and Mr. Elphinstone ('History,' ch. ii. book iv. p. 431) states that the Rajpoot family of Silhar possessed Tagára as its capital in the eleventh century. The city itself, however, has never been discovered under its recorded name. Dogurh. The Yádává dynasty had probably existed for a considerable period before it rose to its zenith of power. Its foundation is Yádává attributed to Ramjee, a shepherd, five centuries B.C.; dynasty of but there is no distinct record of its genealogies, though it claimed, like many others, a descent from one of the Pandoos of the Máhábhárut. Whether it was the successor to Shaliváháná, or not, has never been traced. In 1190 A.D. one of its inscriptions records conquests of the western provinces emperor of of the Chalookya kingdom; and while by it the kingdom of the Chalookyas, on the fall of the Kalabhooryas, was annexed, victories are also recorded over the Belláls of Dwára Sumoodra. The capital of the Yádávás was Déoghur, and their history, as connected with the Mahomedan invasion, will be related hereafter. Henry VI. Germany. The ancient and powerful dynasty of the Andhras seems to have split into four portions after the Christian era. The ori- Andhras. ginal stock still held Maghada, in Bahar, and in A.d. 53 the Ganapati branch settled south of the Godavery, under Kákateya; another branch, the Narooputea, became masters of Nero Telingána, of which the capital was Wurungul; and a third, the Gajupati, ruled over Kuttack. Nothing of accurate historic record is known of these dynasties, till the Mahomedans found the Narupati Andhras at Wurungul, and this event in their history will be recorded in its proper place. emperor. From Déogurh and Malwah the Hindoo kingdoms and dynasties pass into those of the north. What have been reviewed in the present chapter contain those only of the south so far as inscriptions or other memorials have served to perpetuate them for more than a thousand years, and those of the Chalookyan group are curiously exact and complete. It may be gathered from the recorded history of their contentions, that not only did no confederation of States exist, but that there was no sympathy or bond of union between any of them. On the contrary, indeed, a perpetual strife for superiority was maintained, which resulted in the domination, now of one, now of another, as had been the case in Northern India up to the period of the Mahomedan invasion of the south. From the fifth century the history of the Carnatic is, of all, the clearest portion, and is well illustrated by the inscriptions of the ruling families, the absence of which, in other localities, is so much to be regretted. The country appears to have been well peopled and well cultivated; and the sea-coast afforded means of communication by sea with Egypt and Arabia. In most respects little change can be traced, and the names of towns and villages mentioned in inscriptions and now existing have not been altered. From the Christian era up to the seventh century the Jain faith was the prevailing religion; and, as in Guzerat and other localities where it existed, its richly decorated temples remain as proofs, not only of the highest architectural skill of the period, but of a refinement in taste which is perhaps traceable to Greek influence. On the mission of Shunkur Acharya, in the eighth century, most of the people forsook the Jain faith, and returned to the Brahminical tenets preached by him, which enjoined the worship of Seeva. The village communities were governed on the same principles as at present, by their hereditary officers. Colleges and schools had been established for education, and endowed by their founders; hereditary district officers, deans of guild, and other functionaries presided over the administration of the laws and the collections of revenue; agriculture was well protected, and flourished; and so far as the inscriptions1 afford particulars, there seems to be no reason to doubt the existence of a high and then progressive civilisation, equal in all respects to that of Northern India. 1 Sir Walter Elliot's collection. BOOK II. CHAPTER I. OF THE EARLY MAHOMEDAN INVASIONS OF INDIA, A.D. 664 To 997. Mahomedan . In the year 622 A.D. Mahomed fled from Mecca to Medina, and the date was accepted as the commencement of the Mahomedan era, under the title of the Hegira. Before progress. a hundred years had expired, Egypt, Syria, Northern Africa, and part of Spain had been subdued by the Arabs, and the religious belief of Mahomed was diffused as widely as the conquests of his votaries had extended. While Mahomedanism spread thus rapidly to the west, it progressed even in a more permanent degree through Arabia and Persia into Central Asia. Westwards, the new faith had been checked by Christianity; eastwards there was nothing to oppose its progress but an effete fire-worship in Persia, and beyond that, a semi-savage Paganism, of which no distinct traces are obtainable, but which may have been allied to the observances of the ancient Scythians. The warriors of Islam, urged on by fanatical zeal on the one hand, and love of plunder and deminion on the other, quickly overran Central Asia, and as early as 664 A.D., forty-four years after the Hegira, had penetrated to Kabool, while the intervening tracts of Persia had been already brought within the pale of Mahomedanism and its governments, and were subject to the Arab caliphs established in them. This history has no concern with the fluctuations of power which followed the first Arab settlements in Afghanistan; but, of them, the results were the acceptation of the Mahomedan faith, and a nominal, if not in some instances actual, submission to the central Mahomedan government. On the south side of Persia the Mahomedan progress was no less rapid than on the