20 



INDIA. 



Sipaco. 



A. o. i .: j. 



Polocun. 

 A. D. 648. 



We now arrive at a period of the history of Hindos- 

 tan, not only of great inte/est and importance, but 



History. 



Andhara. 

 A. I). ID I. 



money 



From thia period, the race of Bali Kami, called the 

 Bali Putras, gradually declined on the throne of Ma- 

 gndha, till A. I). 191, when a new dynasty arose. 



road into India, and concluded a peace with Sophaga- 



scmui, Shivaca Sena, the grandson of Chandra Gupta, i;m, nut umj i/ K ._.., -nf~-_ ...., , -- j,'j rbt - at . 

 receiving from him a number of elephants and a sum of which is also made known to us in a much mor ample , 1 ' ( th(j 



and distinct manner than the events whiclrpreceded it; Mahomc- 

 we allude to the Mahomedan conquest of that coun- dans to con- 

 try. The first attempt of the Mahomedans to con- qu India.- 

 (|ncr Indi.i, was made during the reign of the Kalif A - a l '- li> 



Tin- native country of this new dynasty was Gaur; Omar, A. D. 6'3G, but it failed of success. Inthereigii 

 but they took their appellation from the province of of the Kalif Walid, the conquest of Sinde was accom- 

 Andhnra, between Nellore tnd the Godavery, of which plished. Before this time, the Kalif Ali had sent a ge- 

 neral, who effected some trifling conquests on the con- 

 fines of this country. But, after longand bloody conflicts, 

 he was forced to desist. As soon as the Kalif Walid had 

 achieved this important conquest, the incursions of the 

 Mahomedans into the fertile countries of Hindostan be- 

 came more frequent and successful. They do not seem, 

 however, to have attempted permanent conquest till 



they were it one time sovereigns. The interval be- 

 tween Chandra Gupta, and the establishment of the 

 new dynasty, was filled up by twenty-four kings ; 

 ten of whom were of the family of Soma, ten of the 

 Suraya Varshas. The most remarkable of these was 

 Vicramaditya, whose reign furnishes the date of the 

 common a?ra of India, beginning 56 years before that of 



Christ. The four last kings of the old dynasty were of nearly two centuries after they had obtained possession 



O ."'__ ^ * . A . < m I t . L _ 1 



the Canwa race ; and it was during their reign, that the 

 Andharas gradually rose to power. In A. D. 151, Si- 

 paca, one of the Andbaras, murdered the last Canwa 

 prince, and placed himself on the throne of Magadha. 



It is not easy to determine the exact extent, or the 

 precise boundaries, of the dominions of Sipaca. In some 

 grants of lands by him, which still remain, he styles 

 himself lord of Tri Calanga, or the three shores. Hence 

 it may be inferred, if this be not an oriental exaggera- 

 tion, that he reigned over the whole of India. Of the 

 dynasty of the Andharas, there were three races. The 

 first was of the genuine family ; the second of a spu- 

 rious branch ; and the third consisted of the servants of 

 the latter, who at first governed, and at length dethro- 

 ned their masters. Of these different races, little re- 

 markable or authentic is recorded. The last of the se- 

 cond race, Puloman, is represented as a warlike and 

 pious prince. After a life of heroic exploits, he volun- 

 tarily destroyed himself in the holy stream of the 

 Ganges, imitating in this respect the example of his 

 grandfather, who closed in a similar manner a brilliant 

 career of conquest. Respecting the precise aera of Pu- 

 loman there can be no doubt, since the Chinese annals 

 coincide with those of Hindustan, in fixing his death 

 A. D. 648. After that event, the greater part of India 

 seems to have been divided into a number of small mo- 

 narchies, which arose out of the confusion consequent 

 upon the intrigues and establishment of the third and 

 last race of the Andharas. Maharajahs, or great chiefs, 

 established themselves at Canoge, in Guzerat, at Mart- 

 hala or Tirhut, Sacita or Oude, Varenesa or Benares, 

 and Tamralipta or Tamlook. The kingdom of Magad- 

 ha had originally comprehended South Bahar only ; but 

 under the lunar race of kings, or Chandra Varshna, its 

 boundaries were very much extended. During the 

 sovereignty of the third race of the Andharas, it was 

 again reduced to its original limits of South Bahar. 

