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Jumna, and took, plundered, and destroyed the city of Muttra, one of the principal seats of Hindoo devotion. He then returned to Ghuzni, laden with spoil, and followed by captives.

Mahmûd returned to India for the tenth time (1022) to the aid of the rajah of Canouj, who had been attacked by the rajah of Calinjer. But his ally had been cut off before he arrived, and neither in this expedition, nor in one which he undertook the following year, was he able to exact vengeance for him. As Jypâl II., the rajah of Lahore, was so unwise as to oppose him, when on his way to the aid of Canouj, he deprived him of his dominions, and annexed them to Ghuzni. This was the first permanent settlement of the Mohammedans to the east of the Indus, and led to their future dominion over India.

In his twelfth and last expedition to India (1024), Mahmûd, instead of directing, as before, his course eastwards, turned to the south. On a promontory of the peninsula of Gûzerât stood a temple named Sômnât, dedicated to the god Seeva, and celebrated for its sanctity and its wealth. The intelligence of its treasures awoke the zeal of the pious sultân, and he resolved to destroy this abode of idols. His army was assembled at Multân, and as the sandy desert was to be crossed in order to reach Gûzerât, he collected 20,000 camels for bearing food and water, and directed his soldiers to furnish themselves as abundantly as they could with_all things necessary. He thus marched without loss over a space of 350 miles of a soil, presenting now tracts of mere sand, now of bare hard clay, and reached Ajmir, on the east of the Aravalli hills, in safety. The rajah of this place, and his people, fled from the town, which Mahmûd plundered, and then, proceeding along the plain on the west of the Aravalli mountains, he at length entered Gûzerât, and appeared before its capital, Anhalwâra, whose rajah also fled at his approach. Without making any delay, he pushed forwards for Sômnât, the object of his wishes. He found the temple surrounded on three sides by the sea, and the isthmus on the land side strongly fortified. The garrison defended the works with that desperate valour, which the Hindoos have so often shown in the maintenance of fortified places. On the third day the adjoining rajahs appeared with a large force for the rescue of the temple, and Mahmûd was obliged to suspend the siege to engage them. While the battle was raging most strongly, the rajah of Anhalwâra arrived with his troops, and the Moslems began to give way. Mahmûd threw himself on the earth, imploring the Divine aid, and then springing to horse, cheered his troops and advanced; his men, ashamed to desert their prince, rushed forwards; the foe, yielding to the impetuosity of their charge, fled with the loss of 5000 men, and the garrison, now hopeless of relief, took to their boats, leaving the temple to its fate.

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as the breaker than as the seller of idols, he raised his mace and struck the image. Others followed his example, and a large quantity of diamonds and other precious stones which had been concealed within it, poured forth to reward his zeal and piety 2.

He

The treasures obtained by the sultan were immense, and so delighted was he with the climate of Gûzerât, where he remained for some time, that he had thoughts of resigning Câbul to his son, and making it his permanent residence. On reflection, however, he gave up this idea, and setting a Hindoo prince over the country he prepared to set out on his march homewards. Finding his army somewhat reduced in number, and learning that the rajahs of Ajmîr and of Anhalwâra had collected a force to oppose him, he did not deem it prudent to return by the route he had come. resolved, therefore, to try a new one, along the sands eastwards of Sind. The hardships and sufferings which his troops encountered in this region, especially during three days in which their guides led them astray, are not to be described. Despair seized on all, and many died raging mad; when at last they reached a pool of water, they saw in it the direct hand of Providence. At length their hardships terminated, and they arrived once more at Multân, whence they returned to Ghuzni. But before the end of the year the unwearied Mahmûd was again on the Indus, to chastise the people of its west bank, named Juts, who had harassed his troops on their march from Gûzerât. They took refuge in the islets of the river, but Mahmûd, who had provided himself with boats, pursued them to their retreats, and destroyed nearly the whole of them.

Mahmûd returned no more to India. The distracted state of Persia now attracted his ambition, and in the three remaining years of his reign he succeeded in making himself master of nearly the whole of that country. He died at Ghuzni, on the 29th of April, 1030, after an active reign of thirtythree years.

