all the bitterness of retaliation, (see our lxxxist volume, p. 509.) were degraded, were extensively ejected from official situations, and were thus driven to seek an inglorious maintenance in commercial and agricultural pursuits. The hereditary monotheism of these Hebrews followed them every where; and, if they occasionally neglected the minor ceremonial of the law, they adhered obstinately to circumcision, and to an iconoclastic hatred of images. They tolerated polygamy in the higher classes of society, and became so numerous in several provinces of the Persian empire, especially in Syria, that in many places the monotheists were strong enough to shake off their allegiance to the idolatrous Babylonian sovereign, and to found independent states. Aretas, king of Damascus, and Abgar, king of Edessa, were separatists of this description; and Josephus notices a kind of league which included many others. These petty princes adhered to the Hillelian party of the Jewish priesthood, and were glad to see the influence of the temple exerted to banish troublesome ceremonial observances: in common with the Hillelian Jews, they acknowleged Jesus Christ as a prophet, but as nothing more; and so, at a later period, but in the same spirit, did Zenobia, queen of Palmyra, who appointed Paul of Samosata for her bishop.

When the church of Rome made its great innovations in Christianity by introducing the worship of images, the oriental Jew-christians became indignant, and desirous of standing aloof from such idolatrous profanation. Muhanimed saw this, and took up the oriental Christianity exactly where he found it;-with unitarianism for its theology, with circumcision for its initiatory rite, with polygamy for a tolerated practice, with a high veneration for the Jewish scriptures, and with the opinion that Jesus Christ was a human sage, and a prophet of the truth. Thus Muhammed met the traditional creed of all those nations, which were descended from the subjects of the vast Parthian or Hebrew empire; and he was secure of the secret alliance of the monotheists every where, while he permitted to his followers the plunder only of idolaters, and of Latinized Christians. The custody of the sacred well, which was an hereditary right of the family of Muhammed, might aid him in dictating religious professions to the Arabians: but these his first followers had little of the spirit of piety, and, like the Pindaries of our own time, were a predatory cavalry, accustomed to subsist by overrunning the seats of industry, and equally contented with any interior ally that could supply a pretext for irruption and purchase the irremoveable booty. If these Arabian freebooters were the original proclaimers of the religion of Muhammed, still there

was

was little of conversion and little of faith among the Arabs; the popular, the settled, the enduring basis of his sect is to be sought in the Jew-christians, or Hebrews, properly so called.

Chapter ii. treats of the undivided caliphate, and explains the rise of the Saracenian empire. The invasion and conquest of Persia, and the plunder of Ctesiphon, then its metropolis, though related with oratoric splendor, might have admitted some farther illustration.

The third chapter branches over the history of the divided caliphate, and gives first an account of the caliphs of Spain, then of the caliphs in Africa and Egypt, and lastly of the caliphs at Bagdad. A dissertation on the causes of the success of the Muhammedan arms and religion closes this chapter: but, as we have already observed, the author does not sufficiently allow that. Muhammed rather established an extant than bestowed a new creed; he only added his own name, as last in the series, to the successive prophets of unitarianism whose lessons have been collected in the Jewish records. Some concessions dangerous to toleration are made by Mr. Mills, in consequence of his supposing the sword to have accomplished a conversion, when it only removed the impediment to a public profession of the pre-existent faith.

In the fourth chapter, the history of Muhammedanism is pursued among the Tartarian dynasties of princes. The expeditions into Hindustan, the reign of Zinghis-khan and his successors, the empire of Tamerlane, (here the vulgar orthography of the name is inconsistently adopted by Mr. Mills,) the Seljukiad dynasties, and the Othman or present Turkish power, are severally traced from their origin to their consequences. The foundation of the Muhammedan dynasties in Hindustan will furnish an expedient extract, because the antient history of any province which is become a national appurtenance has claims on the patriotic interest of every Englishman.

