Part 6 of 15
[Section XVIII. Of the Dynasty of Ghor.]
MAHOMMED GHORI.
Mor Chan, the historian, tells us, that about the time when Feredoon, an ancient king of Persia, subdued Zohac Tazi, two brothers of the royal family, Souri and Sam, were taken into favour by the conqueror; but having by some means incurred his displeasure, they fled with a party of their friends to Hawind, in the mountains between India and Persia, where they took up their abode, possessing themselves of a small territory. Souri took the government of this district, appointing his brother to the command of his small army, and gave his daughter in marriage to his son Suja.
Suja, after his father's decease, enjoyed his place. But some private enemies, having traduced him to his uncle, inspired him with jealousy and enmity to such a degree, that he wanted to take his daughter away from him. When Suja found this, he was determined to seek his fortune elsewhere. He accordingly, in the night, with ten horsemen and a few camels, laden with , his effects, set out with his wife and children, to the mountains of Ghor, where he built a house, and called it Romijandish, or the careless habitation. Here he was gradually joined by many of his friends, who built a strong fort, which he held out against the troops of Feredoon for some time, but at length he was obliged to submit and pay tribute.
Thus the race of Zohac, one after another, succeeded to this government, which began to gain strength by degrees, till the time of the prophet, when it was ruled by Shinsub, who, some say, was converted to the faith by the great Ali, the son-in-law of Mahommed, who confirmed him in his kingdom. The genealogy of the kings of Ghor, according to the most authentic historians, could be traced up, by the names, for three and twenty generations, and downwards nine generations, from Ali to Mamood, the son of Subuctagi, Emperor of Ghizni, who gave it to Ali the vanquished prince's son, to hold it of the Empire. But Ali endeavouring to throw off the yoke of Mamood, he was deposed, and the country given to Abas his nephew, in whose reign there were seven years' drought in Ghor, so that the earth was burnt up, and thousands of men and animals perished with heat and famine. Abas, desirous of rendering himself independent, commenced a war against the Emperor Ibrahim, by whom he was defeated and taken prisoner; the kingdom being conferred upon his son Mahommed, who swore allegiance to the empire of Ghizni. He was succeeded by his son Hussein, who was killed by an arrow in the eye, in attacking a certain fort, when he rebelled against Ghizni.
Upon the death of Hussein, his son Sham was obliged to fly to India, where he followed the business of a merchant; and having acquired much wealth, he returned up the Indus to his native country. But unfortunately he was wrecked, narrowly escaping with his life upon a plank, with his son Hussein, after driving with the tide for three days. When they got foot on shore, they made towards a town that appeared in sight; but, it being late before they arrived, they could find no lodgings, and were obliged to creep in under a balcony, where they might sleep out of the rain. The watch going the rounds perceived them, and without further examination, concluding they were thieves, carried them to prison. They were condemned to slavery for seven years, during which time the son died. When Sham obtained his liberty, he proceeded towards Ghizni, on the way to which he was met by a gang of robbers, that had for a long time infested the roads. When they saw him, a man of great strength and of a bold appearance, they insisted upon enrolling him in the gang, to which he was obliged to consent; but unfortunately that very night, a party of the troops of the Emperor Ibrahim surrounded them, and carried them all in chains to the royal presence, and the King immediately condemned them to death.
When the executioner was binding up the eyes of Sham, he raised a grievous complaint, protesting, and calling God to witness, that he was innocent, which softened the steely heart of the executioner to pity. He desired him to relate what he had to say in his own defence, which he did in such a circumstantial and probable manner, that the magistrate who attended, believing him innocent, petitioned the King to give him a hearing. This being accordingly granted, he acquitted himself with such modesty and eloquence, that the King commanded him to be released, and admitted him into his particular friendship and favour. Ibrahim, some time after, created Sham an Omrah, and appointed him master of requests, in which station he acquitted himself so honourably, that he rose daily in rank and honours, till the Emperor Musaood, the son of Ibrahim, put him in possession of his hereditary kingdom. He then married a princess of the house of Ghizni, by whom he had seven sons, denominated the seven stars.