Sultan Mahmûd, of Ghuzni, is one of the most illustrious names in Oriental history; where vigour, justice, and generosity, are the qualities that most attract praise in a sovereign. For though Mahmûd loved wealth, and was insatiable in the acquisition of it, he dispensed it liberally in the rewarding of merit, and the advancement of literature and science. He founded a university in his capital, liberally endowed, and furnished with a museum and an extensive library. It is to him that Persia is indebted for the preservation of her mythic and poetic annal, in the Shâh-nâmeh of Ferdousi, to whom he committed the task of clothing them in verse. Unfortunately, his illiberal treatment of the poet is a stain on his memory. Mahmûd likewise adorned Ghuzni with piles of architecture, vying with those which he had admired at Canouj and Muttra, and his nobles emulated each other in

2 This is the account given by Ferishta. Wilson says that the earlier Mohammedan writers have none of these particulars, and he therefore doubts the whole story. Sômnât, he says, was a mere Linga or stone cylinder, and not an

Mahmûd, on entering the temple, was dazzled with its magnificence. Fifty-six pillars, it is said, richly carved and adorned with precious stones, supported the roof; and from a massive golden chain hung the lamp which gave light to the temple. As he advanced to destroy the idol the priests flung image. Mahmûd, it is said, carried away the gates of the themselves at his feet, offering an enormous ransom if he would spare it. Mahmûd paused, his officers were preparing to advise him to accept it, when, crying that he would rather be remembered

temple, and set them up in his tomb at Ghuzni; whence, of late years, they, or their successors, have been brought back to India a measure, in the opinion of many, of no great wisdom.

following his example. His own tomb, and the mosk named the Celestial Bride, are the most celebrated of his buildings.

After the death of Mahmûd, his descendants occupied the throne of Ghuzni for about a century and a half; but they were almost continually engaged in hostilities with the Seljûkian Turks, and other tribes on the north and east of their dominions, and devoted but little of their attention to India. Lahore, however, continued to be the seat of their power in that country; and the general of one of these princes, on one occasion, led an army over the Ganges (1098). The two last sovereigns of this house, when driven from Ghuzni by the Afghân chiefs of Ghôr3, fixed their abode in Lahore. The last of these monarchs, Khûsrû Malik, was overcome by the Ghorians in the year 1186, and the dynasty of Ghuzni terminated in his person.

CHAPTER IV.

House of Ghôr-Shuhâb-ud-dîn-His conquests-Slavekings- Khûtb-ud-dîn - Shems-ud-dîn Altumsh-India invaded by the Moguls-Rukn-ud-dîn-Sultana ReziaNasir-ud-din-Anecdotes-Bulbun-Ky Kobâd-End of

the Dynasty.

GHYAS-UD-DIN, who succeeded to the Ghorian dominions in the year 1157, swayed by that strong family affection for which this house was distinguished, associated in the government his brother Shuhâb-ud-dîn, whose military talents were considerable. It is pleasing to observe, that he never had reason to repent of his generosity.

The views of Shuhâb-ud-dîn, as soon as the brothers had rest on the north and west of their dominions, were turned to India; and his conquests there were so extensive, that he may justly be regarded as the true founder of the Mohammedan empire in that country. In the year 1176 he commenced his career of conquest by the capture of the city of Ûch, on the edge of the Desert, near the confluence of the rivers of the Punjab with the Indus. Two years later he invaded Gûzerât, but was defeated, and in his retreat he encountered toils and sufferings similar to those experienced by Sultan Mahmûd. He then turned his arms against Khûsrû Malik, the Ghuznivide prince of Lahore, and obliged him to give his son as a hostage. He next overran Sind as far as the sea-coast. Again he engaged in hostilities with Khûsrû of Lahore, who, having formed an alliance with the Guckârs, appeared now so formidable, that Shuhâb-ud-dîn deemed it best to have recourse to stratagem. Pretending alarms on the side of Khorasan, he made proposals of peace to Khûsrû, sending him as a pledge of his intentions his son, who was a hostage. Khûsrû, incautiously quitting Lahore, advanced to meet him and Shuhâb-ud-dîn, placing himself at the head of a strong body of cavalry, and marching with secrecy, contrived to get between him and his capital, and then, surrounding his camp, forced him to surrender (1186). Khûsrů and his family were sent to Ghyas-ud-dîn, by

3 The mountains of Ghôr are to the west of Câbul and Ghuzni, and eastwards of Khorasan.

whom they were confined in a castle for the rest of their lives.

