HINDOOSTAN. 
now feized the royal diadem, aftumed the title of fultan, 
and fummoned the diftant governors to acknowledge his 
authority, and repair to Gazna to render him homage, as 
their lawful fovereign. But, while the tyrant fat on 
his throne to receive the compliments. which were to 
ufher in the firlt year of his reign, fome virtuous adhe¬ 
rents to the imperial family, feigning to pay him fealty, 
at one and the fame infant drew their l'cymetars, and 
plunged them in his heart. 
Soon after this facrifice to offended juftice, Hajib, the 
principal general of the murdered Abdalrafhid, arrived 
at Gazna with the array ; and, calling a council of fate, 
inquired whether any yet remained of the race of Subuc- 
tagi. He was informed, that in a certain fort there yet 
remained imprifoned, Feroch Zaad, Ibrahim, and Suja. 
Thefe he ordered to be brought from their confinement; 
and, it being agreed that fortune fliould decide by lot 
which of them fliould afcend the throne, the lot fell upon 
Feroch Zaad, who accordingly received the allegiance of 
the court. The reign of Abdalrafliid comprehended only 
one year: he was not a prince of great capacity, but cer¬ 
tainly deferved a better fate. 
Feroch Zaad, or Ferokhzad, on afcending the throne, 
gave the reins of government into the hands of Hajib ; 
who not only approved himfelf worthy of fuch a truft, 
but in two pitched battles defeated the Turkifli Seljuks, 
who had long attempted the conqueft of the Gaznavian 
empire. No remarkable occurrences in Hindooftan dif- 
tinguilhed this reign, which was but of fix years duration, 
as the fultan died A. D. 1058, and was fucceeded by Ibra¬ 
him, the ninth king of Gazna and India, He was a 
prince remarkable for morality and devotion, having in 
the flower of his youth, amidft every temptation to plea- 
lure, conquered his fenfual appetites, and added two 
months more to the Mohammedan feaft of Ramazan, 
which he kept with unprecedented feverity. He, at the 
fame time, gave ftriCl attention to the affairs of his go¬ 
vernment, and to the due adminiftration of juftice. This 
prince, we are told, excelled in the art of fine writing; 
and in the libraries of Mecca and Medina there are two 
copies of the Koran, written with his own hand, which 
were fent as prelents to the caliph. In the firft year of 
his reign, having received intelligence that Malec Shah, 
king of the Seljukian Turks, had collected a great army, 
with an intention to invade Gazna* Ibrahim, confcious 
of his own inferiority in the field, by a well-contrived ar¬ 
tifice diverted his hoftile intentions. Not long after, he 
concluded a treaty of peace with thofe difturbers of the 
national tranquillity, ceding to them all the country they 
had conquered, upon condition that they fliould never in¬ 
vade the reft of his dominions. To ftrengthen this alli¬ 
ance, he married his fon Maffud to the daughter of Malec 
Shah; and this politic meafure feems to have fecured the, 
repofe of his realm, from that quarter, during the remain¬ 
der of his reign. 
Zealous, however, for the propagation of the Moham¬ 
medan faith, and anxious to retain the important con- 
quefts in Hindooftan, he fent a confiderable army into 
that country, and took poffefiion of many places which 
had never been before fubdued by the Moflem arms. In 
1079, he marched thither in perl'on, and extended his con- 
quelts to the fort of Adjodin. This place being taken, 
he turned to another fort, called Rupal, which was built 
upon the fummit of a fteep hill. A river incloled it on 
three fides, and a fmall peninfula joined it to the other 
hills, which were entirely covered wuth an impervious 
wood, much infefted by venomous l'erpents. This circum- 
ltance, however, did not dif’courage the fultan from the 
attempt. He ordered feveral thoufand hatchet-men to 
clear away the wood, which they effected in fpite of all 
oppofition, and, the rock being foft, the miners forced 
their way in a ftiort time under the walls, which were 
brought down in ruins. The place was immediately ta¬ 
ken, and the garrifon made prifoners. Several other 
ftrotig holds were alio taken and deftroyed, many temples 
Vol.X. No. 637. 
