defensive, and, choosing a strong position, awaited the attack of the Indians. Fortune favoured him ; a fire-ball, flung from the Arab line, struck the elephant on which the rajah rode, which, in its terror, rushed from the field, and plunged with its rider into the adjoining river. An event of this nature, as we shall frequently see in our subsequent narrative, is decisive of a battle in India; and though Dâhir mounted a horse, and made every effort to rally his troops, the fortune of the day was not to be restored, and he had only the consolation of falling bravely in the midst of the enemy's cavalry. His widow defended the town when assailed with a courage worthy of her late lord, until the supply of provisions was exhausted. She then proposed to the garrison to devote themselves to death, after the manner of India. They complied with her wishes; piles were kindled, in the flames of which the women and children voluntarily perished; the soldiers then, having bathed and devoted themselves, opened the gates, rushed forth sword in hand, and soon fell beneath the weapons of the Moslems. Câsim gave the Indians one more great defeat, and thus reduced the whole dominions of rajah Dâhir, which seem to have included Multân, the southern extremity of the Punjab.

It was always the custom of the Moslems to grant religious toleration to any people who had submitted to their arms. In the present case the rule was to be observed as usual; but in the towns which had been taken by storm, the Hindoo temples had been rased, and the endowments of the Bramins seized to the use of the state; and to restore the revenues, and rebuild the temples, seemed to the scrupulous mind of Câsim somewhat more than mere toleration. He referred the matter to the Khalîfeh, whose reply was, that those who had submitted were entitled to the privileges of subjects; they should therefore be allowed to rebuild their temples, and celebrate their worship; the lands and money of the Bramins should be restored, and the three per cent. on the revenues which they had hitherto enjoyed should be continued to them.

Among the prisoners who had fallen into the hands of Câsim were two daughters of the late rajah. Hindoo beauty had always been highly prized by the Arabs, and that of these maidens was such, as made them appear worthy of being presented to the Commander of the Faithful. They were accordingly transmitted to Damascus (then the seat of the Khalifat), but when they were brought into the presence of Walid the elder princess burst into tears, and declared that she was unworthy of his regards, as she had been dishonoured by Câsim. The Khalifeh, filled with rage, issued orders for Câsim to be sent to him, sewed up in a raw hide. The orders were obeyed, and when the Hindoo princess beheld his body she cried out, exultingly, that Câsim was innocent, but that she had thus avenged the death of her father, and the ruin of her family.

The conquests of Câsim in India were retained for a space of about thirty-five years, when the Hindoos rose against the Moslems, and expelled them; and more than two centuries elapsed before they reappeared in India.

The Khalifat shared the fate of all Eastern empires; its princes, degenerated and successful rebels, established independent states. The house

7

of Ommiyah, which, by the murder of Ally, the son-in-law, and fourth successor of the Prophet, had obtained the imperial dignity, reigned at Damascus over the East and the West, during a space of ninety years, when the standard of revolt was raised against them in Khorasân (the northern province of Persia), in favour of the descendants of Abbas, the Prophet's uncle. The latter proved victorious, but they were unable to reduce the western portion of the empire, which thus remained divided. Bagdad, which they built on the banks of the Tigris, became the capital of the Abbasside Khalifehs. The names of Harûn-er-rashîd, and of his son Almamûn, give lustre to this line; but after the death of the latter, the Khalîfehs sank into indolence and sloth, and fortunate adventurers made themselves independent, especially in the eastern parts of the empire, where the population was chiefly Turkish, and of a warlike and predatory character. One of the most celebrated of these lines was that named the Samanee, who came from beyond the Oxus, and during a period of 120 years held the eastern part of Persia. The fifth of these princes had a slave named Alptegîn, whom, being a man of ability, he gradually raised, till he made him governor of the province of Khorasân. On the death of the prince, the chiefs consulted as to which of his sons should be his successor, and Alptegîn having happened to give his vote against him who proved the successful candidate, he was deprived of his government, and his life was in danger. Followed by a trusty band of dependents, he retired into the mountains of the present Afghanistân, and fixed his abode at Ghuzni, whence he could defy the efforts of his enemies. He here reigned over the adjoining country during fourteen years. He gave his only daughter in marriage to Sebuktegîn, a Turkish slave, whom he had raised as he had been raised himself by the Samanee prince, and appointed him his successor.

