and worse officered body of national militia, suddenly called into the field on moments of emergency; whilst their horses were the feeble race of steeds peculiar to the country, untrained to act in concert. The Tartars, like their predecessors the Saracens, had been particularly attentive to the breeding and training of their horses; and hence the Hindoos used to describe the dread charge of the Ghuzni cavalry as the burst of a whirlwind."|| provinces of Hindostan, till 56 B.C.; of the | of Rajpoots, who were bound to perform a expedition of Antiochus the Great,* who kind of feudal service for their lands. But is said to have overrun an extensive tract the Rajpoot vassals were an ill-equipped of country, and levied a tribute in elephants and money; of the planting of Christianity in India, by St. Bartholomew, according to some writers, and by St. Thomas, according to others; but few events are recorded in connection with these historical epochs, and imagination is left to fill up the blank. In the seventh century, the incursions of the Affghans and the Arabs commenced. The former people are said to be Copts of the race of Pharaoh, who, after the destruction of the Egyptian Sebuctaghi had been recognised as the host in the Red Sea, left their country, undoubted possessor of all his acquisitions travelled eastward, and settled in the Soli- by Noah, his Samanian suzerain, who made man mountains, retaining their ancient idolatrous faith. They were distinguished by a love of savage independence; but, in the eighth century, some portions of their territory were conquered by the Khans of Bokhara, and annexed to the Tartar principality of Khorassan. This district fell under the dominion of the Samanian dynasty, which ruled in the eastern provinces of Persia. The Persian princes were enabled to exact only a nominal obedience from the rude mountaineers; and for nearly a century we have no accurate account of the state of Affghanistan. Toward the end of the tenth century, we learn, that a Tartar chief, named Sebuctaghi, a man of extraordinary talents, who had risen from the condition of a slave to a high rank in the army, was governor of Ghuzni.§ He succeeded in incorporating several Tartar and Affghan tribes under his rule; rendered himself independent of the Samanian chiefs; and crossing the Indus, invaded the kingdom of Lahore, where he defeated Jeipal, the king, in several engagements, and that monarch was obliged to resign a large part of his dominions to the conqueror. "The causes of the success of the invaders, were the discipline of their soldiers, and the weight of their horses. Hindostan was, at this time, apportioned among various tribes • Antiochus reigned in Syria, from 223 to 187 B.C. + Briggs' Ferishta. This dynasty was founded by Ismael, the first who had the title of Padishah, or king of Persia, which was given him A.D. 900. He conquered Amru Laith, the governor of Khorassan, Fars, and Irak; and his descendants held the kingdom for upwards of a hundred years, till they were superseded by Mahmood of Ghuzni. his son, Mahmood, governor of Khorassan. The two chiefs died about the same time, A.D. 997; and Mahmood established himself at Ghuzni, by imprisoning his brother Ismael, who sought to supplant him. The successor of Noah refusing to confirm him in the government of Khorassan, he seized the province for himself; ordered the prayers for the Samanian dynasty to cease, and supplanted that family in the rule and authority it had exercised for more than a century. He was thenceforth styled sultan -an old Arabic word, signifying king. In 1001 he invaded Hindostan, and repeated his incursions fourteen times. Enormous masses of plunder were the result of his Indian wars; and the details which Ferishta¶ gives of the riches of the country at this period, border on the marvellous. In one fortified temple, situated on a steep mountain, connected with the lower Himalaya, called the Fort of Bheem,** there were found 700,000 golden dihuars, with at least 6,000 lbs. weight of gold and silver plate, gold ingots, silver bullion, and jewels. The various articles had been accumulating for many years; and when Mahmood and his officers entered the temple, they were struck with amazement at the magnificence of the display. On his return to Ghuzni, the sultan had golden thrones and tables manuTaylor's British India. ¶ Mohammed Kasim Ferishta was born at Astrabad, in 1570. When very young he went to India with his father, where he spent the remainder of his life-filling various high positions, being engaged in several military expeditions, and devoting his leisure time to the composition of a history of Hindostan ; which is the most trustworthy of any written by an orientalist, and of which a good English translation was published by Colonel Briggs, in 1829, § Spelt, also, Ghuznee, Ghazni, Ghizni, and Ghisni; as the chief's name is varied into Sabaktekin, Subuk-in 4 vols. 8vo. tugeen, and Soboktegin. Now Nagarcot. factured from the ingots. These were placed in a spacious plain; and his other acquired treasures were displayed upon them. For three days this exhibition continued; during which time the poor were relieved, rich gifts were bestowed on Mahmood's friends, and sumptuous banquets were provided, of which the spectators partook. It was a time of general rejoicing; and the sight of the riches, which were the result of the campaign, stimulated both prince and people for other enterprises.