After the death of Sham, his sons became divided into two factions; one headed by the governor of Taristan and Hiatilla, whose name was Musaood, the eldest son: and the other by the fourth son, Mahommed, who took possession of Ghor. The second son, Cuttub, took possession of the hills, and founded the city of Firose Ko, which he made his capital; and raising himself in a few years to great power, he meditated an attempt upon the empire of Ghizni, collecting soldiers of fortune from all parts. But Byram the Emperor, being privately acquainted of his intentions, treacherously invited him in friendship to Ghizni, where, contrary to all the laws of honour and hospitality, he ordered poison to be administered to him, which proved the fatal cause of the war between the houses of Ghor and Ghizni.
Sief ul dien the fifth son, who had accompanied his brother, escaped the snare, and fled to Firose Ko. He there placed himself at the head of his brother's army, and marched towards Ghizni to revenge his death, as we have seen in the history of that kingdom. He took Ghizni, and Byram fled to India. But Byram returning again in the winter, when the troops of Sief ul dien were mostly gone to Firose Ko and Ghor, from whence they could not easily return, on account of the roads and deep snow, Sief ul dien, as before related, was treacherously delivered up to him, and, with his vizier, put to a most ignominious death. The consequence of this impolitic cruelty was, that Sham, the sixth brother, prepared to invade Byram, with an army from Firose Ko and Ghor; but dying in the interim, the command devolved upon the seventh brother, Alla the incendiary, who took and destroyed Ghizni. He carried his ravages so far as to destroy every monument and tomb of the Ghiznian Kings, excepting those of the Emperors Mamood, Musaood, and Ibrahim, throwing fire into their very graves, and defacing their inscriptions upon all public edifices. When he returned to Ghor, he appointed his nephews, Yeas ul dien and Mahommed Sham, to the government of a province of Ghor called Sinjia. But when they found the revenues of that province could not support the figure which they endeavoured to make, by their unbounded generosity and liberality to military men, whom they began to collect from all parts; they began to extend their limits. This having reached the ears of Alla, he sent a force against them, and seizing them both, confined them in the fort of Goristan.
Alla then turned the hostile spear against the brother of the King of Persia and governor of Chorassan, Sinjer, to whom his father had paid tribute. He overrun the provinces of Balich and Herat; but coming to an engagement with Sinjer, he was defeated and taken prisoner. Notwithstanding all which, Sinjer had compassion upon him, and again confirmed him in the kingdom of Ghor, where he died in the year five hundred and fifty-one. Alla was succeeded by his son Mahommed, who upon his accession released his two cousins from their confinement at Goristan, and bestowed again the government of Sinjia upon them. In little more than a year, he commenced a war with the tribe of Turkumans called Ghiza, and in the day of battle was killed by one of his own men.
He was succeeded by his eldest cousin, Yeas ul dien, who appointed his brother, Mahommed Ghori, his general. This illustrious hero, under the name of his brother, subdued Chorassan, and a great part of India; and Yeas annexed the titles of those countries to his own. His death happened, as shall afterwards appear, in the year 599 of the Higera.
[Section XIX. The Reign of Shaw Chursied Ahtiesham Sultan Moaz ul Dien; known in Hindostan by the name of Shab Ul Dien Mahummud Ghori.]
Mahommed Ghori was left by his brother, when he acceded to the throne of Ghor, to command in Tunganabad, in the province of Chorassan. He continued from thence to make incursions upon Ghizni, as we have observed in the history of that kingdom.
