History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c18.s1.t3.8

c18.s1.t3.8

It is very likely that the inscriptions refer to the expedition reported in the *Dīwān* of Salman, which was sent by the Ghaznavide king Masud III (492 to 509 Hijri² or 1098 to 1115 A.D.)³ against Kanauj, “the capital of Hind......, the Kaāba of the Shamans and the Kibla of the infidels,” where “the treasures of Hind were collected just as all rivers flow into the sea.”⁴ At first its king Malhī or Malhīrā, which is perhaps a corrupted form of the name Madanacandra or Madanapāla, suffered serious reverses, for we are told that he was even “compelled to ransom his person by a large sum of money,”⁵ but it appears Govindacandra soon retrieved the situation and hurled back the Moslem advance. The *Tabaqāt-i-Nāsirī* further testifies that during the reign of Masud III, the Hajib Tughatigin “crossed the river Gang (Ganges?) in order to carry on holy war in Hindustan, and penetrated to a place where except Sultan Mahmud no one had reached so far with an army before”.⁶ Now, we know that Mahmud did not proceed further east than Kanauj or Asi;⁷ and we may therefore be sure from the date and the description given above that it was this inroad against which Govindacandra had to contend. In his fight with the Moslem raiders Govindacandra was probably assisted by the Rāṣṭrakūṭa Madanapāla in the capacity of a vassal, for the Badaun inscription informs us that "in consequence of his distinguished prowess there never was any talk of Hambīra's coming to the banks of the river of the gods."¹ Kielhorn has assigned this undated epigraph on palæographic grounds to the 12th century or more possibly to the 13th century A. D.,² but as Badaun was conquered by Qutb-ud-dīn Aibak in 1202 A. D. (Hijri 599),³ and conferred as a fief upon Altamash,⁴ its date must not be brought down later than the 12th century A. D. We also know that it was engraved in the reign of Lakhanapāla, whose great-grandfather Devapāla ruled after, and was the younger brother of Madanapāla. Hence the latter may be considered to have flourished about the beginning of the 12th century; and as he was obviously a minor prince, and the Gahaḍavāla suzerainty had extended to the confines of Indraprastha even during the time of Candradeva, Madanapāla must have helped the paramount power in its wars against the Moslems.