The fame of the temple of Swayambhú Náth at length reached the ear of Mahmúd; who, several years, had been projecting another expedition, for the destruction of the vain idola­ters. Accompanied by thirty thousand horse, besides many volunteers, he left Ghazní the

A.D. 1025.
October 7.
Tenth Expedi­tion.

10th of Shabán, Hij. 416;* and in the middle of the following month, arrived at Multán. An inhospitable desert lay on the route to Gujarát; water and provisions were to be carried where none could be procured; and twenty thousand camels were laden with sup­plies. The army came to several fortifications in the desert, which submitted without resistance; sacked Ajmír; passed Nahrwálah; and arrived, at Somnáth, in the month of Zulhijjah. Here

A.D. 1026.

the Mohammedans beheld a large for­tress, whose walls were washed by the sea. The people within, anxious to view the strangers, crowded to the battlements; the Mohammedans advanced, and dispersed them with their arrows; and an attempt was made to scale the walls. The Hindús, who now returned to the works, rendered the last abortive; and continued a brave resistance till night made the besiegers retire. On the following day, the siege was renewed; the place captured; and five thousand Hindús slain in the storm. A few, by escaping in a boat, saved themselves from the vengeance of the enemy. Mahmúd, on entering the temple, observed a covered apartment, whose roof was supported by six pillars set with jewels;* and here stood the idol. The latter was broken in pieces by the king's own hand; and orders were given to his attendants, that the pieces, carried to Ghazní, were to be cast before the great mosque in honour of the triumph obtained by Islám. By this expedition incalculable wealth was col­lected, and exceeded many thousand dínárs; though the story of the jewels found in the belly of the idol is the invention of some narra­tor, who loved fable more than truth. Mah­múd returned to Ghazní by the route of the Sind desert, where his army suffered greatly from the scarcity of forage and water; and, though information was brought him that Parama Deva,* greatest of the Indian Rájás, lay with an army on his way, he pursued his march, not deeming it advisable to follow him. After much labour and suffering, the troops arrived at Ghazní in the following year.*

A.D. 1030.

Four years subsequent to these events, this great conqueror breathed his last. He had attained his sixty-third year, and died of stone in the bladder; a disease, which, at this period of life, is equally common in its attack, as it is suited to wear out the last energies of a vigorous

Character of
Mahmúd.

constitution. Mahmúd, in stature, was of the middle size; in face, strongly marked with small pox;* in spirit determined; in disposition vindictive and unforgiving; a wrangler in the religious doctrines of Islám, yet a follower of its most superstitious sect; pos­sessing vanity, to patronize learning as a mean of extending his fame, though avarice, a stronger passion, made him forget his purpose;* obsti­nate, bigoted, and energetic, he could at once awe the minds of the seditious, and secure the support of his subjects: who, loving him as a saint and their leader, shed tears of regret when he left his sceptre to weaker hands.

Extent of the
empire of
Ghazní at his
death.

With the declining power of the race of Sámán, the kings of Ghazní, from the humble situation of provincial governors, had raised themselves to extensive dominion. The quarrels of neighbouring states gave them a pretext for the necessity of interference; and, though not scrupulous in this matter, they jus­tified the march of their troops into other coun­tries, as state expediency and self-preservation, while their only motive was a hope of adding to their territory, through the weakness of those they pretended to assist. The provinces of Ghazní,* Kábúl, and Balkh, with part of Khorá­sán, had been bequeathed to his children by Sabuktagín; but such was the extent and rapidity of the conquests made by Mahmúd, that, in no less than thirty years after, the empire of Ghazní extended from the Persian Gulf to the sea of Aral, and from the mountains of Kurdistán to the Satlaj. With the exception of Khúzistán and Fárs, yet remaining possessions of the nearly extinguished race of Bawaihi,* this mighty kingdom included the whole of Persia, Transoxiana, and the Panjáb; while it embraced every variety of climate, through twenty degrees of latitude and thirty of longitude. The decease of its founder was the signal for its decline; which was equally rapid as its rise.

Character of
his successors.