Part 12 (1/2)
It found its apotheosis in the twelfth and last expedition to India, when Mahmud directed all his energy towards Som-nath, a temple renowned throughout India, set proudly on a peninsula in Guzerat, surrounded on all sides save one by the sea.
The intervening seven excursions were all marked by noteworthy incidents, all full to the brim of reckless romance, and each left India the more helpless, the more ready to let the invader pa.s.s to fresh, more southern conquests. Indeed, a certain suzerainty was acknowledged by many Hindu rajahs, and on one occasion Mahmud's march was ostensibly to the relief of a feudatory.
But it would take too long to follow in detail events which were in general so alike. Swift marching, utter unpreparedness, almost pitiful submission, and then ”a halt at some sacred city, during which the town was plundered, the idols broken, the temples profaned, and the whole fired.” Yet, as the ravaging raids touched Rajputana, resistance became more spirited. At one place the garrison rushed out through the breaches in true Kshatriya fas.h.i.+on to do or die, whilst the women and children burned themselves in silence in their houses. Not one, we are told, survived. This is the first mention in history of the _johar_, or great war-sacrifice of the Rajputs. It is not the last.
So let us turn to Som- or Soma-nath. Now ”Soma” is the Moon-G.o.d, ”Nath” is Lord. We have, therefore, a simple Temple to the Moon by name; but in reality Som-nath, or Som-eswara, is one of the forms of the G.o.d Siva--his self-existing form.
The crescent moon on the forehead with which the G.o.d always is portrayed alludes to this, and to the intimate relation between the phases of the planet as a measure of time, and the upright stone or lingam, which as all know is wors.h.i.+pped as a symbol of material Life.
It is customary to condemn this nature or phallic wors.h.i.+p in India as unclean, almost obscene; it is not so, anyhow, in spirit.
Som-nath, then, was a shrine of Life. The idol in its holy of holies bore no semblance of created beings. It was the symbol of Creation itself, a tall, rounded, black monolith of stone, set six feet in the ground, rising ten feet above it. One of the twelve lingams believed by the Hindus to have descended from Heaven, it was unexpressedly holy, marvellously mighty in miracle. Small wonder, then, with a priesthood of clutching hands, that Som-nath stood renowned as the richest shrine in India.
It must have been fine to see this temple, with its fifty-six pillars set in rows, all carven and inlaid with gems, its gilded spires above the dark, unlit sanctuary, where the great bell swung on a solid gold chain which weighed some fifteen hundred pounds.
Steps led down from it to the sea--that sea which was a miracle in itself to the ignorant, up-country pilgrim, accustomed to parched deserts, unwitting of such natural phenomena as tides; for did it not bow, did it not rise and fall incessantly in constant adoration of the Great Lord of Life? So, at any rate, said the priests, and the pilgrim went back to his parched desert with empty pockets, to dream for the rest of his life of the solemn, ceaseless adoration of the sea. Aye!
even when it raged black with monsoon winds, and spat white with fury at the temple walls, yet still in subservience, still as a slave.
This was not a place to be yielded up of the Brahmans without a struggle. So we read of a three days' battle, of scaling ladders, of heavy reinforcements of the ”idolatrous garrison,” of an ”idolatrous”--surely there is no better word in the language with which to fight a foe!--array in the field which withdrew Mahmud's personal attention. And then there is the crucial moment: Mahomedan troops beginning to waver, their leader leaping from his horse, prostrating himself on the ground before the Lord G.o.d of Battles, and imploring aid for the True Faith.
To speak trivially, it did the trick. One wild, cheering rush, and ”the Moslems broke through the enemy's line and laid five thousand Hindus dead at their feet; so the rout became general.” So general that the garrison of four thousand, abandoning the defence, escaped by the sea in boats.
Nothing left, then, but to enter the temple in pomp. A goodly procession of warriors! Mahmud, his sons, his n.o.bles; all, no doubt, spitting profusely, while keeping their weather eye open on the gems starring the heavy, carven pillars. Darker and darker! The pillars close in. No light now, save,--high up in the shadows--one pendent jewelled lamp, reflected in the glistening stones, showing dimly the huge, ma.s.sive golden chain, the swinging bronze bell.
And what more? Only a roughly-polished, black marble, upright boulder, hung round, doubtless, as such lingams are to-day, with faded _champak_ chaplets and marigold wreaths.
Was it disappointment which made Mahmud strike at it with his mace?
One could imagine it so, but that he had had experience of the idle objects of which men make idols. Perhaps the backward swing of the mace-head hit the bell and sent its last hollow boom of appeal--which so many wors.h.i.+ppers had raised--straight to the ears of the Lord of Life.
It is a rare picture this, of one faith defying another. It does not need the amplification which legend brings to it, in order to grip attention.
That legend runs thus. When Mahmud had ordered two fragments to be hewn off the idol, one for the threshold of the mosque at Ghuini, another for the threshold of his own palace, some of the two thousand priests of Baal in attendance offered untold gold to arrest further destruction; an offer viewed with favour by the king's sons, and the attendant n.o.bles. Smas.h.i.+ng one idol out of millions was but mildly meritorious, whereas the money thus gained might be given to the poor But the Judas argument failed.
”The King”--to quote the text--”acknowledged there might be reason in what they said, but replied that if he should consent to such a measure his name would be handed down to posterity as 'Mahmud the idol-seller,' and he wished it to be 'Mahmud the idol-breaker.' He therefore directed the troops to proceed in their work. The next blow broke open the belly of Som-nath, which was hollow, and discovered a quant.i.ty of diamonds, rubies, and pearls of much greater value than the amount which the Brahmans had offered.”
Very dramatic, no doubt, but, unfortunately, none of these lingams are hollow. It is possible, however, that the story found base in the discovery of sacred vaults.
Be that as it may, Mahmud, ”having secured the wealth of Som-nath,”
apparently fell in love with the country round about it; so much so that he proposed remaining there and sending his son Masud back to reign at Ghuzni. It needed pressure on the part of his officers to induce him to stir; but after some difficulty in securing a Governor for Guzerat, he started to march direct towards Ghuzni by way of the desert.
This same difficulty gives us another picture.
Apparently there were two cousins Dabeshleems--fateful name, of what nationality or family absolutely uncertain--one a hermit, the other a rajah. The hermit was made governor, the prince became pretender.
Mahmud, ere leaving, reduced the latter, and handed him over prisoner to the former. To this the hermit objected. But one course, he said, was open to him, since by the tenets of his religion no king could be put to death; he must build a vault under his throne and place the unfortunate gentleman therein for life. This would be inconvenient, therefore he prayed the conqueror to carry the rajah back with him to Ghuzni.