First Battle of Tarain
| First Battle of Tarain | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Ghurid Empire | Chahamanas of Shakambhari | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Mu'izz al-Din (WIA) |
Prithviraj Chauhan Govind Rai of Delhi Skanda[1][2] | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 100,000 foot soldiers[3] | 200,000 foot soldiers and 1000 elephants(most likely exaggerated) [3] | ||||||||
The First Battle of Tarain was fought in 1191 between the Ghurids against the Chahamanas and their allies, near Tarain (modern Taraori in Haryana, India). The Chahamana Rajput king of Delhi and Ajmer Prithiviraj Chauhan defeated the Ghurid king Mu'izz al-Din, [4]who avenged this defeat at the Second Battle of Tarain a year later.
Sources
The contemporary sources for the battle include Tajul-Ma'asir of Hasan Nizami (on the Ghurid side) and Jayanaka's Prithviraja Vijaya (on the Chahamana side).[5]
Later sources for the battle include the following Persian-language chronicles:[6]
- Minhaj-i-Siraj's Tabaqat-i Nasiri (1260 CE)
- Abdul Malik Isami's Futuh-us-Salatin (c. 1350)
- Yahya bin Ahmad Sirhindi's Tarikh-I-Mubarakshahi (1434 CE)
- Nizam al-Din Ahmad's Tabaqat-i Akbari (1593-1594 CE)
- `Abd al-Qadir Bada'uni's Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh (c. 1590s CE)
- Firishta's Tarikh-i Firishta (early 17th century)
These chroniclers call Prithviraj by various names including "Rae Kolah Pithorā" (Minhaj), "Pithor Rai" (Sirhindi), and "Pithow Ray" (Firishta). They call Prithviraj's commander-in-chief Govind Rai as "Gobind Rae" (Minhaj); "Gobind Rai" (Sirhindi); Khand, Khanda, or Khandi (Nizam al-Din and Bada'uni); and Chawund Ray (Firishta).[6]
The later sources written in Indic languages include Hammira Mahakavya and Prithviraj Raso.[7]
Background
Mu'izz ad-Din captured Multan in 1175, and in 1178, unsuccessfully invaded the Chaulukya Kingdom in present-day Gujarat and northern Rajasthan. Subsequently, the Ghurids defeated the Ghaznavids, and conquered Lahore in 1186.[8]
Mu'izz ad-Din sent his envoy - the Chief Judge Qiwam-ul Mulk Ruknud Din Hamza - to the court of Prithviraj, to persuade the Indian king to come to a peaceful agreement.[9] Tajul-Ma'asir, a chronicle by the Muslim writer Hasan Nizami, describes the envoy as a "prominent dignitary", who conveyed Mu'izz ad-Din's message to Prithviraj "in a refined and graceful manner", using "elegant language". The Chahamana-sponsored text Prithviraja Vijaya, which describes Mu'izz ad-Din as an "evil" beef-eating "demon", portrays the envoy as an extremely ugly person whose "ghastly white" complexion made him appear to be suffering from a skin disease, and whose speech was like "the cry of wild birds".[10]
Prithviraj refused to agree to the Ghurid envoy's terms, which according to Hasan Nizami, included converting to Islam and accepting the Ghurid suzerainty.[10] Mu'izz ad-Din then decided to invade the Chahamana kingdom.[9]
The Ghurid campaign that led to the first battle of Tarain may have started in 1190, but the actual battle was most probably fought in the winter of 1191 CE.[11]
The battle
Sometime before 1191, Mu'izz ad-Din's army captured the Tabarhindah fort (probably present-day Bathinda), which was presumably under Chahamana control.[12] According to Sirhindi, sometime in 1191 (Hijri year 587), Prithviraj marched against the Ghurid army with infantry, cavalry, and an elephant force.[13] Mu'izz ad-Din was about to leave Tabarhindah, when he received the news of Prithviraj's approach; he then marched against Prithviraj, and the two armies met at Tarain.[6]
