of the second book (a division into books, although adopted by Gibbon, is not so convenient for purposes of quotation and reference, as a continuous numeration of chapters), opens with a critical catalogue of the eastern authors, and works consulted for the composition of this history. Abulfeda's abstract of geography, and annals of the Moslem affairs, respectively translated by Graves and Reiske: Mirkhoud's History of the earlier Persian Kings, after the establishment of Islamism, translated by Jenisch, and the other scraps shuffled into Herbelot's dictionary: Amid, or Al Makin's Saracenic History, translated by Erpenius: Abdo! latif's Marrow of History, translated by Golmin: Ulug Beg's famous Eras, edited by Graves: Abulfaragius, translated by Pocock: the Tatar History, begun by Abulgazi the father, and finished by his son: Ebu Haukal, translated by Sir William Ouseley: and many European works indebted to oriental authorities, pass in review. This is an innovation in history-writing to appreciate the authorities consulted previous to the use of them; but it is not an injudicious one, it scatters an agreeable variety along the path of investigation, and enables the reader more fairly to estimate the diligence and bias of the author. Let us hope the authorities have been as carefully consulted, as they are enume rated. There is a lack of frequent local reference, which excites suspicion, and disappoints investigation.

The second chapter of the second book, begins with the flight of Mohammed, which, on the authority of Abulfeda, this writer fixes in the 578th year of the Christian æra. A cursory view is given of the state of Christendom and Christianity at that period; and a rapid sketch of the character and exploits of the founder of Islamism. The Arabian generals invade Persia in their progress toward the Indian frontier. The battle of Cadesia, the plunder of Ctesiphon, are described. The death of Yesdegird terminates the Sassanian dynasty. The Moslems subjugate Transoxiana. A very concise history follows of the Taherian, Soffarian, and Sammanian Dynasties: and to this succeeds an Account of the Interior Re. gions of India, by certain Mohammedan travellers in the ninth century, translated from the Arabic by Renaudot.

An extract from the Golden Meadows of Masoudi, describes the geographical state of India about the time of the foundation of the Gaznavid sovereignty, by Abistagi, a governor of Chorasan, tributary to the Sammanian family. He was succeeded by Subuctagi, also an usurper, who obtained the sway by supporting, for a time, the son of Abistagi.

The third chapter is wholly conse crated to the reign of Mahmud, the son of Subuctagi, an eventful reign, which removed the land-marks of ancient empires, and overthrew the temples of established superstitions, which interrupted the security of law, the authority of usage, and the price of property; which desolated anew the highlands, over which agriculture had slowly triumphed, dispeopled the residences of luxury, and dispersed the schools of literature. An attempt was made by the second son Ismael, to exclude Mah mud from the throne of Subuctagi. Mahmud defeated and imprisoned his brother, and proceeded to subdue Mansur, the sovereign of Bokhara, who had probably sold assistance to Ismael for a province which he was about to occupy. This attack, which terminated in the total subversion of the empire of Bokhara, was only preliminary to more celebrated enterprises. The Hercules of conquerors, Mahmud, accomplished twelve distinct expeditions into Hindostan. In the first he attacked Peishore, and defeated Jeipal, prince of Lahore. In the second he took various towns and castles on the western frontier. In the third he stormed and plundered Tahera. In the fourth he conquered Multan, the capital of Sind. In the fifth he defeated a coalition of rajahs, and seized the treasures of Naugracut, and the principality of Ghaur. In the sixth he plundered Tannassar, and took Delhi. In the seventh he overran Cashmere. In the eighth he won Canouge, the capital of Hindostan, and erected the crescent of his prophet in the birth-place of Creeshna. ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth expeditions, were rather undertaken to defend than to acquire; to repel assailing rajahs, to punish the disaffection of Lahore, to secure the hill forts, and to reduce the importance of Sumnat.

The

The remarkable character of Mahmud is thus summed up by our author.

