Page:History of India Vol 3.djvu/50

26 MAHMUD OF GHAZNI filled with temples " not built by man but by the Jinn," where colossal golden idols flashed with jewels, and silver gods of loathly aspect stood so huge that they had to be broken up before they could be weighed. Pressing eastwards he came to Kanauj before the end of December. The raja had already fled at the mere bruit of the Sultan's coming, and the seven forts of the great TPB SACKED RIVER JUMNA AND TEMPLES AT MATHTJRA.. city on the Ganges fell in one day. Of all its gorgeous shrines not a temple was spared. Nor were the neigh- bouring princes more fortunate. Deep jungles and broad moats could not protect Chandal Bhor of Asi; and even Chand Rai, the great lord of Sharwa, when he heard the ominous tramp of the Turkish horsemen, gathered up his treasures and made for the hills: for it was told him that " Sultan Mahmud was not like the rulers of Hind, and those who followed him were not