The circumvallation of Kanauj covered a space of more than thirty miles; and its numerous forces obtained for its prince the epithet of ‘Dal Pangla,’ meaning that the mighty host (Dal) was lame or had a halt in its movements owing to its numbers, of which Chand observes that in the march “the van had reached their ground ere the rear had moved off.” The Suraj Prakas gives the amount of this army, which in numbers might compete with the most potent which, in ancient or modern times, was ever sent into the field. “Eighty thousand men in armour; thirty thousand horse covered with pakhar, or quilted mail; three hundred thousand Paiks or infantry; and of bow-men and battle-axes two hundred thousand; besides a cloud of elephants bearing warriors” [8].

This immense army was to oppose the Yavana beyond the Indus; for, as the chronicle says, “The king of Gor and Irak crossed the Attock. There Jai Singh met the conflict, when the Nilab changed its name to Surkhab.[[25]] There was the Ethiopic (Habshi) king, and the skilful Frank learned in all arts,[[26]] overcome by the lord of Kanauj.”

The chronicles of the Chauhans, the sworn foe of the Rathors, repeat the greatness of the monarch of Kanauj, and give him the title of “Mandalika.”[[27]] They affirm that he overcame the king of the north,[[28]] making eight tributary kings prisoners; that he twice defeated Siddhraj, king of Anhilwara, and extended his dominions south of the Nerbudda, and that at length, in the fulness of his pride, he had divine honours paid him in the rite Swayamvara.[[29]] This distinction, which involves the most august ceremony, and is held as a virtual assumption of universal supremacy, had in all ages been attended with disaster. In the rite of Swayamvara every office, down to the scullion of the Rasora, or banquet-hall, must be performed by royal personages; nor had it been attempted by any of the dynasties which ruled India since the Pandu: not even Vikrama, though he introduced his own era, had the audacity to attempt what the Rathor determined to execute. All India was agitated by the accounts of the magnificence of the preparations, and circular invitations were despatched to every prince, inviting him to assist at the pompous ceremony, which was to conclude with the nuptials of the raja’s only daughter, who, according to the customs of those days, would select her future lord from the assembled chivalry of India. The Chauhan bard describes the revelry and magnificence of the scene: the splendour of the Yajnasala, or ‘hall of sacrifice,’ surpassing all powers of description; in which were assembled all the princes of India, “save the lord of the Chauhans, and Samara of Mewar,” who, scorning this assumption of supremacy, Jaichand made their effigies in gold, assigning to them the most servile posts; that of the king of the Chauhans being Poliya, or ‘porter of the hall.’ Prithiraj, whose life was one succession of feats of arms and gallantry, had a double motive for action—love and revenge. He determined to enjoy both, or perish in the attempt; “to spoil the sacrifice and bear away the fair of Kanauj from its halls, though beset [9] by all the heroes of Hind.” The details of this exploit form the most spirited of the sixty-nine books of the bard. The Chauhan executed his purpose, and, with the élite of the warriors of Delhi, bore off the princess in open day from Kanauj. A desperate running-fight of five days took place. To use the words of the bard, “he preserved his prize; he gained immortal renown, but he lost the sinews of Delhi.” So did Jaichand those of Kanauj; and each, who had singly repelled all attacks of the kings, fell in turn a prey to the Ghori Sultan,[[30]] who skilfully availed himself of these international feuds, to make a permanent conquest of India.

The Great States of North India.

There were four great kingdoms, namely—

To one or other of these States the numerous petty princes of India paid homage and feudal service. The boundary between Delhi and Kanauj was the Kalinadi, or ‘black stream’; the Kalindi of the Greek geographers.[[31]] Delhi claimed supremacy over all the countries westward to the Indus, embracing the lands watered by its arms, from the foot of the Himalaya,—the desert—to the Aravalli chain. The Chauhan king, successor to the Tuars, enumerated one hundred and eight great vassals, many of whom were subordinate princes.

The power of Kanauj extended north to the foot of the Snowy mountains; eastward to Kasi (Benares); and across the Chambal to the lands of the Chandel (now Bundelkhand); on the south its possessions came in contact with Mewar.

Mewar, or Madhyawar, the ‘central region,’[[32]] was bounded to the north by the Aravalli, to the south by the Pramaras of Dhar (dependent on Kanauj), and westward by Anhilwara, which State was bounded by the ocean to the south, the Indus on the west, and the desert to the north.

There are records of great wars amongst all these princes. The Chauhans and Guhilots, whose dominions were contiguous, were generally allies, and the Rathors and Tuars (predecessors of the Chauhans), who were only divided by the Kalinadi, often dyed it with their blood. Yet this warfare was never of an [10] exterminating kind; a marriage quenched a feud, and they remained friends until some new cause of strife arose.