The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c20.5

c20.5

Nevertheless the exploits of Mahmûd, though they reached as far as Gujarât towards the south and the banks of the Ganges towards the east, were essentially raids. Except in the north-west, there was no permanent annexation. As soon as the avalanche had receded, the old surface re-appeared and life resumed its normal course. It was not until the close of the twelfth century that Mohammad Ghorî and his redoubtable lieutenants, Bakhtiyâr Khiljî and Qutb-ud-dîn Aiyabek, finally reduced the north of India and stamped out Hindu sovereignty. Another century was to roll by before Muslim arms penetrated into the south. For the whole of India, the eleventh and twelfth centuries A.D. are to be reckoned as part of the Ancient Age, and for the North, as its last period.