HINDOOS TAN. Q 
not poffibly meet with oppofition ; like his predeceffors, in 
the beautiful Sogd of Samarcand he let his deftroying le- 
swvs loofe, and fpread daughter and devaftation through 
the vrtiulo of that rich vale. His efforts to reduce the for- 
treffes, erected on the lofty mountains that defend the in¬ 
terior country, were not, in the firft inftance, fuccefsful ; 
but of every thing of value he bereaved the unfortunate 
city and people of Cachimere, and returned with this ad¬ 
ditional fpoil to Gazna. 
The infatiable Mahmood, however, (till intent on con- 
quefi; and plunder, collected in 1018 an army of one hun¬ 
dred thoafand horfe, and thirty thoufand foot, which at¬ 
tended him on his eighth Indian expedition, wherein he 
directed the whole force of his empire againft Canouge, at 
that time the principal metropolis of Hindooftan. The 
riches and magnificence of Delhi mult doubtlefs have ex¬ 
cited him to this bold and hazardous attempt; for Ca¬ 
nouge was diftant from Gazna not lefs than a three-months 
march; and feven rapid ftreams, the principal branches 
that ccmpofe the Indus, interfered the path that led to 
this new theatre of plunder and fpoil. The trad of coun¬ 
try thus to be invaded, comprehended many great and 
wealthy provinces, Oude, Bengal, Bahar, Allahabad, and 
a confiderable portion of Agra; in which province, ac¬ 
cording to the Ayeen-Akbery, Canouge hands. 
Of Mahmood’s toilfome march of three months into 
Hindooftan by the mountains of Thibet, over which his 
route lay, no particulars are recorded; but when, with 
his immenfe army, hearrived before the walls of Canouge, 
he is faid there to have “ beheld a city which raifed its 
head to the firmament, and which in ftrength and ftruc- 
ture might juftly boaft to have no e'qual.” The then 
reigning fovereign, rajah ICorra, we are told, maintained 
a numerous army, and affeCted in his habits the utmoft 
pomp and fplendour; but from the unexpected route 
taken by Mahmood, and the celerity of his movements, 
the rajah was totally unapprifed of the approach of fo 
vaft an army, and of courfe unprepared to oppofe it in 
the field. One hundred thoufimd .of Mahmood’s horfe 
were already ravaging the fuburbs; while the fierce man¬ 
ners and determined alpect of the Afghan and Tartar 
bands, ftruck terror into the aftonifhed citizens; infomuch 
that the Hindoo troops that formed the cuftomary guard, 
confuting chiefly of infantry, fled in every direction for 
fafety. The rajah, convinced that all oppofition would 
be unavailing, went out, with his family, in a fuppliant 
manner, to the camp of Mahmood, to claim his mercy, 
and foiicit his protection. Thefe were readily granted; 
the keys of the city and palace of the great metropolis of 
Hindooftan were delivered up ; and the fultan, after fecur- 
ing the fpoil, is faid to have repofed there himlelf and 
his army only three nights. 
On the fouthern verge of the dominions of the rajah of 
Delhi, and thirty-fix miles above Agra, ltood the ancient 
and renowned city of Matura, the Methora of Ptolemy. 
No idea can be formed, in modern times, of the riches and 
fplendour of this great city, which was the metropolis of 
the Yadu tribe; and on which kings, and priefts, and 
Brahmins, had for ages been heaping incalculable trea- 
fures. Ferocious as Mahmood was in war, and delighting 
in the devaftation of the temples and idols of Hindooftan, 
he is faid, by Feriflita, to have been equally aftonifhed 
and enraptured, when he beheld the admirable beauty and 
majeftic grandeur of its lofty temples, whofe gorgeous 
fhrines were loaded with offerings brought from the re- 
motcft parts of India, ever burning with the pureft 
naphtha, and ever fragrant with the coftlieft incenie. The 
foul of the Mohammedan invader was now more than 
ever intent upon his defolating progrefs. The enfeebled 
arm of the rajah of Delhi, to whom its defence was con¬ 
fided, was in vain raifed for its defence. The Mollem 
troops, participating in the favage ardour of their leader, 
forced their way into the centre of the city, which the 
relentlefs Mahmood at once delivered over to fpoliation 
and rapine. The mafs of wealth acquired in Matura was 
Vol. X. No. 636. 
unbounded; for,, independently of the plunder of the 
palaces and private houfes, in the temples were found five 
great idols of pure gold, with eyes formed of rubies, each 
of which eyes was worth fifty thoufand dinars. Upon 
another idol was found a fapphire, weighing four hundred 
milkal; and the image, being melted down, produced 
ninety-eight thoufand three hundred milkal of pure gold. 
