Muhammad of Ghor

Sultan Shahabuddin Muhammad Ghori سلطان شہاب الدین محمد غوری 1206-1162 A.D.
Sultan of the Ghorid Empire and Muslim Ruler of India
File:Ghauri.jpg Sultan Shahabuddin Muhammad Ghori
Reign	1202-1206
Burial	Damik, Jhelum District, Pakistan
House	Ghorid dynasty
Father	Sultan Bahauddin Suri
Religion	Sunni Islam

Sultan Shahāb-ud-Din Muhammad Ghori (also Ghauri, Ghouri) (Persian: سلطان شہاب الدین محمد غوری), originally called Mu'izzuddīn Muḥammad Bin Sām (and also referred to by Orientalists as Muhammad of Ghor) (1162 – 15 March 1206), was a ruler of the Ghorid dynasty who reigned over a territory spanning present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan and northern India.

Shahabuddin Ghori reconquered the city of Ghazna (in modern-day Afghanistan) in 1173, and assisted his brother Ghiyasuddin in his contest with Khwarezmid Empire for the lordship of Khorāsān. Shahabuddin Ghori captured Multan and Uch in 1175 and annexed the Ghaznavid principality of Lahore in 1186. After the death of his brother Ghiyas-ud-Din in 1202, he became the successor of his empire and ruled until his assassination in 1206 near Jhelum (in modern-day Pakistan).

A confused struggle then ensued among the remaining Ghūrid leaders, and the Khwarezmids were able to take over the Ghūrids' empire in about 1215. Though the Ghūrids' empire was short-lived, Shahabuddin Ghori's conquests strengthened the foundations of Muslim rule in India.

Early life

Shahabuddin Ghori was born Muizzuddīn Muhammad Bin Sām in 1162 A.D. in Ghor in what is present-day Afghanistan. The exact date of his birth is unknown. His father, Sultan Bahauddin Suri, was the local ruler of the Ghor region at the time.

The Ghorid Empire

Ghor (now a province in central Afghanistan) lay on the western boundary of the Ghaznavid Empire, which, in the early 12th century, covered an area stretching from what is now central Afghanistan to the Punjab in what is now Pakistan, with capitals at Ghaznā and Lahore.

Beginning in the mid-12th century, Ghor expressed its independence from the Ghaznavid Empire. In 1149 the Ghaznavid ruler Bahram Shāh poisoned a local Ghūrid leader, Quṭb ud-Dīn, who had taken refuge in the city of Ghazna after a family quarrel. In revenge, the Ghūrid chief ʿAlāʾ-ud-Dīn Ḥusayn sacked and burned the city of Ghazna and put the city into fire for seven days and seven nights. It earned him the title of Jahānsuz, meaning "the world burner". The Ghaznavids retook the city with Seljuk help, but lost it to Oghuz Turk freebooters. The Ghorids reconquered Ghaznā from the Oghuz Turks and in 1173, Shahabuddin Ghori became governor of the Ghazna province while his brother, Ghiyasuddin Ghori, became the Sultan of the Ghorid Empire.

Invasions of India

Shahabuddin Ghori first invaded India in 1175, capturing Multan and the fortress of Uch. He attacked Gujrat in 1179.

Battle of Gujarat or Kayadara, 1178

The battle of Gujarat or Kayadara (1178) was a defeat suffered by Muhammad of Ghur during his first campaign against a Hindu ruler in India. Muhammad's first campaign had been against the Muslim rulers of Multan in 1175 and had ended in victory. In 1178 he turned south, and led his army from Multan to Uch and then across the desert towards the Gujarat capital of Anhilwara (modern Patan).

Gujarat was ruled by the young Raja Bhimdev II (ruled 1178-1241), a member of the Solanki dynasty (one of several Chalukya dynasties), although the age of the Raja meant that the army was commanded by his mother Naikidevi. Muhammad's army had suffered greatly during the march across the desert, and Naikidevi inflicted a major defeat on him at the village of Kayadra (near to Mount Abu, about forty miles to the north-east of Anhilwara). The invading army suffered heavy casualties during the battle, and also in the retreat back across the desert to Multan.

