“Kuwar Pál,* the Ráí of Thangar, who had prided himself on the numbers of his army and the strength of his castle, when he saw the power of the army opposed to him, fear invaded his breast, and he begged for safety for his life, and, like a slave, kissed the face of the earth with the very roots of his teeth.” Upon which he was pardoned and admitted into favour, and, though with the loss of his kingdom, was content that his life was left to him.” “The Musulmáns, and harbís, and zimmís entered into conditions for paying revenue. The country was purified from the defilement of infidelity, and no opportunity remained for opposition and rebellion.”
“The government of Thangar was conferred on Baháu-d dín Tughril,” “who was acquainted with matters of administration, and the customs of setting soldiers in array,” and who received advice and instruction from his majesty how to comport himself properly in his new appointment.
When the affairs of this tract was settled, the royal army marched, in the year 592 H., (1196 A.D.) “towards Gálewár (Gwáliár), and invested that fort, which is the pearl of the necklace of the castles of Hind, the summit of which the nimble-footed wind from below cannot reach, and on the bastion of which the rapid clouds have never cast their shade, and which the swift imagination has never surmounted, and at the height of which the celestial sphere is dazzled.”—Description of swords and other military weapons.—“In compliance with the divine injunction of holy war, they drew out the bloodthirsty sword before the faces of the enemies of religion. That sword was coloured of cærulean blue, which from its blazing lustre resembled a hundred thousand Venuses and Pleiades, and it was a well-tempered horse-shoe of fire, which with its wound exhibited the peculiarity of lightning and thunder; and in the perfect weapon the extreme of sharpness lay hid, like (poison in) the fangs of a serpent; and (the water of the blade) looked like ants creeping on the surface of a diamond;” and so forth.
“Ráí Solankh Pál who had raised the standard of infidelity, and perdition, and prided himself on his countless army and elephants, and who expanded the fist* of oppression from the hiding place of deceit, and who had lighted the flame of turbulence and rebellion, and who had fixed the root of sedition and enmity firm in his heart, and in the courtyard of whose breast the shrub of tyranny and commotion had shot forth its branches, when he saw the power and majesty of the army of Islám,” he became alarmed and dispirited. “Wherever he looked, he saw the road of flight blocked up.” He therefore “sued for pardon, and placed the ring of servitude in his ear,” and agreed to pay tribute, and sent ten elephants as a peace offering, in which he was graciously admitted to protection, and was allowed to retain his fort. “When the neighbouring country was freed from the enemies of religion, and the Ráí of Hind became enrolled amongst the number of servants and friends,” the Sultán prepared to return to Ghazna, and Kutbu-d dín, after his departure, returned to Dehli, where festivities were celebrated on his arrival.—Praise of wine-bibbing and cup-bearers.
In the year 591 H. (1195 A.D.), when Kutbu-d dín was again at Ajmír, intelligence was brought him that a party of seditious Mhers, “who were always shooting the arrow of deceit from the bow of refractoriness,” had sent spies and messengers towards Nahrwála, representing that a detachment of the army of the Turks had arrived at Ajmír, of no great strength and numbers, and that if from that quarter a force could be immediately sent to join them, before the enemy could find the opportunity of putting themselves in a state of preparation, they could make a sudden night attack upon them, and might rid the country of them, and if anyone of the Turkish army were to escape from the talons of the eagle of death, he must necessarily take the road of flight, and with his two horses would make three stages into one, until he reached Dehli in a state of distraction.”
When this treacherous plan was revealed, Kutbu-d dín determined to anticipate it, and during the height of the hot season “before the sun arose, fell upon the advance guard of the black infidels, and like lions attacked them right and left.” The action lasted during the whole day, and next morning that immense army of Nahrwála came to the assistance of the vanguard, slew many of the Musulmáns, wounded their commander, pursued them to Ajmír, and encamped within one parasang of that place.
In this predicament, a confidential messenger was sent to Ghazna* “to explain before the sublime throne the position of the army of the infidels, and to ask for orders as to future proceedings.” “A royal edict was issued conferring all kinds of honours and kindnesses upon the Khusrú, and leaving to his entire discretion the subjection and extirpation of the turbulent.” A very large army was despatched to reinforce him, under the command of Jahán Pahlawán, Asadu-d dín Arslán Kalij, Nasíru-d dín Husain, 'Izzu-d dín son of Muwaiyidu-d dín Balkh, and Sharfu-d dín Muhammad Jarah.” These reinforcements arrived at the beginning of the cold season, when “the vanguard of the army of winter began to draw its sword from the scabbard, and the season of collecting armies and the time of making raids had returned.”
“In the middle of the month of Safar, 593 H. (Jan., 1197), the world-conquering Khusrú departed from Ajmír, and with every description of force turned his face towards the annihilation of the Ráí of Nahrwála.” When he reached the lofty forts of Pálí and Nandúl,* he found them abandoned, and the abode of owls, for the people had fled at the approach of the Musulmáns, and had collected under their leaders Ráí Karan and Dárábars, in great numbers “at the foot of Mount Ábú, and at the mouth of a pass stood ready for fight and slaughter.” The Musulmáns did not dare to attack them in that strong position, especially as in that very place Sultán Muhammad Sám Ghorí had been wounded, and it was considered of bad omen to bring on another action there, lest a similar accident might occur to the commander. The Hindús seeing this hesitation, and misconstruing it into cowardice and alarm, abandoning the pass, “turned their faces towards the field of battle and the plain of honour and renown;” for “they were persuaded that fear had established itself in the hearts of the protectors of the sacred enclosure of religion.” “The two armies stood face to face for some time, engaged in preparations for fight, and on the night preceding Sunday, the 13th of Rabí'u-l awwal, in a fortunate moment the army of Islám advanced from its camp, and at morn reached the position of the infidels.” A severe action ensued from dawn to mid-day, when “the army of idolatry and damnation turned its back in flight from the line of battle. Most of their leaders were taken prisoners, and nearly fifty thousand infidels were despatched to hell by the sword, and from the heaps of the slain, the hills and the plains became of one level.” Ráí Karan effected his escape from the field. “More than twenty thousand slaves, and twenty elephants, and cattle and arms beyond all calculation, fell into the hands of the victors.” “You would have thought that the treasures of the kings of all the inhabited world had come into their possession.”
“The city of Nahrwála, which is the most celebrated in that country, full of rivers,” and the kingdom of Gujarát, which is “a separate region of the world,” came under the dominion of the Musulmáns, “and high and low were treated with royal benignity and justice.” “The chief nobles and pillars of the State were favoured with handsome robes of honour, and received abundant proofs of royal kindness,” then “the standards of the Khusrú, victorious in battle, returned to Ajmír,” whence they were moved towards Dehli, where they arrived at an auspicious moment. As an earnest of his regard and respect, Kutbu-d dín sent to Ghazna treasures and various rarities, which were received by his majesty with suitable acknowledgments of the value and splendour of his general's services.