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Background
Muhammad Shahab ud-Din Ghori decided to extend the boundary of his kingdom and also gain wealth, through conquests. To realize his ambition, he made his first incursion into India in 1175 CE. After subduing the Ismaili Muslim heretics of Multan, he made an unsuccessful advance into Gujarat in 1178 CE.Nevertheless he became successful in seizing Peshawar and building a fort at Sialkot in 1181 CE. With the help of the ruler of Jammu, Jaidev he put an end to the rule of Ghaznavids in Punjab and captured Lahore in 1186 CE. With this the way was opened for him to push his conquests further into India.
The First Battle of Tarain, was fought in 1191 at the town of Tarain (Taraori), near Thanesar in present-day Haryana, approximately 150 kilometers north of Delhi. The battle pitted the armies of Muhammad Shahab ud-Din Ghori, conqueror of the Ghaznevid Kingdom and northwestern India, against the armies of Prithviraj III, a Rajput of the Chauhan clan who ruled the most powerful kingdom in northern India. Muhammad Shahab ud-Din Ghori’s conquests had brought his kingdom right to the border of Prithviraj's, and in 1191 Muhammad captured a fortress, either Sirhind or Bathinda in present-day Indian Punjab state, on Prithviraj's northwestern frontier. Prithviraj's army, led by his vassal Govinda-raja of Delhi, rushed to the defense of the frontier, and the two armies met at Tarain.
According to myth common in contemporary India, the armies clashed first with the charge of the Rajput cavalry. The two wings of the Turkic army were turned and fled while Muhammad held out in the center with the body of the soldiers; here he met Govind-raja in personal combat. Govinda-raja lost his front teeth to Sultan Muhammad Ghori's lance. As the battle continued the Ghori army was exhausted, shorn of water, and unfamiliar with the scale of its opponent it retreated in apparent disarray towards the Afghan highlands.The following year, in 1192, the Ghorid army returned to challenge Prithviraj at the Second Battle of Tarain.
The Battle 1192 CE
Sultan Muhammad Shahab-Ud-Din Ghori proceeded towards India with a large force numbering 120,000. When he reached Lahore, he sent his envoy to Prithviraj Chauhan to demand his submission, but Prithviraj Chauhan refused to comply. Prithviraj Chauhan then issued a fervent appeal to his fellow Rajput chiefs to come to his aid against the Muslim invader. About 150 Rajput chiefs responded to his call.
Prithviraj too came up with a large army, a huge portion of which consisted of Indian war elephants, and proceeded with it to meet Sultan Muhammad Shahab-Ud-Din Ghori in Tarain where a year before he had inflicted a crushing defeat on his adversary, confident of defeating Ghori again. Sultan Muhammad Ghori delivered an ultimatum to Pritviraj that he convert to Islam or be defeated. Pritiviraj countered with an offer that Muhammad consider a truce, be allowed to retreat with his army. Sultan Muhammad Shahab-Ud-Din Ghori decided to attack.
Ghori divided his troops into 5 parts and attacked the Rajput armies in the early morning hours sending waves of mounted archers to attack the Rajput forces, but retreating as the Rajput elephant phalanx advanced.
At dusk, Muhammad led a force of heavily-armored horsemen at the center of the Rajput line, and the line collapsed into confusion, giving victory to Sultan Muhammad Shahab-Ud-Din Ghori. While he deployed four parts to attack the Rajputs on all four sides, the fifth part was kept as reserve. Khande Rao, the able general of Prithviraj, was killed. The enthusiasm of Prithviraj also dampened against these reverses. He abandoned his elephant retreated from the battlefield. The Rajput Army broke ranks and fled.
Rajput kingdoms like Saraswati, Samana, Kohram and Hansi were captured by Ghori without any difficulty and he marched onwards unchallenged. The defeated Prithviraj was pursued up to his capital where he was captured and blinded as a punishment. Prithviraj Chauhan defeated and blinded decided to end his life and committed suicide. Sultan Muhammad Ghori spared the son of Prithviraj Chauhan, Kola, who in turn took the oath of loyalty to Ghori.
Aftermath
After defeating Prithviraj in the second battle of Tarain in 1192 CE, Rajput kingdoms like Saraswati, Samana, Kohram and Hansi were captured without any difficulty. Then Ghori proceeded to Ajmer. After reaching Ajmer, he handed over the kingdom to Prithviraj’s son, Kola, who took the oath of loyalty. Muhammad Ghori had no heirs and thus he treated his slaves as his sons. It is said that he trained thousands of Turkish slaves in the art of warfare and administration. Most of his slaves were given excellent education. During his reign many hardworking and intelligent slaves rose to positions of excellence. Once a courtier lamented; that Sultan has no male heirs. Ghori immediately replied;
- "Other monarchs may have one son, or two sons; I have thousands of sons, my Turkish slaves who will be the heirs of my dominions, and who, after me, will take care to preserve my name in the Khutbah throughout these territories".
Ghori's prediction proved true when he was succeeded by a dynasty of Turkish Slaves. Upon his death, Qutb-ud-din Aybak, Muhammad Ghori's most capable general who had started of by sacking Ayodhya in 1193 A.D., took control of Muhammad's Indian conquests and declared himself the first Sultan of Delhi thus establishing Sultanate of Delhi in 1206 CE.The most profound effect of Ghori's victory was the establishment of Muslim rule in India which would last and have great impact on life and culture of South Asia for centuries.
See also
References
- ^ "The Islamic frontier in the east: Expansion into South Asia - South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies (Series 1)". www.informaworld.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-22.
