Second Battle of Tarain

2nd Battle of Tarain
A 20th century artist's imagination of the battle from Hutchinson's Story of the Nations
Date 1192 Location Taraori (near Karnal) Result Ghurid victory Territorial changes Mu'izz al-Din conquers much of north-west India including Delhi
Belligerents
Ghurid Empire	Chahamanas of Shakambhari
Commanders and leaders
Mu'izz al-Din	Prithviraj Chauhan
Strength
40,000-120,000 (according to Minhaj)	200,000-300,000 cavalry and infantry, plus 2,000 - 3,000 War elephants

The Second Battle of Tarain was fought in 1192 by the Ghurids against the Chahamanas and their allies, near Tarain (modern Taraori in Haryana, India). The Ghurid king Mu'izz al-Din defeated Prithiviraj Chauhan Rajput King Of Delhi and Ajmer, thus avenging his earlier defeat at the First Battle of Tarain.

Background

Prithviraj Chauhan's forces had defeated the Ghurids at the First Battle of Tarain in 1191. The Ghurid king Mu'izz al-Din, who was seriously injured in the battle, returned to Ghazni. Sultan Shihabudin set himself to avenge his defeat. Arriving home he publicly disgraced all his captains who showed cowardice at Taraori. In a year and half he raised a vast force of Turki and Afgan military adventurers, estimated by eye witnesses at "120,000 cavalry clad in armour. When he reached Peshawar he had the wisdom of pardoning his lately dismissed captains and summoning them. The Rajput army this time was much smaller than last battle. Mu'izz al-Din Following the Prophet's word that war is a kind of deception, played a cunning trick. He agreed to their peace message and said I am sending a messenger to my brother who is reigning Sultan, urguing him to agree to make peace with you on condition of Bhatinda, The Punjab and Multan remaining With House of Ghor and rest of hindustan under rajas. I beg you to suspend hostilities. The ruse proved a complete success. The simple trustful Rajputs swallowed the bait, and believing the invader's pacific tone to be due to his fear of their valour and a sense of his own weakness in numbers, they made no preparation for action. While Ghori wasted no time on his part. He matured his plan to attack Rajputs very next morning. He therefore, set his army in motion some hours before day-break, covered the intervening miles unmolested and secured a lodgement in front of the Hindu camp before they could take alarm.

Size of the forces

According to the 16th-17th century writer Firishta, the battle, "the Chauhan army consisted of 3,000 elephants, 300,000 cavalry and infantry", which is considered an exaggeration by modern historians. According to Satish Chandra the figures were exaggerated in order to "emphasise the challenge faced by Muizzuddin and the scale of his victory". Kaushik Roy gives the number as 200,000 cavalry and 2000 elephants.

According to Minhaj-i-Siraj, Mu'izz al-Din brought 120,000 fully armored men to battle, while Kaushik Roy states Mu'izz was only able to mobilize 40,000 cavalry for the second battle at Tarain.

Battle

It was early dawn of a winter's day.The Deluded Rajputs were totally off their guard.Most of their soldiers had come out of thier quarters into the waste land around for answering the call of nature or taking Their morning bath.But so vast and sprawling was the Hindu camp that the surprise cause no disaster to it,especially as Mu'izz al-Din held his men in hand instead of dispersing them by dashing attacks.The aggressor, however,gained two great advantages,

• He siezed the tactical initiative and forced The Rajputs to fight on the ground and in the manner of the Turk's own choosing,instead of the defenders delivering any attack planned and prepare for battle.In fact, all day long the Rajputs had to dance exactly as Shihabuddin played the tune.
• The Hindus had to fight on empty stomachs as It was Hindu practice to prepare for a pitched battle by walking at 3'o clock in the morning,performing the morning wash and worship,eating the cooked food kept ready beforehand,putting on arms,and marching out to their appointed places in the line of battle at sunrise.But in second battle of Taraori,the Rajputs could take no breakfast,they had to snatch their arms and form their lines as best as they could in a hurry.