The rival Mohammedan power in India being thus at an end, Shuhâb-ud-dîn had now only the native princes to contend with; and the want of union which prevailed among them, joined with the inferiority of discipline and experience in their troops, as compared with those hardy warriors whom he drew from the mountains beyond the Indus and the Oxus, appeared to give him greatly the advantage in the contest. Still the struggle was severe, and none fell until after a gallant resistance.

His first attack (1191) was on Pritwî, the rajah of Delhi and Ajmîr. The battle was fought between Tanêsar and Carnâl, on the great plain to the north of Delhi. The tactics of the invaders were those of the Turkish tribes at all periods of their history, to charge with successive bodies of cavalry, and thus to keep up an unceasing series of attacks; those of the Hindoos were to keep togegether, and endeavour to outflank and surround the enemy. On this occasion the latter tactics

prevailed. While Shuhâb-ud-dîn was assailing the centre, he learned that his wings had given way, and soon perceived that he was surrounded. He instantly made a desperate charge into the thickest of the hostile array, and reached and wounded the rajah's brother, when he himself received a wound, and would have fallen from his horse, had not one of his followers leaped up behind him and carried him off the field. The rout of the Moslems was complete, and they were pursued by the victors for a space of forty miles.

Shuhâb-ud-din returned to Ghuzni, where he remained for two years, apparently engaged in pleasure, but secretly brooding over his defeat, the memory of which deprived him of all rest; for, as he told an aged councillor, "he never slumbered in ease, or waked but in sorrow and anxiety." length (1193), having assembled a gallant army, he set out once more to seek for conquest in India.

At

Pritwi and his allies, aware of his approach, had assembled so large a force, that, when Shuhâb-uddîn appeared, the rajahs sent to tell him, that if he was prudent they would permit him to retire unmolested. He feigned alarm, represented himself as only his brother's general, and spoke of sending home for instructions. Having thrown them off their guard by this conduct, he crossed at daybreak one morning the stream which lay between the two camps, and fell with fury on the unprepared Hindoos. Their camp, however, was of such extent, that a part of the troops had time to form; and while they held the assailants in check the fugitives fell into the rear, and the whole army then advanced in four lines. Shuhâb-ud-dîn and his men fell back, maintaining a running fight till they had drawn the Hindoos out of their ranks, and then a furious charge was made by a body of 12,000 select horsemen, cased in steel-armour, and "this prodigious army," says Ferishta, shaken, like a great building tottered to its fall, and was lost in its own ruins."

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Many Hindoo chiefs fell in the fight. Pritwî was made a prisoner, and was put to death in cold blood. The town of Ajmîr was taken, a part of its inhabitants were massacred, and the rest led into slavery. Shuhâb-ud-dîn then returned to Ghuzni, leaving the command in India with his general,

A. D. 1202-15.

SLAVE-KINGS, KHÛTB-UD-DÎN.

Khûtb-ud-din, who speedily made himself master of the city of Delhi.

The next year saw Shuhâb-ud-dîn again in India, where he defeated the rajah of Canouj *, and took the city of that name, and Benâres, on the Ganges, one of the greatest seats of Hindoo devotion. He then returned to Ghuzni, and in the following year he descended anew into India, where he laid siege to the strong fortress of Gwâliôr, to the south of Agra; but, being recalled by some troubles in Khorasan, he left the conduct of the siege to Khûtb-ud-dîn, by whom the place was reduced. It had scarcely fallen, when news arrived that the rajah, whom Shuhâb-ud-dîn had set over Ajmir, was hard passed by the rajahs of Gûzerât and Nagôr. Khûtb-ud-dîn hastened to his relief, but was defeated, and severely wounded, and with difficulty he made his escape to Ajmîr. Being reinforced from Ghuzni, he forced the rajahs to raise the siege, and he then carried his arms into Gûzerât, where he took and garrisoned its capital, Anhalwâra. Meanwhile, another of Shuhâb-ud-dîn's generals had reduced Oude and North Bahâr, and, having waited on Khûtb-ud-dîn to inform him of his success, he returned and subdued the rest of Bahâr, and also the greater part of Bengal.