Muhammad of Ghur never returned to Gujarat. An army led by Qutb al-din Aibek, his deputy in India, invaded in c.1195-97 and plundered the capital, but then returned to Delhi. Gujarat wasn't annexed by the Sultanate of Delhi until 1297.

He captured Lahore in 1181 and constructed the fortress of Sialkot. In 1191, he pushed further eastwards against the Hindu Rajput kingdoms, and his forces were defeated by the armies of Prithviraj Chauhan, the Hindu Rajput ruler of Delhi and Ajmer and his allies. A year later, in 1192, Ghori again fought the Hindu Rajputs, which resulted in victory.

Capture of Lahore, 1181

In 1181, Shahabuddin Ghori invaded the Ghaznavid Empire in India, reaching and capturing Lahore, thus ending the Ghaznavid Empire and bringing the remaining Ghaznavid territory under Ghorid control. This victory marked the beginning of the Ghorid Empire.

Defeat in the First Battle of Tarain, 1191

In 1191, Ghauri, leading an army of 120,000 men, invaded India through the Khyber Pass and was successful in reaching Punjab. Ghauri captured a fortress, either at Sirhind or Bathinda in present-day Punjab state on the northwestern frontier of Prithvīrāj Chauhān's kingdom. Prithviraj's 200,000 strong army led by his vassal prince Govinda-Raja of Delhi, rushed to the defense of the frontier, and the two armies met at the town of Tarain, near Thanesar in present-day Haryana, approximately 150 kilometres north of Delhi.

Ghauri's army had been divided into three flanks: left, right and centre with Ghauri himself, on horseback, leading the centre flank. In addition to being almost twice in number, the Hindu Rajput army had another advantage: elephant cavalry comprising of 300 elephants whereas Ghauri's army had no elephants. Many Turk soldiers in Ghauri's army had not even seen elephants before. According to urban myth in contemporary India, the armies clashed first with the charge of the Rajput cavalry. Ghauri's horse cavalry was unable to hold its own against Prithviraj's elephant cavalry, resulted in the defeat of Ghauri's left and right flanks.

Two regiments of the Muslim army with Ghauri attacked the center with a body of soldiers; where Ghauri met Govinda-Raja in personal combat. Govinda-Raja, mounted on an elephant, lost his front teeth to Ghauri's lance. As the battle continued, the Ghauri army, exhausted, shorn of water, and unfamiliar with the scale of its opponent, retreated. Ghauri was himself wounded in the battle and was rescued by his Turkic slave, Qutb-ud-din Aibak, who went on to become first ruler of the Delhi Sultanate.

Ghauri's defeated army retreated to Lahore and, thereafter, returned to Ghazni.

According to one account, Ghauri, after suffering his first (and last) defeat at the First Battle of Tarain, was resting in Khorasan when he had a dream in which one of the famous Sufi saints of India, Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti, appeared and said to him:

"O Shahabuddin! Almighty Allah has granted you the Kingdom of India. Rise and proceed to India. Success will be yours."

When Ghauri awoke, he was restless. The saint's voice was still echoing in his ears. It was then that Ghauri decided to invade India.

Victory in the Second Battle of Tarain, 1192

In 1192, Ghauri re-assembled his army of 120,000 men and returned to challenge Prithviraj at the Second Battle of Tarain. When he reached Lahore, he sent his envoy to Prithviraj Chauhan to demand his surrender but Prithviraj Chauhan refused to comply. Prithviraj Chauhan then issued a fervent appeal to his fellow Rajput rulers and aristocracy to come to his aid against Ghauri.

Prithviraj assembled a very large army with the aid of approximately 150 Rajput rulers and aristocrats, according to Firishta, it consisted of 3,000 elephants, 300,000 horsemen and considerable infantry. Some historians believe these figures may be exaggerated but the army was larger than that of Ghauri. The army proceeded to meet Ghauri in Tarain where Prithviraj a year before he had inflicted defeat on his adversary, confident of defeating him again. Muhammad Ghauri delivered an ultimatum to Pritviraj that he convert to Islam or be defeated. Prithviraj countered with an offer that Muhammad consider a truce and be allowed to retreat with his army. His terms not met, Ghauri decided to attack.

