still make pilgrimages to the spot, as the last stronghold of their faith in Upper India; while the only modern building which occupies a place among the mass of ruins is a small temple dedicated to Sambhúnáth.
Meanwhile, Mahmúd of Ghazní had been building up his empire in North-Western India, and the Hindu ruling races were succumbing in their outlying possessions. Immediately after the first Musalmán invasion, and the fall of the great powers which ruled in the upper plains, a Bhar kingdom arose in Southern Oudh, the Doáb, and the country between the Ganges and Málwá. The Bhars, like the Thárus, belong to the aboriginal tribes of India, and still exist in considerable numbers on the outskirts of the cultivated area. They occupy themselves in jungle-clearing and the chase; and their wide rule at this period seems to show that a forest then spread over almost all Oudh south of the Gogra. The rise of a low-statured, black-skinned race to power on the ruins of their Aryan predecessors, is not without parallel in other parts of India. But their sway was short-lived; and when they were overthrown by Nasír-ud-dín Muhammad, King of Delhi, in 1246 A.D., at last the firmer ground of Musalmán history is reached, under the guidance of Ferishta. The fall of the Bhars introduced the modern elements of society which still remain in Oudh. A number of small chiefships occupied the country, ruled by clans which, whatever their origin, laid claim in every case to a Kshattriya descent. Some of these, such as the Kanhpurias of Partábgarh, the Gaurs of Hardoi, and the Amethias of Rái Bareli, probably belong to tribes which flourished under the Bhar Government. Others, as the Bisens of Gonda and Partábgarh, appear to derive their origin from ancient Kshattriya families, long settled near their present homes. But by far the nobler houses, such as the Bais of Baiswára, the Sombansis of Partábgarh, and the Kalháns of Gonda, are shown by their traditions to have immigrated from distant parts of India.
After his conquest of Kanauj, Shaháb-ud-dín Ghori, or his lieutenant, overran Oudh in 1194. Muhammad Bakhtiyár Khiljí was the first Musalmán to organize the administration, and establish in Oudh a base for his military operations, which extended to the banks of the Brahmaputra. On the death of Kutab-ud-dín, he refused allegiance to Altamsh as a mere slave; and his son Ghiyás-ud-dín established a hereditary governorship of Bengal. Ajodhya, however, was wrested from the Bengal dynasty, and remained an outlying Province of Delhi. Thereupon a Hindu rebellion ensued, in which 120,000 Musalmáns are said to have been massacred. Prince Nasír-ud-din was sent to crush the rebellion; and in 1242, Kamr-ud-dín Kairáu is recorded as Viceroy at Ajodhya. Thenceforth the Province remained an integral portion of the Muhammadan Empire.