Shuhâb-ud-dîn, on the death of his brother (1202), succeeded to the sole monarchy. He was at that time engaged in a war with the shah of Khârism, who had lately risen to power on the ruins of the Seljûkees; and, though victory smiled at first on his arms, he at length met with a total defeat. As a report was spread of his death, many of his officers threw off their allegiance. One declared himself independent in Multân, and the Guckars descending from their mountains ravaged the Punjab, and seized on Lahore. Khûtb-uddîn, however, remained unshaken in his fidelity, and the indefatigable sultan was soon in a condition to reduce all the rebels. The Punjâb was recovered, and the Guckars were even induced to embrace the Mohammedan faith. Shuhâb-ud-dîn then set out on his return to Ghuzni. When he came to the Indus, he ordered his tent to be pitched close to the stream, that he might enjoy the cool air from its waters. During the night some Guckars, who had lost relations in the late engagement, and who were on the watch for vengeance, swam across the river, and, entering the tent unobserved, despatched the king with several wounds (1206).

The dominion of the house of Ghôr ended with Shuhâb-ud-dîn; for though he was succeeded by his nephew, Mahmûd, the authority of that prince was merely nominal, and he died after a reign of only five or six years. A series of civil commotions ensued, and all the dominions west of the Indus fell eventually to the monarchs of Khârism. Mahmûd, on his accession, had sent the insignia of royalty, and the title of king, to Khûtb-ud-dîn, who remained faithful to him, as he had been to his predecessor, as long as he lived. On the death of Mahmûd, he assumed independence, and became the founder of a sovereign dynasty in India.

The dynasty of which Khûtb-ud-dîn was the founder is named that of the Slave Kings, for such

4 The rajah fell in the battle, and his body, we are told, was recognized by his false teeth.

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had been the original condition of himself and of his successor, in whose family the line was continued.

Slavery in the East, it is well known, is not the degraded condition it was in the free states of ancient Europe. The slave is considered to be a member of the family; he is treated, when deserving, with consideration, is often married to a daughter of his master's, or succeeds to his property in default of heirs, and when the master pursues the path of ambition and attains to dominion, his faithful slaves, if possessed of abilities, rise to civil or military dignities. Such was the career of Khûtb-ud-dîn. He was a Turk by birth, and when a child he was brought to Nishapûr in Khorasan, and sold to a man of wealth. His master, finding him a boy of talent, had him instructed in the Persian and Arabian languages. On his death, Khûtb-ud-dîn was sold, and he was purchased by a merchant, who presented him to Shuhâb-ud-dîn, under which able and discerning prince his advancement was rapid. We have seen how exemplary his fidelity was to his prince; to the honour of Shuhâb-ud-dîn it is to be recorded, that his attachment to his servant was equally firm, and that he never showed the slightest want of confidence in him, or made him feel the caprice of a despot.

Khûtb-ud-din had married the daughter of Eldôz, another of his late master's slaves, and who now ruled in Ghuzni. The latter, heedless of this connexion, asserted a claim to dominion over India, and, advancing with an army, made himself master of Lahore. He was speedily, however, driven over the Indus by Khûtb-ud-dîn, who, in his turn, made himself master of Ghuzni. But Eldôz soon after expelled him, and he returned to India, where he spent the remaining brief period of his reign in tranquillity. His reign only lasted four years, but he had governed India during twenty years as the vicegerent of Shuhâb-ud-dîn and his successor.

He was succeeded by his son Arâm, a prince of no capacity, who, after reigning only a twelvemonth, was dethroned by his brother-in-law Altumsh (1211).