* The tenth expedition of Mahmood was the most important. It was undertaken in 1024, for the express purpose of destroying the temple of Somnauth, in Guzerat-the richest and the most popular in the country. It was dedicated to Siva, under his title of Swayan Nath, or "the Self-existent:" it encased a large stone idol, to wash which water was brought from the sacred Ganges, 1,000 miles distant; and many smaller ones: different princes had appropriated the revenues of 2,000 villages for its support; its priests, dancing-women, and musicians were numbered by hundreds, and princes devoted even their daughters to its service. Its priests had boasted that "the sins of the people of Delhi and Kanouje had led to their being abandoned to the vengeance of the Mohammedans, whereas their God would have blasted the whole army of Mahmood in the twinkling of an eye." It was partly to prove the insignificance of this threat that the expedition was undertaken; and it was one of no small daring. Independently of he difficulty of access, and the troops having to march nearly 400 miles through a desert of mixed sand and clay, which was destitute of water and forage, the temple stood on a peninsula, connected with the mainland by a fortified isthmus; and it was constantly guarded by armed men, who confidently believed that the large force under Mahmood had only been suffered to reach the spot, for the purpose of being offered up as an atonement for the shrines which had been desolated in the sultan's previous campaigns. Twice were the followers of Mahmood, who advanced under the cry of "Alla hu Akber!" hurled back, and the followers of Siva were exulting in the power of their idol. But the third assault was successful; the Hindoos were driven from the walls with great slaughter—a general rout ensued, and ⚫ Ferishta. + "God is great.” † A Hindoo temple now stands at Somnauth, those who were not killed or disabled took to the boats, many of which were intercepted and sunk, and those on board drowned. When Mahmood, his sons, and chief nobles entered the temple, they were amazed at the magnificence around them. The sultan was soon surrounded by Brahmins, who implored him to spare the idol, but he refused; and the figure was battered to pieces with the maces of himself and his attendants. It was hollow, and the interior contained an immense treasure in diamonds and other jewels. The spoil of this temple exceeded that acquired on any former occasion, and the building was destroyed-its splendid sandal-wood gates, 16 feet high, and 13 wide, being conveyed to Ghuzni.‡ Mahmood died in the spring of 1030, in the sixty-third year of his age, and the thirtyfourth of his reign. He was interred at Ghuzni, where a splendid mausoleum was erected to his memory. The gates of the temple of Somnauth were affixed to the entrance to this tomb, and there they remained till 1842, when they were removed and carried back to India by order of Lord Ellenborough, the then governor-general. The empire of Mahmood extended over a wider territory than had been governed by any Asiatic prince before his time. From the Oxus to the Indian Ocean, from Georgia and Bagdad to the Ganges, owned his sway During his reign we first read of the rajahs of Delhi, or Indraput, the founders of a dominion which afterwards became known as the Mogul Empire, or, as it was sometimes termed, the Empire of the Great Mogul. On the death of Mahmood, his son Mohammed ascended the throne. After a reign of five months he was deposed by his brother Masaud, who put out his eyes and threw him into prison. Masaud was successful in the early part of his reign: he completed the conquest of Persia, which his father had begun-the province of Fars alone escaping him. He also made three successful expeditions into India; but a power was collecting in his rear which interrupted his triumphs A warlike sept of Tartars, pressed forward by other tribes, had crossed the Oxus in the lifetime of Mahmood, who had given them leave to settle in Khorassan, where there were many unoccupied tracts, like the prairies o North America. They were called Seljuks,|| from Seljuk, the son of Dekak, a