222 B. Bandyopadhyaya — Hamir Bdsd, [No. 3, 



of Kanauj." He felt glad and sorry at intervals : glad at the heroic death 

 of his uncle, and sorry at the loss of so great an ally. He continued, " You 

 have killed 60 elephants, 200,000 horses and 26 Amirs ; glory to you for 

 ever, invincible hero of heroes." 



So numerous were the men slain and wounded in the Musalman ranks, 

 that it took Ala-uddin full six months to have them buried one by one. 



" Imperial Majesty," said a herald to Ala-uddin, " it is said that Maha- 

 deva, the lord of tigers, is Hamir's ally. He has blessed the brave Rao, 

 telling him, ' Fear not, child, your fort can never be taken, even if the 

 siege last for fourteen years.' " 



On the third day after the full-moon in the month of Asaj (Septem- 

 ber), the emperor marched to break down all the temples at Alanpur. On 

 this, there followed a great commotion among the devils of Mahadeva. 

 Sixty-four Joginis and fifty-four Bhairavs (he-devils), armed with tridents 

 and khappars (cups for holding blood) danced a horrible dance. They, with 

 Sheoji at their head, rushed at Ala-uddin, playing on deheru and singing 

 through sarikli (shells) many fearful, soul- stirring, martial airs. A Bhairav 

 was close at the heels of the Emperor, exclaiming : " I will slay thee, wretch, 

 knock thy head and make a grand feast of thy blood." - The terrified emperor 

 fled with haste, praying, " Defend me, Alia, defend me now that I am about to 

 be eaten up by this dreadful monster." Then the goddess S'akti, taking her 

 various shapes with bows, arrows, rings, swords, daggers and spears in her 

 hands, and the gods armed with hal, mushal, ankus, mudgar, each his own 

 weapon, fell on the Musalman troops. 100,000 of the infidels fell. Ganesa 

 bewildered the brains of many Kbans, Mil's and Amirs who began to cut 

 off the heads of their friends, mistaking them for foes. All was confu- 

 sion. Heaps upon heaps of dead bodies lay here and there and made the 

 roads quite impassable. Ah ! what a dreadful sight it was to look upon ! 

 Seven Mirs, being totally hopeless of victory, went away from the imperial 

 ranks. The Emperor was struck with great astonishment at seeing the 

 corpses of 200,000 of his forces, and those of two very able chiefs Himmat 

 Bahadur and Ali Khan among them. He thus thought within himself — 

 " What destroyer of gods is ever happy ? We hear that Hari killed hun- 

 dreds of Asurs or devils in ancient times. Man can match with man, 

 gods with gods, and devils with devils." He called many Brahmans very 

 eagerly, and told them to do whatever they could in the way of appeasing 

 the anger of the incensed gods. 



He gave orders to march from Alanpur with all expedition. 

 Emperor. — " Although I am Hamir's enemy, I cannot but admire the 

 way in which his men fight. They are quite at home with the sword. 

 While many in our ranks fell, they fought very manfully, fearing none and, 