Ghauri 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 retreated as the Rajput elephant phalanx advanced. Ghauri deployed four parts to attack the Rajputs on four sides keeping a fifth part of his army in reserve. Khande Rao (General of Prithviraj), was killed. The enthusiasm of Prithviraj also dampened against these reverses. At dusk, Ghauri himself led a force of 12,000 heavily-armored horsemen to the center of the Rajput line, which collapsed into confusion, Prithviraj deserted the battlefield and attempted to escape. but was captured. The Rajput Army also broke ranks and fled, thereby conceding victory to Ghauri.

Ghauri took the captured Prithviraj back with him to Ghazni, where he was executed in 1192.

Consolidation of the Ghorid Empire

After defeating Prithvīrāj Chauhān by attacking at night. Prithvi raj was captured and taken to Ghauri's kingdom. Shahabuddin Ghori marched onwards unchallenged towards Ajmer and soon established Ghorid control in northern and central India. Rajput kingdoms like Saraswati, Samana, Kohram and Hansi were captured without any difficulty. Finally his forces advanced on Delhi, capturing it soon after. Within a year, Ghaurī controlled northern Rajasthan and the northern part of the Ganges-Yamuna Doab. The Kingdom of Ajmer was then given over to Golā, on condition that he send regular tributes to the Ghorids.

Shahabuddin Ghori, having settled the affairs of the province of Lahore, conferred the government of Lahore on Ali Karmakh who was then the Governor of Multan. In 1206, Shahabuddin Ghori appointed Qutb-ud-din Aibak as his Naib us Sultanat in India at a grand darbar (reception) at Lahore, which was attended by a large majority of the nobles and dignitaries of his kingdom. It was at this occasion that Shahabuddin Ghori bestowed upon Qutb-ud-din the title of Aibak, meaning "Axis of the Faith".

Muḥammad Ghorī returned west to Ghaznā to deal with the threat to his western frontiers from the unrest in Iran, but he appointed Aibak as his regional governor for northern India. His armies, mostly under Turkish generals, continued to advance through northern India, raiding as far east as Bengal. Aibak sacked Ayodhya in 1193, followed by his conquest of Delhi. In 1204, after becoming sultan, Shahabuddin Ghori defeated the advance of Muḥammad II of Khwārezm. Aibak's protégé Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji had been appointed as a general by Muhammad of Ghor in 1203, and in 1204 he helped defeat the army of Lakshman Sen of the Sena Dynasty, but Shahabuddin Ghori failed to conquer Bengal.

Death

In 1206, Ghori had to travel to Lahore to crush a revolt. On his way back to Ghazni, his caravan halted at Damik near Jehlum, and he was killed while offering his evening prayers. Many think that the murderer was an Ismaili, but some historians believe that the murderer belonged to the warrior Ghakkar tribe that resided in the area. He was buried in Damik, Jhelum, where he fell and his tomb has recently been renovated.

Ghorid-Ghaznavid struggles

Shahabuddin Ghori is credited with the decimation of the Ghaznavids, his ancestral enemies.

In alliance with the Hindu Raja of Jammu Vijaya Dev, he attacked Lahore in 1187, which was held by his ancestral enemy, the descendent of Mahmud of Ghazni, and made him prisoner. Mahmud of Ghazni's line of Sultans and Governors became extinguished.

Mahmud Ghazni had attacked Ghor and the King Amir Suri, an ancestor of Shahabuddin Ghori, died taking poison after being taken prisoner. Various sources including Ferishta and Siraj attest to these events.

In the following year AH 401 (AD 1010), Mahmood led his army towards Ghoor

According to Minhaj us Siraj, Amir Suri was captured by Mahmud of Ghazni, taken prisoner along with his son, and taken to Ghazni, where Amir Suri died.

Soor, being made prisoner was brought to the king, but having taken poison, which he always kept under his ring, he died in a few hours; his country was annexed to the dominions of Ghizny.