brave and built on the site of a mosque, which succeeded the temple destroyed by Mahmood. Also, Seljukides, or Seljukians. confidential officer of Bigú, the chief of a khan | Delhi from the Hindoo prince who then of the Kipchak Tartars, who inhabited a reigned over it, and was the first of the plain north of the Caspian. For some reason Affghan sovereigns who, for upwards of Seljuk was banished by Bigú: he fixed him- 300 years, ruled over that large and inself in the neighbourhood of Samarkand and creasing empire. The following year, Jaya Bokhara; and three of his sons commanded Chandra, the rajah of a Hindoo province the Tartars settled in Khorassan. Masaud, called Kanouj, alarmed at the progress of instead of protecting these men as his father the Mohammedans, and enraged at their had done, would have expelled them; and cruelty, led an army against Cuttub-udthis was the origin of a war between the Deen, Mohammed being at the time at Seljuks and the Affghans of Ghuzni, which Ghuzni. The latter speedily assembled his continued at intervals, for many years, with troops, crossed the Indus, and having effected alternate success. Ultimately the Seljuks a junction with Cuttub, marched against established their empire over all the country Jaya Chandra. There was some preliminary between the Euphrates and the Jaxartes, skirmishing as the armies approached each and so pressed the successors of Mahmood, other, and at length the main bodies met on that, in the year 1100, they transferred their the banks of the Jumna. A severe battle residence from Ghuzni to Lahore, though the was fought, in which the Hindoos were former city still remained in their possession. defeated, and Jaya Chandra slain. The holy Another family was now coming into note city of Benares soon after fell into the hands -that of Ghor. This family took its name of the conquerors; and in 1195, Gwalior, in from the territory of Ghori, lying to the Bundelcund, with several other strong places south-east of Khorassan-its original pos- in that province and in Rohilcund, were session. It was connected with the royal taken. Thus Hindostan, with the exception family of Ghuzni by intermarriages; but of the Deccan, was subjugated as far as its these alliances did not prevent quarrels eastern boundary; and the power of its and wars, which still further weakened the Mohammedan rulers was completely conGhuznivides. In 1118, a prince of that solidated. family, Behram, was on the throne, and he reigned for thirty years in peace and prosperity. A prince of the Ghor family married his daughter, and a quarrel taking place between the father and son-in-law, the former had the latter put to death. A brother of the prince, taking arms to avenge him, was also defeated and slain; but another brother, Ali-oo-deen-Soor, repeatedly defeated the armies of Behram: he took Ghuzni, which was devoted to pillage for several days, and Behram died from the united effects of fatigue and disappointment. His son Khosru established himself at Lahore in 1152, and he was succeeded by Khosru Malik, Shahab-ooDeen being then the head of the Ghor family. His brother, Mohammed Ghor, or Ghori, was sent against Khosru, whom he defeated and slew, and thus put an end to the race of the Ghuznivides, A.D. 1171. He continued to reside at Lahore, as the viceroy of his brother, and was almost constantly engaged in wars with the Hindoos. In 1193, twenty-two years after the death of Khosru, Cuttubud-Deen-originally a slave, but whom Shahab had made governor of a province-took Delhi now became the seat of government; and shortly after the Mohammedans had established themselves, and when a sultan named Altamsh, or Shums-ud-Deen Altamsh, was on the throne, Zenghis Khan* first became celebrated in Asia. This warrior, the son of a Mogul chief, from small beginnings gradually united under his authority all the various hordes of Central Asia, over which he was proclaimed khan in 1206. He invaded Scinde and Moultan, and made himself master of much of the original possessions of the Ghor family. Altamsh succeeded in preserving his Indian territories from the ambition of Zenghis, and "employed the last six years of his life in completing the conquest of Hindostan Proper; that is, in bringing the principalities into partial dependence, in which state they continued during the whole period of Tartar supremacy; the degree of subjection varying greatly with the character of the reigning prince, and being occasionally interrupted. by isolated attempts at freedom on the part of native rulers."