Shems-ud-dîn Altumsh had also been a Turkish slave. It was said that he was of a noble family, and, like the patriarch Joseph, was sold out of envy by his own brethren. He was purchased by Khûtbud-dîn for 50,000 pieces of silver-a proof of his great talents and capacity. He rose rapidly through different stations, and at the time of his revolt he was governor of Bahâr. Though a good number of his brother officers had invited him to occupy the throne, many others were opposed to him, and his elevation cost him a battle. Eldôz also, being driven out of Ghuzni by the Khârismians, attempted to obtain possession of India, but he was defeated and captured by Altumsh (1215), and he ended his days in captivity.

In was during the reign of Altumsh that the celebrated Chingiz Khân, having united the various tribes of Moguls and Tatars", under his dominion,

5 There has been great confusion made between the Mongols or Moguls, and the Tatars. The difference has been explained by Schmidt: see Bohlen Das alte Indien, i. 101. The terms originated with Chingis Khân, who named the broad-faced, flat-nosed, yellow-skinned race, who conquered China and other countries, Kökä-Monghöl,

began to spread devastation over Asia. He burst like a storm over Khârism, whose sultan had murdered his ambassadors, defeated his troops with immense slaughter, and reduced all his dominions. In the pursuit of that sultan's gallant son and successor Jellal-ud-dîn, the Moguls, we are told, passed the Indus, and on their return, with the barbarity characteristic of them, as provisions were running short, they massacred 10,000 Indian prisoners rather than give them their liberty.

Altumsh reduced to obedience all the Mohammedan chiefs in India who aimed at independence. In the course of his reign he subdued Malwa, which had been hitherto unassailed, and he thus was paramount lord of the whole of India north of the ocean and the Vindhya mountains, with, of course, more or less of authority according to local and other circumstances. He died in 1236 after a reign of twenty-five years

Altumsh was succeeded by his son Rukm-uddîn. Unlike his gallant sire, the new monarch gave himself up to the society of dancing women, players, and buffoons, leaving affairs of state to his mother. This woman, who had been a Turkish slave, acted with such cruelty, putting, for example, to death the females of Altumsh's harêm (probably her former rivals), that a rebellion speedily broke out, which ended in the deposition and death of Rukm-ud-dîn after a reign of only seven months, and (an event almost unique in the Mohammedan East) the elevation to the throne of Rezia the eldest daughter of Altumsh.

"Sultana Rezia," says Ferishta, "was endowed with every princely virtue, and those who scrutinise her actions most severely, will find in her no fault but that she was a woman." Her father had perceived and fostered her talents, and he used even to commit the regency to her during his abşence in war. "He saw his sons," he said, "giving themselves up to wine, women, gaming, and the worship of the winds (i. e. flattery), and therefore thought the government too heavy for their shoulders to bear, while Rezia, though a woman, had the head and heart of a man, and was better than twenty such sons."

The sultana changed her dress, assumed the royal robes, and each day sat in public, giving audience and administering justice. A party headed by the late vizîr, however, opposed her elevation, and even defeated a body of her troops; but she succeeded in sowing discord among the chiefs, and the confederacy dissolved and melted away. She might now, perhaps, have enjoyed a long and prosperous reign, had she not been subject to a defect which seems inherent in women invested with sovereign power-she had a favourite. This man, named Jummul, had been originally an Abyssinian slave, and was consequently dark of hue as compared with the Afghan and Turkish officers. She made him first Master of the Horse, and then elevated him to the important post of Amîr-ul-Ômrå (Commander of Commanders), or Commander-in-Chief of her army. It is not said,

i. e. Heavenly People; and those tribes of Upper Asia, who were subject to them, Tatar, i. e. Tributary. These last were chiefly Turks, a portion of the fair Caucasian race. Turk and Tatar are, therefore, nearly equivalent. In our Outlines of History (p. 305), following Klaproth, we asserted the direct contrary.

however, that she indulged him in any improper familiarity; the only charge made against her is, that she allowed him to lift her to her horse.

