[nukkad] Fw: Insight India : 9

[zaverirm <>]

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Tip of the day:  "If thine enemy wrong thee, buy each of his children a drum."
                -- Chinese proverb
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----- Original Message -----
From: zaveri rohit 
To: 
Sent: Tuesday, October 17, 2000 11:04 PM
Subject: Insight India : 9


> Dear friends,
Yesterday I wrote about Mehmud Gazni`s violent rise to power and ruthless
savage attempts to enter the Ganga plains. He subsequently carried out
several raids into Punjab and eastern Rajasthan demolishing Rajput
resistance by his    superior armoury.The damage he could do in Kashmir was
relatively less due to   its difficult terrain.In September 1018 he
penetrated into the east of Delhi    and conquered Bulandshar, while nearby
Mathura chose to surrender avoiding      wholesome bloodbath. The serene
beauty of many Mathura temple architecture      dazzled him, but his hatred
of idols prevented him from sparing any temples.He  collected vast sum of
booty. Towards the end of that year he seized and then    destroyed Kanauj.
On his return track he ransacked many a smaller forts and     temples and
decamped with huge booty which included besides vast weight of      gold,
55000 slaves and 350 elephants. From 1019 to 1023 Kalinjar remained his
target.Deeper raids into eastern India was of no use to his mission of loot
and annihilation and in October 1025 he sat out at the head of 30,000
regular       cavalry and a vast army of volunteers on his famous expedition
to Somnath on the coast of Saurashtra, north Gujarat.Elaborate preplanning
was done this time to  traverse through the desert of Jasailmer and
Anhilwara. Bhudeva, the Chalukya   king of Anhilwara could not offer much
fightback. At Patan in Gujarat some      20,000 Hindus gave a brave and
stiff resistance but were finally routed.In early January 1026 Mehmud was
positioned before the Somnath fortress on the sea shore. The garrison made
desparate assaults on the invaders but were unable to with-   stand their
deadly showers of arrows. Some 50,000 devotees laid down their      lives in
vain to save their deity`s honour. The idol was smashed. The booty
amounted to 20,000,000 dinars, each of which contained 64.8 grains of gold.
After staying in Somnath for a fortnight,enjoying its destruction, the
sadist   took a westerly route through the runn of Kutch and Sindh, this
time avoiding   direct confrontation with disturbed Rajas who might seek
vengence.The Ismaili   ruler of Mansura fled, but the Hindu tribes harassed
the tired returning army   inflicting heavy losses on them.He returned to
Gazni in April 1026. The same year Bhimpal who had succeeded his father
Trilochanapal died  and the Hindushahi dynasty came to an end.He died on
30th April 1030, the cause of his death not   very clear to historians.
Rohit Zaveri, Dubai.
> >
>
>



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