In the year 567, Yeas ul dien marched in person against the Omrahs of Chusero, the last of the imperial house of Ghizni, and entirely reduced them. He gave the government of Ghizni to his brother Mahommed, who, according to the imperial orders, in the year 572, led an army towards Moultan, which he entirely subdued. He inarched from thence to Adja. The prince of that place shut himself up in a strong fort. Mahommed began to besiege the place; but finding it would be a difficult task to reduce it, he sent a private message to the Raja's wife, promising to marry her if she would make away with her husband.
The base woman returned for answer, that she was rather too old herself to think of matrimony, but that she had a beautiful young daughter, whom if he would promise to espouse, and leave her in free possession of the country and its wealth, she would in a few days remove the Raja. Mahommed basely accepted of the proposal, and the wicked woman accordingly, in a few days, found means to assassinate her husband, and to open the gates to the enemy.
Mahommed confirmed his promise, by marrying the daughter, upon acknowledging the true faith; but he made no scruple to deviate from what respected the mother; for, instead of trusting her with the country, he sent her off to Ghizni, where she soon died of grief and resentment. Nor did the daughter relish her situation better; for, in the space of two years, she also fell a victim to grief.
Mahommed having conferred the government of Moultan and Adja upon one Ali, returned to Ghizni; from whence, in the year 574, he again marched to Adja and Moultan, and from those places continued his course through the sandy desert, to Guzerat. The prince Bim Deo advanced thither with a great army, to give him battle, in which the Mussulmen were defeated, with great slaughter, and suffered many hardships in their retreat, till they arrived at Ghizni.
In the year following, Mahommed marched his recruited army towards Peshawir, which he in a short time brought under subjection. He proceeded in the course of the next year, towards Lahore, where he invested Chusero, the last of the Ghiznian race, who had been so weakened at that time, by wars with the Indian princes and the Afghans, that he could not oppose him in the field. But Mahommed, finding he could not reduce the place, intimated a desire of treating with Chusero, who, glad to get rid of him, made him some presents, and gave his son as an hostage for the performance of the rest of the agreement between them.
Mahommed upon this returned to Ghizni, but he could not rest long in peace. He, the very next year, drew his army towards Dewil, in the province near the mouth of the Indus, and subdued all the country to the sea coast, returning loaded with rich spoil.
In the year 580, he returned again to Lahore, where Chusero shut himself up as before, sustaining a long siege, which at length Mahommed was obliged to raise. He, in this expedition, built the fort of Salcot, in which he left a garrison to command the countries between the rivers Ravi and Chinab, under the government of Hussein Churmili, while he himself returned to Ghizni. This fort, as we have before related, was effectually besieged by Chusero, in the absence of Mahommed, which occasioned that prince's third expedition towards Lahore, which he took in the year 582, by the perfidious stratagem mentioned in the conclusion of the history of Ghizni. He sent Chusero and his family, prisoners to his brother at Firose Ko, who confined them in a fort in Ghirgistan, where they were some time afterwards put to death, on account of something the astrologers had predicted concerning them.
When Mahommed had settled the provinces of Lahore, he left the government of that place in the hands of Ali governor of Moultan, and retired to Ghizni. In the year 587, he marched again towards Hindostan, and proceeding to Ajmere, took the capital of Tiberhind, where he left Malleck Zea, with above a thousand chosen horse, and some foot, to garrison the place. He himself was upon his way back, when he heard that Pittu Ra, the prince of Ajmere, with his brother Candi Ra, king of Delhi, in alliance with some other Indian princes, were marching towards Tiberhind, with two hundred thousand horse, and three thousand elephants. Mahommed determined to return to the relief of the garrison. He met the enemy at the village of Sirauri, upon the banks of the Sirsutti, fourteen miles from Tannassar, and eighty from Delhi, and gave them battle.
Upon the first onset his right and left wings retired, being outflanked by the enemy, till, joining in the rear, his army was formed into a circle. Mahommed, who was in person in the centre of the line when first formed, was told that his right and left wings were defeated, and advised to provide for his own safety. Enraged at this counsel, he smote the imprudent adviser, and rushed on towards the enemy, among whom he commenced, with a few followers, a great slaughter.
