Indian campaigns of Muhammad of Ghor: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Campaigns of Muhammad of Ghor in India}}
#REDIRECT [[Ghurid campaigns in India]]
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}
[[File:Tomb of Muhammad of Ghor.jpg|thumb|Modern shrine to Muhammad of Ghor, built by Pakistani scientist [[Abdul Qadeer Khan]] in 1994-1995, in [[Dhamiak]], [[Sohawa Tehsil]], [[Pakistan]], where Muhammad of Ghor was assassinated.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Yasin |first1=Aamir |title=The tomb of the man who conquered Delhi |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1362383 |newspaper=Dawn (newspaper) |access-date=28 July 2021|language=en |date=8 October 2017}}</ref> Muhammad of Ghor was actually buried in [[Ghazni]].]]
The '''Indian campaigns of Muhammad of Ghor''' were a series of invasions by the [[Ghurid]] ruler [[Muhammad of Ghor]] ({{reign|1173|1206}}) in the last quarter of the twelfth and early decade of the thirteenth century which lead to the widespread expansion of the [[Ghurid dynasty#The Ghurids at their zenith|Ghurid empire in the Indian subcontinent]].


Muhammad of Ghor incursions into India started as early as 1175 and thenceforth continued to lead his armies in the [[Indian subcontinent]] until his assassination near the [[Indus]] on March 15, 1206. During these invasions, Muhammad conquered the Indus Basin from the [[Ghaznavids]] and other [[Isma'ilism|Ismāʿīlīya]] rulers and penetrated into the [[Indo-Gangetic Plain|Gangetic doab]] after defeating a [[Rajput|Rajput Confederacy]] led by [[Prithviraj Chauhan]] [[Second Battle of Tarain|near Tarain]] avenging his earlier [[First Battle of Tarain|rout at the same battlefield]]. While the Ghurid empire was short lived and fell apart in 1215, Mu'izz al-Din's watershed victory in the [[Second Battle of Tarain]] established a [[Delhi Sultanate|permanent Muslim presence and influence in the Indian subcontinent]].
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{{R from move}}
During his campaigns in India, Mu'izz al-Din extirpated  several local dynasties which included the [[Qarmatians|Qarmatians of Multan]], [[Ghaznavids|Ghaznavids of Lahore]], [[Chahamanas of Shakambhari|Chauhans of Ajmer]], [[Tomaras|Tomaras of Delhi]], [[Jadaun Rajputs|Jadauns of Bayana]] and possibly the [[Gahadavala dynasty|Gahadavalas of Kannauj]] as well.
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==Background==
{{South Asia in 1175|right|{{center|Main South Asian polities in 1175, on the eve of the [[Ghurid Empire]] invasion of the subcontinent (orange line: Ghurid territorial conquests from 1175 to 1205).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schwartzberg |first1=Joseph E. |title=A Historical atlas of South Asia |date=1978 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |pages=37, 147|isbn=0226742210 |url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/schwartzberg/pager.html?object=074}}</ref>{{sfn|Eaton|2019|p=38}}}}|{{location map~ |South Asia |lat=32|N |long=67|E |label=|position=|label_size=|mark=Chess drt45.svg|marksize=35}}{{location map~ |South Asia |lat=24.5|N |long=75|E |label=|position=|label_size=|mark=Ghurid invasions in India (map overlay).png|marksize=225}}}}
During the later half of the twelfth century, the [[Ghurid|Šansabānī (Ghurid]]s) a Persianate  [[Tajiks|Tajik]] dynasty of the eastern Iranian origin{{sfn|Richard Eaton|2000|page=100}} which was centred in present-day [[Afghanistan]] began their political expansion amidst the collapse of the [[Ghaznavids]] who were considerably weakened in their struggle with the [[Seljuk Empire]].{{sfn|Richard Eaton|2000|page=99}} In 1163, [[Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad]] succeeded as the Ghurid Sultan.{{sfn|K. A Nizami|1970|page=155}}{{sfn|Paramatma Saran|2001|page=117}} In a decade, Ghiyath defeated the [[Ghuzz Turks]] and annexed [[Ghazna]] and stationed his brother [[Muhammad of Ghor]] in Ghazna which was used by him as a base for further inroads into India.{{sfn|Andre Wink|1991|page=140-141}} Ghiyath al-Din with his centre in [[Firuzkuh]] confronted the [[Anushtegin dynasty|Khwarazmian Empire]] for the Ghurid expansion in [[Central Asia]] while Muhammad, motivated by the exploits of [[Mahmud of Ghazni]] began raiding in the [[Indian Subcontinent]] from 1175.{{sfn|C. E. Bosworth|1968|page=165}}{{sfn|Mohammad Habib|1981|page=110}}
 