"Sultan Mahmud, it is recorded, possessed many great and princely virtues; among them principally predominated a dauntless fortitude, profound political wisdom, and, on some occasions, he manifested a laudable spirit of inflexible justice; but they were all darkened by his execrable bigotry and his insatiable avarice. No man ever had such ample opportunities of gratifying it in its fullest extent. The wealth he amassed in his various wars, but particularly in his invasions of India, was of an enormous amount; and, independently of these, he had other occasional sources to fly to for obtaining treasure. In particular, at the storming of Bagdad, he extorted from the caliph Al Kader Billa, at once, five millions of dirhms. The splendour of his court attracted thither the most celebrated scholars and poets from all parts of Asia. Here they were hospitably and splendidly entertained, out of the overflowings of wealth too vast to feel the deduction, and contributed to swell the pomp of a monarch, more ostentatious than really generous; and far more eager to obtain praise, than anxious to reward it. Of this, his conduct towards the great poet Ferdusi, the Homer of Asia, was a striking proof. The reader will easily pardon me for transcribing the whole relation from the authentic page of Sir William Jones, who, with much of the poetic fire of Ferdusi, at an early period of life, experienced, from a great European sovereign, a similar ill treatment with that bard.

"This most learned man, happening to find a volume of Persian history, of a very ancient date, read it with eagerness, and found it involved in fables, but bearing the marks of high antiquity; the most ancient part of it, and principally the war of Afrasiah and Khosro, or Cyrus, seemed to afford an excellent subject for an heroic poem, which he accordingly began to compose. Some of his episodes and descriptions were shewn to the Sultan, who commended them exceedingly, and ordered him to comprise the whole history of Persia in a series of epic poems. The poet obeyed; and after the happiest exertions of his fancy and art, for near thirty years, he finished his work, which contained sixty thousand couplets in rhyme, all highly polished, with the spirit of our Dryden, and the sweetness of Pope. He presented an elegant transcript of his book to Mahmud, who coldly applauded his diligence, and dismissed him. Many months elapsed, and Ferdusi heard no more of his work: he then took occasion to remind the king of it by some little epigrams, which he contrived to let fall in his palace: but where an epic poem had failed, what could be expected from an epigram? At length the reward came; which consisted only of as many small pieces of money as there were couplets in the volume. The high minded poet could not brook this insult: he retired

to his closet with bitterness in his heart, where he wrote a most noble and animated invective against the Sultan, which he sealed up, and delivered to a courtier, who, as he had reason to suspect, was his greatest enemy, assuring him, that it was a diverting tale) and requesting him to give it to Mahmud, when any affair of state, or bad saca cess in war, should make him more uneasy and splenetic than usual. Having thus given vent to his just indignation, he left Gazna in the night, and took refuge in Bagdad, where the caliph protected him from the power of the sultan, who demanded him in a furious and menacing letter.

"We are the more astonished at this unworthy treatment of the prince of Asiatic poets, because we are informed by all his biographers, that Mahmud himself was a poet, and, at an early period of life, translated into verse a sublime treatise on government, composed by the Brachmins of India.

"Of the power, indeed, of elegant poetry to attract and mollify him, we have already given a striking proof in the pacificatory verses addressed to him by the rajah of Cal linger. His historians record another in stance of its effect in soothing his turbulent passions, which is too curious to be passed over unnoticed. Mahmud seems, like other poets, to have occasionally indulged in the pleasures of the flowing goblet. In a moment of intoxication, he one night cut off the beautiful tresses of his favourite mistress. In the morning he was extremely afflicted for the outrage he had committed. The dis tracted state of his mind shewed itself in his wild and furious gestures. Nobody dared approach the agitated monarch. At length a celebrated philosopher and poet of the court, addressed him in some beautiful lines artfully adapted to the sorrowful occasion. The sovereign's grief gradually subsided, and as the bard proceeded, he became so delighted with the effusion, that he ordered his mouth to be three times filled with jewels; an admirable mode of rewarding poetical merit, never, I believe, before or since prac tised! The Sultan then, in spite of his zeal for the doctrines of the Koran, called aloud for wine, and seating the favourite poet by his side, forgot his cares in the renovated pleasures of the banquet.