The eyes of Candi Ra, king of Delhi, fell upon him. He drove the elephant, upon which he was mounted, directly against him. Mahommed rising from his horse, threw his lance with such force at the elephant, that he drove out three of his back teeth. In the mean time the King of Delhi, from above, pierced the Sultan through the right arm, and had almost thrown him to the ground, when some of his chiefs advanced to his rescue. This gave an opportunity to one of his faithful servants, to leap behind as he was sinking from his horse, and supporting him in his arms, he carried him from the field, which, by this time, was deserted almost by his whole army. The enemy pursued them near forty miles.
After this defeat, and when he had recovered of his wound at Lahore, he appointed governors to the different provinces he possessed in India, and returned in person to Ghor with his army. At Ghor he disgraced all those Omrahs who had deserted him in battle. He obliged them to walk round the city, with their horses' mouth-bags, filled with barley, hanging about their necks; at the same time forcing them to eat, or have their heads struck off; the former of which they chiefly chose to do.
We are told by Eben Asire, contrary to all other authority, that when Mahommed was wounded, he fell from his horse, and lay upon the field among the dead, till night; and that, in the dark, a party of his own horse returned to search for his body, and carried him off to his own camp.
Upon the retreat of Mahommed Ghori, the allied Rajas continued their march to Tiberhind, which they besieged for one year and one month, and at last were obliged to give favourable terms of capitulation. Mahommed remained a few months with his brother at Ghor, who still kept the imperial title, and then returning to Ghizni, spent the ensuing year in indolence and festivity. But ambition again fermenting in his mind, he recruited a noble army, consisting of one hundred thousand chosen horse, Turks, Persians, and Afghans, many of whom had their helmets ornamented with jewels, and their armour inlaid with silver and gold. With these he marched in martial splendor, from Ghizni towards India, without disclosing to his friends. any part of his intentions.
When his victorious spears had advanced as far as Peshawir, an old sage of Ghor, prostrating himself before him, said, “O King, we trust in thy conduct and wisdom; but as yet thy design has been a subject of much dispute and speculation among us.” Mahommed replied, “Know, old man, that since the time of my defeat in Hindostan, notwithstanding external appearances, I have never slumbered in ease, or waked but in sorrow and anxiety. I have therefore determined, with this army, to recover my lost honour from those idolaters, or die in the noble attempt.” The sage, kissing the ground, said, “Victory and triumph be thy attendants, and fortune be the guide of thy paths. But, O King, let the petition of thy slave find favour, and let those Omrahs you have so justly disgraced, be permitted to take this glorious opportunity of wiping away their dishonourable stains.”
The Prince listened to his request, and sent an order to Ghizni to release the disgraced Omrahs from their confinement, and that such of them as were desirous of recovering their honour, might now attend his stirrup. They accordingly obeyed the order, and were each honoured with a chelat, according to their rank. The next day the royal standard was put in motion, and the army advanced to Moultan, where Mahommed conferred titles and employments upon all who had been firm to his interest. He then proceeded to Lahore, from whence he dispatched Humza, one of his principal Omrahs, ambassador to Ajmere, with a declaration of war, should the Indians reject the true faith.
Pittu Rai, King of Ajmere, gave a disrespectful answer to the embassy, and immediately wrote for succours to all the neighbouring Princes. Nor did his allies delay their coming, and therefore he soon advanced to meet Mahommed, with an army consisting, according to the lowest and most moderate account, of three hundred thousand horse; besides above three thousand elephants, and a great body of infantry. The Hindoos again waited to see Mahommed upon the former field of battle. The two armies incamped in sight of each other, with the river Sursutti between them.
