"Ghuznee, or Gazna," a steel engraving by A. H. Payne, 1843

Source: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=10170&item=3780665468&rd=1
(downloaded Feb. 2005)

Text that accompanied the engraving in the original source [emphases added by FWP to illustrate contemporary British claims about Mahmud]:

"The smell of death
Came reeking from those spicy bowers,
And man the sacrifice of man,
Mingled his taint with every breath
Upwafted from the innocent flowers.
Land of the Sun! what foot invades
Thy Pagods and thy pillar'd shades-
Thy cavern shrines and idol stones,
Thy monarchs and their thousand thrones?
'Tis he of Gazna, fierce in wrath,
He comes and India's diadems
Lie scattered in his ruinous path.-
His bloodhounds he adorns with gems
Torn from the violated necks
Of many a young and lov'd Sultana;
Maidens within their pure Zenana,
Priests in the very fane he slaughters,
And choaks up with the glittering wrecks
Of golden shrines the sacred waters!

--*LALLA ROOKH* [a long poem by Thomas Moore, 1817]

The recent expedition to Cabool (apart from the policy or impolicy of the measure) was eminently calculated to excite intense interest throughout the civilised world. The inhabitants of a small island in the far west, not content with ruling over a hundred millions of their fellow-creatures by means of a smaller army than is possessed by the weakest of the five great powers of Europe, and coming from the opposite quarter of the globe, to which Alexander the Great cast his longing eyes, and wept that there were no more worlds within his reach to conquer, crossed the sacred river, and, after a succession of extraordinary successes and reverses, after a victorious campaign, evacuated this celebrated land [of Afghanistan], which is now probably closed to the present generation of Europe. Of all the remarkable events of this adventurous expedition, the siege and sudden conquest of Ghuznee, perhaps, most arrested the public attention, from the ancient fame of this fortress and its boasted strength.

The Emperor Baber has left us a description of this city. "Ghuznee is a poor, mean place; and I have always wondered how its princes, who possessed also Hindustan and Khorassan, could have chosen such a wretched country for the seat of their government, in preference to Khorassan. In the time of the Sultan Mahmood there were three or four mounds for collecting water. One of these, which was of great dimensions, was formed by the Sultan of Ghuznee, on the river of Ghuznee, about three furlongs up the river, on the north-west of the town. "The Burner of the World," when he subdued the country, broke down the mound, burned and destroyed many of the tombs of the royal family of the sultan, ruined and burnt the city of Ghuznee, and plundered the inhabitants. In short there was no art of desolation and destruction from which he refrained. In the year in which I conquered Hindustan (A. D. 1525) I sent by Khwajeh Kilan a sum of money for the purpose of repairing it, and I entertain hopes that, by the mercy of God, this mound may once more be repaired. Ghuznee was the capital of Subaktagin, of Sultan Mahmood. Its river may be large enough to drive four or five mills. The city of Ghuznee, and four or five others, are supplied from this river, while as many more are fertilized by subterraneous watercourses. The grapes of Ghuznee are superior to those of Cabool, and its melons more abundant. Its apples too are excellent, and are carried into Hindustan. Cultivation is carried on with great difficulty and labour, and whatever ground is cultivated is obliged to have a new dressing of mould every year; but the produce of the crops exceeds that of Cabool. The madder is chiefly cultivated here, and it is carried over all Hindustan. It is the most profitable crop in this district. The inhabitants of the open country are Hazaras and Affghans. Ghuznee is a cheap place compared with Cabool. The tomb of Sultan Mahmood is in one of the suburbs of Ghuznee, which, from that circumstance, is termed Rozeh, the Garden. The best grapes in Ghuznee are from Rozeh. The tombs of Sultan Masood and Sultan lbrahim are in Ghuznee. There are many holy tombs at the city."

The famous tomb of Sultan Mahmood, with its sandal gates, that procured for Lord Ellenborough such an unenviable celebrity, is thus described by Mr. Vigne: "The Rozeh-i-Sultan is placed in the midst of a village. A mean entrance and a plastered Gothic cloister led to a wretched inner garden, into which open the celebrated sandal-wood gates; within these is the tomb of the once mighty Mahmood. The gates have lost their scent from age. The ornaments upon them, many being rosettes, appear to have been exquisitely carved. The tomb is a triangular prism of fine white polished marble, resting on a raised platform of the same material, which they would have me believe was of immense value. On the tomb were some carved ornaments and some Kufic inscriptions. Old festoons and Kashmir shawls were extended over and about the place. Amongst the offerings was the very largest tiger-skin I ever saw." A Kashmeerian servant was collecting some dust, ' for,' said he, ' ultan Mahmood was a very great man': he probably hoped to sell it for a consideration at Kashmir." "Ghuznee," says Baber, "is celebrated for its cold. The Kerkend is a low pricidy thorn, that burns alike whether green or dry; it constitutes the only fuel of the inhabitants of Ghuznee. The land to the west of the city of Ghuznee, at Heerghaught, is interspersed with low hills, and, except a few cultivated spots, produces little else than a prickly aromatic weed, on which camels feed with avidity.

