The state of Warangal, in the Dekhan, which

A.D. 1088.
Rise of the
Hindú kingdom
of Warangal.

became celebrated in the Mohammedan annals, was established by a feudatory, or relative, of the Chalukya family of Kalyani. The person who accomplished this was Kakateya Pralaya; whom some genealogies make the son of Bhuvanika Malla, the same as Víra Raya.

After the death of Modúd, in A.D. 1049, the prosperity

Review of
Ghazní affairs
from the reign
of Modúd.

of the Saljúk Turkmáns continued to increase, while the fortune of the house of Ghazní was on the wane. During this period no extensive conquests were made in India, though there were occasional aggres­sions committed on its borders. Nágrakót was retaken in the time of Sultan Abdúl Rashíd; and, during the reign of Sultan Ibrahim, pos­session of some places in the Panjáb was obtained. The kings of Ghazní, however, had lost a great part of their paternal possessions on the west; which had been wrested from them by Toghrul Beg and Alp Arslan, the victorious leaders of the Turkmáns. The former, for a time, escaped total expulsion from their ancestral property, as Masúd III. of Ghazní had married the daughter of Malik Shah Saljúk, otherwise named Jalál-ud-dín, or the glory of religion. But the limits of the empire were now so con­tracted that the royal family resolved to reside in India, and made Lahore* their capital. An officer was soon after sent to carry on a crusade against the Hindús; during which, it is said, he passed the Ganges: but there is cause for doubt­ing whether the Mohammedan successes, in the then weakened power of the Ghazní monarchs, could have been very great, against the vigorous Hindú leaders who ruled the kingdoms of Kanauj and Benares.

Srí Deva Pála was succeeded in the government

Hindú rulers
of Kanauj and
Benares.

of Benares and Gaur, by Rájá Pála, who had been appointed Yava Rájá,* or suc­cessor, previous to his father's death; and the throne of Kanauj was occupied by Madana Pála, son and successor of Srí Chandra Deva. We cannot but regret that the time of Srí Deva Pála's death may not be accurately ascertained; but, knowing that he reigned thirty-three years, and having identified him with Yaso Pála, whose ascertained date is A. D. 1037, we shall not be far wide of the truth by fixing the accession of his successor in A.D. 1070. The states of Kanauj and Benares were distinct at this time; the general title of the ruling family in the former being Chandra, while all the princes of the other bore the appellation of Pála; and Mohammedan authorities recognise the two separate govern­ments of Kanauj and Mongír. The last, which comprised Benares and Gaur, extended its authority not long after into Orissa and Dravira. In as far as the wealth and power of those who governed influenced the literature or religion of the Hindús, we may reasonably regret the want of their history: though we have lost little by the absence of other details, which would present the same unvarying narrative of robbery and oppression, that are characteristic of quar­rels among a semi-barbarous people.

The sovereignty of Benares and Gaur had been

A.D. 1105.
Conquests by
the Rájás of
Gaor.

transferred, as would appear, to Srí Súra Pála; who succeeded Rájá Pála. During the reign of this prince, the countries of Útkal, the Húns, Dravira, and Kunjara, were subdued, and annexed to the kingdom of Gaur.*

In the transcript of the inscription, which informs us of these conquests, Gurjara is read for Kunjara; but, as neither western Gujarát nor the small district of this name in the Panjáb can be the countries intended, an error has probably crept into the copy, by which Kunjara, or a country abounding with elephants, has been converted into Gurjara. The country of Kunjara is that now known by the name of Tipperah, east of the Ganges; where the people, being of Scythian origin, were appropriately enough termed Húns.* Útkal is the province now called Orissa, east of the Godaveri river; and Dravira,* though limited in its most confined sense to the eastern shore of the Peninsula, between the Palar and Koartilair rivers, has been here extended to include the maritime part of Telingana.

By the traditionary history and native annals of Orissa, the fact of its invasion, from the north, about this time, is sufficiently well authen­ticated.* The Vansávalí, or genealogical list of its princes, has erroneously brought the invader from the banks of the Godaveri, or lesser Ganges, and styles the new race Gangá-Vansa. The person who subdued the province was named Serang Deo, or Chor Ganga; and was probably the same as Súra Pála of Gaur. It is impossible to determine whether the invasion of Orissa was conducted by the Supreme Rájás of Gaur in person, or by their military ministers; but no doubt can exist that the change of dynasty in the former was effected through the influence of one or other from the latter. The cognate origin of the letters of the Mahávalipuram inscription,* and those of the Bhali alphabet, or sacred character of the Burmese, and the tra­dition that the temples there were executed by the Dharma Rájá, or a northern prince, are other proofs confirming the authority of the Buddal inscription, with regard to the conquests which were effected in the south.

A.D. 1152.
Death of Sul­tán
Bairam of
Ghazní. The
Mohammedan
possessions in
India during
this reign.