Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v2.c30.51

v2.c30.51

This account of Mughaira’s (the governor of Khorasan) death, while carrying on war against the Hindu “Retpeil” of Kabul, has much analogy to the sudden death of Mamrez, the foe of Rajh of Zabulistan. One thing is now proved, that princes of the Hindu faith ruled over all these regions in the first ages of Islamism, and made frequent attempts, for centuries after, to reconquer them. Of this fact, Babur gives us a most striking instance in his description of Gajni, or, as he writes, Ghazni. He says, “I have seen, in another history, that when the Rai of Hind besieged Subaktegin in Ghazni, Subaktegin ordered dead flesh and other impurities to be thrown into the fountain, when there instantly arose a tempest and hurricane, with rain and snow, and by this device he drove away the enemy.” Babur adds, “I made then inquiry in Ghazni for this well, but nobody could give me the slightest information regarding it” (p. 150). Doubtless, when Babur conquered India, and became better acquainted with the Hindu warriors, he would have got to the bottom of this anecdote, and have seen that the success of the ruse of Sabuktegin arose out of the religion of his foes, who could not use water thus contaminated by the flesh of the sacred kine. The celebrated Valabhi was reduced by the same stratagem.