Background
Shahabuddin Mohd. Ghori a prince of Ghor, a region in central Afghanistan was dispatched by his elder brother to extend the boundaries of Ghor kingdom towards east in Hind. Conquering Hind and its wealth was always his dream and to achieve this dream he along with his well trained millitary marched towards east. His first attack was on multan in 1175 AD and he was successful in defeating the muslim rulers of Multan.
In 1178 AD Mohammed Ghori marched towards the thar desert and after a strenuous journey of months he along with his army reached near a village named Kayadara in Gujarat. The ruler of Gujarat Bhim dev Solanki II was already prepared to welcome Ghori and in a day long battle already tired Ghurid forces were badly defeated and were chased by Gujarat's army to the desert . After this humiliating defeat Mohammed ghori never in his lifetime tried to enter India from western side .
First Battle of Tarain 1191 AD.
In 1191 AD Mohammed Ghori prepared his forces and marched towards punjab plains he reached Bhatinda and occupied its fort. Bhatinda was the frontier town of Delhi's legendary ruler Prithvi raj chauhan III (Rai pithoura) as soon as the news of fall of Bhatinda reached Delhi ,Prithviraj ordered his favourite General Govind Rai (his name mentioned in Tabakat-i-nasiri) of delhi to march against the invading forces. Both the armies met at Tarain (Taraori village) and a fierce battle began. Rajput cavalry aided by infantry under their general Skanda attacked both left and the right flank of Ghori's army.
This attack was so fierce that the formation of Ghori's forces turned into an inverted semi circle. Mohd. Ghori was at the centre of his army and at this juncture he decided to counter attack the front of Rajput army.
He along with his 10,000 soldiers attacked the Rajput centre with full might and reached at the centre of Rajput army from where Govind rai ,sitting over his elephant was commanding his forces. They came face to face and Ghori took his lance and attacked Govind rai ,the blow from ghori was so powerful that the lance broke Govind rai's frontal teeths.
Though Govind rai was hurt but still he mustered some power and threw his spear towards Ghori which hit him on his shoulder and that perfect blow made him unconciuos. A khalji bodyguard of Ghori who was fighting along with him put unconscious Ghori on his horse and flee the battlefield.
Seeing this the ghurid forces started running ,The Rajputs chased Ghurids to some miles but soon came back to take back the occupied fort of Bhatinda . The victorious army seiged the fort of Bhatinda but it took them 6 months to overwhelm the determined Ghurid garrison inside the fort.
Result- Victory to Rajput forces. Mohd. ghori was injured and had to leave the battlefield which resulted in his defeat. Rajput forces took back the fort of Bhatinda.
Second battle of Tarain 1192 AD
After his return to Gazni , Ghori raised an army of 1,20,000 horseman to avenge his defeat. His army comprised of Afghan ,taziq and turk soldiers. In 1192 AD both armies again met at Tarain this time Prithviraj's forces swelled to around 3,00,000 Infantry and cavalry and 3000 Elephants. This time again Govind rai was leading the rajput forces however his able general Skanda who was the hero of previous battle was engaged somewhere else and an able minister of Prithviraj, Someshvara had left his ranks and joined ghurid army due to insult inflicted by his sovereign.
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| Rai Pithora emperor of Delhi |
This time Govind rai conveyed Prithviraj's message to Ghori asking ghori to be content with Tabarindh which he had recently conquered and return to Ghazini. On this Mohd Ghori played a trick and informed the Chauhan camp that to take such decision he need some time as he need his elder brother's permission in Gazhini and till then he would have to encamp in tarain peacefully.
The Rajput camp believed him and indulged in merrymaking while ghurid forces prepared for a sudden attack. A small army was left behind making an impression that Ghori's army was peacefully waiting , while the major portion of Ghori's army moved to a far off position from the camp crossed the river and at the timr of dawn attacked the rear part of the Rajput camp.
This sudden attack created chaos in Rajput ranks and they started running here and there but soon under their able Generals consolidated themselves and gave a stiff resistance which resulted in the failure of Ghurid attack .
Soon after Mohd ghori mounted another attack on the Rajput forces . This time he divided his army into 5 divisions 4 of his divisions were sent to cover the Rajput camp from all sides while he kept 5th division of around 12000 soldiers with himself as reserve. The four divisions had horseman and mounted archers to harass the enemy from right, left, rear and front from all four sides.
By the afternoon time the Rajput forces were already exhausted by the repeated attacks of enemy. At this juncture Mohd ghori attacked them along with his reserve forces. This was a fatal blow to Rajputs who were already tired fighting and they couldn't resist this new attack from Ghori.
