Table of Contents
BACKROUND
• After helping his brother in the expansion of western frontiers of the Ghurid Empire, Mohammed Ghori began to focus on India. Muhammad Ghori led a series of the campaigns in India. At first Muhammad Ghori want to bring the Muslim provinces of India under his control.
• Mohammed Ghori began with campaign against the Qarmatians rulers of Multan in 1175. After the victory over Multan, he turned south, and led his army from Multan to Uch and then across the desert towards the Chaulukya capital of Anhilwara (modern day Patan in Gujarat) in 1178.
• On the way, he suffered a defeat against an Indian young Chaulukya (Solanki) ruler Mularaja II at the Battle of Kayadara, during his first campaign against a Hindu ruler in 1178. Mohammed Ghori’s army suffered heavy casualties during the battle.
FIRST BATTLE OF TARAIN(1191)
• Later he became successful in seizing Peshawar and building a fort at Sialkot in 1181. 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 A.D by executing the Ghaznavid ruler Khusrau-Malik.
• With this conquest, the way was opened for Ghori to push his conquests further into India. The Western Punjab was already annexed by Mohammed Ghori. The provinces of Eastern Punjab were within the control of Prithviraj Chauhan.
• In 1191, Mohammed Ghori proceeded towards Indian Sub-continent through the Khyber Pass.Muhammad Ghori was supported by 1200 horsemen. Prithviraj was alerted about the news.
• Muhammad’s original plan was to return to his base after conquering Tabarhindah, but when he received the news that Prithviraj’s army, along with Govind Raja were on their way to besiege the fortress, he decided to put up a fight.
FIRST BATTLE TARAIN(1191 AD)
• The two armies met at Tarain, 14 miles from Thanesar in present-day Haryana in 1191 A.D. Muhammad Ghori followed the tactics of the right, left and centre and himself occupied a position in the centre of his army.
• Battle was started by attack of Mohammed Ghori’s archers, Prithviraj responded to attack by counter-attacking from three sides and thus dominating the battle. Meanwhile, Muhammad Ghori was wounded in personal combat with Prithviraj’s brother.
• He was badly injured and his strength was exhausted and he was about to fall down from his horse. However, a soldier helped Muhammad Ghori and carried him off the field of battle. The Muslim army dispersed in all directions. Finally the Rajput army of Prithvi Raj Chauhan became
victorious in the Battle.
SECOND BATTLE OF TARAIN(1192 AD)
• He reappeared in 1192 A.D at Tarain, He then fought again with Prithvi Raj Chauhan in Second Battle of Tarain. Prithviraj had been left with few allies as a result of his wars against the fellow Hindu kings.
• Jai Chandra of Kanauj, not only kept himself aloof from the battle but is also said to have helped Muhammad Ghori in order to wreck his vengeance on Prithviraj. Still, he managed to gather a large army to counter the Ghori’s force.
• The Rajput army consisted of 3,000 elephants, 300,000 cavalry and infantry, most likely a gross exaggeration and Minhaj-i-Siraj, stated Mohammad Ghori brought 120,000 fully armoured men to battle. • Prithviraj wrote a letter to Muhammad of Ghor, promising him no harm if he decided to return to his own country. Muhammad insisted that he needed time to confer his Ghazna-based brother Ghiyath al-Din.
SECOND BATTLE OF TARAIN(1192 AD)
• After reaching several miles away, Muhammad formed four divisions, with 10,000 archers each. He kept the rest of his army in reserve. He ordered the four divisions to launch a surprise attack on the Chahamana camp.
• Before dawn, the four divisions of the Ghori’s army attacked the Prithviraj army’s camp, while Prithviraj was still asleep. Rajputs had a tradition of fighting from sunrise to sunset. • Although they were able to quickly form formations, they suffered losses due to surprise attack before sunrise and by the afternoon, the Prithviraj’s army was exhausted as a result of this pursuit. • At this point, Muhammad led his reserve force and attacked the Prithviraj’s army and decisively defeating them. According to Taj-ulMaasir, Prithviraj’s camp lost 100,000 men including Govindaraj in this battle.
AFTERMATH
• Muhammad of Ghor captured Ajmer after killing several thousand defenders, enslaved many more, and destroyed the city’s temples. He followed up this victory by defeating Jayachandra in the Battle of Chandawar.
• There was a general demoralisation in the country and there was no ruler in Rajputs who could bring all his fellow princes together to stop the further advance of the Muslims in India.
• The Ghori destroyed the pillars and foundations of idol temples and built in their stead mosques and colleges and the precepts of Islam and the customs of the law were divulged and established.
• Son of Prithvi Raj was made as the ruler of Ajmer and he promised to pay tribute. Muhammad Ghori went back to Ghazni, leaving Qutb-ud-Din Aibak in-charge of his Indian possessions. In a short time, Qutb-udDin conquered Meerut, Kol and Delhi and made Delhi the seat of his government.
War | Free PDF
WhatsApp