Shihabuddin's plan of battle was to give the Rajput cavalry no chance for their shock tactics which had proved irresistible in his first encounter with them,but to make them move as he willed.He had left his heavybaggage,stores,elephants and non-combatants in his camp,ten miles behind,and advanced in light kit with his fighters only.His cavalry,all archers,were placed in four divisons of about 10,000 men each,who formed his vanguard,right and left wings and rear.They were ordered to advance turn bt turn and keep the Rajputs in in play by shooting at them from a distance,but when the Indians advanced to engage them they were to feign flight and retreat beyond a horse's course,so as not to be entangled in combat.The real striking Force of Mu'izz al-Din was a corps of 12,000 steel-clad warriors,select men mounted on supreb horses,kept under his peronal command,as "strength in Reserve," in the centre,a short distance behind the front line of attack.They were to be launched at the right moment to decide the issue. These Parthian tactics bewildered and baffled the Rajputs.They spent a their energy and time in futile game of chasing and trying to catch up the elusive Central Asian horseman before them.In this fashion the battle,or rathef the series of skirmishes,raged from 9'o clock in morning to 3'o in the afternoon,at the end of which the hindus were utterly disspritted by the futility of their exertions and exhausted from hunger and thirst.The rigid Caste rules prevented them from being readily refreshed with food and drink in battle front. After such an unconquerable lassitude had seized the Hindu ranks,Shihabudin gave the signal.His 12,000 choice heavy cavalry advanced like a solid wedge Smashing their way through the loose-knit wavering Rajput ranks.Nothing could stand before such shock tactics.In a twinkle of eye the battle was decided.The Hindus broke into a hopless flight in which tens of thousands of them were cut down unresisting.Govind Rai,the leader of van had been killed earlier,and now Prithviraj,himself,who had changed his elephant for horse,was swept away by tides of fugitives,captured on the bank of Saraswati,and put to death in cold blood,to appease Shihabuddin's wrath.With him fell many others of the 150 Hindu rajas who had joined the national confederacy.Legend and song have preserved the name of only some od these martyrs of Liberty,such as Malesi,the kachhwa chief.

Aftermath

Minhaj states that Prithviraj ("Rae Pithora") dismounted from his elephant, and fled from the battlefield on a horse. He was, however, captured in the neighbourhood of Sursuti, and later "dispatched to hell". Most medieval sources state that Prithviraj was taken to the Chahamana capital Ajmer, where Muhammad planned to reinstate him as a Ghurid vassal. Sometime later, Prithviraj rebelled against Muhammad, and was killed for 'treason'.

The Ghurid forces subjugated the entire Chahamana territory of "Siwalikh" (or Sawalakh, that is, Sapadalaksha). The Ghurids then appointed his son Govindaraja IV on the throne of Ajmer as their vassal. Prithviraj's younger brother Hariraja dethroned Govindaraja, and recaptured a part of his ancestral kingdom, but was later defeated by the Ghurid general Qutb al-Din Aibak. The Ghurids subsequently defeated another powerful king - Jayachandra of Gahadavala dynasty - at the Battle of Chandawar, and conquered parts of northern India as far as Bengal.

See also

• Battles fought in Rajasthan

References

Bibliography

• Cynthia Talbot (2015). The Last Hindu Emperor: Prithviraj Cauhan and the Indian Past, 1200–2000. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107118560. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Dasharatha Sharma (1959). Early Chauhān Dynasties. S. Chand / Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 9780842606189. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Satish Chandra (2006). Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals-Delhi Sultanat (1206-1526). Har-Anand. ISBN 978-81-241-1064-5. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Spencer C. Tucker (2009). A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-85109-672-5. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Roy, Kaushik (2004). India's Historic Battles: From Alexander the Great to Kargil. Orient Longman. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)