1$ 
plundered, the idols demolifhed, and, with x prafufion of 
riches and magnificent fpoils, one hundred thoufand un¬ 
fortunate Hindoo prifoners were carried bound to Gazna. 
Some time after, the king meeting one of thofe un¬ 
happy men carrying a huge ftone, with great difficulty 
and labour, to a royal palace which was then building, 
it awakened the humanity of Ibrahim •. he commanded 
the captive to throw it down, and gave him his liberty, 
ordering that it ihould not be removed from the highway 
where it was depofited, hut remain there, “ as a memo¬ 
rial of the misfortunes of war, and the compaffion of the 
conqueror.” 
Ibrahim’s victories in Hindooftan were fo numerous 
and important, that they obtained him the names of AI 
Modhaffer, and Al Manfur; that is, the conqueror, and 
the triumphant. Notwithftanding, however, his frequent 
wars, he bore the character of a charitable and humane 
prince; and, during the intervals of peace, he was conti¬ 
nually employed in building mofques, oratories, hofpitals, 
and other edifices of national ornament and utility. After 
a reign of forty-two years, he died in 1088, leaving, ac¬ 
cording to Ferjhta , thirty-fix ions and forty-daughters, 
the latter of whom he gave in marriage to learned and re¬ 
ligious men who frequented bis court. 
Maffud III. the Ion of Ibrahim, and tenth king of 
Gazna and India, mounted the throne upon the deceafe 
of his father; and was not Iefs renowned for his juftice 
and mercy, than for the wifdom of the political maxims 
by wdiich he governed. He reviled the ancient laws and 
regulations of the ftate ; and, abrogating fuch as were un- 
reafonable, fubftituted others in their place, founded upon 
more enlarged and generous principles. He took the 
daughter of Sinjar, fuccefl'or of Malec Shah, king of the 
Seljuks, in marriage, which cemented between them a firm 
and lalting friendlhip. 
Unlike that of his predeceffor, his reign was the reign 
of peace in the weltern diflriCls of his empire, and afford¬ 
ed ample leifure to his generals to extend their arms eaft- 
ward in Hindooftan, even beyond the fartheft boundaries 
of the conquelts of the great Mahmood himfelf. They 
crofted the river Ganges, and, having plundered many- 
rich cities and temples, returned in triumph to Lahore; 
which, being more remote from the Seljukian dominions, 
was now become tire favoured refidence of the Gaznavian 
kings. After a reign of lixteen years, Maft'ud died in the 
year of the hegira 508, or A. D. 1114; and Arfilla, his 
ion, having imbrued his hands in the blood of Shire, the 
rightful heir, aifumed the fceptre and the diadem. His 
ianguinary mind now exerted itfelf in aCls of tyranny to¬ 
wards his other brethren. They were all cruelly and 
clofely confined. One of them, however, Byram, evaded 
the vigilance of his keepers, and fled for protection to his 
uncle Sinjar, who, on the part of his brother Mohammed, 
king of Perfia, then ruled the province of Chorafan. Sinjar 
inftantly demanded the releafe of his nephews; and on the 
refufal of Arfilla to liberate them, he advanced, with By¬ 
ram, towards Gazna, to enforce what the ufurper had denied. 
Sinjar marched from Bull, in Chorafan, with thirty thou¬ 
fand horfe and fifty thoufand foot; and without oppofi¬ 
tion advanced within one pharfang of Gazna, where the 
army of Arfilla was drawn out in order of battle. The 
line of Sinjar was immediately formed, the horfe were di¬ 
vided into lquadrons, with battalions of fpearmen in the 
intervals, and the elephants brought up the rear. Encou¬ 
raging his troops, he advanced refolutely towards the ene¬ 
my, who flood firm to receive the charge. “ The fhock 
was fo violent on both iides, that order and command 
yielded to rage and confufion. . The gleam of arms that 
illuminated the field was foon quenched in blood, and 
darkened by clouds of duft, that took away all diffrac¬ 
tion.” At length the troops of Gazna were put to flight; 
and Arfilla, unable to renew the combat, fled with preci¬ 
pitation towards Hindooftan. The victorious Sinjar en¬ 
tered Gazna in triumph • and, after having eftablilhed By¬ 
ram on the throne, returned to his own country. Ar¬ 
il fiUfls 
