-d-din practised the same ruse against the celebrated Achal, the Khichi prince of Gagraun, which caused the surrender of this impregnable fortress. “It matters not,” observes an historian whose name I do not recollect, “whether such things are true, it is sufficient that they were believed. We may smile at the mention of the ghost, the evil genius of Brutus, appearing to him before the battle of Pharsalia; yet it never would have been stated, had it not assimilated with the opinions and prejudices of the age.” And we may deduce a simple moral from “the parent orb refusing the aid of his steed to his terrestrial offspring,” viz. that he was deserted by the deity. Fountains sacred to the sun and other deities were common to the Persians, Scythians, and Hindus, and both the last offered steeds to him in sacrifice. Vide History of the Tribes, article ‘Aswamedha,’ p. 91.