Page:History of India Vol 5.djvu/150

116 ULUGH KHAN, AFTERWAKDS EMPEROR BALBAN fort. The drums were beaten in the fort to announce the joy of the besieged, and when the contents of the letters and the approach of the army of Islam became fully known to the foe, and when the horsemen of the vanguard were in the vicinity of Sind on the banks of the river Biyah, fear and dismay fell upon the hearts of the infidels, and the goodness of God lent its aid to the forces of Islam. Trusty men record that when Mangu Khan heard of the approach of the army of Islam under the royal standard, he was seized with panic and neither he nor his forces was able longer to make a stand. He divided his army into three bodies and fled. After the achievement of this victory, Ulugh Khan advised that the royal army should march toward the river Sodra (Chinab), that it might impress the minds of the enemy with the great power, bravery, and mag- nitude of the army of Islam. The army accordingly proceeded to the banks of the Sodra, and from thence, on the twenty-seventh of Shawwal, 643 A. H. (Mar. 17, 1246 A. D.), it returned to Delhi, which it reached on Monday, the twelfth of Zu-1-hijja of the same year. For some time past the mind of Sultan Ala-ad-din had been alienated from the nobles, he was seldom visible to the army, and besides this he had given him- self up to depravity. The nobles all agreed to write secretly from Delhi to Nasir-ad-din, urging him to seize the throne. On Sunday, the twenty-third of Muharram, 644 A. H. (June 10, 1246 A. D.), he went to Delhi and sat upon the seat of empire. The Khutba of Islam was