HINDOOSTAN, n 
doos coming to the relief of their facred city and temple, 
drew the attention of Mahmood from the fiege, to his more 
immediate fafety. Leaving, therefore, a body of troops to 
keep the befieged in awe, he took a Itrong pofition, and 
prepared to engage the advancing'enemy. Thefe were 
led to battle by rajah Byram Deo, from whofe family 
the city and territory of Deogur received their name; 
and other confiderable rajahs, who, it is faid, determined 
to die in defence of the temple and its gods, or deftroy 
the prefumptuous invader. Accordingly, they fought 
with a heroifm proportionate to their fuperftition; and, 
before victory declared for Mahmood, five thoufand Hin¬ 
doos lay flaughtered on the field. The garril'on of Sum- 
naut, after this defeat, giving up all for loft, iftued out of 
a gate that looked,towards the ocean, and, embarking in 
boats to the number of four or five thoufand, intended to 
proceed to the ifland of Serandib, now Ceylon; but, in¬ 
formation of their flight having been given to the fultan, 
he feized the boats which were left in the harbour, and, 
rowing after them with a leleft body of his beft troops, 
they captured fome, and funk others, permitting but few 
of the miferable fugitives to efcape. 
After placing a large body of guards at the gates, Mah¬ 
mood now entered the city ; and, approaching the temple, 
was ftruck with the majeftic grandeur and magnitude of 
the ftrufture; but when he entered, and faw the inefti- 
mable riches it contained, he was filled with aftonilhment 
and delight. In the fury of Mohammedan zeal, he finote 
off the nofe of the idol, and ordered the image to be 
pounded to pieces. At this inftant a crowd of Brahmins, 
frantic at the profanation of their temple, offered the 
conqueror ail immenfe fum to fpare the image of their 
god; but Mahmood replied, that he would never bebranded 
with the bafe charafter of a feller of idols. The foldiers 
therefore proceeded in their work; and broke in pieces 
the body of the idol, when out tumbled an infinite variety 
of diamonds, rubies, and pearls, fo pure, and of a magni¬ 
tude fo uncommon, that the beholders were filled with 
furprife and admiration. This unexpected treafure, with 
all the fpoil taken in the temple and city of Sumnaut, 
were immediately lecured and carried off; while fragments 
of the demolilhed idol were diftributed to the feveral 
mofques of Mecca, Medina, and Gazna, to be thrown at 
the threfhold of their gates, and trampled under foot by 
zealous Muffulmen. 
Mahmood, after an abfence of two years and fix months, 
fet off with this immenfe plunder, on his return to Gazna. 
But, as he had the deferts to repafs, the army miftook its 
way, and was expofed to the moft incredible hardlhips. 
While his troops were expiring with their tongues hang¬ 
ing out for want of water, and the liorfes, camels, and 
elephants, perilhing at every ftep, the guide, being fuf- 
pefted, was put to the torture ; when he confeffed that 
he was one of the priefts of Sumnaut, and thought it his 
duty thus to revenge the infults offered to his god. He 
was inftantly impaled, and Mahmood, with his army, thus 
miraculoufty preferved. 
Not long after his return to Gazna, the health of Mah¬ 
mood began vifiblv to decline; but the indifpofition of 
his body by no means damped the ardour of his mind. 
In the decline of life, he added the extenfive province of 
Perfian Irak to his domain. And now, finding his end 
approach, this brave but rapacious conqueror command¬ 
ed that ail the lacks of gold, and caskets of precious 
ftones, which his treafury contained, Ihould be brought 
before him; and, having gazed'longaqd attentively upon 
them, he remained for fome time filent, and then burft 
into tears. He crdeted, the following day, a review of his 
numerous army, his elephants, camels, horfes, and cha¬ 
riots ; with which having for fome time feafted his eyes 
from a lofty travelling throne, he again Hied a plentiful 
flood of tears, and retired in anguilh and defpair to his 
palace. His diforder, which arofe from an ulcer of the 
lungs, daily gaining ground, he by a folemn deed ap¬ 
pointed his youngeft Ion, Mohammed, to lucceed him in 
4 
the fovereignty of all. his newly-acquired dominiofls, ex¬ 
cept that of the Perfian Irak, which he had given to Maf- 
fud, his eldeft ion; and fliortly after he yielded up the 
ghoft, at the palace of Gazna, in the fixty-third year of 
his age, and the thirty-fifth of his reign, in the 421ft year 
of the Hegira,-and 1030 of the Chriftian aera. 
