CAMPAIGNS ACEOSS THE INDUS 47 of the Sultan then returned happy and victorious to Ghazni, the face of Islam was made resplendent by his exertions, the teeth of the true faith displayed them- selves in their laughter, the breasts of religion ex- panded, and the back of idolatry was broken. When Sultan Mahmud had settled the affairs of THE RIVER INDUS AT ATTOK. Seistan, and when the action of his beating pulse had subsided and the clouds had dispersed, he determined to invade Bhatia. He accordingly collected armies with trustworthy guides and valiant standard-bearers, and crossing the Indus in the neighbourhood of Multan, he marched toward the city of Bhatia, whose walls the wings of the eagle could not surmount, and which was surrounded as by the ocean with a ditch of exceeding