A Turkish chief named Altûnia was the first to rebel. The queen marched against him, but her army mutinied. Jummul was slain and herself made a prisoner, and delivered into the hands of the rebel. Her brother Behram was then placed on the throne, but the captive empress, meanwhile, became the wife of Altunia, and at the head of an army they advanced to Delhi to recover the throne. Fortune, however, proved adverse, and they were forced to seek safety in flight. At the head of a second army Rezia again advanced to Delhi; but her troops, composed of Indians, were, as Ferishta observes, no match for the Tatars in the service of Behram ; they were defeated, and the queen and her husband being taken in the pursuit were barbarously put to death (1239).

The reigns of Behram and his successor Masâûd offer little to interest. During the reign of the latter (1244) the Moguls made an irruption from the north-east through Tibet into Bengal, the only invasion of India on that side which history records 6.

The throne now came to Nasîr-ud-dîn, a grandson of Altumsh (1246) who had been thrown into prison on that monarch's death, where he remained till released by Masâûd, who sent him as governor to Baraj. The wisdom and policy which he exhibited in this office recommended him, it is said, to the Ômrahs, by whom he was placed on the vacant throne. He gave the office of vizîr to Ghyas-uddîn Bulbun, a man of great talent, who had taken an active part in all the commotions of the late reigns. The reign of this prince, which lasted twenty years, presents the usual series of insurrections of vassals, intrigues of courts, and Mogul invasions. He died in 1266, without heirs, and the throne was occupied by the vizîr Bulbun.

We are told of Nasir-ud-dîn, that when he was a prisoner he used to support himself by copying books, and that he even continued to do so when seated on the throne. One day, as he was showing a Korân of his own writing to one of his Ômrahs, the latter pointed out a word which he said was wrong, the king assented and drew a circle round the word. When the Ômrah was gone he began to efface the circle. "I knew," said he to one who was present," that the word was right, but I thought it better to erase it than to touch the heart of a poor man by bringing him to shame."

This prince had no concubines, and only one wife, whom he made do all the housewifery herself. One day she complained to him that she had burned her fingers baking bread, and requested to have a maid to assist her; but he replied, that he was only a trustee for the state and would burden it with no needless expenses. He exhorted her to persevere in her duty, and God would reward her.

Ghyas-ud-din Bulbun was a Turk by birth, and related to the emperor Altumsh. When a youth he was taken a prisoner by the Moguls, and carried to Bagdad to be sold as a slave. He was there purchased by a man of piety and learning, who, on

6 Mill seems to doubt the truth of this statement; but, as Wilson observes, it is not long since Nepâl was invaded by a Chinese army. As we proceed, we shall find an Indian army sent to invade China.

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discovering who he was, brought him to Delhi and presented him to Altumsh, by whom he was liberally remunerated. Altumsh gave Bulbun one of his daughters in marriage after he had advanced him through a series of offices, civil and military.

On the throne Bulbun proved a tyrant. In the time of Altumsh forty of the principal slaves, of whom he was one, had entered into a compact for mutual support, and most of them had attained to high stations. He now wished to put an end to such a system, and he contrived to make away with his surviving confederates. He laid it down as a rule to confer office only on men of family, and he even avoided all converse with men of low origin. He also made it a rule to exclude Hindoos from office. He established rigorous game-laws, and, as in his youth he had exceeded in the use of wine, he now prohibited even moderate indulgence in it. In cases of rebellion he punished not merely the leaders, but even their meanest followers.

The ravages of the Moguls had extended so far and wide, that there were few royal houses in Asia of which there were not members reduced to poverty and driven into exile. Many of these princes sought refuge, where almost alone it was to be found, at the court of Bulbun. The men of letters also repaired thither, and by their presence gave lustre to the palace of his eldest son, Mohammed, who loved and encouraged literature. But the emperor's second son Kera was a man of pleasure, and his palace was the resort of players, musicians, and buffoons.

