INDIA. 





 . . ; 



Pai in d)T 



. lion excited by hi* treachery in betraying the young 

 " prime Ali Shah into the hands of his rival on the 

 thruuo of Khouarearn, Mohammed Shah, being murder- 

 ed in his led, A. D. 1212. He appears to have been 

 an active and enterprising prince, and extended his 

 territory om^Ur.ibly. He perpetrated in Benares the 

 Mine criu-l intolerance as Mahmoud Sebectaghin had 

 done at Nngore Cote, and Soumenat. He* also carried 

 hie arms to the south of the river Jumnah, and took 

 the fortress of Gwalior. He likewise reduced the east- 

 ern part of Ajinecr. 



1 The death of this emperor occasioned a new division 

 Jl " of the Ghaimhin kingdom. The Persian part became 

 subject to Eldoze, and the Indian part to Cuttub, who 

 founded the Patan or Afghan dynasty in Hindostan. 

 The latter was a native' of Afghanistan, and originally 

 a slave. He had been purchased by* the emperor, 

 whose notice he soon attracted by hts talents and fide- 

 lity. As soon as he ascended the throne, he changed 

 the scat of government from Lahore to Delhi, which 

 was nearer the centre of the new conquests. The ob- 

 ject of his immediate ambition seems to have been the 

 reduction and annexation to his dominions of Bahar 

 and Bengal ; but his premature death saved them for a 

 short period. The emperor Altmush, who ascended 

 the throne of Delhi, A. D. 1210, was more fortunate, 

 as he completed the conquest of the greatest part of 

 Hindostan. He appears to have been the first Maho- 

 medan who reduced Bengal under his power ; the go- 

 vernment of which was from this period bestowed on 

 one of the reigning emperor's sons. In A. D. 1215, 

 he had nearly subdued all the kingdoms and principa- 

 lities in Hindostan proper ; his empire extending from 

 the mountains of Tibet to that part of the Decan which 

 lies in the latitude of 20 North, and from the Indus 

 to the Ganges. He appears to have been a spirited as 

 well as a judicious prince; and it is surprising, if we 

 consider the principles and spirit of the Mahomedan 

 religion, and the conduct of his predecessors, that there 

 is no proof of his having persecuted the Brahmins, or 

 destroyed the Hindoo temples. He appointed gover- 

 nors to the different provinces, and established strict 

 and wholesome regulations for the guidance of their 

 conduct. The natives of Bengal neither made much 

 resistance to his conquests, nor endeavoured to throw 

 off his yoke ; but the robust and hardy mountaineers 

 of Ajmeer and Malwah, as well as the inhabitants of 

 Guzerat, still continued to oppose his authority, and 

 seized with avidity and zeal every opportunity to assert 

 their independence. Hence these provinces were al- 

 most constantly the scene of insurrections, which it 

 sometimes required the whole power of the emperor td 

 subdue. During his reign, the insurrections in the 

 western part of his dominions also were very frequent 

 and formidable. 



GengiiKhan 1' ne emperor Altmush was contemporary with the 

 inradcaln celebrated Gengis Khan. It was in the year 1221 that 

 dU, this conqueror reduced to subjection, and annihilated 



A. D. itto. the dynasty of Charasm, which had sate for some time 

 on the throne of Ghazna. Mohammed Shah at this 

 period sate upon the throne, and he claimed also the 

 dominion of some part of India ; but, in consequence 

 of having provoked the rage of Gengis Khan, he had 

 not the leisure nor the means to secure his Indian ter- 

 ritories. The lieutenant of Mohammed, in his province 

 of Transoxania, had seized and put to death some Tar- 

 tar merchants, who were travelling in a caravan from 

 the camp of Gengis Khan. The Mogul monarch im- 

 mediately sent to demand an apology, which wa 



A! in: ash 

 emperor, 

 A. D 1210. 



Sutxlue* 

 ncarly all 

 Himlini in, 



5 



imprudently refused. The consequence was, that 

 he immediately invaded KhoYassan, which Mohammed 

 had conquered in a single battle in the* year 1199, 

 and in spite of the valour displayed by the eldest son 

 of the emperor, the troops of Mohammed were obliged 

 to give way. At first the flight of the emperor was to- 

 wards India ; but, being intercepted, lie was compelled 

 to flee towards the Caspian Sea, in an island of v hich 

 he died, A. D. 1220. His son fought long and valiant- 

 ly, but without success, against Gengis Khan. One of 

 his most desperate exploits was the swimming across 

 the Indus in sight of the conqueror and his army. Five 

 years afterwards he returned to Persia, and was for a 

 short time successful ; but he was at length obliged to 

 yield to the better fortune of his opponent. By the 

 year 1231, Gengis Khan had over-run all Asia to the 

 northward of the latitude of 30 ; but the difficulties he 

 experienced in repressing the turbulent spirit of his 

 Tartar subjects, very probably deterred him from at- 

 tempting the conquest of Hindostan ; though, in the 

 year 1222, he had become the nominal sovereign of the 

 empire of Delhi, and actually subdued all the country 

 on the west side of the Indus, and portioned it out 

 among his favourite generals. 



In the short and feeble reigns between the death of 

 Altmush and the elevation of the Emperor Balin, the 

 Mogul chieftain^ made several predatory incursions in- 

 to the Punjab ; and Turmeshirin Khan is reported by 

 Sherefeddin, the historian of Timur, to have carried 

 his arms into the Dooab, and to have penetrated even 

 to the confines of Delhi. Ferishta, however, does not 

 mention the progress of this desultory conqueror, but 

 only describes the inroads of the Moguls into the Pun- 

 jab, which now frequently happened. In the year 

 1235, Feroze reigned at Delhi; he did not, however, 

 long enjoy his dignity ; his sister, who was a woman 

 of great intrigue and activity, and of wonderful beauty, 

 having gained over the chief of the nobles, drove her 

 brother into exile, and took possession of his throne. 

 She, however, in her turn, was exposed to intrigue, and 

 being obliged to flee from her capital, she was killed 

 in endeavouring to escape from her other brother Baha- 

 ram, who was then raised to the throne. His reign also 

 was of very short duration ; for in little more than two 

 years his army rebelled, and placed a son of Feroze on 

 the throne ; but he being a man of very weak abilities, 

 was almost immediately deposed in favour of his uncle 

 Nassurodien Mahmoud, a man of great energy, enter- 

 prise, and prudence, as well as of considerable literary 

 attainments. For some time before he became empe- 

 ror he had been imprisoned, and during his imprison- 

 ment he supported himself by writing, saying, that 

 those who would not gain their bread by their labour, 

 did not deserve to eat. Even after he, was seated on, 

 the throne, he continued to supply his private wants 

 by his own industry. He was eminently successful in 

 all his wars, and astonished his subjects by the mode- 

 ration and clemency with which he pursued his con- 

 quests. He died after a prosperous reign of twenty- 

 one years, and, leaving no children, was succeeded by 

 Balin, who was of the same family. 



Balin had been originally a Turkish prisoner, who 

 was sold as a slave to a person at Delhi ; here making 

 known and proving his relationship to the reigning fa- 

 mily, he was admitted into it, and advanced to the 

 highest rank and privileges, even before the death of 

 Mahmoud. The character of Balin is represented as 

 excellent in almost every point of view. It was one of 

 his highest gratifications to make his palace an hospu 



History. 



Subsequent 

 invasions of 

 the Moguls. 



Feroze, 

 A. D. 1235. 



Balin re- 

 presses the. 

 Moguls, 

 and im- 

 proves his 

 empire. 