+ In 1288, a new dynasty succeeded-Kei The name of this great Eastern conqueror is, words, jung-ees, war-exciting; and means the warlike all oriental names, spelt in different ways-exciting lord-a name exceedingly appropriate to this Jenghis Khan, Gengis Khan, Zenghis Khan, and in chief. several other forms. It is derived from two Persian + Montgomery Martin. remained till 1400. Rebellions in Western Persia then caused him to quit Hindostan ; but he had made its fairest provinces a desert before he departed. Kobad, the last sultan of the race of the Ghors, | before its walls. Learning the position of being assassinated. His successor was Jelal- his troops, Timour went himself, in 1398, oo-Deen, one of the Khilji family, a Tartar to the assistance of his grandson. He took race, long settled in Affghanistan. He was, the usual route; effected the passage of the when elevated to the throne, seventy years Hindoo-Koosh with great loss and difficulty; of age; and was soon after assassinated by and crossed the Indus at Attock. Moultan his nephew, Ala-oo-Deen, in whose reign having fallen, the two armies were united parts of the Deccan were conquered and on the Sutlej, and Timour advanced upon united to Delhi. The ascendancy of the Delhi, his route being marked with masKhiljis continued only for a short term, sacre, desolation, and the most horrible and it was marked by great turbulence. excesses of every kind. Delhi was taken, In 1321, they were supplanted by Toghlak, and given up to pillage; the booty in gold, the son of a Tartar slave by an Indian silver, and jewels, being so large, that mother, who founded a new dynasty; he Ferishta declines to mention the amount, himself being one of the best sovereigns which, he says, exceeds all belief. Mahthat Delhi had seen. There were several mood fled to Guzerat, and Tamerlane was sovereigns of the Toghlak family in succes-proclaimed Emperor of India, where he sion, during whose reigns most of the Deccan was subjugated; but Bengal, the Carnatic, and some other provinces, regained their independence, which they maintained till the seventeenth century. When Mah- Mahmood, on Timour's departure, remood, the fourth sultan of the house of turned to Delhi; and after his death in Toghlak, was on the throne, Hindostan was 1412, the families of Seyed and Lodi furinvaded by Ameer Timour-better known nished rulers of the empire for some years; as Timour Bey or Tamerlane,* who is cele- till, in 1526, Doulat Khan Lodi, the govbrated in Eastern history, as "the Fortu-ernor of the Punjaub, encouraged probably nate," "the Axis of the Faith," "the by the dissensions in the then reigning Great Wolf," "the Master of Time," "the family of Lodi, revolted, and solicited the Conqueror of the World;" and has also aid of Baber,† sultan of Ferghâna, a probeen designated as "the Firebrand of the vince situated upon both banks of the Sir, or Universe," and "the Apostle of Desolation." Jaxartes; and who had, for the previous His father claimed to be a descendant of twenty years, made repeated marauding exZenghis Khan, and was chief of the Turkish cursions into the Punjaub. Baber readily tribe of the Berlas; and he was born in 1335, gave his aid. He marched an army into at Kesh, a town to the south-east of Samar- India; and his course was one of almost kand. Succeeding to the chieftainship of uninterrupted triumph. He defeated all his father, his ambition prompted him to the armies which were brought against extend his territory, originally very limited; him; rapidly acquiring possession of the and he successively conquered Balkh, Kho- whole country from the Indus to the mouths rassan, and the whole of ancient Persia. of the Ganges. He made Delhi the seat of He turned his attention to Hindostan, it is sovereignty, and was the founder of what said, from religious motives; being desirous was so long known as the Mogul empire, of emulating the fame which Mahmood of Baber being connected through his mother Ghuzni had acquired, by establishing Islam- with the Mogul or Mongol Tartars. ism amongst the "idolaters," as the Hin- was also the founder of the dynasty of the doos were termed by the followers of house of Timour in India; but he died in Mohammed. He sent an army into that 1530, before he had been enabled properly country, in the first instance, under his to organise and cement, in a firm bond of grandson, Peir Mohammed, by whom Can-union, the extensive countries he had condahar, Ghuzni, and Cabool, were taken; but his career was arrested at Moultan, which kept him for more than six months In one of his early wars, he received a wound in the thigh, the effect of which was continued lameness. Hence he was called Timur-lenk, or the lame Timur, which the Europeans corrupted into Tamerlane. quered. He Baber was succeeded by his son Humayan, who had to maintain a long and arduous † Baber, on his father's side, was the great-greatgreat-grandson of Timour; and by his mother's side was descended from Zenghis Khan. He wrote an autobiographic narrative of the events of his life, which proves that he possessed great literary abilities. 