History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v3.c33.s1.3

v3.c33.s1.3

It is natural that popular belief should invest such a man and father of Mahmud with illustrious pedigree. It was believed that though a slave of Alptagin he belonged to a Turkish family of chieftains who were descended from a daughter of Yezdgird the last emperor of the Persians. High pedigree is also assigned to Shahaji whose descent from the Udaipur Sisodia Rajput family was believed in even in his days. The story of Sabuktagin being descended from Yezdgird is said to have been told by Mahmud himself (Tabakat-i-Nasiri). It is not necessary that great men must have illustrious lineage, but popular sentiment is not satisfied unless an illustrious origin whether real or imaginary is assigned to the great men of the nation. Whatever the truth of the story, we may note the similarity of Shahaji and Sabuktagin in this respect also.