History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v3.c34.s2.26
History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v3.c34.s2.26
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v3.c34.s2.26
Another inscription (Ind. Ant. XVIII p. 216) a hundred years after him gives the names of his opponents conquered in the south as Chola and Koṅga, in the east Hūna and Gauda and in the north Gurjara and Kira carrying his conquests as far north as the Himalayas. It seems, however, really probable that Karṇa in the north defeated the Gurjara or Pratihāra emperor who was an ally of the Turks and drove the Turks out of the country. This fact appears clearly from the way in which Karṇa's name is mentioned in an inscription of the Gāhadavālas already noted (Ind. Ant. XIV p. 103). This evidence coming from the records of a foreign state is very valuable. “When Bhoja went to heaven and when Karṇa remained only in renown and when the earth was being troubled, she found a refuge and protection in Chandradeva Gāhadavāla.” We have already said that Bhoja here is Bhoja of Malwa and Karṇa is this Karna of the Chedis; they had successively fought against the Turks and freed the middle land from their oppression, Bhoja from 1020 to 1040 A. D. and Karṇa probably from 1040 to 1080 A. D. Chandradeva conquered Kanauj and supplanted the effete Pratihāras about that time. The words ‘when the earth was troubled’ must be referred to the trouble caused by constant raids of the Turks who having established their rule over the Panjab, from their capital Lahore, sent frequent incursions into middle India. A serious raid of this kind is recorded by Baihaki (who wrote in 1050 A. D.). He states that Ahmad Nailtagin, governor of Lahore, made a raid on Benares, a city to which even Mahmud had not gone and plundered the bazar in 1033 A. D. (Elliot Vol II.). The city was under Gaṅga i. e. Gāṅgeya; but probably not completely. Karṇa finally took Benares into his possession and made incursions as far north as the Kira country on the slopes of the Himalayas and removed the oppression of the Turks. He also conquered Champāraṇya and Bihar as stated before.