The next day,* having returned to the strife, and having finished bringing into play the weapons of warfare, they vanquished the Hindus. Those ignorant men ran in crowds to the idol temple, embraced Somnát, and came out again to fight until they were killed. Fifty thousand infidels were killed round about the temple, and the rest who escaped from the sword embarked in ships and fled away.* Sultán Mahmúd, having entered into the idol temple, beheld an excessively long and broad room, insomuch that fifty-six pillars* had been made to support the roof. Somnát was an idol cut out of stone, whose height was five yards, of which three yards* were visible, and two yards were concealed in the ground. Yamínu-d daula having broken that idol with his own hand, ordered that they should pack up pieces of the stone, take them to Ghaznín, and throw them on the threshold of the Jámi' Masjid.* The sum which the treasury of the Sultán Mahmúd obtained from the idol-temple of Somnát was more than twenty thousand thousand dínárs,* inasmuch as those pillars were all adorned with precious jewels. Sultán Mahmúd, after this glorious victory, reduced a fort in which the governor of Nahrwála had taken refuge.
At that time having made over the government of Somnát to Dábshilím Murtáz, he turned towards Ghaznín.* It is related that when Sultán Mahmúd was about to return from Somnát, he consulted with his ministers of State, and said: “It is necessary to appoint some proper person to the government and possession of the kingdom.” They answered, “As none of us will again cross over into this country, it is fitting that you should appoint some person resident in the country to be the ruler.”
The Sultán having spoken on this subject to some of the people of Somnát, one party said: “Among the sovereigns of the country, no one is equal to the tribe of Dábshilím in character and lineage. At the present moment there is a young man of that tribe, a Brahman, who is wont to practise severe austerities: if the Sultán delivers over the kingdom to him, it will be proper.” Another party did not approve of this proposal, and said: “Dábshilím Murtáz is a man of a morose disposition, and it is through indigence that he is obliged to practise austerities. There is another man of the tribe of Dábshilím, the ruler of a certain country, very wise, and a keeper of his word, whom it is fitting that the Sultán should make sovereign of Somnát.”
Yamínu-d daula said: “If he will come and wait upon me and make this request, it will be listened to; but to give over a kingdom of this magnitude to a person who is already possessed of one of the kingdoms of Hind, and who has never been in attendance upon me, seems to be a thing far from the solid opinions which should actuate Sultáns.”
Then having called Dábshilím Murtáz, the Sultán gave him the sovereignty of Somnát. Dábshilím agreed to pay tribute,* and spoke thus: “A certain Dábshilím is in a state of hostility towards me, and when he obtains information that the Sultán is gone, he will certainly lead his army hither; and as I have not the means of resistance, I shall be subdued. If the king will remove this mischief from my head, this great matter will be all right; but if not, I shall certainly be destroyed in a very short time.” The Sultán answered: “Since I have come from Ghaznín with the purpose of making war upon infidels, I will also settle this business.”*
He then led his army towards the country of that Dábshilím, and having taken him captive, delivered him over to Dábshilím Murtáz, who thus addressed the Sultán: “In my religion the killing of kings is unlawful, but the custom is that when one king gets another into his power he makes a small and dark room underneath his own throne, and having put his enemy into it, he leaves a hole open: every day he sends a tray of victuals into that room, until one or other of the kings dies. Since it is now impossible for me to keep my enemy in this manner, I hope that the troops of the Sultán will take him away to the royal residence of Ghaznín, and that when I am at ease about him, they will send him back.” Yamínu-d daula consented, and then hoisted the flag of his return to Ghaznín.
Dábshilím Murtáz obtained absolute sovereignty over the government of Somnát, and, after a few years had elapsed, sent ambassadors to the Sultán, requesting that his enemy might be given up. At first the Sultán was irresolute about sending that young man; but in the end, at the instigation of some of his nobles, he delivered over that Dábshilím to the emissary of Dábshilím Murtáz. When they had brought him to the territories of Somnát, Dábshilím Murtáz ordered the appointed prison to be got ready, and according to a custom which was well known among them, he himself went out from the city to meet him, in order that, having placed his basin and ewer upon the youth's head, he might cause him to run by his stirrup, while they conducted him to prison.
In the middle of his way he began to hunt, and galloped about in every direction, until the day became very hot: he then laid down under the shade of a tree for repose, and having spread a red handkerchief over his face, during that interval, according to the decree of the Most High God, a bird with strong talons, imagining that handkerchief to be flesh, alighted from the air, and having struck his claws into the handkerchief, they penetrated so far into the eyes of Dábshilím Murtáz that he became blind. As the grandees of Hindustán do not pay obedience to those who are in any way defective, a tumult arose among the soldiers, in the middle of which the other Dábshilím arrived, and all having agreed to invest him with authority, they placed that same basin and ewer upon the head of Dábshilím Murtáz, and made him run as far as the prison, so that thus Dábshilím Murtáz became taken in the very manner which he had planned for this young man, and the saying, “Whoever digs a well for his brother falls into it himself,” became apparent, as also it became clear “that God gives and snatches away a kingdom to whom and from whom he chooses: he gives honour and dishonour to whom he pleases: Thou possessest goodness, Thou art master of all things.”
Sultán Mahmúd, in the year 420 H. (1029 A.D.), formed the design of subduing 'Irák-i 'Ajam, and accordingly hoisted the standard of departure towards that quarter. When he arrived in the territories of Mázandarán, Mamíchihr bin Kábús bin Washmíchihr having hastened to pay him his respects, brought fitting magnificent presents. In the mean time the governor of 'Irák, Majdu-d daula bin Fakhru-d daula, having sent a messenger to Yamínu-d daula, brought a complaint against his amírs. The Sultán having sent his troops towards Re, Majdu-d daula joined himself to the army of Ghaznín, and the officers of that army took him and sent him to the Sultán.
Sultán Mahmúd himself went to Re, and having sent for Majdu-d daula into his assembly, thus addressed him:—“Have you read the Sháh-náma, and are you versed in the history of Tabarí?” He answered, “Yes.” The Sultán said: “Have you ever played at chess?” He answered, “Yes.” The Sultán said: “In those books have you seen it written that two kings can rule in one country? and on the chess-board have you ever seen two kings on one square? He said, “No.” The Sultán said: “Then how comes it that you have given over the reins of your power to one who has greater strength than yourself?” He then sent Majdu-d daula and his son to Ghaznín, under the custody of a guard of soldiers, and having given over the sovereignty of that country to his son Mas'úd, he turned his reins towards the royal residence of Ghaznín.