"Conquest of Nardin After the Sultan had purified Hind from idolatry, and raised mosques therein, he determined to invade the capital of Hind, to punish those who kept idols and would not acknowledge the unity of God. He collected his warriors and distributed money amongst them. He marched with a large army in the year 404 H., A.D. 1013 during a dark night, and at the close of autumn, on account of the purity of the southern breezes at that season. When the Sultan had arrived near the frontier of Hind, snow fell, such as had never been seen before, insomuch that the passes of the hills were closed, and mountains and valleys became of one level. The feet of the horses and camels were affected by the cold, so it may be conceived what the faces, hands, and feet of men suffered. The well-known roads were concealed, and the right could not be distinguished from the left, or what was behind from that which was before, and they were unable to return until God should give the order. The Sultan employed himself, in the meantime, in collecting supplies, and sent for his generals from the different provinces. After having thus accumulated the means of warfare, and having been joined by his soldiers, who had come from different directions, in number equal to the drops [p. 33] of an autumnal rain, he left these winter quarters in the spring, and, had the earth been endowed with feeling, it would have groaned under the weight of the iron, the warriors, the horses, and the beasts of burden. The guides marched on in front over hill and dale, before the sun arose, and even before the light of the stars was extinguished. He urged on his horses20 for two months, among broad and deep rivers, and among jungles in which wild cattle even might lose their way."