Prithviraj was accompanied by a number of feudatory rulers, whom Minhaj describes as "the whole of the Ranas of Hind". These rulers included Govind Rai, the ruler of Delhi. Sirhindi states that Govind Rai, seated on an elephant, was at the frontline, suggesting that he was the commander-in-chief of Prithviraj's army.[13] Sirhindi and later chroniclers, such as Nizam al-Din and Bada'uni, describe Govind Rai as a brother of Prithviraj.[13] Firishta also describes Prithviraj and Govind Rai as brothers, stating that the two men marched against the Ghurids in alliance with other Indian rulers. Firishta portrays Govind Rai as someone who was almost equally as powerful as Prithviraj, presumably because Govind Rai was the ruler of Delhi, which had become politically important by Firishta's time.[14]
The first great battle for the lordship of Hindustan followed.The Hindus greatly outnumbered the Turks,and this superiority enabled them to overlap their enemy's line of battle on the two flanks.The battle joined as Rajputs gave the signal for attacking by blowing conchshells from the back of elephant,while the Muslims struck their kettledrums carried on camels and sounded like trumpets.The impetuous charge of Rajputs scattered like a cloud the Muslim vanguard,composed of "Afghans and khokar braggarts". Advancing further,they turned both wings of Turkish army and inclining inwards dispersed their opponents and threatened the centre,where the Sultan commanded in person.Large numbers of his horseman began to slip away,not dancing to face the roaring tone of Rajput cavalry flushed with victory.The sultan urged to save himself by flight as he had no suppport left.But scorning such cowardly counsel,he made a rockless charge into the body of Rajputs before hewing his way with his sword,and followed by a small body of devoted companions.Govind Rai(the governor of Delhi ) who led the vanguard of his brother Prithviraj,on sighting Mu'izz al-Din [15] a distance,drove his elephants towards him.The two leaders met in single combat.The Sultan's Lance knocked out two of Govind rai's front teeth,While the Rajput chief hurled a Javelin which inflicted a severe wound on the upper arm of Shihabuddin and forced him to turn his horse's head round in agony and weakness.However, he was saved from falling down,by a khalj youth who leaped upon on his horse from behind,kept him on the saddle with his arms,and urging the horse on by word of mouth,carried him away to base in safety.The rout of Turky army was complete.But such a victory did not yield its full fruits as Rajputs were incapable of making relentless pursuit,and their Ponies were outplaced by the Khurasani horses of Muslim army. Prithviraj merely followed up his victory by laying a Siege to Bhatinda,which held out for 13 months and at last capitulated.Most probably around September 1192 [16]
See also
References
- ^ Dasharatha Sharma 1959, p. 242.
- ^ Bharat Ek Khoj 1942, p. 327.
- ^ a b Paul K. Davis, 100 Decisive Battles: From Ancient Times to the Present, (Oxford University Press, 1999), 133.
- ^ "Battles of Taraori | Indian history". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
- ^ Cynthia Talbot 2015, pp. 29–30.
- ^ a b c Cynthia Talbot 2015, pp. 86–87.
- ^ Cynthia Talbot 2015, p. 88.
- ^ Cynthia Talbot 2015, p. 36.
- ^ a b Cynthia Talbot 2015, p. 29.
- ^ a b Cynthia Talbot 2015, p. 30.
- ^ Cynthia Talbot 2015, p. 44.
- ^ Cynthia Talbot 2015, p. 47.
- ^ a b c Cynthia Talbot 2015, p. 87.
- ^ Cynthia Talbot 2015, p. 87-88.
- ^ Sarkar 1960, pp. 33.
- ^ Sarkar 1960, pp. 34.
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)
- Bharat Ek Khoj (1942). Indian Culture, Vol.8,no.4, April-june 1942.
- Sarkar, Jadunath (1960). Military History of India. Orient Longmans.