(A. D. 874.) When the Caliphate of Bagdad was crumbling into ruin, a race of princes, called in eastern history the Dynasty of the Samanides, despoiled the legitimate commanders of the Faithful of some of their valuable territories, and exercised kingly authority over Bokharah, Korasan, a great part of the Persian empire, Candahar, Zabulistan, Cabul, and the mountains of the Afghans or Patans. A Turkish slave, by name Alpteghin, ascended the gradations of honourable offices, military and civil, and in the reign of Abdalmalec, the fifth king of the Samanidan dynasty, was appointed governor of the vast province of Korasan. On the death of his master, he endeavoured to wrest the sceptre from the feeble possession of Mansour, the infant son of the late prince;

but

but the emirs of the country rallied round the throne, and Alpteghin quitted the royal city of Bokharah. To the town of Gazna, situated on the westernmost parts of the Cowmul, one of the numerous rivers which are tributary to the Indus, the aspiring governor and the admirers of his courage and ambition retreated. Mansour strove in vain to terminate his power, and for sixteen years Alpteghin increased his dominions and his fame.* (A.D. 995.) Sabactazin, at once his son-in-law, his general, and counsellor, became also his successor. Although master in Gazna, he was for some time regarded by the Samanides only as the governor of a province. His exact military discipline, and his liberality to officers, gained him the love and admiration of his subjects. He established peace and good order through every part of his dominions, carried his arms and the Muselman faith into India, destroyed the monuments of Pagan superstition, ravaged the Panjab, and built the town of Bost, and that of Kosdar near the Indus. Nouh, the son of Mansour, treated Sabactazin as an ally, rather than as a subject. The King of Turkestan threatened the extinction of the Samanidan dynasty; but the courage of the Gaznavides supported the throne, and the Turks were driven from the invaded provinces. † (A. D. 997.)

On the death of Sabactazin, his youngest son Ishmael, in pursuance of his father's wishes, was recognised as king; but Mahmud, who had already distinguished himself in assisting his father in the war with the king of Turkestan, took up arms against his brother, and asserted with effect his right of primogeniture. Mahmud may be considered the first prince of the Gaznavide Sultans, and made a lofty superstructure on the foundation of power which Sabactazin had laid. The kingdom of the Samanides was annihilated, (A. D. 999,) and the public prayers for the family of his ancestors' masters were blotted from the service-books of the mosque. Irak Persia submitted to his yoke, and even the humble independence of the little territory of Gaur, which, under the descendants of a branch of a Persian dynasty, had long enjoyed tranquillity amidst surrounding calamities, was offensive to his insatiable ambition. In fact, from the Caspian to the Ganges, from Transoxiana to the neighbourhood of Ispahan, no tyrant but Mahmud reigned.

But it is by this Sultan ‡, as the founder of the Muhammedan power in India, that our interest is excited. Before his reign, the incursions into this interesting country by other Muselman princes had been few and partial, but the prospect of plunder inspired the soldiers of Mahmud with courage against the elephants

* D'Herbelot, vol. i. p. 203.'

+ De Guignes, vol. iii. p. 156-159.'

Mahmud was the first Muhammedan prince who bore this The previous title had been malek or king. By the application of this title of sultan to Mahmud, a governor of Segistan flattered the vanity of his lord, and saved himself from the penalties of rebellion.'

