6_Glorious_Epochs_of_Indian_History

280 SIX GLORIOUS EPOCHS OF INDIAN HISTORY
political, as well as religious, power root and branch. He
was just, as regards other departments of administration,
but was partial to the Muslims. Seeing the tremendous loss
of Muslim lives in the siege of Batanbhor, he raised the siege
and decamped saying, "I value a single hair of a Muslim
more than a hundred such forts." But this wisdom of his was
so belated that the cause for this action of his has to be
sought in the unbeaten valour of the Rajputs. After this
failure he never again troubled the Rajputs.
701. The old Jalalluddin really wanted to enthrone his
one ambitious, brave, and staunch Muslim nephew, Allauddin
after his own death. So he had sent him with a large army
to face the Rajputs But not content with this assignment
which seemed too meagre for his daring Hindu-hatred he
marched straight off without the Sultan's permission to
conquer the southern Hindu states and rob them of their
reported fabulous wealth of which he had lately grown
covetous beyond every limit. The first Hindu state to fall a
victim to this unexpected attack of Allauddin was that of the
Yadavas of Devgiri.
702. There is one special point to be noted as regards
this southern conquest of Allauddin. The Hindu society
of the south had, for more or less two thousand years, from
the early beginnings of the modern history i.e. from 500 or
600 B.C. to the 13th century A.D., been enjoying complete
political, religious and social independence and had been
economically highly prosperous. It had never been success­
fully invaded throughout these two thousand years^^. Whoever
of the foreign invaders dared to do so, was ruthlessly crushed
on the borders themselves. So this invasion of Allauddin
was the first of its kind and was bound to be successful, with
far-reaching harmful effects. Because of this special
revolutionary and harmful character of this invasion of
Allauddin it has to be dealt with in a fresh chapter.