3 Bengal, Berar, Cabool, Candeish, Delhi, Guzerat, Lahore, Mahé, Moultan, and Oude. A complete survey of the empire had been made during his reign by Abul Fazl, which contained ample details of every thing pertaining to the extensive dominions of Akber, from the highest affairs of state, down to the breeding of partridges and the training and feeding of hawks. contest with an Affghan named Sheer Khan, and also to withstand the rebellions of his brothers. Sheer Khan headed a formidable insurrection of his countrymen; and, though defeated at first, he compelled the sultan to retire from Delhi, and ultimately to quit India altogether. In 1540, Sheer assumed the sovereignty of all the territories which had been subdued by Baber; and Humayan retired to Persia, where he resided for seve- The successor of Akber was his son Selim, ral years. At length, aided by an army to whom was given, on his accession, the furnished to him by the Shah Tahmasp, title of Jehanghir, or "Conqueror of the the second of the Saffair or Sophi kings of World." The most remarkable event of his Persia, he returned to India, and succeeded life was his romantic passion for a beautiful in winning his way back to his throne, woman-who was already a wife-but whom though he had his brothers to contend with, he subsequently married, and for whom he as well as the troops of Sheer Khan. The erected at Agra the most exquisite monulatter died before the contest was concluded, ment the world ever saw, the Taj Mahal. and Humayan's path was rendered easier This female-first known as Nourmahal, by the dissensions of his enemies, the em- "the Light of the Harem;" then as Nour pire being divided into five distinct states, Jehan, or "Light of the World"-has been whose rulers were at variance with each immortalised by Moore. During his reign, other. At length, in 1555, after fifteen Jehanghir had to contend against the reyears of banishment and strife, the sultan bellion of his own son: nevertheless he re-established himself in Lahore, Delhi, and extended his empire; and when he died, Agra. He did not enjoy his recovered in 1627, that son succeeded him as Shah dignity for more than six months, his death Jehan, or "King of the World." He also being occasioned by a fall; and his son Akber extended his dominions considerably to the succeeded him, in the fourteenth year of south. The powerful states of Bejapoor and his age. His reign forms a new epoch in Golconda were rendered tributary to him in the history of India; for although soon after 1636; and in 1655, Aurungzebe, his younger he ascended the throne he was deprived of son, obtained several successes in the Deccan. all his dominions except the Punjaub, and The magnificence of his court exceeded that during the greatest part of his reign of fifty of all his predecessors: a famous throne, years he had to contend with enemies known as the Peacock throne, constructed abroad and revolutionary movements at by his orders, was so magnificent, that the home, yet he succeeded in again consolida- jewels which adorned it were valued at ting India into one formidable empire, and in £6,000,000. In 1657 he was seized with a organising its government on a firmer foun- dangerous illness; and his eldest son, Daradation than it had ever before occupied. Shekuh, placed him in confinement, asHe was not only the greatest, but he was suming the government himself. He was one of the best, monarchs that ever reigned first opposed by his next brother, Sujah, in India. He encouraged trade and com- and then by his youngest brother, Aurungmerce, reduced taxation, and made his zebe. The latter was successful; and keepsubordinate officers observe strict justice to ing his father in prison, he was proclaimed his people. He also evinced a great spirit emperor in 1658, assuming the title of of toleration, encouraging his Hindoo as Alumgeer, "the Conqueror of the Uniwell as his Mohammedan subjects; and, verse." Shah Jehan was removed from assisted by his grand-vizier, Abul Fazl, he Delhi to Agra, where Aurungzebe also imwas indefatigable in promoting the pros-prisoned one of his brothers, Morad, who perity of his empire. He died in 1605, of had assisted him in his contest with Daragrief for his favourite son Daniel, whose Shekuh. The unfortunate shah lingered in intemperance had brought him to the grave; prison till the 21st of January, 1666, when and very general was the regret evinced by he died. his subjects for his loss. When he died, he left the Mogul empire divided into the following soubahs or vice-royalties:-Agra, Ahmednuggur, Ajmere, Allahabad, Behar, Aurungzebe was not suffered to occupy his usurped authority in quiet. First his brother Sujah, and then Dara-Shekuh, endeavoured to drive him from the throne; |