1 MASUD IIl; ARSLAN; BAHRAM. 91
2 SULTAN MASUD IIL.
3 Sultdn Ibréhim was succeeded on the throne of Ghazni by his son,
4 Masid III. He possessed a martial spirit and was distinguished for his
5 love of justice and benevolence. He revised all the existing laws of the
6 State and compiled a new code of law founded on better principles than had
7 previously obtained. Having appointed Hajib Toghantagin general of his
8 army and viceroy of Léhore, he sent him thither at the head of a large
9 force. The General crossed the Ganges and carried the Mahomedan arms
10 further than had been previously done, except by the great Mahmud. He
11 plundered many rich cities and temples and returned to Lahore laden with
12 enormous spoil.
13 During the reign of this emperor, Lahore became the real capital of the
14 Ghaznivide dynasty, which having been deprived of most of its territory in
15 Irén and Turén, the royal family were compelled to reside in India, where
16 their possessions had now become consolidated. After reigning sixteen
17 years without domestic troubles or foreign wars, Masud died in 1118 a.D.
18 SULTAN ARSLAN.
19 Arslan, a son of the late king, having ascended the throne, imprisoned
20 his brothers; but Sanjar, the Sultan of the Suljuks, having espoused the
21 cause of the princes who had been put aside, gave Arslan battle, and the
22 latter was defeated and put to flight. Arslan came to the Panjab, and,
23 collecting his Mahomedan troops, returned to recover his capival, but Sultan
24 Sanjar again took the field in person and, a second time, expelled him from
25 Ghazui. The defeated king took refuge with the Afghdns, but was hotly
26 pursued and taken prisoner. He, soon after, met a violent death at the
27 hands of his brother Bahram, in the twenty-seventh year of his age and
28 the third of his reign.
29 SULTAN BAHRAM.
30 Sanjar, the Sultan of Saljuks, placed Bahram, the brother of Arslan, on
31 the throne of Ghazni. Muhammad Bhylim, the Viceroy of Léhore, on the
32 part of his brother Arslan, having refused to tender his allegiance to the
33 new king, Bahrdm marched from Ghazni to reduce him. An action was
34 fought between the royal troops and those of Bhylim, the Lahore viceroy, in
35 which the latter was defeated and taken prisoner, on 5th December 1118.
36 Bhylim, however, swore allegiance, and the Sultan, after reinstating him in
37 the government of the country, returned to Ghazni. Bhylim, subsequently
38 to the departure of Bahrdm, strengthened his position in the Panjdb, and,
39 having built a new fort at Sawalik, conveyed thither his whole wealth, family
40 and effects. Having then enlisted numerous recruits in his service from the
41 Arabs, Persians, Afghans and Khiljis, he committed great depredations in
42 the territories of the independent chiefs, and at length aspired to sovereign
43 power. This brought Bahrdm a second time on the soil of the Panjab.
44 Muhammad Bhylim had ten sons, to each of whom he had assigned the
45 command of a province. They all joined their father with the whole of
46 their resources, and the confederate troops met the advancing army of
47 Babrém at Multan. An obstinate fight took place, in which Bhylim and
48 his sons were defeated, and in their flight they sank in a deep quagmire, in
49 which they all perished. After this victory, the Sultan appointed Salar
50 Hasan, son of Ibrdéhim Alvy, to the government of Ldhore and himself
51 marched back to Ghazni.
52 Bahradm, soon after, having publicly executed his son-in-law, Kutb-ud-din
53 Muhammad, an Afghén of Ghor, involved himself in a struggle with Saif-ud-
54 din Suri, Prince of Ghor and brother of the deceased. Saif-ud-din was
55 Sultan Masid IIE.
56 Hajib Toghantagin
57 appointed viceroy of
58 Lahore,
59 Lahore becomes
60 the real capital of the
61 Ghaznivide dynasty.
62 Death of Mastid III,
63 1118 a. Dd,
64 Sultan Arslin.
65 His death, 1121 a p.
66 Bahram.
67 Bhylim, viceroy
68 of Lahore,
69 He aspires to inde-
70 pendence,
71 His defeat and
72 death.
73 Sri Satguru J agjit Singh J i eLibrary NamdhariElibrary@ gmail.com