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began to dance proudly, keeping time with the musicians. The king was diverted with this perfomance for a time, and forgot the all important business of the moment.
The Muhammadans took advantage of the king's indolence and made a vigorous attack. The Rajputs, under the circumstances, could do little. Seeing this, Prithviraja alighted from his horse and sat on the ground. With the sword in his hand he cut down many Muhammadans. Meanwhile, a Muhammadan taking the king unawares from behind, threw his bow round his neck and drew the king prostrate to the ground,while other Muhammadans bound him captive. From this time the royal captive refused all food and rest.
Prithviråja, before he set out to encounter to Shahâbu'd-dìn, had commanded Udayarāja to follow him to attack the enemy. Udayaraja[१] reached the battlefield just about the time when the Muhammadans had succeeded in taking Prithviraja captive.But Shahàbu'd-dîn, fearing the consequences of further fighting with Udayaraja, retired into tho city, taking with him the captive monarch.
When Udayaraja heard of the captivity of Prithviraja,his heart throbbed heavily with pain. He wished himself in the place of Prithviraja. He was unwilling to return back leaving the king to his fate. Such a course, he said, would be detrimental to his fair name, in his own country of Ghuradesha. He therefore laid siege to the city of the enemy (Yoginipura or Dehli, which Shahabu'd-dîn had taken possession of before this battle), and sat before the galos for a whole monlh, fighting day and night.
One day during the siege, one of Shahābu'd-din's people went up to him and remarked that it would be becoming on his part, for once to release Prithviraja, who had several times taken
- ↑ This must be the famous Udayaditya Puwar of Malwa, mentioned by Chandas the great friend and ally of Prithviraja.
