to the present day. The greatest degree of antiquity claimed for their present settlements by most of the Chhatris of southern Oudh is twenty-two generations. It may be noted that twenty-one generations, of thirty years each, would almost exactly cover the period from 1246 A.D. to the present time.

It is something of a relief to turn from these disjointed fragments of information to a more connected narrative. The wild expedition of Syad Salár Mas'úd Ghází, almost, if not quite, the earliest Muhammadan invasion of Oudh, is also that regarding which our knowledge is least meagre. The story is told in the "Mírát-i-Mas'údi," a translation of which is appended to the second volume of Sir Henry Elliott's "Muhammadan Historians." He calls it an "historical romance," written by Abdur Rahmán Chishti, founded on an older book by Mulla Muhammad Ghaznavi, who was in the service of Salár Mas'úd himself, and also of his father, Salár Sahu, both of whom he survived. General Cunningham expresses his opinion that the work, "although a late compilation of the traditions current in the reign of Jahángír, is probably correct in its general outlines." A brief summary of the story may not inappropriately be inserted. here.

Syad Salár Mas'úd was born at Ajmír, in the year 405 Hijri 1014 A.D. His father, Salár Sahu, was a general in the Ghaznavite army, and his mother was sister of Sultán Mahmud himself. The favour shown by the latter to his nephew gave rise to so much jealousy against him at the court of Ghazni, that he found it expedient to start, at the age of eighteen, on an invasion of India, at the head of some twenty thousand zealous Moslems, eager to slay and plunder, if they could not convert, the infidel Hindú. After a campaign in the Panjáb, Syad Salár marched upon Satrikh, "the most flourishing of all the towns and cities of India." On the strength, apparently, of this somewhat vague description, General Cunningham identifies Satrikh with Vesákh, an old name of Ajodhya. It seems, however, at least as probable that the present Satrikh, some twenty miles east of Lucknow, is the place intended. Its situation fits in

better than that of Ajodhya with the known movements of the army, while it contains the well-known tomb of Salár Sahu, father of our hero, who is said by the story itself to have died at Satrikh, and in whose honour an annual fair is still held there. Here Mas'úd took up his quarters, and sent out detachments to conquer the surrounding country. Salár Saif-ud-dín and Miyán Rajjab, kotwál of the army, were despatched against Bahraich, and as they were unable to obtain provisions, a supply of which had to be sent after them, we may infer that the intervening country was somewhat sparsely inhabited. Syad Azíz-ud-dín was sent against Hardui, but fell in battle at Gopamau on the banks of the Gumti, where his memory is still revered under the title of the Lál Pír. Mas'úd himself "continued to reside with great magnificence at Satrikh, enjoying the pleasures of the chase."

Satrikh is nearly half-way between Bahraich on the north, and Karra and Mánikpur on the south. The chiefs of the last two places now sent an embassy, with presents, to advise Mas'úd to retire. They urged, as was undoubtedly the fact, that he had no manner of business there, that the country had been theirs from time immemorial, and that it had been spared by Sultán Mahmúd himself, who had penetrated on one occasion as far as Kanauj. "But you," the message continued, "without any respect for the rights of property, establish yourself in a country that does not belong to you. The action is unworthy of a great mind like yours. It is an infinite sorrow to us that you should be the only child in the house of your father, and that he should have no other descendants. Consider, we pray you, the right. Satrikh is a pleasant place, but it is not fitting that you should remain there. We have ninety thousand picked soldiers "this, it may be safely affirmed, was a lie "the princes of Bahraich and other places will come to our help on every side, and you will find yourself in great difficulties. You had better take the prudent course of retiring of your own free will."

However great may have been the mind of Mas'úd in other respects, one cannot help suspecting it to have been some

was

what deficient in sense of humour, for the only effect upon him of this most respectable, most reasonable, most unimpeachable message was to make him "rage like a fierce lion," and threaten destruction to the infidels who had sent it. He soon after joined by his father, from Kábuliz, near Kashmir. Spies were captured on the Sarjú or Ghághra river, who were conveying letters from the Ráís of Karra and Mánikpur to those of Bahraich, calling on the latter to fall on the Musalmáns from the north, while the former attacked them from the south. Mas'úd, having ascertained by means of his own spies that the chiefs of Karra and Mánikpur were quite unprepared to resist an attack, despatched his father against them. Salár Sahu took them by surprise, destroyed their forces, "putting thousands of unbelievers to the sword," and sent the two chiefs themselves in chains to Mas'úd, who passed them on to Saif-ud-dín at Bahraich. Sahu returned in triumph, leaving Malik Abdullah in charge of Karra, and Kutb-Haidar at Mánikpur.

