Ninth Expedition.—Ninduna [or Nárdín.]* A.H. 404 (1013 A.D.)— Firishta inserts the expedition to Thánesar in A.H. 402, but I am disposed to follow the Yamíní, and place that expedition subsequent. The long delay which occurred between this and the eighth expedition may have been owing to the league which was entered into between Anandpál and Mahmúd, and this invasion may have been occasioned by the death of Anandpál, which according to Firishta occurred at this time. A very full account of the preparations for this expedition will be found among the extracts from the Yamíní, where it is stated that it was entered upon in the year 404—a year to which all the other authors ascribe it. Here we find the invader starting before the winter set in, and his progress arrested by a heavy fall of snow—so he could not have left the highlands till the commencement of spring; and as the year began on the 13th of July, 1013, he could scarcely have entered Hindústán before February, 1014, leaving himself but a short time for operations in that country,
Consequently, we find him proceeding no farther than the hill of Bálnát,* a conspicuous mountain overhanging the Jailam, and now generally called Tilla, which means a hill. It is still occasionally called Bálnát, and there is a famous Jogí establishment on its highest summit of great repute, and resorted to by members of that fraternity from the most distant parts of India.
The action which preceded the capture of Ninduna appears to have been fought at the Márgala pass, which answers well to the description given of it by 'Utbí. The subsequent operations are described more fully by Nizámu-d dín Ahmad:
“In A.H. 404, the Sultán marched his army against the fort of Ninduna, situated on the mountain of Bálnáth. Púr* Jaipál left veteran troops for its protection, while he himself passed into one of the mountain valleys (darra) of Kashmír. The Sultán having reached Ninduna, invested it, and by mining and other modes of attack, put the garrison under the necessity of capitulating. Sultán Mahmúd with a few of his personal attendants entered it, and took all the property he found there. Having left Sárogh as governor of the fort,* he himself proceeded to the Kashmír valley, where Púr Jaipál had taken up his position. This chief, however, did not await his arrival, but fled, and when the Sultán reached the pass he obtained great spoil and a large number of slaves. He also converted many infidels to Muhammadanism, and having spread Islám in that country, returned to Ghaznín.”—Tabakát-i Akbarí.
It will be observed that 'Utbí calls the chief “Nidar Bhím,” and Nizámu-d dín Ahmad calls him Purú Jaipál, but the difference is reconciled by considering Nidar Bhím as the governor, whom Jaipál left in the garrison when he fled towards Kashmír; and as we know from the Yamíní that Purú Jaipál's son was called Bhím-pál, we may consider this governor to have been the identical Bhím-pál, with the epithet of Nidar, “the dauntless.”
The name of Ninduna cannot be restored. It is evidently the
same place as is mentioned in Wassáf as being a noted town in
the Júd hills, and by 'Abbas Shírwání in his Shír-sháhí. D'Her-
The pass to which the Rájá fled was doubtless that of Bhímbar, or it might have been near where the Jailam debouches into the plains. Either way, Mahmúd would not have had far to go before his return to Ghazní. Briggs is wrong in representing him as plundering Kashmír. The original mentions nothing but a pass leading into Kashmír.
Tenth Expedition.—Thánesar. A.H. 405.—The Habíbu-s Siyar makes this expedition occur in the same year as the one to Bálnát. The Rauzatu-s Safá ascribes it to the following year. The Yamíní makes it occur subsequent to the Bálnát campaign, but says nothing about Mahmúd's returning intermediately to Ghazní. We have seen, however, that the season was so late as not to admit of his proceeding to Thánesar direct from Bálnát, unless he passed the season of the rains in India, which is not probable. The Táríkh-i Alfí omits all notice of this expedition.
Supposing Thánesar to have been the place visited, it is difficult to
reconcile 'Utbí's narrative with the geographical features of the
country. If Mahmúd had reached Thánesar by crossing the upper
part of the desert of Rájpútána, he could have come to no stream
with large stone or precipitous banks, or one flowing through a hill-
Firishta's account is as follows:—
“In the year 402 Mahmúd resolved on the conquest of Thánesar,* in the kingdom of Hindústán. It had reached the ears of the king that Thánesar was held in the same veneration by idolaters, as Mecca by the faithful; that there was an old temple there, in which they had set up a number of idols, the principal of which was called Jagsom, and was believed to have existed ever since the creation of the world. When Mahmúd reached the Panjáb, he was desirous that, in accordance with the subsisting treaty with Anandpál, no injury should be sustained by that prince's country, in consequence of the Muhammadan army passing through it. An embassy was accordingly sent to inform the Rája of his design against Thánesar, and desiring him to depute his officers to remain with the army, in order that the villages and towns which belonged to him might be protected from the camp followers.
“Anandpál, agreeing to this proposal, prepared an entertainment for the reception of the king, at the same time issuing orders for all his subjects to supply the camp with every necessary of life.
“The Rája's brother, with two thousand horse, was also sent to meet the army, and to deliver the following message:* —‘My brother is the subject and tributary of the king, but he begs permission to acquaint his majesty that the temple of Thánesar is the principal place of worship of the inhabitants of the country; that, although the religion of the king makes it an important and meritorious duty to destroy idols, still the king has already acquitted himself of this duty, in the destruction of the idols in the fort of Nagarkot. If he should be pleased to alter his resolution regarding Thánesar, and to fix a tribute to be paid by the country, Anandpál promises that the amount of it shall be annually paid to Mahmúd; besides which, on his own part, he will present him with fifty elephants, and jewels to a considerable amount.’
“Mahmúd replied: The religion of the faithful inculcates the following tenet: ‘That in proportion as the tenets of the Prophet are diffused, and his followers exert themselves in the subversion of idolatry, so shall be their reward in heaven;’ that, therefore, it behoved him, with the assistance of God, to root out the worship of idols from the face of all India. How, then, should he spare Thánesar.
“This answer was communicated to the Rája of Dehlí, who, resolving
to oppose the invaders, sent messengers throughout Hindústán
to acquaint the other Rájas that Mahmúd, without provocation, was
marching with a vast army to destroy Thánesar, now under his immediate
protection. He observed that if a barrier was not expeditiously
raised against this roaring torrent, the country of Hindú-
“Mahmúd having reached Thánesar before the Hindús had time to assemble for its defence, the city was plundered, the idols broken, and the idol Jagsom was sent to Ghaznín, to be trodden under foot in the street, and decapitated. Immense wealth was found in the temples. According to Hájí Muhammad Kandahárí, a ruby was found in one of them, weighing 450 miskáls, the equal of which no one had ever seen or heard of.