The Indian princes, of whom there were one hundred and fifty, in this enormous camp, having assembled, rubbed tica upon their foreheads, and swore by the water of the Ganges, that they would conquer their enemies, or die martyrs to their faith. They then wrote a letter to Mahommed, in these haughty terms: “To the bravery of our troops we imagined you were no stranger; and to our great superiority in number, which daily increases, your eyes will bear testimony of the truth. If you are wearied of your own existence, yet have pity upon your troops, who may still think it a happiness to live. It were better then you should repent in time, of the foolish resolution you have taken, and we shall permit you to retreat in safety. But if you have determined to force your evil destiny, we have sworn by our Gods to advance upon you with our rank-breaking elephants, war-treading horses, and blood-thirsting soldiers, early in the morning, to crush the unfortunate army which your ambition has led to ruin.”
Mahommed returned them this politic answer: -- “That he had drawn his army into India, by the command of his brother, whose general he only was, and that honour and duty bound him to exert the utmost of his capacity in his service. That therefore he could not retreat without his leave, but would be glad to obtain a truce, till he informed him of the situation of affairs, and received his answer.”
This letter produced the intended effect, for the enemy imagined that Mahommed was intimidated, and they spent the night in riot and revelry, while he was preparing for a surprise. He accordingly forded the river a little before the dawn of the morning, drew up his army on the sands, and had entered part of the Indian camp before the alarm was spread. Notwithstanding the confusion that naturally reigned on this occasion among the Hindoos, their camp was of such an amazing extent, that the greater part had sufficient time to form the line which served to cover the route, so that now they began to advance with great resolution and some order, in four lines.
Mahommed, upon seeing this, ordered his troops to halt, and his army, which had been divided into four parts, were commanded to renew the attack by turns, wheeling off to the rear after they had discharged their bows a certain number of times upon the enemy, giving ground gradually as they advanced with their elephants. In this manner he retreated and fought, till the sun was approaching the west, when thinking he had sufficiently wearied the enemy, and deluded the, with a security of victory, he put himself at the head of twelve thousand of his best horse, whose riders were covered with steel, and giving orders to his generals to second him, he made a resolute charge, and carried death and confusion among the Hindoo ranks. The disorder increased every where, till at length it became general. The Mussulman troops, as if now only serious in fight, made such a dreadful slaughter, that this prodigious army once shaken, like a great building, was lost in its own ruins. The enemy recoiled, like a troubled torrent, from the bloody plain.
Candi King of Delhi, and many other princes, were slain in the field, while Pittu Rai King of Ajmere was taken in the pursuit, and afterwards put to death. The spoil of the camp, which was immensely rich, fell into the hands of the conquerors, and the forts of Sursutti, Samana, Koram and Hassi, surrendered after the victory. Mahommed in person went to Ajmere, and took possession of it, after having barbarously put some thousands of the unfortunate inhabitants to the sword, reserving the rest for slavery. But, upon a promise of a punctual payment of a large tribute, he gave up the country to Gola the son of Pittu Rai. He then turned his standards towards Delhi, but he was prevailed upon by the new King, with great presents, to abandon that enterprise. He left his faithful slave and friend Cuttub in the town of Koram, with a considerable detachment, and marched himself, with the body of his army, towards the mountains of Sewalic, which lie to the north of India, destroying and plundering all the countries in his way to Ghizni.
After the return of Mahommed, his general Cuttub, who had been formerly a slave, raised an army, and took the fort of Merat, and the city of Delhi, from the family of Candi Rai. It was from this circumstance that foreign ntions say, that the empire of Delhi was founded by a slave. In the year 589, he also took the fort of Kole, and making Delhi the seat of his government, there established himself in security, obliging all the districts round to acknowledge the Mussulman faith.
