History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v3.c33.s6.23

v3.c33.s6.23

If we take into view the condition of the Hindus of the Panjab and the Moslems of Ghazni and see how far the former were inferior or superior to the latter in those respects which contribute to the strength or weakness of kingdoms, we shall be able to arrive at a correct idea of the probable causes of the downfall of the Panjab. We have seen that the Turks were not more united than the Hindus; indeed disunion was as much a bane of the Turks as of the Hindus and Utbi, describing the disunion among the Turks beyond the Oxus, quotes the verses of the Koran "Their power is very great between them if they are united but their hearts are diverse. We have sent enmity between them and hatred for ever". The Turks were again as civilized or rather uncivilized as the Hindus using the same weapons, having no popular assemblies and no national spirit and without legions or phalanxes. The Hindu kingdom of the Panjab was not again so large, like the Roman empire, as to fall by its own weight. The Turks did not attack India in overwhelming swarms like the Goths and the Vandals. Moreover the Turks were not more warlike or of stronger physique or more inured to toil and exertion than the Afghans of Kabul and the Rajputs of the Panjab who opposed them in the beginning. Indeed the Hindus of the Panjab were used as soldiers by Mahmud himself and his successors in their battles and in the battle fought by Mahmud against Ilek-khan king of the Turks beyond the Oxus Hindus fought bravely on the side of Mahmud. The Hindu kingdom of the Panjab was not further ill-governed and there were no traitors who assisted the Moslems. And finally Mahmud's kingdom of Ghazni in the beginning was small compared with the kingdom of Kabul and the Panjab ruled by Jaipal and his army must have been also comparatively smaller than that of the latter. There even do not appear to be any factions, religious or political, to distract the attention of Jaipal. These apparent causes of superiority in the one and decay in the other being absent may be kept out of mind and we will see in what respect the Turks were superior to the Hindus or the latter inferior to the former.