A little over a hundred years after Mahmud, one of his successors to the throne of Ghazni fell into a blood feud with the ruler of Ghor, southeast of Herat. In reprisal Ghazni was sacked by the prince of Ghor a fellow Muslim in 1150, and burned for seven days and nights. All the magnificent Mahmudi palaces and halls were destroyed and plunder, devastation and, and slaughter were continuous. It might be a historian reporting one of Mahmud's own murderous Indian raids. The Ghori victor earned the title of Jahansoze, the world burner. The bells ring again: the perpetrations of the northern foreigners were not essentially anti-Hindu. They could be quite merciless with Muslim rivals as well, for that was a part of their way of life. Ghazni now fell to a Turkman tribe which was in its turn ousted by the nephew of Jahansozein 1173. The later gave it to his brother later to be known as Muhammad of Ghori.

Muhammad of Ghori launched expeditions into India, first capturing Multan from a fellow Muslim chief in 1175-76. Three years later he invaded Gujarat and was roundly defeated by the Hindu King. Another three years later, and Shahabuddin Ghori was back to take Peshawar and Sialkot in 1181. Now in alliance with the Hindu Raja of Jammu Vijaya Dev, he attacked Lahore in 1187, which was held by his ancestral enemy, the descendant of Mahmud of Ghazni, and made him prisoner. Mahmud of Ghazni's line of Sultans and Governors became extinguished.

Personal life

Muhammad Ghorī was a loyal brother; he refrained from declaring his independence in the Indian Subcontinent, knowing that it would result in civil war between the two brothers. Until the death of Ghiyās ud-Dīn in 1202, after every victory the General would send the best of the looted items to his elder brother in Khorasan. Ghiyās ud-Dīn reciprocated by never interfering in the affairs of his younger brother. Thus they were each able to concentrate on their own responsibilities.

Coins

• 
  Copper coin
• 
  Bull and horseman type copper coin

Succession

Shahabuddin Ghori had no offspring, but he treated his Turkic slaves as his sons, who were trained both as soldiers and administrators and provided with the best possible education. Many of his competent and loyal slaves rose to positions of importance in Shahabuddin Ghori's army and government.

When a courtier lamented that the Sultan had no male heirs, Shahabuddin Ghori retorted:

"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 Khuṭbah (Friday sermon) throughout these territories."

Shahabuddin Ghori's prediction proved true. After his assassination, his Empire was divided amongst his slaves. Most notably:

• Qutb-ud-din Aibak became ruler of Delhi in 1206, establishing the Sultanate of Delhi, which marked the start of the Slave dynasty
• Nasir-ud-Din Qabacha became ruler of Multan in 1210
• Tajuddin Yildoz became ruler of Ghazni
• Ikhtiyar Uddin Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khilji became ruler of Bengal

Legacy

Muhammad of Ghor is considered revered by Pakistanis as a true Muslim warrior who came and valiantly fought and defeated the Hindu Raja Prithvi Raj Chauhan and hence keeping that in view, the Pakistani military named three of its medium-range ballistic missile Ghauri-I, Ghauri-II and Ghauri-III, in the memory of Muhammad of Ghor.

Historical contemporaries

• Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb (Saladin)
• Richard the Lionhearted
• Qutb-ud-din Aibak
• Prithviraj Chauhan

See also

• Ghorids
• Ghor Province
• History of Pakistan
• History of Afghanistan

Further reading

• John Keay (2001). India: A history. Grove Press; 1 Grove Pr edition. ISBN 0-8021-3797-0. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
• A History of India By August Friedrich Rudolf Hoernle, Herbert Alick Stark
• The history of India from the earliest ages By James Talboys Wheeler
• Outline of Indian history By Sri Ram Sharma
• Elliot, Sir H. M., Edited by Dowson, John. The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians. The Muhammadan Period; published by London Trubner Company 1867–1877. (Online Copy: The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians. The Muhammadan Period; by Sir H. M. Elliot; Edited by John Dowson; London Trubner Company 1867–1877 - This online Copy has been posted by: The Packard Humanities Institute; Persian Texts in Translation; Also find other historical books: Author List and Title List)

• Briggs, John (Translator): The History of the Rise of Mohammedan Power in India. (Translation of the Mughal-Era Tārikh-i Farishtah. Available online at the Packard Humanities Institute.)