"Of his inflexible justice the following instance is inserted in Herbelot, from the NIGHIARISTAN, composed by Al Kaswani,

"A person, one day, in great agony of mind, abruptly rushed into his presence, while the king was sitting at his tribunal, and called loudly for JUSTICE. Mahmud desired him instantly to declare his complaint. He said, that he was a man in but indigent circumstances, but blest with a handsome wife, whose beauty had unfortunately excited the passion of an omrah of great wealth and rank; that the said omrah, with armed attendants, came frequently, at

midnight, to his house, and after severely beating him, turned him into the street, while he gratified, by force, his libidinous desires, Tears of resentment and compas sion started from the eyes of Mahmud, and he severely reprimanded the poor sufferer for not sooner preferring his complaint. The man replied, that he had often attempted it, but could never gain admittance. If,' said Mahmud, that omrah should ever trouble you again, let me know it without a moment's delay.' Then ordering the guard to admit him at any hour, however unseasonable, he dismissed him. The third night following, the former outrage being renewed, the complainant hurried to the palace; but the king having retired to the haram, was refused admittance. Encou raged by the promises of Mahmud, he now set up the most violent outcries, in hopes that the noise would alarm the court, and reach the ear of the king. The attempt succeeded, and Mahmud snatching his robe in haste, followed the poor man to his house, attended by part of his guard. When arrived thither, he immediately ordered the light to be extinguished, and cut the inso Jent omrah to pieces. After the execution, he commanded a flambeau to be lighted, and then looked earnestly at the face of the criminal; this done, he prostrated himself,

returned thanks to God, and called for some refreshment. The house of poverty afforded no other than some barley bread and a little stale wine, which, however, the Sultan was contented with and, on the point of returning to his palace, was, after the most fervent expressions of gratitude, humbly solicited, by the avenged husband, to declare, why he ordered the light to be extinguished; why he prostrated himself after the death of the omrah; and lastly, how the fastidious appetite of a great king could put up with so beggarly a repast? The Sultan, with great condescension, replied, that, after his first complaint, he conjectured that none of his numerous subjects, except his own son, would dare to commit an act of such hor rible enormity in the capital where he resided; that determined to sacrifice so atrocious an offender to the justice of the laws, he ordered the light to be extinguished, lest compassion at the sight of so dear a relative, should arrest his hand in the execution of that justice; that, finding it was not his son, he prostrated himself with great humility before God: and that he had eaten chearfully of his repast, however humble, because he had, on the instant of hearing his complaint, made a vow not to eat or drink till he had avenged himself on the base adulterer.

Thus great, thus mean; thus formidable, thus contemptible; thus benevolent, thus cruel, was the potent Mahmud; whose empire extended from the shores of the Caspian to the mouth of the Indus; and from the Tigris to the Ganges. No mo

hammedan prince before him, ever attained to so exalted a point of power and splen dour, ever rolled in so much wealth, or was ever stained with so much blood. The liberal patron of the arts, at Gazna; at Delhi, the remorseless despoiler of their proudest monuments! affecting towards the Great Creator the most zealons piety, but acting towards his creatures with ferocious barbarity. So singular a compound of qualities the most opposite, has seldom occurred in the historic page; though, in these pages, but too many characters will hereafter pass in review, polluted with all the vices, unmitigated by the virtues of Mahmud."

The second volume, or part, of this comprehensive history, is separated into four sections; of which the first narMohammed, the immediate successor rates the short and unfortunate reign of of the great Mahmud, The reign of Massud, the third of the Gaznavide dynasty. of Sultans, succeeds. He is attacked by the Seljukian Turks, marches into Hindostan, where he takes numerous forts, and commits many ravages, but, on his return to Gazna, is defeated by the Seljuks, retreats toward Lahore, is deserted by a rebellions army, plun dered, and at length butchered. Modud ascends the throne, and is eventually successful against the Seljuks. A second Massud reigns for six days, then Abul Hassan, then Abdulraschid. He re covers southern Hindostan, and retakes Naugracut; but is dethroned and murdered by his general Togrol, who is also assassinated. Ferochzad repels the Seljuks, and behaves generously to his prisoners: his life is attempted in a bath, but he overcomes the assassin, and shortly after dies naturally. Ibrahim, a bigot, concludes a disgraceful peace with the Seljuks, in order to wage war with the idolaters of Hindostan : he

takes Adjodin, and other strong places, which permanently extend his domi, nions. He reigns forty-two years.

From the second chapter we shall extract the episodical abridged account of the Seljukian dynasty.

Although it was by no means my intention to mingle with this short history of the Gaznavide sultans, any extended account of the Seljukian emperors, yet as about this period the history of the latter is deeply connected with theirs, as well as with that of Asia in general, and as, in the end, the former empire was entirely subverted by the descendants of the latter, we cannot pass them over entirely unnoticed.

relations and favourites, and permitting them to enjoy an unusual and almost an unlimited power in their several districts. These potent viceroys, by degrees, grew independent of the crown, and as many kingdoms were formed on the ruins of the great empire to which they were formerly an appendage.