Mahommed, in the mean time, marched from Ghizni towards Kinnoge, and engaged Rai Joy, who was prince of Kinnoge and Benaris, and who commanded a very numerous army of horse, besides four hundred elephants. This prince led his forces into the field between Chundwar and Atava, where he received a total defeat from the vanguard of the Ghiznian army, led by Cuttub, and all his baggage and elephants were taken. Mahommed then marched to the fort of Assi, where Rai Joy had laid up his treasure, which in a few days he took, and found there gold, silver, and precious stones, to a great amount. He marched from thence to Benaris, and broke down the idols in above one thousand temples, which he purified and consecrated to the true God. He also found immense plunder. He returned then to the fort of Kole, where he again confirmed Cuttub in the viceroyship of India, and from thence, laden with treasure, he took the route of Ghizni.
In the mean time, one of the relations of Pittu Rai, late king of Ajmere, whose name was Himrage, invaded Gola the son of Pittu Rai, and drove him out of Ajmere. Gola immediately had recourse for assistance to Cuttub. Cuttub accordingly marched, in the year 591, from Delhi against Himrage, who, having collected a great army, gave the Mussulmen battle, in which he lost the victory and his life. Cuttub, after this victory, appointed a governor of his own faith to superintend the Raja, then led his army to Narwalla, the capital of the province of Guzerat, and defeating Bim Deo, took ample revenge for the overthrow given to his Lord. He plundered that rich country; but he was soon recalled, by orders from Ghizni, and commanded to proceed immediately to Delhi.
In the year following, Mahommed formed again a resolution of returning to Hindostan, and proceeding to Biana. He took it, and conferred the government upon Tughril; and leaving with him the body of his army, he commanded him to besiege Gaulier, and returned himself to settle some affairs at Ghizni. In the mean time, the strong fort of Gaulier was taken, after a long siege. Tughril, ambitious of extending his conquests further, led his army against the Rajaputs of the south. But he received a terrible defeat, and was obliged to take the protection of his forts.
In the year 593, Cuttub marched again from Delhi, and reduced Narwalla of Guzerat, with all its dependencies. He, after his return, took the forts of Callinger, Calpee and Budaoon.
Mahommed was in the mean time engaged in an expedition to Toos and Sirchus towards Persia. News was then brought to him of the death of his brother Yeas ul dien, who retained nothing of the empire but the name. Mahommed, upon this, acceded to the empire. He turned by the way of Badyeish, and subdued the country of Chorassan, recovering it out of the hands of the Siljoki, and he divided it among the family of Sam, giving the government of Firose Ko and Ghor to Malleck Zea, who was son-in-law to his brother Yeas ul dien, the deceased Emperor. Bust, Ferra, and Isphorar, he gave to Mamood, his brother's son; and the government of Herat and its districts to Nasir, his nephew by a sister.
Mahommed, after these transactions, returned to Ghizni, where, according to the will of the deceased Emperor, he was crowned in form; and mounted the imperial throne. In the same year, he heard of the death of Zireck, prince of Murve, and in the beginning of the next, marched to the conquest of that country, advancing by the way of Charizm, and Tacash the King of that country, not able to oppose him in the field, shut himself up in the city. The King pitched his camp on the banks of the great canal, which the Chilligies had formerly dug to the westward of that city. He forthwith attacked the place, and in a few days lost many brave nobles in the pursuit of glory. In the meantime, news arrived, that Aibeck, the general of the King of Chitta, in Tartary, and Osman King of Samarcand, were advancing with great armies, to the relief of Charizm. Mahommed was so unwilling to abandon his hopes of taking the city, that he delayed till the allied armies advanced so near, that he was under a necessity of burning all his baggage, and to retreat with the utmost expedition towards Chorassan. But an army from the city pressed so close upon his heels, that he was obliged to give them battle. He was totally defeated, losing all his elephants and treasure.
In the mean time, the confederate Kings, who had taken a circuit, to cut off Mahommed's retreat, met him full in the face, as he was flying from the King of Charizm. Under a fatal necessity, he was obliged to rally his army, who now saw no safety in flight. Surrounded thus by the enemy, he commenced a desperate carnage. But valour was overpowered by numbers in the end, and of his late mighty army, there now remained scarce a hundred men, who still defended their King, and, in spite of innumerable foes, hewed him out a passage, and conducted him safe to the fort of Hindohood, which was at a small distance from the field. Mahommed was besieged here by the enemy, but upon paying a great ransom to Osman, King of Samarcand, and giving up the place, he was permitted to return in sorrow to his own dominions.
