History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v1.c14.s1.16

v1.c14.s1.16

described by modern historians. Perhaps like the panegyric of Yaśodharman of Mandsaur, famous in ancient Indian history, by his court poet who recorded a glowing description of his greatness on his Jayastambha, this description in the Rājatarangiṇī may at first appear fulsome and imaginary. But we have found a peculiarly strange confirmation of this event in the Chacha-nāma, a contemporary foreign account of the conquest of Sind. In a letter addressed by Dāhar to Mahomed Kasim (p. 87) occurs the following passage: "If I had sent against you the king of Kashmir, on whose royal threshold the other rulers of Hind had placed their heads, who sways the whole of Hind, even the countries of Makran and Turan, whose chains a great many noblemen and grandees have willingly placed on their knees, and against whom no human being can stand etc." This passage occurring so unexpectedly and without necessity and without any temptation for addition or interpolation is of great value as corroborating the account given in the Rājatarangiṇī of the extensive conquests of Lalitāditya. His achievements are therefore historical and stand on a par with those of Samudragupta and Harsha, and we will without hesitation, place them before readers of ancient Indian history, on the combined testimony of the Rājatarangiṇī and the Chacha-nāma.