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28 MAHMUD OF GHAZNI his treasury boast the finest gems in India. Hence his arduous march across the desert from Multan to Anhalwara, and on to the coast, fighting as he went, until he saw at last the famous fortress washed by the waves of the Arabian sea. Its ramparts swarmed with incredulous Brahmans, mocking the vain arro- gance of the foreign infidels whom the god of Som- nath would assuredly consume. The foreigners, nothing daunted, scaled the walls; the god remained dumb to the urgent appeals of his servants; fifty thousand Hin- dus suffered for their faith, and the sacred shrine was sacked to the joy of the true believers. The great stone was cast down, and its fragments carried off to grace the conqueror's palace. The temple gates were set up at Ghazni, and a million pounds' worth of treasure re- warded the iconoclast. The sack of Somnath has made Mahmud of Ghazni a champion of the faith in the eyes of every Moslem for nearly nine centuries, and the feat, signal enough in itself, has been embellished with fantastic legends. The difficulties of the outward march were renewed on the return; the army was led astray by treacherous guides and almost perished in the waterless desert, from which it escaped only to fall into the hands of the pred- atory Jats of the Salt Range, who harassed the ex- hausted troops as they toiled homewards, laden with spoils. Before the year was over Mahmud led his army for the last time into India to punish those who had opposed him. He is said to have built a fleet at Multan, armed it with spikes and rams, and placed twenty