After the first expedition, the king of Ghazní

A. D. 1005.
Hij. 396.

established Mohammedan governors in the country of the Panjáb; and made a treaty with Ananga Pál; who, as we may infer from the Mohammedan accounts, was to pay an annual tribute. The minor Rájás, who had borne allegiance to the chief of Lahore, now refused to give their proportion of this contribu­tion to Ananga Pál; but were encouraged by the latter, who might urge this as an excuse for not forwarding the stipulated sum due to the conqueror. One of the refractory tributaries was Rájá Vijaya Ráya, or Bíjí Ráy, who resided at Bhátnah,* now called Bhatnír; situated on the northern extremity of the Bikánír desert. The display of so much resistance among his tributaries made Mahmúd undertake his second expedition against the Hindús.

The army accordingly marched, by Multán,

Second Expe­dition.

against Bhátnah;* and, on reaching the territory of the Bháttís, was met by a force, commanded by Vijaya Ráya; who, having strongly posted himself, bravely checked the progress of the Mohammedans for three days. The latter, at length prevailing, invested the fortress; from which the Rájá fled, perceiving it was no longer tenable, and left only a small garrison of his troops to continue the defence. It was soon after taken by assault; and the chief, Vijaya Ráya, when pursued and sur rounded, preferred running his breast against a sword to being made a prisoner.

The crusades against the Indians were, for a

A. D, 1007.
Hij. 398. Third
Expedition.

time, suspended; as Mahmúd's father-in-law, Elík Khán, had invaded Kho­rásán, and demanded his attention. After this matter had been settled, the interest of religion called him back to Hindústán. The Mohammedan rulers of Multán, established there by the kings of Ghazní, were permitted to continue the government in their families, on the payment of a tribute to their liege lords. The grandson of the original chief at length succeeded to the office, and, swerving from his allegiance, aban­doned the tenets of the faithful. This induced Mahmúd to undertake his third expedition.* But the rebel, who sought and obtained the aid of Ananga Pál, on this occasion, seeing the army of the latter defeated and dispersed, thought of purchasing his master's pardon; and obtained it, by a profession of implicit obedience for the future, and the promise of an annual tribute of twenty thousand golden dirhems.*

But, though transgression of the faithful

A. D. 1008.
Fourth Expe­dition.

might be forgotten, the backsliding of an idolater could not be overlooked. Ananga Pál had assisted, in rebellion, Mah­múd's governor and tributary; and the latter was now resolved to revenge the insult. The former had timely warning of his intention; and sent ambassadors to invite the assistance of the Hindú princes of the country. The latter now considered the expulsion of the Mohamme­dans from India as a sacred duty; and hastened, with their contingents, to the neighbourhood of the Panjáb. A greater army than had yet assembled took the field, and, as Ferishta tells us, numbered, among its leaders, the Rájás of Dehlí,* Kanauj, Kálinjar, Goaliár, Ajmír, and Ujain. The Mohammedans had marched from Ghazní in the beginning of spring, and met the Hindús, in the neighbourhood of Pesháwar, west of the Indus. After the armies had rested for forty days in sight of each other, and the Mohammedans had entrenched their camp, as some security against the hosts of the enemy, Mahmúd resolved on giving battle. To com­mence the attack, he detached a body of archers to skirmish on his front; but these were soon driven back by the Kahkres, or Gakkars, a warlike tribe, then inhabiting the salt range, or Johd mountains, between the Behut (Hydaspes) and Indus, and who are the ancestors of the modern Jauts. Such was the fury with which these barbarians made their onset, that, rushing pell-mell into the lines of the Mohammedans, they committed dreadful carnage among the latter; of whom four or five thousand fell vic­tims, according to various accounts. The Gak­kars, described to have had their heads and feet bare, were armed with various weapons; but such was the impression of their desperate effort, that Mahmúd began to think of retiring from his entrenchments, when, fortunately for the cause of Islám, the elephant, which carried Ananga Pál, frightened by the naphtha balls, turned and fled. The death or flight of a leader, among eastern armies, is the signal for a general retreat; and the panic of the Hindús, who saw their chief retire, becoming general, they gave way in every quarter. Five thousand Arabian horse, with ten thousand of the Turk­ish and Afghán cavalry, uninterruptedly pur­sued the fugitives for two days and nights; during which, it is said, twenty thousand Hindús were slain.* Thirty elephants were taken, and the king obtained much other booty.