History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v3.c33.21

v3.c33.21

Unfortunately Al-Beruni mentions no kingdoms nor kings, nor does he make any reference to the political events of which he has personal knowledge certainly. He does not mention any of Mahmud's expeditions. He does not tell us that Kanauj was abandoned owing to its being captured and plundered, nor does he say when he mentions Somnath that the place had recently been carried and the temple and the idol of Somnath broken by Mahmud. One would have thought that such statements could not have been avoided by any writer who is almost an eye-witness of the events. However, certain it is that he does not mention any political events. This silence may be of set purpose and therefore cannot be construed either for or against the truth of these events. We, however, think that his description affords us a complete and a good picture of the political condition of the country. There was the big Kanauj empire of the Pratihāras still in existence; east of it was the Pāla kingdom of Monghyr. Nepal and Kamarupa, Bhutan and Tirhut are also mentioned. In the south Cholas are alone mentioned and they were undoubtedly supreme in the Madras presidency at this time. The Chandella kingdom of Kalanjar and the Chedi kingdom of Tripura are mentioned, as also Chitor and Dhar, capitals of Mewad and Malwa. Naharwala, Lāta and Konkan kingdoms are well alluded to. Kachha and Sind are there. Bazan is, according to our view, a town of the Chauhan kingdom of Sambhar or Marwad. North of Kanauj and north-west are mentioned Meerut and Panipat, Thanesar and Kabithal. Properly enough, there is no mention here of Delhi. Delhi was an insignificant place in 1030 A. D. and the Tomaras there were petty kings. Lahore on the Ravi was the capital of a kingdom or a province and Jalandhar and Rajauri were separate kingdoms. Kashmir was of course a powerful kingdom at this time and is well described. Then we have Wahind, capital of Kandhar, on the west of the Indus and finally Kabul and Ghazni. This is a correct description of the political divisions of India obtaining at this time. We miss the country of Mahārāshtra and Kranāta, but they are, we think, alluded to by the words Marāthadeśa to the south of the Nerbudda and Vallabha occurring later on.