n from about 750 to 972, and reigned first at Nasik
and then at Manyakheta (Malkhed). Krishna I of this dynasty excavated
the Kailasa temple at Ellora (c. 760) but many of his successors were
Jains. During the ninth century the Rashtrakutas seem to have ruled over
most of western India from Malwa to the Tungabhadra.

7. The Rashtrakutas collapsed before a revival of the Calukya dynasty
which reappears from 993 to 1190 as the Calukyas of Kalyani (in the
Nizam's dominions). The end of this dynasty was partly due to the
usurpation of a Jain named Bijjala in whose reign the sect of the
Lingayats arose.

We must now turn to an event of great historical importance although its
details are not relevant to the subject of this book, namely the
Mohammedan conquest. Three periods in it may be recognized. First, the
conquest of Sind in 712 A.D. by the Arabs, who held it till the eleventh
century but without disturbing or influencing India beyond their
immediate neighbourhood. Secondly, the period of invasions and dynasties
which are commonly called Turki (c. 1000-1526 A.D.). The progress of
Islam in Central Asia coincided with the advance to the west and south
of vigorous tribes known as Turks or Mongols, and by giving them a
religious and legal discipline admirably suited to their stage of
civilization, it greatly increased their political efficiency. The
Moslim invaders of India started from principalities founded by these
tribes near the north-western frontier with a military population of
mixed blood and a veneer of Perso-Arabic civilization, and apart from
the greater invasions, there were incursions and settlements of Turkis,
Afghans and Mongols. The whole period was troublous and distracted. The
third period was more significant and relatively stable. Baber, a
Turkish prince of Fergana, captured Delhi in 1526 and founded the power
of the Mughals, which during the seventeenth century deserved the name
of the Indian Empire.

The first serious Moslim incursions were those of Mahmud of Ghazni, who
between 997 and 1030 made many raids in which he sacked Kanauj, Muttra,
Somnath and many other places but without acquiring them as permanent
possessions. Only the Panjab became a Moslim province. In 1150 the
rulers of Ghor, a vassal principality near Herat, revolted against
Ghazni and occupied its territory, whence the chieftain commonly called
Muhammad of Ghor descended on India and subdued Hindustan as well as the
Panjab (1175-12