As the dominions of Sebuktegîn extended along the valley through which the river Câbul runs to its junction with the Indus, the adjacent Hindoo districts had been subject to the incursions of his rude and warlike subjects. Jypâl, the rajah of Lahore, therefore, thinking the present a favourable occasion, resolved to become the assailant in turn, and he led an army to the opening of the Câbul valley, beyond Pêshawer. The two armies met at this place, but ere they could engage there came on a violent tempest, which so disheartened the Hindoos, that the rajah found it expedient to propose an accommodation. Sebuktegîn was at first unwilling to treat, but he finally agreed, on receiving fifty elephants, and the promise of a large sum of money, to allow the rajal to retire unmolested.

Messengers arrived soon after at Lahore to demand and receive the money that had been promised; but the rajah cast them into prison, and, having formed alliances with some of the powerful rajahs of Hindûstân, he advanced with a force, it is said, of 100,000 horse, and a far larger number of footmen, towards the valley of the Câbul. Sebuktegîn, though his troops were far inferior in number, relying on their superior discipline, strength, and courage, hesitated not to give battle, and by a succession of well-directed charges of cavalry, he gained a decisive victory. The Hindoos were driven to the Indus with prodigious slaughter, and the riches of their camp became the prey of the victor.

The whole country to the Indus submitted to Sebuktegîn, who retired, leaving a governor with 10,000 men in Pêshâwer to maintain his dominion over these provinces.

all speed to Ghuzni. A battle fought near Balkh, in which Mahmûd employed 500 Indian elephants to great advantage, ended in a signal victory on his part, and the vanquished foe hastened to recross the Oxus. The approach of winter prevented Mahmûd from passing that river and following up his success.

Mahmûd, who was in his thirtieth year, and who had been trained up to arms from his earliest youth, happened to be away at his government when the death of his father occurred. His younger brother Ismael, therefore, having possessed himself of the treasure accumulated at Ghuzni, and thus being able to secure the support of the chiefs and the army, resolved to contest the empire. Mahmûd, having tried the way of accommodation in vain, a battle ensued, in which Ismael was defeated a i captured. He remained a prisoner for life, but was treated with every indulgence that could be bestowed upon him with safety.

By taken advantage of the fallen state of the Khalifat and the decline of the power of the Samanee, Mahmûd speedily rendered himself independent, and having received the investiture of Khorasan from the Khalifeh, he assumed the title of Sultân, being the first Moslem prince that bore it (999).

Mahmûd was brave, prudent, and energetic; he possessed military skill, he was animated with a passion for glory, he was zealous for Islâm, and he was covetous of wealth; rest, therefore, was alien from his nature and his position. Conquests might easily, no doubt, have been made in the west, and his dominion, possibly, be extended to the Mediterranean, but India held out far greater inducements to the Sultân of Ghuzni. Accordingly, in the fourth year of his reign (1001), he led a force along the vale of the Câbul, and near Pêshâwer he encountered the troops of Jypâl of Lahore. The rajah was defeated and made a prisoner, and the victor, traversing the whole of the Punjab, passed the Garrah, and stormed and plundered the city of Butinda. He returned with the booty to Ghuzni, having released Jypâl and the other Hindoo prisoners for a ransom and the promise of tribute. The rajah, on his return to Lahore, disgusted with a life in which he had endured so many disasters, or moved by superstition, transferred his dominions to his son Anungpâl, and, mounting a funeral pile, set fire to it with his own hands and expired in the flames.

