FALL OF THE HINDU KINGDOMS 347 British district, and is renowned as the seat of a Hindu college organized after the ancient manner. The year after his facile conquest of Bihar, Mo- hammed, the son of Bakhtiyar, equipped an army for the subjugation of Bengal. Riding in advance, he sud- denly appeared before Nudiah with a slender following of eighteen horsemen, and boldly entered the city. The people supposed him to be a horse-dealer, but when he reached the gate of the Rai's palace, he drew his sword and attacked the unsuspecting household. The Rai, who was at his dinner, was completely taken by sur- prise, " and fled barefooted by the rear of the palace; and his whole treasure, and all his wives, maid-servants, attendants, and women, fell into the hands of the in- vader. Numerous elephants were taken, and such booty was obtained by the Mohammedans as is beyond all compute. When his (Mohammed's) army arrived, the whole city was brought under subjection, and he fixed his headquarters there." Rai Lakhmaniya fled to the shrine of Jagannath (Juggernaut) in Orissa, where he died. The conqueror presently destroyed the city of Nudiah, and established the seat of his government at Lakhnauti. Mosques, colleges, and Mohammedan monasteries were endowed by him and his officers in all parts of the kingdom, and a great portion of the spoil was judiciously sent to his distant chief, Kutb-ud-din. Such was the dishonoured end of the last Hindu kingdoms of Bengal and Bihar, which would have made a better fight for life if they had deserved to exist.