Meanwhile, Saif-ud-dín found himself surrounded by enemies, and wrote for reinforcements. Mas'úd, with difficulty, and on the pretext of a hunting excursion, obtained leave from his father to proceed to Bahraich in person. The mere news of his arrival was sufficient to quiet the unbelievers, "whose dimness of perception alone had caused the rising." He hunted in the neighbourhood of Bahraich, and took a fancy to a súrajkund (tank of the sun) temple, on which he fixed his desires for a dwelling-place. There was a stone image of the sun, called Bálarukh, on the edge of the tank, the fame of which had caused Bahraich to flourish. Here, every Sunday, flocked crowds of worshippers, who had a habit of rubbing their heads on the pedestal or feet of the idol, which practice much distressed the monotheistic piety of Mas'úd, and caused him to pray that he might some day convert these benighted pagans from the worship of the material to that of the spiritual sun. He had reached Bahraich on the 17th of the month Shábán, 423 Hijrí=1032 A.D., and shortly after his arrival heard of the death and burial at Satrikh of his father, whereat he wept bitterly, and remarked that he now knew what it was to be an orphan.

The Ráís of Bahraich, who were probably for the most part Thárús, with perhaps a sprinkling of Bhars and Banjáras, now sent Mas'úd a message couched in terms similar to those which had been used by the ambassadors from Karra and Mánikpur, warning him that they were seventeen in number, and that they had two millions of cavalry and three millions of infantry under arms. The oriental mind appears to have been then, as now, without adequate perception of the eloquence of understatement. Malik Nekdil was sent to discuss affairs in general with the Ráís, and to take note of their numbers. He made deceitful proposals of peace, which a majority of the Thárú chiefs had the good sense to reject. One of them, Rai Karan, assured him that he did not yet understand what the rainy season of Bahraich was like, and that the climate would soon do their work for them. After this, "the unbelievers all began to talk like fools," and Malik Nekdil returned to Mas'úd, while the enemy advanced, and encamped on the Kasahla, probably the Koriála, river. A council of war decided Mas'úd to take the initiative. He advanced in a north-westerly directiongetting, probably, some good tiger-shooting on the waydefeated the enemy, and then fell back leisurely on Bahraich.

Rai Jogi Dás, of the Hindú Koh, sent a messenger with presents to Mas'úd. He was favourably received, and informed that if his master would embrace Islám, he might enjoy his country securely. Other Ráís also paid visits, but without ceasing to be hostile. They found a valuable ally in the Thárú chief Sohar Deo, Sohel Dál, or Sohil Deo, as he is variously called-it is by the latter name that he is still locally remembered-by whose advice they prepared large quantities of fireworks, and of poisoned spikes to be fixed in the ground when the Musalmán cavalry were about to charge. In two months the Ráís were again encamped, "with innumerable forces," on the banks of the Kasahla, and again sent word to Mas'úd, "that if he wished to save his life he had better leave that country and go elsewhere, as the land belonged to their fathers and ancestors, and they were determined to drive him from it."

His reply

:

was of the briefest and most simple :- "The country is God's, and the property of him on whom He bestows it. Who gave it to your fathers and ancestors ?" The audacious casuistry

of this argument, which at once reduced the question at issue to first principles, much impressed his opponents. A second council of war decided Mas'úd to remain on the defensive, but the enemy drove off his cattle, and forced an attack. Many "noble Turks" suffered martyrdom from the fireworks and the insidious spikes. The loss was great on both sides, and a third of the Musalmán army perished. Another quiet interval, however, followed, which Mas'úd, now nineteen years of age, devoted to religious musing at the súrajkund, under the shade of a huge mahua tree which he particularly affected. His meditations were disturbed by a fresh gathering of the foe, and he made up his mind for the worst. Assembling his forces, he advised all who cared for their lives to retreat to the Panjáb, but such as were desirous of martyrdom were left at liberty to remain. They all wept, and vowed never to desert him. "In fact, it was like the day of judgment, or even more solemn."

On the 18th and 19th of the month Rajjab-ul-Murajjab 424 Hijrí, continuous fighting went on. Two-thirds of what remained of the Musalmáns were slain, and among them Saif-ud-dín. The bodies of the faithful were cast into the súrajkund, "in the hope that through the odour of their martyrdom the darkness of unbelief might be expelled from that spot"-which strikes one as being a slightly equivocal aspiration. Mas'úd then "remounted his mare of sacred blood," charged the enemy, and put them to flight. But Sohil Deo, and a few others who had reserved their troops, attacked the body guard, which was all that was now left to him, and on Sunday, the 20th of Rajjab 424 Hijrí=14th June 1033 A.D., at the hour of evening prayer, a chance arrow pierced the main artery in the arm of the Prince of the Faithful. His sun-like countenance immediately became pale as the moon. Repeating the text in praise of martyrdom, he dismounted, was carried under his favourite mahua tree, and there expired. The remnant of his body guard was cut to pieces by Sohil Deo, to whom, however, Mas'úd appeared