History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v3.c33.s2.27

v3.c33.s2.27

Where was this place? That it was an important place there is no doubt; for Al-Beruni mentions Bhatia in his geography as a place further than Multan which was to the west of Bazan. Now Multan itself is not to the west of Bazan exactly, but a little to the north-west and Bhatia may be to the south-west of Multan and not to the north-west of it. Thus it cannot be Bahawalpur which has further no mountain near it. But it may be mentioned that the description of the fort or city of Bhatia shows that it was not in the immediate vicinity of a mountain. For a mountain fort cannot have a deep moat round it, though it may have a wall reaching the heavens. Plainly Utbi writes poetically and without personal knowledge, Mahmud is said to have passed the territory of Multan and therefore he must have come to the south-west of Multan. He is described as crossing the Indus only and not any other river; so that this town may have been to the south-west of Multan between the Indus and the Sutlej which agrees with its situation given by Al-Beruni. Firishta, when stating that Bijairai took shelter in the wood on the bank of the Indus, may be right, if we take this Bhatia as situated between the Sutlej and the Indus.