The Persian accounts only mentioned a few invasions by the Ghurids prior to their [[Second Battle of Tarain|decisive victory of Tarain]].{{sfn|Dasharatha Sharma|1975|page=58}}{{efn|Hasan Nizami who wrote ''Taj ul-Masir'' also omitted the [[First Battle of Tarain]] and [[Battle of Kasahrada]]{{sfn|Rima Hooja|2006|page=269}}}} Contray to the Persian authorities, the local [[Hindu]] and [[Jain]] works claimed that the "[[Mleccha|Mleccha Ghori]]" (barbarian) was defeated several times before the [[First Battle of Tarain]].{{sfn|Dasharatha Sharma|1975|page=59}}{{sfn|Andre Wink|1991|page=254}} While these accounts vastly exaggerate the number of Ghurid invasions{{efn|All of the Hindu and Jain works collaboratively mentioned that Mu'izz al-Din was defeated at least seven times prior to his victory in Tarain and some of them even exaggerate the number to twenty one.{{sfn|Dasharatha Sharma|1975|page=81}}}} in order to magnify the scale of native resistance, though the [[Ghurids]] generals after their occupation of [[Punjab]] in 1186, possibly began to raid into the territories of north but were fended off by the Rajput chiefs.<ref>{{Cite book|author=David C. Thomas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6h2_DwAAQBAJ |title=The Ebb and Flow of the Ghūrid Empire|date=2018|publisher=Sydney University Press |isbn=978-1-74332-542-1|page=37|quote= The frequency of Mu'izz al-Din dozen or more campaigns also indicates in part their lack of success in subduing the northern Indian Rajputs, until victory in the second battle of Tara'in in 588 AH/1192 CE opened the way to the conquest of northern India.|language=en}}</ref>
 
==Conquest of Multan and Uch==
In 1175, Muhammad crossed the river Indus through the [[Gomal Pass]] instead of the [[Khyber Pass]], as the former was a shorter route to make inroads into the coastal plain of [[Gujarat]] and for subsequent advance into the Peninsular India.{{sfn|Romila Thapar|2004|page=433}}{{sfn|Paramatma Saran|2001|page=118}} His first expedition was against the [[Qarmatians]] ([[Shia]] sect) in [[Multan]]. The Qarmatians were crushed by [[Mahmud of Ghazni]] in the early eleventh century, although they soon regained their yoke in [[Multan]] and even as far as the upper plain of [[Sindh]] and possibly [[Uch]] as well soon after his death in 1030.{{sfn|K. A. Nizami|1970|page=157}}{{sfn|Mohammad Habib|1981|page=110}}{{sfn|Iqtidar Alam Khan|2008|page=116}} They were defeated and Mu'izz al-Din captured Multan after a stiff resistance by the Qaramatians in 1175.{{sfn|Hermann Kulke & Dietmar Rothermund|2004|page=167}}{{sfn|Iqtidar Alam Khan|2008|page=117}}
 
===Uch===
After capturing [[Multan]], Muhammad marched to [[Uch]] (situated between [[Chenab]] and [[Jhelum]] river) which was annexed in 1176.{{sfn|K. A. Nizami|1970|page=158}}
 
The exact event of the Ghurid conquest of [[Uch]] is contradictory among the contemporary and the later sources. The contemporary author [[Ibn al-Athir]] claimed that Uch was under the rule of the [[Bhati]] [[Rajput]]s.{{sfn|Andre Wink|1991|page=244}} According to his account, when Muhammad besieged the fort, he made a proposal to the influential [[Rajput]] queen of Uch and promised to marry her, If she aids him in his conquest and put her husband to death. [[Ibn al-Athir]] further stated that she poisoned her husband and offered to marry her beautiful daughter to the Sultan instead on the condition that after the conquest of the fort, the Sultan will not plunder their royal treasure after the conquest of Uch. Muhammad agreed and married her daughter and converted her to [[Islam]].{{sfn|Mohammad Habib|1981|page=110}} This story is also repeated by the later chroniclers including [[Ferishta]]. However, the authenticity of this account is uncertain as the annals of the Bhattis themselves do not mentioned their rule in Uch.{{sfn|Andre Wink|1991|page=244}} The territory of Uch, thus, was possibly  ruled by another sect of the [[Isma'ilism|Ismāʿīlīyah]] monarchs before Mu'izz al-Din's conquest of the region.<ref>{{harvnb|Andre Wink|1991|page=244}}: "We know that Muhammad Ghuri captured both Uch and Multan in 1175, but the history of the former city is less clear. Some Muslim authors, beginning with Ibn al-Athir, state that Uch was held by the Bhatti Rajputs, but the Bhatti annals do not record their ever having held Uch"</ref>
 
