Page:History of India Vol 5.djvu/97

THE FALL OF KANAUJ 69 lected so much booty, prisoners, and wealth that the fin- gers of those who counted them would have been tired. On the eighth of Sha'ban he arrived at Kanauj, which was deserted by Jaipal on hearing of his ap- proach, for he fled across the Ganges, which the Hindus regard as of exceeding sanctity, and as having its source in the paradise of heaven. When they burn their dead, they throw the ashes into this river, as they believe that its waters purify them from sin. Devotees even come to it from a distance and drown themselves in its stream in the hope of obtaining eter- nal salvation, but in the end it will only carry them to hell, so that it will neither kill them nor make them alive. The Sultan advanced to the fortifications of Kanauj, which consisted of seven distinct forts, washed by the Ganges which flowed under them like the ocean. In Kanauj there were nearly ten thousand temples, which the idolaters asserted had been founded by their ances- tors two or three hundred thousand years ago. They worshipped and offered their vows and supplications to them in consequence of their great antiquity. Many of the inhabitants of the place fled and were scattered abroad like so many wretched widows and orphans from the fear which oppressed them in consequence of witnessing the fate of their deaf and dumb idols. Many of them thus effected their escape and those who did not fly were put to death. The Sultan took all seven forts in one day and gave his soldiers leave to plunder them and take prisoners.