Befides thefe, there were above a hundred idols of fiiver, 
which loaded a hundred camels with bullion. Ferijhta, i. 
P- 58 . 
Mahmood is faid to have taken up his abode in Matura. 
for twenty days ; during which a fire, the effeCt either of 
defign or accident, confumed a great part of the city, and 
greatly augmented the bufferings of the plundered inha¬ 
bitants. He then fecured the precious burthen of gems 
and gold, that weighed down his elephants and camels; 
and with them (lowly bent his courfe, by Lahore, to the 
imperial city of Gazna; where, opening the royal Itores 
and baggage, he exhibited to the inhabitants of his capital 
fuch an aftoniihing difplay of Indian wealth and magni¬ 
ficence, as at once infpired them with the higheft vene¬ 
ration for their heroic prince, and with a fervent hope 
that he would make the entire conqueft of a country thus 
abounding with inexhauftible treafures. The officers and 
even the private foldiers of his army were alfo opprefied 
with the multitude of their captives, and the weight of 
gold and fiiver bullion, in value equalling the enormous 
acquifition of the fultan himfelf; and the rapid circula¬ 
tion of this wealth foon exalted Gazna above the proud- 
eft cities of Alia. Mofques, baths, palaces, bazars, aque¬ 
ducts, were conftructed in every quarter of the city ; and 
to the efforts of individual induftry to adorn it, were ad¬ 
ded thofe of t^e fultan himfelf, who expended a portion 
of the wealth of Hindooftan in ereCling one fupremely 
beautiful and magnificent mofque of marble and granite, 
dedicated to the Prophet of the Moft High; the interior 
of which was hung with the richeft embroidered carpets 
that the looms of India and Perfia could produce, and 
adorned with golden chandeliers, and fuch a profufioc of 
other ornaments of the moft coftly kind, that it became 
celebrated through Afia by the name of the “ celeflial bride." 
Nor did Mahmood, who is faid to have been a learned man 
and a poet, wholly negleCl the interefts of fcience; for, 
near that mofque, he inftituted an univerfitv, which he 
ftored with an infinite variety of books in all languages; 
and not only with books, but with other rare and curious 
productions wrought by the different cafts of Hindoos,- 
thofe early examples of human induftry' and genius. He 
appointed, alfo, profeffors in the different departments of 
fcience, with ample ftipends for their fupport, and for that 
of the numerous youth who were to become their pupils. 
Thefe liberal and politic inftitutions, however, could con- 
fume but an inconfiderable portion of the treafure he had 
recently accumulated ; fo that by far the greater part was 
added to the incalculable mafs of hoarded wealth which 
every frelh irruption beyond the Indus contributed to 
augment. 
The fame of Mahmood’s conquefts in Hindooftan, and 
triumph over Indian idolatry, having reached Bagdad, 
the reigning caliph made a great feftival on the occafion, 
conferring on him titles of the higheft honour, and order¬ 
ing an account of his victories to be publicly read to the 
admiring populace. Mahmood, in 1021, to manifeft his 
gratitude for thefe favours, difpatched an army to open 
the roads to Mecca, which had long been obftruefted by 
the wild Arabs, who were accuftomed to murder the pil¬ 
grims, and plunder the caravans. 
His attention, however, was foon carried back to India, 
where fome of the neighbouring princes, enraged againft 
the rajah Korra for forming an alliance with Mahmood, 
had rifen in arms to exterminate and dethrone him. On 
receiving this intelligence, Mahmood inftantly relumed 
the long march to Canouge, which conftituted his ninth 
irruption into Hindooftan; but he arrived too late to lave 
his valfal from the fury of his aflailants. The rajah of 
D Cal linger, 