When the Emperor was defeated, one of his officers of state, named Birka, escaped from the field, and imagining the King was slain, with very great expedition made his way to Moultan, without mentioning the affair to any body. He waited immediately upon Hassen, governor of that province, and told him that he had a private message from the King. Hassen retired with him into his closet, where the villain, whispering in his ear, drew out a dagger, and stabbed him to the heart. He ran instantly to the court yard, where he proclaimed aloud, that he had killed the traitor, Hassen, in obedience to the King's command. Producing then a false order and commission, to take the government into his own hands, he was acknowledged by the army and the people.
The chief of the tribe of mountaineers, called Gickers, at this time, hearing that the King was certainly slain, aspired to the empire, and raising a great army, advanced towards Lahore; kindling the war between the rivers Gelum and Sodra. When Mahommed, from the fort of Hindohood, had arrived at Ghizni, his own slave Ildecuz having seized upon the supreme authority in the city, presented himself to oppose his entrance, which obliged the King to continue his route to Moultan. There Birka also rebelled against him; but Mahommed, being by this time joined by many of his friends, gave him battle, and obtaining a complete victory, took the traitor prisoner. He then, with all the troops of the borders of India, who now joined his standard, marched to Ghizni, and the citizens, presenting him with the head of the rebellious slave, obtained their pardon.
Mahommed, at this time, concluded a treaty of peace with the King of Charizm; and then, in order to chastise the Gickers, drew his army towards India. Cuttub attacked them on the other side with his army from Delhi, and the Gickers being defeated and dispersed, the King parted, at Lahore, with Cuttub, who returned to his government of Delhi.
During the residence of Mahommed at Lahore, the Gickers, who inhabited the country from that branch of the Indus which is called the Nilab, up to the fort of the mountains of Sewalic, began to exercise unheard of cruelties upon the Mussulmen; so that the communication between the provinces of Peshawir and Moultan was entirely cut off. These Gickers were a race of wild barbarians, without either religion or morality. It was a custom among them, as soon as a female child was born, to carry her to the market-place, and there proclaim aloud, holding the child in one hand, and a knife in the other, that any person who wanted a wife might now take her, otherwise she was immediately put to death. By this means, they had more men than women, which occasioned the custom of several husbands to one wife. When this wife was visited by one of her husbands, she set up a mark at the door, which being observed by any of the other, who might be coming on the same errand, he immediately withdrew, till the signal was taken away.
This barbarous people continued to make incursions upon the Mahommedans, till, in the latter end of the Emperor's reign, their chieftain was converted to the Mussulman faith, by one of his captives. He, upon this change of principles, addressed the King, who advised him to endeavour to convert his people; and at the same time honoured him with a title and dress, and confirmed him in the command of the mountains. A great part of these mountaineers, being very indifferent about religion, followed the opinions of their chief, and acknowledged the true faith. At the same time, about four hundred thousand of the inhabitants of Teraiba, who inhabited the mountains between Ghizni and the Indus, were converted, some by force and others by inclination.
Mahommed having settled the affairs of India in peace, marched, in the year 602, from Lahore to Ghizni. He conferred the government of Bamia upon his relation Baka-ul-dien, with orders, that when he himself should move towards Turkestan, to take satisfaction for his former defeat, to march at an appointed time, with all the forces of those parts, and encamp on the banks of the Amu, where he would receive further orders, and at the same time to throw a bridge over the river.
