The recital of the enormities committed during these barbarous expeditions sickens and fatigues the mind by the sameness of the narra­tive; towns were captured and set on fire; temples destroyed; idols broken, or converted into currency, when found of precious metals; the inhabitants pillaged and carried into cap­tivity; while commerce and cultivation were totally ruined and neglected. Such were the numbers of the captives carried away, after the sack of Matra, that a slave was sold in the Mohammedan camp for ten dirhems, or about five shillings of English money. Yet the unsatiable mind of Mahmúd was not satisfied with the suf­ferings he had inflicted on idolatry, or the wealth he had acquired; and, when affairs in other quarters left his thoughts at liberty, he again turned his attention to India. Two more expeditions were undertaken against the devoted country; one of which was directed against the fort of Kálinjar, and the other to

A.D. 1022.
Hij. 413.
Ninth Expedi­tion.

the temple of Somnáth, in Gujarát. The former was undertaken to revenge the attack on the Rájá of Kanauj; who, in Mah­múd's absence, was put to death by Nanda Rájá of Kálinjar, as he had submitted to the Mohammedans, and accepted their alliance. It is difficult to reconcile the conflicting testimony of the original authorities* in this matter; though it appears, that, puzzled by the contra­diction of dates given for this event, they have made two separate expeditions to Kálinjar, where only one took place.* About the time

Review of
events preced­ing
it.

of Mahmúd's seventh expedition, the paramount sovereignty of India had been transferred, at the death of Ananga Pál, to his son Jaipál II,* who, if not the Rájá of Kanauj, is the same as he who fled when the Mohammedans approached that city. If the Koráh family were not the original lords of the latter, but to which opinion I incline, the Rájá, who brought on himself the hostility of the neighbouring princes, was one who had gained the good will of the king of Ghazní, and was appointed to the office. But, be the truth of this transaction what it may, we are told that, when the Mohammedan army approached the banks of the Jumna, Jaipál II. who had repeatedly fled before the standards of Islám, now assisted by Nanda Rájá of Kálinjar, took up a position on the eastern bank, with the ostensible motive of giving battle. The Hindú host of horse and foot, though far exceeding in numbers their opponents, and supported by six hundred and forty elephants, struck with panic, decamped during the night; but, the story of their being routed by eight persons,* from the army of Ghazní, is too ridiculous to deserve notice. While the Mohammedans advanced to Kálinjar, their march was distinguished by the usual excesses; the fortress was invested and besieged; and peace was, after a time, purchased by a money contribution and a present of three hun­dred elephants.

The last crusade against idolatry, in which the king of Ghazní was engaged, was an expe­dition to the temple of Somnáth, situated near Diú, in the province of Gujarát. Poetry and fable have been alike employed to adorn the narrative and magnify the importance of this conquest. But, if the record of past events borrows more from fancy than memory, and substitutes amusement for instruction, the order of knowledge is inverted; and, where history ought to have commenced, fable has not yet terminated. In this matter, doubt is better than credulity; and, if we hesitate to give assent to much that has been said of Somnáth, we will not insult the spirit of philosophy. The district

The religious
sectaries who
worshipped at
Somnáth.

of the Gujarát peninsula, now called Bábrewár, of which Billáwal Patan is the chief town, was formerly known by the name of Patan Somnáth. It derived this appellation from the title of a celebrated idol, whose temple existed in the neighbourhood; and the Bráh­mans of the country assert, that here Siva was worshipped under the symbol of the Linga, or Phallus.* The symbol then venerated was one of the twelve famous Lingas, or Phalli, which were of old set up in different parts; and of which Mahákál, at Ujain, and Rámnáth in Southern India, are well known to Mohammedan history. The former was destroyed by Shams-ud-dín Altimsh, two hundred years after the time of Mahmúd of Ghazní; and was, we are told, formed on the same plan as Somnáth.* This is conclusive evidence that the assertion of the Bráhmans respecting the temple of Som­náth is correct; and Mahádeo, or Siva, was the deity, who, under the title of Swayambhú Náth,* or Swayam Náth, the self-existent, was there worshipped. On the authority of the Habíbu-s-Sair, this idol was formed of cut stone, five cubits in height; of which three cubits were visible, and two were below the sur­face. The Hindús then venerated the idol more than any other;* the attendants washed it daily with water brought from the Ganges;* the revenue of ten thousand villages* was assigned for the support of its temple; two thou­sand Bráhmans performed the ceremonies of its worship; five hundred dancing women, with three hundred musicians, were ready to perform before it; many smaller images of gold and sil­ver, in the temple, surrounded this the greatest of the gods; and three hundred barbers were waiting to shave the devotees who sought admit­tance to the holy place. Such was the popularity of this obscene worship; such the fanaticism of its followers, that the princes of Hindústán devoted their daughters to the service of the temple;* and, at the occurrence of an eclipse, sometimes as many as a thousand individuals came to perform their devotions. The religion was of old common to Arabia and India; and there is reason for believing, what the early Mohammedan authorities assert, that Lát, wor­shipped by the idolaters of Mekka, was a similar deity as the Swayam Náth of the Hindús.* During the seventh century of our era, the worship of Siva, if not prevalent, was at least known in the west of India;* and existed, for some time after, in friendly union with the heterodox faith of Jaina. But to trace the origin of the two sects, their connexion, enmity, and disunion; or to show by what means the last gained ascendency, would occupy more space and attention than can be here devoted to this interesting subject.