Mahmud is said to have taken a pledge to undertake a holy war (jihad) against India every year.3 There are varied accounts of anything between twelve to seventeen expeditions that he undertook against India. Right from 1001 CE, Mahmud launched several attacks on various parts of India, looting treasures, perpetrating wanton destruction of temples and forcibly converting people to Islam. From Kabul to Kashmir, Punjab to Kannauj and Gwalior, northern and western India was constantly exposed to his frequent barbaric attacks. The Turkish raids were given a befitting reply several times by the
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