of

of war, and in twelve expeditions into Hindustan, his conquests far surpassed those of the Macedonian hero. The town of Kinnoge, on the Upper Ganges, the cities of Lahor, Delhi, and Muttra, became his tributaries, and his troops rioted in the spoils of the wealthy kingdom of Guzerat. In the course of his incursions into the west of India, he discovered one of the most splendid objects of Indian superstition. Two thousand Brahmins, and numerous bands of dancing girls and musicians, were devoted to the service of the Pagoda of Sumnaut. The lofty roof of this temple was supported by fifty-six pillars, overlaid with plates of gold, and incrusted at intervals with rubies, emeralds, and other precious stones. One pendant lamp alone illumined the spacious fabric, whose light, reflected back from innumerable jewels, spread a strong and refulgent lustre throughout the temple. In the midst stood Sumnaut himself, an idol composed of one entire stone, fifty cubits in height, forty-seven of which were buried in the ground; and on that spot, according to Brahminical tradition, he had been adored between four and five thousand years. His image was washed every morning and evening with fresh water brought from the Ganges, at a distance of twelve hundred miles. Around the dome were dispersed some thousands of images, in gold and silver, of various shapes and dimensions, so that in this consecrated place, as in a grand Pantheon, seemed to be assembled all the deities venerated in Hindustan.* The priests invoked, without effect, the wrath of their chief god upon the disturber of their worship. The blood of fifty thousand worshippers was shed in vain for the defence of their idol. A treasure of money and jewels, equal to ten millions sterling, was offered by the Brahmins for the preservation of its sanctity; but at the command of Mahmud, whose religious zeal was shocked at being thought a merchant of idols, the statue was broken into pieces, and a quantity of diamonds and rubies, far greater than the ransom proposed by the crafty priests, fell at his feet. The Gaznavide Sultan treated the Hindus with all the rigour of a conqueror, and with all the fury of a converter, not only plundering treasures, but demolishing temples, and murdering idolators throughout his route. His enthusiasm for Muhammedanism was as strong, as that which inflamed the breasts of the primitive supporters of that religion; and the title of Protector of the Faithful, which the Bagdad Caliph Caderbillah gave him, by way of investing him with the kingdom of Samania, was well merited by his bigotry and intolerance. The stern martial virtues of the conqueror, and his excellent qualities as prince, were degraded by the low passion of avarice. In the hour of dissolution, he commanded his spoils of India to be bought before him. Lamentations fell from his tongue, and tears started into his eyes, on beholding the baubles : he offered not to bestow, what it was beyond his ability to keep,

Maurice's History of Modern Hindustan, vol. i. p. 295.' + Orme's Preliminary Dissertation to his Coromandel War, p. 9. vol. ii. 4to. London. 1763.*

and

and his attendants were compelled to remove them from his sight, as their view served but to increase the anguish of his death.

During the reign of his son and successor Masoud, the Gaznavide empire became more potent, by the addition of the remainder of Persia, (except the province of Fars,) and of the territory of the Bowides, on the banks of the Persian Gulph, But the Seljukian Tartars, whose history will hereafter be detailed, availing themselves of a predatory expedition of Masoud into India, conquered from him Korasan. The loss of this province was soon succeeded by the total dismemberment of the Gaznavide empire, A. D. 1165. Kosrow Shaw, the last prince of this dynasty, was deposed by Houssain Gauri, a native of Gaur, who became possessed of a large portion of the western part of the Gaznavide empire, while the descendants of Mahmud retained for a few years the provinces contiguous to both shores of the Indus. (A. D. 1184.) But the Gaurides wrested the sceptre of these territories from their weak possessors, and established the seat of Muhammedan power in India at Lahor. The Gaur Sultans adopted the religious zeal, as well as the military spirit of the Gaznavides. Muhammed Gauri plundered Benares, (1194,) the chief city of the Indian religion, and destroyed the idols with circumstances of cruelty worthy of a successor of Mahmud.† (1205.) The death of this emperor occasioned a new division of the Gaznavide empire. Eldoze retained the Persian part, and the Indian territories were enjoyed by Cuttub, the friend and servant of the late emperor. By Cuttub, the Patan or Afghan dynasty in Hindustan was founded. The Afghans originally inhabited the mountainous tract lying between India and Persia, or the ancient Paropamisus. Cuttub, prior to his elevation to the throne, had carried his arms, under Muhammed Gauri, into Agimul and Guzerat. Until the completion of his conquests, Lahor was his capital, but the necessity of fixing the imperial residence near the centre of his dominions, occasioned his removal to Delhi. His successor, the emperor Altumsh, conquered the vast province of Bengal, and established in it the Muhammedan religion. The Persian or Tartarian parts of the Gaznavide or Gaur territories were, at this period, added to the empire of Zingis Khan. ‡'

D'Herbelot, vol. ii. p. 517–525. De Guignes, vol. iii. p. 160-173. Dow's Hist. Hindustan, vol. i. p. 34-99. 4to. edit. 1768.'

Benares was regarded as the principal seat of Braminical learning; and we may conclude that about this period the Sanscrit language, which was before the common language of Hindustan, began to decline in purity, by the admixture of words from that of the inva lers. In the course of time new dialects, mixtures of the vernacular idioms and the language of the conquerors, were formed, and the Sanscrit, in its original purity, existed only in ancient writings. Rennell's Memoir to his Map of Hindustan, Introd. p. 47.

Rennell's Memoir, Introd. p. 48. et seq.'

Chapter