Minhaj al Siraj in his Book Tabakat-I-Nasiri mentions that
"By These Tactics the infidels were worsted , the almighty gave us the victory over them and they fled"On hearing this news Prithvi Raj Chouhan who was on his way to tarain with reinforcement, ran back towards delhi to regroup with rest of his army and secure the royal treasury but was captured by Afghans near Saraswati (near todays Hasi) and executed on the spot. However historians have conflicted views regarding that Some says he was killed in captivity while some says he was allowed to rule as Vassal King.
Chanderbardai's version from Prithviraj Raso says(the later part of which was written by his son as Chanderbardai moved to Gazhni to accompany his friend where he was killed with Prithviraj)Prithviraj was taken prisoner of war by Ghori and was taken to Gazhni where he was paraded in front of citizens of Ghazni. In captivity he was tortured and blinded by Ghori.
Prithviraj's friend one day on context of Prithviraj's exceptional archery skills requested Ghori for a public display of his talent for the subjects of Sultan during which Chanderbardai's himself uttered a phrase in apbhransh secretly revealing the position of throne of Sultan to Blind Prithviraj with which he attempted an arrow shot at Ghori which took the life of Ghori and before anybody could capture Prithviraj and Chanderbardai's they both killed each other with daggers.
Even though in India it's a very popular version but historians don't find Chanderbardai's Prithviraj Raso factually accurate another version belonging to the times when second Battle of Tarain was fought is of Minhaz-ud-din Siraj's version from Tabakat-i-Nasiri according to which Pritviraj was killed by Ghori's soldier after he was captured near Saraswati(Today's Hasi).
Govind rai the renowned General of Chouhan army was found dead among the fallen soldiers he was identified by Ghori through his broken teeths.
The same day victors entered Lalkot the capital of Prithviraj Chouhan from Ranveer gate and captured the treasury of delhi. (Todays Mehrauli,Delhi ) .
In next few days the city of delhi was thoroughly sacked it's palaces looted and temples were destroyed . The royal temple complex with twenty seven jain temples was converted into a huge mosque adorned with a huge dome and was given the name Quwwat-ul-islam (Power of Islam) mosque. The victorious army read it first namaz here and lead the foundation of Islamic rule in Delhi.
(Today this Mosque is situated in Qutub Complex near Qutub minar).
Result - Defeat of Prithviraj Chauhan. End of Rajput rule in delhi and foundation of Islamic rule in Delhi. After the death of Mohd Ghori in 1206 AD his able General Qutub ud din aibak declared himself as an independent Sultan of Delhi.
Resources
Prithviraj's friend one day on context of Prithviraj's exceptional archery skills requested Ghori for a public display of his talent for the subjects of Sultan during which Chanderbardai's himself uttered a phrase in apbhransh secretly revealing the position of throne of Sultan to Blind Prithviraj with which he attempted an arrow shot at Ghori which took the life of Ghori and before anybody could capture Prithviraj and Chanderbardai's they both killed each other with daggers.
Even though in India it's a very popular version but historians don't find Chanderbardai's Prithviraj Raso factually accurate another version belonging to the times when second Battle of Tarain was fought is of Minhaz-ud-din Siraj's version from Tabakat-i-Nasiri according to which Pritviraj was killed by Ghori's soldier after he was captured near Saraswati(Today's Hasi).
Govind rai the renowned General of Chouhan army was found dead among the fallen soldiers he was identified by Ghori through his broken teeths.
The same day victors entered Lalkot the capital of Prithviraj Chouhan from Ranveer gate and captured the treasury of delhi. (Todays Mehrauli,Delhi ) .
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| Ruins of Ranveer Gate , From where Ghori's army entered capital of Chauhan's. |
In next few days the city of delhi was thoroughly sacked it's palaces looted and temples were destroyed . The royal temple complex with twenty seven jain temples was converted into a huge mosque adorned with a huge dome and was given the name Quwwat-ul-islam (Power of Islam) mosque. The victorious army read it first namaz here and lead the foundation of Islamic rule in Delhi.
(Today this Mosque is situated in Qutub Complex near Qutub minar).
Result - Defeat of Prithviraj Chauhan. End of Rajput rule in delhi and foundation of Islamic rule in Delhi. After the death of Mohd Ghori in 1206 AD his able General Qutub ud din aibak declared himself as an independent Sultan of Delhi.
Resources
- Tabakat-i-nasiri by Minhaz ud din Siraz
- Delhi Sultanate by R.C.Majumdar
- Tarikh-i- ferishteh by Ferishteh
- Prithviraj raso by Chander bardai
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