north-east. Bussora was founded by the Caliph Omar, and from Expedition thence expeditions against Sinde and Beloochistan were to Sinde. undertaken, but with only partial success. In the year 711 A.D., from Bussora however, an Arab vessel was detained at the mouth of the Indus; and the prince of the country, Rajah Dàhoo, was called upon for its restitution. It was in vain he urged that the locality was not in his territory; the Mahomedans would hear of no excuse, and sent a small detachment of troops to enforce the demand, which was overwhelmed. The governor of Bussora, Hejáz, now dispatched a larger force, of 6,000 men, under his nephew Kassim, who, having succeeded in taking by storm a celebrated temple, in which he obtained a large booty-probably Dwarka-followed its defenders along the Indus, defeated a numerous army assembled by the Rajah, who perished in the battle, and finally reached his capital, Brahminabad, which was defended by his widow. Kassim, though well provided with catapults and other engines of war, made little impression on the place; but a scarcity of provision rendered the defenders desperate, and in a hopeless sally against the Mahomedans, the Hindoo queen and body-guard of Rajpoots perished. Sinde. Kassim then advanced to Mooltan, which was weakly defended, and the capture of a few less important cities completed the conquest of Sinde. First conquest of Phillipinus Bardanes emperor of the East. It is alleged by some writers, that the youthful conqueror, having re-equipped his army, and received reinforcements, marched across India to the Ganges. This, however, does not rest upon authority sufficient to establish it as an historical fact; and the forces at his disposal, which never exceeded 8,000 men, render it improbable that he should have even attempted such an expedition. On the contrary, he seems to have been satisfied with his conquest, and set himself diligently to conciliate the people, and confirm them in their rights of property; but his miserable end prevented the accomplishment of his plans. Two beautiful daughters of the Rajah Dàhoo had been despatched by Kassim to the Caliph's harem. On their arrival at Damascus, one of them denounced Kassim as having dishonoured her, and a mandate was sent to Sinde for him to be sewn up in a raw hide, Kassim. and sent to the Caliph. When the body arrived at Damascus, the princess declared her falsehood, but triumphed in having thus avenged her father's death. Whether this legend be strictly true, is perhaps questionable, though related by various Mahomedan historians; it is however certain, that by Kassim's death, or recal from Sinde, the Mahomedan power then was much weakened, and after an occupation by his successors of dans expelled about forty years, they were expelled by the Rajpoot from India. tribe of Suméra, who took possession of the province : nor were any further attempts to regain a footing in India made by the Arab caliphs. The Mahomedan faith, lacking the military Death of The Mahome Egbert Saxon support which had accompanied it elsewhere, did not progress in Sinde; and after a time the Arab invasion had become little more than tradition. According to Rajpoot authority, however, it is related, that in the reign of Khomán, Rajah of Chittore, an invasion of Mahomedans took place between A.D. 812 and 836, under Mahmood, son, or other relative, of the Caliph king. Haroun-al-Rasheed, and then governor of Khorassán, and that the Mahomedans were defeated and expelled from India; but this alleged event is not confirmed by Mahomedan historians, and may be doubtful, or perhaps the mere repression of a predatory raid. If it really happened, it forms additional proof that early Mahomedan enterprises against the Hindoos, with the exception of that of Kassim, were unsuccessful, and that they were found more united, and more powerful and warlike, than the people of the west, over whom the Mahomedans had triumphed. After the death of the Caliph Haroun-al-Rasheed in A.D. 806, the empire of the Arab Caliphate did not preserve its integrity. The great provinces of Khorassán and Trans-Oxania had rebelled, and in the course of sixty years had become independent under the Tahirites, or successors of Tahir, who had begun the movement. They were succeeded by the Alfred king Sofarides, in A.D. 872, the founder of which short- of England. lived dynasty was Yakoob, a brazier of Seistan, who became a military adventurer of much celebrity: and these were subverted in turn by the Samánis, in 903 A.D., a dynasty which Edward king continued to exist in Central Asia for 120 years. The of England. fifth prince, Abdul Melek, possessed a Toorky slave, named Alptugeen, who held the high office of governor of Khorassán. On the death of his patron, in A.D. 961, he fell under the suspicion of the successor to the throne, and having escaped with a few followers, betook himself to Ghuzny, an outlying province to the south-eastward, among the Monarchy of Soliman mountains, where, aided by the rude Afghan Ghuzny estapopulation of the tract, he became independent. In or about A.D. 976 Alptugeen died, and was succeeded by Subooktugeen, also a slave, who had married his daughter. Ferishta states that Alptugeen had a son named Isákh, king of who succeeded his father, and died in less than two years, without issue, and that on his death Subooktugeen was elected king, and married as already stated. Edgar reigns. blished. Edward II. England. Although a slave, having been purchased by a merchant in Toorkistan when a boy, Subooktugeen yet claimed Subooktuillustrious descent from Yezdijerd, the last of the geen's expedi Persian kings. He displayed great talent at an early India. age, and was entrusted by Alptugeen with military expeditions, tions into Disruption of the Caliphate. |