History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v3.c35.s22.1

v3.c35.s22.1

The kingdom of Jālandhara has been noticed already in Vol. I pp. 383-84, as subsisting from the most ancient times of Mahābhārata days when Suśarman the first known ancestor of the Katoch kings fought on the side of the Kauravas. His descendant in the direct line at present is the Maharaja Sir Jaichand of Lambagraon, Kangra District; a Rajput chief of great learning and influence among the Rajputs of Eastern Himalayas. Who the king of Trigarta which then included Jālandhara in the plains and Kangrā in the hills was at the time of Mahmud has not yet been ascertained from him. We have already stated that the king must have been a dependent ally of Ānandapāla, king of Kabul and the Panjab, and must have fought in his last battle with Mahmud. The Hindus were defeated and probably Mahmud suddenly made a raid on Kot Kangrā before the king could come back. The fort fell though defended for a time by the garrison and it was seized with all the immense treasure kept therein. As stated in the note on Kot Kangrā already given, the fort was impregnable and hence it was made the depository of treasure by Hindu kings. From the account given by Utbi, a contemporary historian of Mahmud, it appears that the garrison lost heart on seeing the immense force which invested the fort and capitulated soon without much resistance. They were, we think, a mercenary force and not a band of gallant defenders fighting for national independence. For Utbi states "They capitulated and consented to serve under the banners of the Sultan. Then they opened the gate and humbly offered their services" ( Utbi p. 341). Thus the impregnable fort with its immense riches fell into the hands of Mahmud who permanently occupied it and kept trusty guards there, when he retired. It appears that the Trigarta kings lost their kingdom in the plains henceforward, and they must have further retired into the hills. They, however, took back the fort, it is said, in 1044 A. D. at the suggestion of the kings of Delhi after a seige of 4 months. Utbi does not relate the throwing down of any temple or the destruction of any idol at Kangrā Kot as other historians do. But it is nowhere stated of what deity the idol was. From inquiries at Kangrā it appears to us that there was a famous temple of Devi Ambikā there, distinct, of course, from the Devi of Jwālāmukhī which is about 20 miles distant from Kot Kangrā. The Devi idol must have been, as already stated, destroyed by Mahmud and it was replaced by the Kangra king when he retook the fort.