 The foreign princes who principally contributed to di- 

 minish its extent, were the kings of Gaur, or Bengal, 

 who at length became such powerful and troublesome 

 enemies, that the seat of the government of Magadha 

 was removed from Palibothra to Patna, as being at a 

 greater distance from the frontiers of Bengal. About 

 this time, it appears from the Chinese annals, that the 

 country to the westward, or that portion of Hindostan 

 called the Punjab, was ravaged by a tribe of Huns, 

 whose savage appearance, and manners, and warlike 



of Sinde, the first Mahomedan prince who made 

 serious impression on India having been the Sultan Mah- 

 moud Sebectaghin, who reigned at Ghazna. The em- 

 pi e of Ghazna was founded by Abistaji, governor of 

 Khorasan, who rebelled from the king of Bucharia. His 

 successor Sebectaghin, the father of Mahmoud, appears 

 to have meditated the conquest of the western part of 

 India. He actually carried his arms across the Indus, 

 and ravaged the Punjab ; but he made no establish- 

 ments there; for at the period of his son Mahmoud's in- 

 vasion, a prince of the Brahmin race possessed the 

 whole country along the east side of the Indus as far 

 as Cashmere, his allies being the kings of Delhi, Aj- 

 meer, Canoge, and Callinger. 



These Mahomedan princes, though really indepen- . 

 dent, were however nominally subject to the Kalif; 

 and even Mahmoud, on his accession to the throne, re- 

 ceived the robe of honour, and the investiture as sultan, 

 from the Kalif Cader, in the year A. D. 998. 



Before Mahmoud began his first expedition into In- Invasions 

 dia, he extended his empire northwards by reducing of Midi- 

 Bucharia, and he also obtained possession of Balk, or 

 Balich. Three years after his accession, -he entered 

 Hindostan ; but he remained only a short time, as in 

 the year A.D. 1002, he invaded Segestan. In the year 

 1005, he again entered Hindostan, and seized on Ha- 

 beth and Multan. But he was again induced to leave 

 his newly acquired territory, in order to turn his arms 

 against Ilek Khan, who, taking advantage of his ab- 

 sence, had besieged Balk. Such was the activity and 

 success of Mahmoud, that in 1006 he had slain the in- 

 vader of his kingdom, and driven his army across the 

 Oxus. As soon as he had secured his territories, he re- 

 turned to India, under the united influence of ambition 

 and religion ; for true to the spirit and express com- 

 mands of Mahomet, his object was no less to make con- 

 verts than to extend his dominions. His conquests, 

 however, for some time were not very extensive ; for 

 in the course of eight years he made no further progress 

 than to Multan. The inhabitants of this district, who, ac- 

 cording to Major Rennell, were the Malli and Catheri 

 (that is, the Kuttry or Rajpoot tribe) of Alexander, in- 

 heriting the martial spirit of their ancestors, opposed 

 for so long a period such formidable armies, headed by 

 so furious an 'enthusiast, in 1008, all the Hindoo 

 princes, from the west of the Ganges to the river Ner- 

 buddah, were confederated against Mahmoud ; but they 



character, so completely terrified the native monarchs, were at length defeated ; and the victor's first step to- 



trl-lt fllPU rlnfoTwlorl +VlOli f^v-t->fnu!r>n ',, .__ i. 1 _ _.l. 1 _ .*!_ 1_, _.* /.!. j*__.lf*. .1 



that they defended their territories in a very feeble and 

 inefficient manner. 



wards the destruction of the native religion, was the 

 demolition of the famous temple of Nagore Cote, in the 



