XILINJAR 3rr
syenite. form the base and afford a compara vely accessible slope, but
the horizontal strata of sandstone which cap the whole present so bold
an escarpment as to be practically impossible of ascent.
Kalinjar is one of the very ancient forts of Bundelkhand, and separate
as for it are recorded in each of the three prehistoric periods of
'. Hindu chronology. It is said to have been called Ratnakuta in the
Sntya~ga, Mahaghi ('the great hill') in the Trela, and PingAlu (the
'brown-yellow' hill) in the Drnafarpyuga. Other accounts tFanspos
or vary these names. But its present appellation, Kalinjar, is itself
of great antiquity. It o will be mentioned hereafter, in the
Mahabhamta; it is conjectured to appear in Ptolemy under the name
of Tamasis; and it is mentioned in the Siva Purana as one of the nine
utkafr, from which will burst forth the ,at... that are finally to destroy
the world. The modern n s sometimes rendered Kalanjar, from
he local worship of Si" under his title of Kaianjma, or'He he
ca.... time to ro
gw old.' It was very an seat of Saivite rites,
and according to local traditions as strongly fortified by Chandm Brim
or Varmma, the legendary founder of the Chandel dynasty.
As in many other eases, Kalinjar w• a high place sanctified by
superstition, and fortified partly by nature and partly by art. The.
MahabhImta mentions it as already a famous city, and states that
whoever bathes in the Lake of the Gods, the local place for pilgrimage,
ch'itoriuus as he he bestows in charity one thousand cows,
is hill must have been covered with Hindu temples before he
action of the fort, for the dates of the inscriptions on the saered
sites are earlier than those on the gates of the fortress; and therare-
parts consist largely of ornamental pillars, cornices, and other fragments
of carved work, which evidently belonged to earlier edifices. Firishta
speaks of it as having been founded by Kedar Nath, a reputed con-
tempora,y of the Prophet, in the seventh century n.n. The Musalman
historians make mention of the king of Kalinjar as an ally' of Jaipal,
Raja of Lahore, in his unsuccessful invasion of Ghasm, n.n. 978.
A Raja of Kalinjar was also present at the battle of Peshawar, fought
by Annnd Pal in o08, when endeavouring to check the victorious
advance of Mahmud of Ghazni in his fourth expedition. In r
Ganda or Nanda, the-Chandel Raja of Kalinjar, defeated the king
of Kamuj; and in os3 Mahmad of Ch=i besieged the fort, but
me to terms with the Raja. The Chandel clan of R3jputs removed
the at of theirgov ant from MAROIS to Kalinjar after their defeat
by Prith.I Raj, the rChouhan ruler of Delhi, about ra8a. In tao3
Kutb-,ddin, the v eroy of Muhammad Gho'rl, took Kalinjaq and
vented the temples into mosque and abodes of goodness,' while
!the very name of idolatry w annihilated.' But the Musalmans
do not seem to have long retained possession of their new conquest;
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