Beport of tie Arclceological Survey. xly 



by that entrance. I feel satisfied that this must be the Banjit gate 

 of Lalkot for the following reasons :— 



X s t,—The Musalmans never make any mention of Lalkot, but 

 always include it as a part of Eai Pithora' s Port, 



2nd.— The possession of the larger and weaker fortress of Eai Pithora 

 could not be called the conquest of Delhi, while the stronger citadel 

 of Lalkot still held out. 



3 r( ^ — The evident care with which the approach to the Banjit gate 

 has been strengthened by a double line of works, and by three separate 

 out-works immediately in front of the gateway itself, shows that this 

 must have been considered as the weakest point of the fortress, and 

 therefore that it was the most likely to have been attacked. For this 

 reason I conclude that the Banjit gate was the one by which the 

 Musalmans entered Lalkot, the citadel of Dilli, and that, having proved 

 its weakness by their own success, they at once proceeded to strengthen 

 the works at this point for their own security. A case exactly similar 

 occurred less than forty years afterwards, when the Emperor Altamish, 

 having gained an entrance into the fortress of Gwalior by the deep 

 ravine on the west side called Urwdhi, immediately closed it by a 

 massive wall, to prevent his enemies from taking advantage of the 

 same weak point. I believe that the western gate was called the 

 Ghazni gate for the simple reason only that Ghazni lies to the west 

 of Delhi. 



86. The Fort of Eai Pithora, which surrounds the citadel of Lalkot 

 on three sides, would appear to have been built to protect the Hindu 

 city of Dilli from the attacks of the Musaimans. As early as A. D. 

 1100, the descendants of Mahmud, retiring from Ghazni before the 

 rising power of the Saljukis, had fixed their new capital at Lahore, 

 although Ghazni still belonged to their kingdom, and was occasionally 

 the seat of Government. But a new and more formidable enemy soon 

 appeared, when the celebrated Muaz-uddin Sam, commonly called 

 Muhammad Ghori, after capturing the cities of Multan and Pesha- 

 war, appeared before Lahore in A. D. 1180, and put an end to the 

 Ghaznavide dynasty by the capture of their capital in A. D. 1186. 

 The danger was now imminent, and only 5 years later, in A. D. 1191 

 we find the Ghori King in full march on Ajmere. But the Eaja of 

 Dilli was well prepared for this invasion, and, with the aid of his allies 

 he defeated the Musaimans, with great slaughter, at Tilaori, midway 