"His vizier, Nizam al Mole, was not less celebrated than his master for wisdom and for valour. He had been originally preceptor to Alp Arslan, and afterwards acted in capacity of vizier to both father and son. For thirty years this great man, as well by the exertions of his pen and his sword, proved himself to be what his name implies, the defender of the empire. Presuming, however, too much, in the decline of life,

upon

his unbounded influence with his sovereign, and exalted station, his conduct occasioned a warm expostulatory letter from the Sultan, in which he demanded of him, ⚫ whether he were in reality his partner in the empire, or only his vizier.' An intemperate reply of the vizier, in which he told the Sultan, that the empire owed its prosperity not less to the inkhorn of the vizier, than the turban of the sultan, caused his immediate degradation, and, not long after, he was assassinated by a slave, at the instigation of the president of the divan, who succeeded to his high office. Before the vizier expired, he wrote a letter to the Sultan, couched in very different terms from the former, and highly becoming the situation of a great minister, whose period of glory was about to close for ever. After modestly enumerating his long services, he observes, I am now going to give an account of my administration to a greater sovereign than your majesty, the King of Heaven! I perish, in the ninety-third year of my age, by the dagger of an assassin. If I have had errors, forgive them; if virtues, reward them, by protecting my son.' The palace of this great man was open to all learned and virtuous men, to whom, like his master, he always professed himself a patron; which is not to be wondered at, as he was himself, in a high degree, both learned and virtuous. Malec Shah survived his vizier only a fortnight, being attacked with a fever, the consequence of a surfeit at an entertainment after hunting, which, in a few days, carried him off. In a Persian poem, composed on his death, it is remarked,The old vizier dies in one month, and the young king follows him in the next. The power of God discovers to us the imbecility of princes, to the end that we should adore him alone, the King of all, and not attach ourselves too closely to any thing mortal. The life of this celebrated minister Nizam Al Mole, so famous over all the East, has been written by several of the best Oriental historians and biographers.

After the death of Malec, the great Seljukian empire was rent asunder by the am

bitious contentions of his surviving family; and four inferior dynasties sprang up from its ruins: those of Iran and of Rum, or the Greek empire (though still denominated Roman), long upheld the grandeur and renown of the Seljukian name. The exploits of many of the warlike sovereigns of these dynasties, are, about this period, intimately blended with the events peculiar to this history, and the reader, on that account, will doubtless excuse this digression in regard to one of the most celebrated and powerful race of conquerors in the annals, and on the plains of Asia.”

The reign of the wise and politic Massud III. follows. Next that of Ar silla, a short, bloody, and turbulent reign, terminated by the hostile inter ference of Sinjar. Chosro I. makes Lahore, instead of Gazna, his capital, and reigns seven years. Chosro II. is besieged in Lahore, and the metropolis is taken by stratagem, Mohammed of Gaur having thus extinguished the Gaznavide dynasty, imitates their plundering irruptions into Hindostan. Cuttub rises, and extends his ravages to Benares and other cities beyond the Ganges. Mohammed Gauri is assassinated after a reign of thirty-two years. Mahmud II. is conquered by the sultan of Charazm, who puts a period to the Gauride dynasty.

The third chapter introduces Gengis Khan, who overthrows the imperial cities of Samarcand and Charazm. Mohammed and his son Gelaleddin are defeated, and disappear. Cuttab and Eldoze once both slaves, become rival sovereigns. Aram, the son of Cuttub, is

dethroned by Altumsh, a wise and warlike king, who maintains his power twenty-six years. Ferose, the sultaną Rizia, a woman of great talent and courage, Byram, and Massud IV. succeed to the throne, and to deposition, Mahmud III. a prince distinguished for learning; and Balin, a courageous, generous, and wise sovereign, successively elevate the kingdom of Delhi to high felicity and glory. Rai Robad, one of those effeminate princes who fail not to originate in countries blessed with an enduring tranquillity and prosperity, sinks before domestic faction and foreign invasion, and is dispatched by an

assassin.

The fourth and concluding chapter describes the Chilligies, a tribe of Af ghans, who introduced to power Ferose, the invader of the Decan, and the accu