The Hindoo population of the region between the Jumnah and Ganges, and southwards, had never been completely subdued, and their plundering excursions had now become very serious evils. Bulbun directed his forces against them, and slaughtered them without mercy, and he cut dowu, to the extent of a hundred miles, the forests which afforded them a retreat. Tôgral, the governor of Bengal, having assumed independence, was at first successful against the troops sent to reduce him. But the emperor, though nearly in his eightieth year, took the field against him in person (1285), and the rebel was speedily defeated and slain. The vengeance of Bulbun was poured forth unsparingly on his adherents, and people of all ranks were executed.

While Bulbun was engaged in suppressing rebellion in the east, his gallant son Mohammed had the charge of defending the west against the invasions of the Moguls. One army he defeated and drove off, but soon another appeared; and, though the prince gained a complete victory over it, he was slain in the pursuit by a party of the enemy's horse. The loss of this his best and ablest son, joined with the cares and anxieties of state, proved too much for the nature of Bulbun, stern and rugged as it was, and he sank beneath the stroke of fate (1286). The Ômrahs placed on the throne Ky Kobâd, the son of Bakarra Khân the governor of Bengal, one of the sons of Bulbun.

Ky Kobâd, a youth of eighteen, was devoted to pleasure; "he delighted in love and in the society of silver-bodied damsels with musky tresses." The nobles, swayed by the example of the monarch, gave a loose to enjoyment, and dissoluteness and luxury every where prevailed. The vizîr Nizâmud dîn, hoping eventually to secure the crown for himself, encouraged his young sovereign in all his

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excesses; and, in order to alienate the affections of the Turkish soldiery from him, by infusing into his mind doubts of their fidelity, he persuaded him to invite their chiefs to a banquet and there to massacre them.

Bakarra Khân, hearing how matters were going on at court, advanced at the head of his army, in order to put things on a better footing. The emperor, induced by his vizîr, advanced to oppose him. When the armies were in presence, the father sought an interview with his son, which was granted in spite of the efforts of the vizîr, who resolved, however, to make it as humiliating as possible to Bakarra Khân. This prince submitted to every thing till, having come into the royal presence and made several obeisances, he saw the king still sitting unmoved on his throne. Overcome by this uttermost mark of filial disrespect, he burst into tears. Ky Kobâd, whose nature, like that of most voluptuaries, was weak rather than bad, was overcome. Regardless of his vizîr's injunctions, he sprang from the throne, and ran to cast himself at his father's feet; his father caught him, and they fell weeping on each other's neck, and all present were affected at the sight. But this effect was only transient, and Bakarra Khân, after several interviews, finding the vizîr's influence not to be subverted by peaceful means, returned to Bengal, leaving his son to his fate.

That fate was not long delayed. Ky Kobâd speedily destroyed his constitution by debauchery, and, viewing his vizîr as the cause of his ruin, he had him taken off by poison. The reins of government, which he was unable to hold himself, became the subject of contest among the leading Ômrahs, of whom there were two parties, namely, the Turks and the Afghâns; and it ended in the triumph of the latter, the assassination of Ky Kobâd, and the elevation to the throne of Jellal-ud-din Khilji (1288). The unfortunate Ky Kobâd had reigned only two years.

CHAPTER V.

House of Khilji - Jellal-ud-dîn - First Invasion of the Deckan-Alâ-ud-dîn-Story of Dêwal Dêvi-Massacre of the Moguls-Mobarek-House of Tôghlak-Ghâzi Khân -Shah Mohammed-Attempt to invade China-Fictitious Money-Mohammedan Kingdom in the Deckan-Firûsud-din-Invasion of India by Timûr--The Syuds-House of Lôdi-Behlôl-Secunder-Ibrahim-End of the Afghân Dominion in India.

JELLAL-UD-DÎn was seventy years of age when he was placed on the throne of India. Mildness and benevolence, almost vices in an Eastern monarch, distinguished his character. He pardoned rebels, he lightly punished offenders; hence the frame of government was relaxed, governors withheld their tributes, bands of robbers were collected, and the roads became insecure.

It was in the reign of this monarch that the Moslem conquests were extended into the Deckan, which, during the three centuries that the Mohammedans had been in India, had remained hitherto unassailed. The emperor's nephew, Alâ-ud-dîn, was of a very different character from himself.

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