The Fort of Ghuznee is situated on the western extremity of a range of hills, running east to west; the west, south, and east sides are ditched, the water being supplied by the river Ghuznee. There is a bridge over it at the Kenak gate, near which there is an outwork: the ditch is deep and formidable. The citadel to the north is an irregular square, there are two ramps going up to it, and, on entering the gate, there is a large square in it. The town was said (in 1839) to contain 3,000 houses; other accounts reduce this number to one-half; and Major Hough, in his Narrative of the March and Operations of the Army of the Indus, to which we are much indebted, gives the population at 3,000, independently of the garrison of the same amount. Ghuznee was once a powerful empire. The foundation of the Ghazneri dynasty is generally ascribed to the Turk Alptekin, originally a slave in Bokhara, who by his eminent talents obtained a high rank under the princes of the countries beyond the Oxus, but, in consequence of a struggle for the throne, retired to the city of Ghuznee, defeated the troops of Prince Mansoor, which had been sent against him, and maintained his independence until his death, which occurred in the year 975. But his successor and son-in-law, Sebektekin, is more justly to be considered as the founder. Like his predecessor, he was originally a Turkish slave. He maintained with great talent the possessions which he had inherited, and increased them by his courage, and by his zeal for the diffusion of Mohammedanism. He was recognized as an independent prince, was appointed viceroy of Khorassan, and died 997. After his death, his second son Ishmael seized the throne, but only for a short time, being thrown into prison, where he died, by his elder brother Mahmood. This Mahmood, the most celebrated and mighty of all the Ghazneri rulers, became ruler of Khorassan and Seistan, on the fall of the Samanidir dynasty, and the Khalif Kadher Billah confirmed him in possession, and gave him the title of Yemen Eddaulah, or right-hand of the empire. In the year 1001 he began his incursions into Hindustan, and in a short time became master of all Kashmir and the Punjaub. But he was stopped in his course of victory by an irruption of his father-in-law into Khorassan. After having expelled this domestic enemy, and defeated him in battle near Baikh, in the year 1007, principally by means of the elephants which he had brought from India, he marched against the Ghebers, whom he conquered, but rendered irreconcilable enemies of his dynasty by his cruelty. He continued his conquests as far as the Ganges, murdering all the men who would not become converts to Mahommedanism, and carrying off the women and children as slaves. With the immense spoils which he brought back with him from India he founded in Ghuznee a magnificent mosque, with a school and library; for he was a friend and patron of learning and the sciences. In the year 1025 he undertook his most celebrated expedition to India, and conquered Guzerat; taking by storm and destroying the town of Somnath with its celebrated temple, which was one of the greatest and most magnificent holy places of the Hindoos, and possessed of immense wealth; the roof was supported by fifty-six golden pillars, ornamented with precious stones and pearls. Several thousand gold and silver statues stood round the gigantic idol, Sirva, in whose interior the priests had concealed an immense number of precious stones. Mahmood broke the idol with his own hand. Four years afterwards he marched against the King of Persia, took him prisoner, and made himself master of the northern provinces of his kingdom without opposition. He died in the following year. He was famed, not only for his heroism, but likewise for his knowledge of mankind; for his love of justice and truth: his chief vices were his insatiable ambition and cupidity and his cruelty to unbelievers, arising from his orthodox Mahommedan fanaticism. With Mahmood's eldest son and successor, the wild herculean Masood 1., the power of the Ghazneri dynasty already began to sink. His first deed was to put out the eyes of his brother Mohammed, whom he had conquered in war. By a rebellion he lost Irak and his possessions beyond the Oxus: Khorassan fell into the power of the Seidjooks in 1040; in the following year he was murdered by his nephew Achmed. The short reigns of the five succeeding sovereigns pourtray a picture of constant decay, caused by disputes for the succession, which maintained a course of destructive civil wars, in which the Ghazneri family was defiled by the most horrible crimes. This internal weakness favoured the revolt of the subdued Hindoos, and of the governors of the different provinces. It was not until the peaceable and happy reign of Firok Sad (1052-1059) that better times arose, which were continued under the reigns of his two successors, his brother, the wise and virtuous lbrahim, (1059-1099,) and his son, Masood III. (1099-1115.) The former defeated the Seldjooks in Persia, made an honourable peace with them, and then reduced Hindustan, a second time, to subjection: he used all means to establish the welfare of his subjects, and founded many benevolent institutions. Masood III. occupied himself principally with legislation. But with his death the old disputes recommenced; his son and successor, Shir-Sad, was dethroned and killed by his brother Arslan Shah, who, in his turn, was murdered, after many battles, by his third brother, Bahram Shah. The reign of the latter, who distinguished himself by his munificence and patronage of science, was splendid and happy, with the exception of the last years, which were disturbed by an obstinate war against the vassal-prince Aladdin Hussein, in which Masood lost Ghuznee, which was, however, recovered by his son. His grandson, Khosroo Melick, the last Ghazneri, was, like his father, just and good, but effeminate and devoted to pleasure. After long wars with the Turcomans, who retained possession of Ghuznee for fifteen years, but were at last expelled, Khosroo was put to death in captivity, after a reign of twenty-six years. Thus ended the mighty Ghazneri dynasty; the immense possessions of which formed different empires. "By the blessing of Almighty God," says the Emperor Baber, "I gained (1504) possession of Cabool and Ghuznee, with the country and provinces dependent on them, without battle or contest."

In 1739 Nadir Shah, after the capture of Delhi, became master of the provinces to the west of the Indus, Cabool, Tatta, and part of Multan, and, in 1747, Ahmed Shah, founder of the Dooranee dynasty, conquered the whole of Affghanistan. The more recent history of Ghuznee is, doubtless, from the descriptions in the different English journals, familiar to our readers."