Second Battle of Tarain
The Battles of Tarain, also known as the Battles of Taraori, were fought in 1191 and 1192 near the town of Tarain (Taraori), near Thanesar in present-day Haryana, approximately 150 kilometres north of Delhi, India, between the Muslim Ghurid army led by Sultan Shahabuddin Muhammad Ghauri and the Hindu Rajput army led by Prithviraj Chauhan.[1]
Sources
The Sanskrit manuscript Prithviraja Vijaya gives a contemporary account of the 12th century Kingdom of Ajmer ruled by the Chauhan clan. The poem Prithviraj Raso provides a more romantic version of the events. Later works like Viruddhavidhi-vidhvamsa and Hammir-Mahakavya add some details. Also, there are various Muslim sources narrating the events.
Background
Ghauri decided to extend the boundary of his kingdom. To realize his ambition, he made his first incursion into India in 1175 CE. After subduing the Isma'īlī Muslims of Multan, he made an unsuccessful advance into Gujarat in 1178 CE. Nevertheless, he was successful in seizing Peshawar and building a fort at Sialkot in 1181 CE. With the help of the ruler of Jammu, Jāydēv, he put an end to the rule of the Ghaznavids in Panjab and captured Lahore in 1186 CE. With this the way was opened for him to push his conquests further into India.
Ghaurī’s conquests had brought his kingdom right to Prithvīrāj's border, and in 1191 Ghaurī captured a fortress, either Sirhind or Bathinda in in the present-day Indian State of Panjab, on Prithvīrāj's northwestern frontier. Prithvirāj's army, led by his vassal Govinda-Rāj of Delhi, rushed to the defense of the frontier, and the two armies met at Tarain.
The First Battle
Size of the armies and generals
The total Rajput army is estimated at 50,000 with cavalry at 20,000. The Muslim army can be estimated at 35,000 cavalry (+ camels, infantry, elephants numbers unknown) with 10,000 in either wing and a few thousand rearguard. The Turk army, coming from horse breeding regions, was probably dominated by cavalry. A previous Turk invader, Mahmud Ghaznavi, captured elephants in India and they formed part of Muslim armies since then.
According to Firishta, the Rajput army consisted of 3,000 elephants, 300,000 horsemen and infantry.[2] Most historians, however, believe these figures are exaggerated.
Battle
In 1191, Ghauri, leading an army, 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 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. The Rajput horse cavalry formed two wings, with elephants and infantry at the center. The Rajput horse cavalry charged and routed Ghauri's cavalry wings. Even the Muslim accounts admit that the two wings were routed by the Rajputs, broke down, and fled.
Ghauri met Govinda-Raja in personal combat. Govinda-Raja, mounted on an elephant, lost his front teeth to Ghauri's lance. Govindraj immediately hurled back a lance at Ghori, which caused such bleeding that the sultan fainted on his horse.
The center also fled after the sultan was wounded and fainted on his horse. Some sources claim that 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.[3] But, he was actually rescued by a Khalji trooper and not Aibak, who was a prominent general and would have commanded in one of the wings
Aftermath
Ghauri's defeated army retreated to Lahore and, thereafter, returned to Ghazni. Prithvi Raj ignored the advice of his advisers and did not pursue the retreating army, which was a decision he later regretted.
The Second Battle
On his return to Ghazni, Ghori made hectic preparations to avenge the defeat. When he reached Lahore, he sent his envoy to Prithviraj to demand his submission, but the Chauhan ruler refused to comply. Prithviraj saw through Ghori's stratagem. So he issued a fervent appeal to his fellow Rajput chiefs to come to his aid against the Muslim invader. About 150 Rajput chiefs responded favourably.
Whatever army could be mustered, Prithviraj proceeded with it to meet Muhammad Ghori in Tarain where a year before he had inflicted a crushing defeats on his adversary.
Role of Jaichand
It is alleged that the ruler of Kannauj Raja Jaichand Raja Jaichand met Ghori an divulged he secrets of Chauhan's planning of war. However, this is disputed, because the kingdoms of Ajmer and Kannauj did not have a common border, fought no battles. As per inscriptions Jayachandra was fighting against the Sena rulers in the region of Bihar, far in the east.
Size of the forces and generals
It has been said Ghori that proceeded towards India with a large force numbering 120000 mounted men. But, that number is exaggerated because Muslim sources only state cavalry forces and barely mention the others, and in the Second Battle of Tarain they state that Ghori divided his army into four units of 10,000 horse keeping the fifth of 12,000 under his own command, giving a total of 52,000 cavalry with the camels, infantry, and elephant numbers unknown for Muhammad Ghori's army. Also, the Turk army was dominated by its cavalry.
It is estimated that the Chauhan army numbered 30,000 at the most, with the all-important cavalry at only 10,000. The only general named in prithviraja vijaya is Govindraj of Delhi and Prithviraj himself, and both Hindu and Muslim accounts state that Prithviraj tried to buy time by negotiating so that at least Udayaraj would come up in time to bolster his army.
Battle
While he deployed four parts to attack the Rajputs on all four sides, the fifth part was kept as reserve. As the sun declined, Ghori led a final charge with his reserve army. The final charge came as a last straw for the brave Rajputs. Khande Rao, the able general of Prithviraj, was killed.
Death of Prithviraj
In Prithviraj raso it is said that Ghori did not killed Prithviraj but blinded him. Subsequently, Prithviraj discharged a Shabdbhedi arrow (an arrow fired by aiming at a sound without the aid sight), on being challenged by Ghori to do so. The arrow hit Ghori and subsequently he was killed. There is archaeology evidance of remains of Prithviraj Chauhans tomb in Afghanistan. On current Indian Prime minister Manmohan Singh's recent trip to Afghanistan he was criticed for not visiting the tomb of last Hindu king of India but paying respect at tombs of various muslim invaders who plundered India and this became a topic for debate on news media channels.
The aftermath
The seriousness of this defeat for India cannot be exaggerated. The victory of Mohammad of Ghur was decisive, and laid the foundation of the Sultanate of Delhi and, for Hinduism, the period was critical.
After defeating Prithvirāj Chauhān, Muḥammad Ghorī marched onwards unchallenged towards Ajmer. Rajput kingdoms like Saraswati, Samana, Hansi and Kohram were captured without any difficulty. Finally his forces advanced on Delhi, capturing it soon after. Within a year Muḥammad Ghorī controlled northern Rajasthan and the northern part of the Ganges-Yamuna Doab.Muḥammad Ghorī established an empire, with its capital at Delhi. He controlled much of Northern and central India.With his victory at Tarain, Shahabuddin Ghori pushed Muslim rule much further east than Mahmud of Ghazni had. Shahabuddin Ghori became Sultan of the Ghorid Empire upon the death of his brother, Ghiyās-ud-Dīn, in 1202.
See also
References
Bibliography
- Mahajan, V. D. (2007). History of Medieval India. New Delhi: S. Chand
- Rottermund, H. K. (1998). A History of India. London: Routledge.
There was also a Third battle of Tarrain which was fought between Iltutmish and Yalduz in which Yalduz was defeated.Though this battle is less popular and less relevant but Tarrain had witnessed not 2 but three battles.This battle took place in 1215-16 A.D. Details submitted by Mr.Ankit Abhishek.