162 PROVINCIAL DYNASTIES tier of the Ottoman empire in Asia Minor on the west, and had occupied Afghanistan on the east, before the wealth of India drew him to the invariable road of Central Asian invaders. When he laid the project be- fore his council of war there was strenuous dissuasion. Five great rivers to cross, dense jungles, fierce warriors led by terrible rajas couched in forest fastnesses like wild beasts in their lairs, and mailed elephants with deadly armed tusks these, said the chiefs, were ob- stacles enough. But others recalled the example of Mahmud the Idol-breaker with far inferior forces, and Timur's sons urged the surpassing riches of India and the pre-eminence of such a possession, while the men of religion dwelt on the duty of the Holy War against the infidels. The objectors still insisted that, even if
successful, their hardy race would surely degenerate and their descendants grow soft and effeminate even as the natives of Hindustan a prediction verified two cen- turies later but Timur was not to be put off. " My object, " he wrote or caused to be written in his mem- oirs, " my object in the invasion of Hindustan is to lead a campaign against the infidels, to convert them to the true faith according to the command of Mo- hammed (on whom and his family be the blessing and peace of God), to purify the land from the defilement of misbelief and polytheism, and to overthrow the tem- ples and idols, whereby we shall be champions and soldiers of the faith before God." His will prevailed over the doubting men of war, and the venture was resolved upon.