The Emperor, upon the second of Shaban, having reached the banks of the Nilab, one of the five capital branches of the Indus, at a place called Rimeik, twenty Gickers, who had lost some of their relations in their wars against Mahommed, entered into a conspiracy against his life, and sought an opportunity to put their wicked purpose in execution. The weather being close and sultry, the King ordered the Canats, or the screens, which surround, in the form of a large square, the imperial tents, to be struck, to give free admission to the air. This gave them an opportunity of seeing the King's sleeping-tent. They cut their way through the screens in the night, and hid themselves in a corner, while one of them advanced to the door; but being there stopt by one of the guards, who was going to seize him, he buried his dagger in his breast. The groans of the dying man being heard within, alarmed the rest of the guards in the outer tent, who running out to see what was the matter, the other assassins took that opportunity of cutting their way through the King's tent behind. They found him asleep, with two slaves fanning him, who stood petrified with terror, when they beheld the assassins advancing towards the Emperor. They at once plunged all their daggers in his body. He was afterwards found to have been pierced with no less than forty wounds.
Thus tragically fell that great king and conqueror Mahommed Ghori in the year 602, after a reign of thirty-two years from the commencement of his government over Ghizni, and three from his accession to the empire, the honours and titles of which he permitted his elder brother to retain during his life. One daughter only remained of his race. He was certainly one of the greatest men that ever sat upon the throne of India; and though he was, in some instances, cruel, he was not altogether an unvirtuous prince.
The Vizier, Chaja ul Muluck, took some of the assassins, and put them to a cruel death. He then called the chiefs together, and having obtained their promise of fidelity, in protecting the King's treasure, which was loaded on four thousand camels, he prevented the army and the slaves, who had proposed to plunder it, from putting their scheme in execution. He carried the body in mournful pomp towards Ghizni. But when they reached Peshawir, a great contest arose about the succession. The Omrahs of Ghor insisting upon Baha-ul-dien, the King's cousin, governor of Bamia, and one of the seven sons of Hussein; and the Vizier, and the officers of the Turkish mercenaries, on Mamood, son of the former Emperor, the brother of Mahommed Ghori.
The Vizier therefore wanted to go by the way of Kirma, where he knew that the governor Ildecuz was in the interest of Mamood, hoping, by his assistance, to secure, at least, the treasure for his own party. The Omrahs of Ghor were equally desirous of proceeding by that road which lay nearest to Bamia, that they might be the sooner supported by Baha-ul-dien. At length, being upon the eve of open hostility, the point was given up to the Vizier.
When they arrived near Kirma, after having suffered greatly by the mountaineers, Ildecuz came out to meet the Vizier and the King's hearse; upon sight of which he tore off his armour, threw dust upon his head, and expressed all the variety of sorrow. He attended the funeral to Ghizni, where the Emperor was buried in a new tomb which he had built for his daughter.
The sorrow of Ildecuz was the more extraordinary, that, in the King's misfortunes, he had shown such disrespect to him, as to be accessary to the shutting of the gates of his capital against him. It will, however, hereafter appear, that Ildecuz's grief was political.
The treasure Mahommed left behind him is almost incredible: we shall only mention, as an instance of his wealth, that he had, in diamonds of various sizes alone, five hundred maunds [The smallest maund is twenty-five pounds avoirdupoise.]; for he had made nine expeditions into Hindostan; returning every time, excepting twice, laden with wealth.
Though Tacash, King of Charizm, had, by the death of Toghril, the last of the Siljokides of Persia, rendered himself independent, and annexed the greatest part of the Persian empire to his government of Maver-ul-nere, the distractions which arose from the revolution furnished an opportunity to Mahommed Ghori to seize upon the extensive province of Chorassan, and to become so powerful in the north, as to block up the King of Charizm in his capital. The defeat, which ensued, not only weakened the power of Mahommed, but encreased that of Tacash so much, that he was enabled to extend his dominion over all Persia and the Western Tartary. His son Mahommed succeeded Tacash in his vast empire, and the family of Ghor were obliged to confine themselves to the ancient dominions of the house of Ghizni.