The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c20.25

c20.25

to chieftains.¹ Mention is made of vassals in the course of Mahmûd's campaigns in India.² Numerous Râis, as Hindu rulers are called in Muslim narratives, flourished in the north-western plains.³ Hasan Nizâmî's Taju-l Maâsir which describes the campaigns of Mohammad Ghorî and his lieutenants—the real conquest of North India—is also silent on the Hindu system of government and, in broad outline, merely confirms the foregoing accounts.⁴ There was a custom that a king, when taken prisoner, should not reign after his release. Jaipâl on return from Mahmûd's captivity, committed suicide by fire.⁵ Kings and chiefs adorned their bodies. The necklace worn by Jaipâl was composed of large pearls and shining gems and rubies set in gold, estimated at two hundred thousand dînârs. Twice that value was obtained from the ornaments on the necks of the king's relations.⁶