Mohammed, who fucce^ded to Gazna, and the con¬ 
quered parts of Hindooftan, enjoyed the imperial dignity 
but for a Ihort time. Maflud, his elder, though only by 
a few hours, (for they were twins,) firft took pofleflion of 
the Perfian Irak, agreeably to his father’s will, and then 
marched an army againft his brother, to difpute his claim 
to an empire which he deemed his birth-right. Moham¬ 
med, on the other hand, prepared to fupport his juft pre- 
tenfions to that fovereignty, which had been delegated to 
hirrr by the dying words and will of hfe father. With 
this view he opened ’the royal treafury, and prepared to 
decide the matter by force of arms ; but, in his march he 
was deferted by his ableft generals ; and himlelf, fliortly 
after, by the perfidy of fome of his confidants, betrayed 
into the hands of his brother Maflud., who for ever barred 
all his future hopes, by cruelly putting out his eyes. In 
the year of the hegira 4^, or A. D. 1028, exaftty five 
months after the death of Mahmood, his elder fan Maf- 
fud was invefted with the royal dignity. During the con- 
fufions that arofe from the contention' of tlie rival bro¬ 
thers, many cities of Hindooftan, which had been redu¬ 
ced by fultan Mahmood, revolted. Maflud, therefore, 
determined to lead an army in perfon to fecure the laurels 
fo glorioufly won by his father. With more zeal than 
prudence, the new Gaznavide monarch urged on his 
courfe towards Hindooftan by the route of Cachimere; 
and arriving before the fort of Surfutti, orSarfabi, which 
commanded thepaffes, he invefted it with his whole force. 
The inhabitants would willingly have averted his ven¬ 
geance by propofal.s of capitulation ; but the cries of fome 
Muffulmen captives reaching his ear, determined him to 
ftorm the fort. The deep iurrounding fofs was imme¬ 
diately filled up with felled trees, and lugar-canes, which 
grew fpontaheoufly in that neighbourhood. The fcaling 
ladders were then applied to the walls; the garrifon, 
without diltinftion of age or lex, were barbaroufly put 
to the fword ; and the place was given up to the plunder 
of the foldiers ; when a part of the fpoil foothed the buf¬ 
ferings of the imprifoned Muffulmen. 
In the year 1035, Maflud again bent his progress 
towards Hindooftan, and attacked the ftrong fort and city 
of Hafli, the capital of Sewalic, a country near the then' 
fuppofed fources of the Ganges, and reckoned impregna¬ 
ble. In the temples and palace of that city he found im¬ 
menfe treafures, which having carefully lecured, he 
marched on without delay to the fort of Sunput, forty 
miles from Delhi, on the road to Lahore. At the con¬ 
queror’s approach, Deipal, the Hindoo governor, evacuv 
ated the fort, and fled into the woods; but his treafure, 
which, he had not time to carry off, became the property 
of Maflud. He then ordered all the temples of the cap¬ 
tured places to be laid in ruins, and their idols to be bro¬ 
ken down. Deipal, driven from his government, ap¬ 
peared in arms to regain, if poflible, his plundered tfiea- 
fures, but was furpfited by the fultan, his. army taken 
prifoners, and himlelf compelled to efcape in the habit 
of a Have. In a letter which Maflud now wrote to his om- 
rahs at Gazna, he informed them of his having, during 
this expedition, facrificed to the religion of Mohammed 
fifty thoufand. infidels, taken feventy thoufand priloners, 
and acquired a booty amounting to a million of dinars,’! 
The progrefs, however, of the defolating.hand of Maf- 
fud was fafbdrawing to an end. The province of Gazna 
was now invaded by the Seljukian Turks, who compelled 
him to withdraw into Hindooftan, till he could, by one 
grand and decifive effort, retrieve his perplexed affairs 
With this view he collected, his immenfe wealth from the 
different ftrong holds of Gazna, and, laying it upon a 
number of camels, bent his courfe towards Lahore. He 
likewile 
