Page:History of India Vol 5.djvu/173

A VICTOBIOUS CAMPAIGN IN THE HILLS 137 all the princes and nobles were sorely vexed, but it was then impossible to do anything, as the army was fully employed in repelling the Moghul forces which had attacked the frontiers of Islam in Sind, at Lahore, and in the vicinity of the river Biyah. At this time, ambas- sadors to the Sultan came to Khorasan from Irak, on behalf of Hulaku Mughal, son of Toli, son of Chingiz Khan, and orders were given that the embassy was to halt at Maruta. Ulugh Khan and other nobles, with the royal troops and their own followers, suddenly resolved upon a cam- paign in the hills, and started on Monday, the fourth of Safar, 658 A. H. (Jan., 1260 A. D.). In their first forced march they accomplished nearly fifty leagues and fell unexpectedly upon the rebels, who retreated to the tops of the mountains and to defiles, deep gorges, and narrow valleys, only to be taken and put to the sword. For twenty days the troops traversed the hills in all directions. The villages and habitations of the moun- taineers were on the summits of the loftiest hills and rocks and were of great strength, but they were all stormed and ravaged by order of Ulugh Khan, and the inhabitants were slain. A piece of silver was offered for every head, and two pieces for every man brought in alive. Eager for these rewards, the soldiers, especially the Afghans, climbed the highest hills and penetrated the deepest gorges, bringing in heads and captives. Fortune now favoured Ulugh Khan so that he was able to penetrate to a fastness which no Mussul- man army had ever reached, and thus the Hindu rebel,