He does not give
Somnath so good a character as Polo does; for he names it as one of the
chief pirate-haunts. And Colonel Tod mentions that the sculptured memorial
stones on this coast frequently exhibit the deceased as a pirate in the
act of boarding. In fact, piratical habits continued in the islands off
the coast of Kattiawar down to our own day.
Properly speaking, three separate things are lumped together as Somnath:
(1) The Port, properly called Verawal, on a beautiful little bay; (2) the
City of Deva-Pattan, Somnath-Pattan, or Prabhas, occupying a prominence on
the south side of the bay, having a massive wall and towers, and many
traces of ancient Hindu workmanship, though the vast multitude of tombs
around shows the existence of a large Mussulman population at some time;
and among these are dates nearly as old as our Traveller's visit; (3) The
famous Temple (or, strictly speaking, the object of worship in that
Temple) crowning a projecting rock at the south-west angle of the city,
and close to the walls. Portions of columns and sculptured fragments strew
the soil around.
Notwithstanding the famous story of Mahmud and the image stuffed with
jewels, there is little doubt that the idol really termed Somnath (Moon's
Lord) was nothing but a huge columnar emblem of Mahadeo. Hindu authorities
mention it as one of the twelve most famous emblems of that kind over
India, and Ibn Asir's account, the oldest extant narrative of Mahmud's
expedition, is to the same effect. Every day it was washed with water
newly brought from the Ganges. Mahmud broke it to pieces, and with a
fragment a step was made at the entrance of the Jami' Mosque at Ghazni.
The temples and idols of Pattan underwent a second visitation at the hands
of Alauddin's forces a few years after Polo's visit (1300),[1] and this
seems in great measure to have wiped out the memory of Mahmud. The temple,
as it now stands deserted, bears evident tokens of having been converted
into a mosque. A good deal of old and remarkable architecture remains, but
mixed with Moslem work, and no part of the building as it stands is
believed to be a survival from the time of Mahmud; though part may belong
to a reconstruction which was carried out by Raja Bhima Deva of Anhilwara
about twenty-five years after Mahmud's invasion. It is remarkable that Ibn
Asir speaks of the temple plundered by Mahmud as "built upon 56 pillars of
teak-wood covered with lead." Is it possible that it was a wooden
building?
In connection with this brief chapter on Somnath we present a faithful
representation of those Gates which Lord Ellenborough rendered so
celebrated in connection with that name, when he caused them to be removed
from the Tomb of Mahmud, on the retirement of our troops from Kabul in
1842. His intention, as announced in that once famous paean of his, was
to have them carried solemnly to Guzerat, and there restored to the (long
desecrated) temple. Calmer reflection prevailed, and the Gates were
consigned to the Fort of Agra, where they still remain.
Captain J.D. Cunningham, in his Hist. of the Sikhs (p. 209), says that
in 1831, when Shah Shuja treated with Ranjit Singh for aid to recover his
throne, one of the Maharaja's conditions was the restoration of the Gates
to Somnath. This probably put the scheme into Lord Ellenborough's head.
But a remarkable fact is, that the Shah reminded Ranjit of a prophecy
that foreboded the downfall of the Sikh Empire on the removal of the
Ghazni Gates. This is quoted from a report of Captain Wade's, dated 21st
November, 1831. The gates were removed to India in the end of 1842. The
"Sikh Empire" practically collapsed with the murder of Sher Singh in
September, 1843.
It is not probable that there was any real connection between these
Gates, of Saracenic design, carved (it is said) in Himalayan cedar, and
the Temple of Somnath. But tradition did ascribe to them such a
connection, and the eccentric prank of a clever man in high place made
this widely known. Nor in any case can we regard as alien to the scope of
this book the illustration of a work of mediaeval Asiatic art, which is
quite as remarkable for its own character and indisputable history, as for
the questionable origin ascribed to it. (Tod's Travels, 385, 504;
Burgess, Visit to Somnath, etc.; Jacob's Report on Kattywar, p. 18;
Gildemeister, 185; Dowson's Elliot, II. 468 seqq.; Asiatic
Journal, 3rd series, vol. I.).
[1] So in Elliot, II. 74. But Jacob says there is an inscription of
a Mussulman Governor in Pattan of 1297.
CHAPTER XXX.
CONCERNING THE KINGDOM OF KESMACORAN.
Kesmacoran is a kingdom having a king of its own and a peculiar language.
[Some of] the people are Idolaters, [but the most part are Saracens]. They
live by merchandize and industry, for they are professed traders, and
carry on much traffic by sea and land in all directions. Their food is
rice [and corn], flesh and milk, of which they have great store. There is
no more to be said about them.[NOTE 1]
And you must know that this kingdom of Kesmacoran is the last in India as
you go towards the west and north-west. You see, from Maabar on, this
province is what is called the GREATER INDIA, and it is the best of all
the Indies. I have now detailed to you all the kingdoms and provinces and
(chief) cities of this India the Greater, that are upon the seaboard; but
of those that lie in the interior I have said nothing, because that would
make too long a story.[NOTE 2]
