History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v3.c33.s2.29

v3.c33.s2.29

But this guess is not correct as stated above and is also not necessary. Elliot, no doubt, rightly observes that for this expedition Mahmud came via Bannu through Kurram valley, crossed the Indus and came to Bhatia by the border of Multan without entering it. As we shall presently see, Mahmud did not like to create difficulties by entering foreign and also hostile territory viz. that of Ānandapāla or of Multan and he took the most circuitous road. But this does not fix the position of Bhatia to the north-west of Multan, for in that case Mahmud would not have had to even go along the border of Multan territory. The difficulty created by Utbi's statement that Bijairai took refuge in a mountain-wood would be removed by looking upon it as an hyperbolical description and by holding that there were only hills in the neighbourhood of Bhatia. In any case no modern town can be fixed upon as representing this Bhatia and we must leave it unidentified, simply stating that it was a town well-known in the days of Al-Beruni south-west of Multan and between the Indus and the Sutlej.