CHAPTER XVIII
HISTORY (continued), THE MUHAMMADAN PERIOD,
1OOO-1764 A.D.
The Ghaznevide Raids.— In the tenth century the Turks were the janissaries of the Abbaside Caliphs of Baghdad, and ambitious soldiers of that race began to carve out kingdoms. One Alptagin set up for himself at Ghazni, and was succeeded in 976 a.d. by his slave Sabaktagin, who began the long series of Indian raids which stained with blood the annals of the next half-century. His son, Mahmud of Ghazni, a ruthless zealot and robber abroad, a patron of learning and literature at home, added the Panjab to his dominions. In the first 26 years of the eleventh century he made seventeen marauding excursions into India. In the first his father's opponent, Jaipal, was beaten in a vain effort to save Peshawar. Ten years later his successor, Anandpal, at the head of a great army, again met the Turks in the Khaibar. The valour of the Ghakkars had practically won the day, when Anandpal's elephant took fright, and this accident turned victory into rout. In one or other of the raids Multan and Lahore were occupied, and the temples of Kangra (Nagarkot) and Thanesar plundered. In 1018 the Turkish army marched as far east as Kanauj. The one permanent result of all these devastations was the occupation of the Panjab. The Turks made Lahore the capital.
