Page:History of India Vol 5.djvu/78

62 THE HOLY WARS OF ISLAM conquests then spread over distant countries, and over the salt sea, even as far as Egypt. Sind and her sister Hind trembled at his power and vengeance; and his fame exceeded that of Alexander the Great, and heresy, rebellion, and enmity were suppressed. When Sultan Mahmud heard that Ilak Khan had crossed the Jihun with fifty thousand men or more, he hastened from Tokharistan to Balkh, where he re- mained to anticipate Ilak Khan, who wished to obtain supplies from that province. The Sultan advanced ready for action with an army composed of Turks, Hindus, Khaljis, Afghans, and Ghaznavids, and after routing Hak Khan disastrously, he resolved to go to Hind to make a sudden attack upon Nawasa Shah, one of the rulers of Hind, who had been established as governor over some of the territories in the country conquered by the Sultan. Satan had got the better of Nawasa Shah, however, for he had thrown off. the mantle of Islam and held converse with the chiefs of idolatry, designing to cast the firm rope of religion from his neck. The Sultan, therefore, went in that direction more swiftly than the wind and made the sword reek with the blood of his enemies. He turned Nawasa Shah out of his government, took possession of all the treasures which he had accumulated, resumed his sceptre, and then cut down the harvest of idolatry with the sickle of his sword and spear, after which he returned without difficulty to Ghazni. Contrary to the disposition of man, which induces him to prefer a soft couch to a hard one and the splen-