Hindústán was, at this time, apportioned

State of India
at this time.

among various tribes of Rájpúts; whose grants still remaining, as memorials of their sway, enable us to form some opinion of their general distribution. Many of the tribes, now known, do not appear to have had an existence till some time subsequent to the first invasion by Sabuktagín, as proved by the tenor of their gifts of land. We may enumerate the Chohan and Rahtore tribes among those who had not then risen into notice; though their own vanity, and the pretensions of their poeti­cal legends, would claim for them a higher antiquity.* The earliest seat of the former appears to have been Sámbar, or Sákambharí, north-west of Ajmír; as Vella Deva, or Bil Deo, was probably the first of the family. The first of the Rahtore tribe was Yasovigraha, or Srí Pál, who calls himself a prince of the Solar race; plainly intimating that the appellation of Rahtore had not yet been adopted; though the third in descent from him, Srí Chandra Deva, who conquered the realm of Kanauj, might have assumed it soon after. Previous to this time, the prince of Kanauj, who was leagued in the confederacy against the Mohammedans, had the appellation of Korah; but regarding the tribes to which the other confederates belonged nothing certain can be fixed, before we obtain multiplied translations of Sanskrit grants in the north of India. Bengal was ruled, at this period, by the Voidya monarchs, who had their capital at Nuddea, on the Ganges. In the south of India, the kingdom of Pandya, or Madura, now on the decline, sank under the rising fortunes of the Chóla kings of Tanjore, who also reduced the ancient kingdom of Chéra.* The south-western part of Upper Kanara, or Karnáta, near the Krishna, was possessed by the Yádavas, who appear to have been a pas­toral people. They were confined on the west by the Siyálara* or Silhára tribe of Rájpúts, who had for their capital Panalla, near Kolá­púr, and were in possession of the greater part of the country, on the sea-coast. On the north, and in the province of Khándesh, the Silháras were bounded by a branch, if not the original stock of the Chálukya family, who claimed descent from the Yádavas. Their capital was Mánkhet, apparently the same as that now called Mángarh, or Mánikgarh. They assumed the high-sounding titles of Rájá of Rájás, in a grant of land;* and styled themselves Parama Bhattárak, Parama Ishwar, or Supreme Lords. Their religious faith was the Jaina; but the person who received the gift was a Bráhman of the Bharadwája tribe of Rig Veda. Whether this family of the Chálukya had any connexion with the former Rájá of Tryambak, called, in Khándesh, the Gaurí, or Gaulí Rájá,* must be mere matter of opinion: but this much is cer­tain, that another branch of it was established, about this time, in Nahrwálah; and that their previous settlement in Khándesh, as ascertained by this grant, is fatal to the authenticity of the Mirát Ahmadí's account of their origin in Gujarát. The Gohila tribe had previously established themselves in Málwá, and may claim the celebrated Rájá Bhoja,* as a member of their family. Not long after, the Parmara had succeeded them in this quarter, and were probably their descendants.*

The different principalities, into which India

Government of
the Rájás.

was divided, were of greater or less extent; and were called Mandalas, or districts. The sovereign of a large tract was styled Mahá Mandala Ishwar, or a Chakravartí Rájá, signi­fying lord of an extensive country, and indicating that he ruled over several minor tributaries. The latter were named Mandaladesas,* and are sometimes mentioned in the Mohammedan his­tories by the appellation of Mandalik Rájás. No historical records of their form of govern­ment having been preserved to our time, we can only judge of it by the analogy of institutions yet existing among the Jhárejás of Kach, and the tribes of Rájpútána, which are very similar to the feudal system of Europe. The several members of a chief's family would, at his death, be entitled to a certain appanage of his demesnes; and every district, so acquired, would constitute a distinct principality; subject to a similar division, at the decease of the principal, as had taken place in the original possession. Every minor tributary would thus, in time, pos­sess a body of kinsmen, standing in the same relation to him as he and his brothers bore to a common ancestor; and would be called the Bháiad, or brotherhood of the chiefs and of their kinsmen. Such is the present state of government in Kach; and a similar constitu­tion existed, in former times, among the mem­bers of the different tribes, as clearly indicated by grants of land. The individuals of the original family had the unlimited authority of their own lands; were guardians of the public peace, and charged with the chastisement of general enemies; whilst the kinsmen were bound to attend them, in time of war, as the price of the possessions they enjoyed.

Such were the discordant materials of the Hindú army that opposed the Mohammedans; and, when we consider the state of India at this time, there is no cause for wonder why the latter experienced so little opposition in conquering it.

Mahmúd of Ghazní, who had succeeded his

A. D. 1001.
Mahmúd of
Ghazní's first
expedition to
India.

father Sabuktagín, was a bigoted adherent to the Sunní* faith; and a stickler regarding points of doctrine.* The idolaters of India were, therefore, the object of his aversion; and he had not long succeeded to the throne before he led his first crusade against the Hindús. Accompanied by ten thousand horse, he left Ghazní in the month of August; and, marching against his father's former oppo­nent, Jaipál I., met him at Pesháwar. The Hindú army, which consisted of twelve thou­sand horse and thirty thousand foot, supported by three hundred elephants, was defeated with the loss of five thousand men. Jaipál and his kinsmen were made prisoners; but, as the for­mer had been twice defeated, and was deemed unworthy of reigning, he resigned the throne to his son Ananda, or Ananga Pál, and expiated his misfortunes by giving up his life on a funeral pile. Mahmúd obtained much plunder on this occasion; and the personal jewels taken from Jaipál were estimated at eighty thousand pounds. After this victory, the Mohammedans invested and reduced the fort of Bahtinda, situ­ated among the Bháttís or Shepherds, in the most easterly and inaccessible part of the Pan­jáb kingdom. Jaipál generally resided at this fort; and probably did so as a measure of secu­rity, though Lahore appears to have been his capital.