Mahmûd again crossed the Indus to punish a rajah who had refused to pay his portion of the tribute imposed on Jypâl. His third expedition His third expedition (1004) was undertaken to punish the Afghan chief of Multân, Abû-'l-Futteh-Lôdi, who, though a Moslem, had rebelled and formed an alliance with Anungpâl of Lahore. The troops of Anungpâl encountered those of Mahmûd near Pêshâwer, and the rajah was defeated and obliged to seek refuge in Cashmîr. Mahmûd then advanced and laid siege to Multân. At the end of seven days the proffered submission of the chief was accepted ; for tidings had reached the Sultân of the invasion of his northern dominions by the Tartars. Leaving, therefore, the charge of the affairs of India to Sewuk-pâl, a converted Hindoo, he returned with

Being now at leisure, he resolved to take venhostility, and he assembled troops for a fourth descent into India (1008). Anung-pâl, aware of his danger, called on the rajahs of the states which had aided his father, representing to them the common danger, as, if he were subdued, they would be attacked in their turn. His arguments proved effectual, and a larger army than had yet assembled advanced to Pêshâwer. The sight of their numbers nearly daunted Mahmûd, and he acted on the defensive. His camp was surrounded by the Hindoo troops, and the Guckars, a mountain tribe, even forced their way through his intrenchments, and committed great havoc among his cavalry. At length one of these accidents so frequent in Indian warfare gave him the victory. The elephant on which Anung-pâl rode, taking flight, ran off the field; the Hindoos, thinking themselves deserted by their sovereign, gradually gave way; the troops of Mahmûd pressed on, the flight became general, and the slaughter, as usual, immense. Mahmûd entered the Punjâb, and hearing of the immense wealth said to be contained in the temple of Nagarcote, which stood on a hill at the foot of the Himalaya mountains in the district between the Râvi and the Beyah rivers, he resolved to become its possessor. As the garrison had been withdrawn for the late battle, the priests offered no resistance, and the accumulated treasure of ages was conveyed to Ghuzni, where, during a festival of three days, the conqueror displayed it to the view of his subjects.

In the year 1010, Mahmûd took Multân and brought Abû-'l-Futteh to Ghuzni, where he remained a prisoner for life. The following year he penetrated further into India than he had yet done, for he took the city of Tanêsan, near the Jumna, plundered its wealthy temple, and brought an immense number of captives with him to Ghuzni.

Two plundering expeditions to the delicious vale of Cashmere succeeded, in the latter of which the army suffered severely from the weather on its return; Mahmûd then turned his arms northwards, and reduced the whole region between the Oxus and the Jaxartes, after which he thought again of India and of plunder.

In this his ninth expedition (1017) he resolved to penetrate to the sacred Ganges. With a force of 100,000 horse and 20,000 foot, he set out from Pêshâwer, and keeping close to the foot of the mountains where the rivers of the Punjab are most easy to cross, he proceeded till he had passed the Jumna. He then turned southwards, and led his troops under the walls of Canouj, a city described as abounding in wealth and magnificence, and whose ruins at the present day are said to cover an extent of ground equal to that occupied by London. The rajah, unprepared for resistance, came forth, and surrendered himself and family to the Sultán, by whom he was received to friendship and alliance, and his town was left uninjured. Mahmûd then turned northwards, repassed the

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 Ajmîr, 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.

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

9

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 au

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 Ghôr 3, 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 Ghor-Shuhâb-ud-dîn-His conquests-Slavekings Khûtb-ud-dîn - Shems-ud-dîn Altumsh-India invaded by the Moguls-Rukn-ud-dîn-Sultana ReziaNasir-ud-dîn-Anecdotes-Bulbun-Ky Kobâd-End of

the Dynasty.

Ghyas-ud-dîn, 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 Khusrû 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-din 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-din, 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). Khûsrû 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-dîn 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." At length (1193), having assembled a gallant army, set out once more to seek for conquest in India.

he

Pritwî 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, once shaken, like a great building tottered to its fall, and was lost in its own ruins."

;

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 'uto slavery. Shuhâb-ud-dîn then returned to Ghuzni, leaving the command in India with his general,

A. D. 1202-15.

Khûtb-ud-dîn, 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 4, 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 Khorasân, 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 Ajmîr, was hard passed by the rajahs of Güzerât 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 Gúzerât, where he took and garrisoned its capital, Anhalwâra. Meanwhile, another of Shuhâb-ud-dîn's generals had reduced Oude and North Bahar, 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.

Shuliâb-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 Punjab 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-din 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.

11

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 Tatars5, 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,