The forts of Multan and Uch were placed under Ali Kiramaj and Mu'izz returned to Ghazna.{{sfn|Mohammad Habib|1981|page=110}} Within a short span, Mu'izz al-Din swiftly moved across the Indus and annexed most of the [[Sindh]] and its adjoining areas to facilitate his northward expansion.{{sfn|Rima Hooja|2006|page=211}}
 
==Early invasion of Rajasthan==
{{Main|Battle of Kasahrada}}
[[File:Kasahrada.jpg|thumb|Location of the battle site in the present-day state of [[Rajasthan]]]]
After the conquest of Mulan and Uch, Muhammad from the lower Sindh marched into the present-day state of [[Rajasthan]] and [[Gujarat]] in [[Anhilwara]]. The city of Anhilwara was sacked by the [[Ghaznavid|Ġhaznāvid]] ruler [[Mahmud of Ghaznavid]] in 1026, who also desecrated the [[Somnath]] temple.{{sfn|Iqtidar Alam Khan|2008|page=108}} However, the Solankis regained their influence under [[Kumarapala (Chaulukya dynasty)|Kumarapala]]. On the eve of [[Ghurid]] invasion, [[Anhilwara]] was ruled by [[Mularaja II]]{{efn|''[[Tabaqat-i Nasiri]]'' claimed that the Solanki ruler at the time was [[Bhima II]].{{sfn|K. A. Nizami|1970|page=178}}}} who marshalled a formidable army of the Rajput veterans which included the [[Chahamanas of Naddula|Chahamana]] ruler of Nadol [[Kelhanadeva]], [[Chahamanas of Jalore|Chahamana]] ruler of Jalore [[Kirtipala]] who was founder of the Jalore line of the Chahamanas and the [[Parmar]] ruler Dharavarsha of Abu. The Ghurids were famished in their long march from the arid desert of Rajasthan. In the ensuring battle, the Ghurid troops were [[Battle of Kasahrada|thoroughly routed by the Rajput host]] and Muhammad of Ghur barely managed to escape alive.<ref>{{harvnb|Mohammad Habib|1981|page=111}}:"Rai Bhim Deo of Gujarat collected his Rajput veterans and after a stiff battle, in which most of the invaders were slain drove Shihabuddun away from his kingdom"</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Rima Hooja|2006|page=261}}:"Muhammad of Ghor advanced against Gujarat in AD 1178, which was then ruled by the Chalukyan ruler Bhima II (?Mularaj II?). The bravery and spirited fight put up by him and his allies (among them Kelhan of Nadol, his younger brother, Kirtipal Chauhan, founder of the Jalore line, and the Parmar ruler of Abu, King Dharavarsha, forced the enemy back from the vicinity of Abu, in Rajasthan. According to the Sundha Inscription, this decisive battle took place at Kasahrada, near Abu."</ref>
 
The debacle of Kayadhara, made Muhammad change his  route, who thence turned towards the [[Ghaznavids]] of [[Lahore]].{{sfn|Satish Chandra|2007|page=68}}
 
==Campaign against Ghaznavids==
In 1180 or thereabouts, Muhammad marched towards [[Peshawar]] and annexed it where the [[Soomra dynasty|Soomra ruler]] acknowledged his authority. Afterwards, he turned his attention towards [[Lahore]] which was under the possession of [[Ghaznavid]] ruler [[Khusrau Malik]] who was not capable enough to offer a military resistance considered treaty. He accepted the Ghurid supremacy and further sent his son Malik Shah along with some elephants as hostage for the future conducts.{{sfn|Mohammad Habib|1981|page=111}}
 
However, the treaty was for a short while as Muhammad again marched upon [[Lahore]] in 1184/1185. On the Ghurid advance, Khusrau Malik shut himself inside the city walls. Muhammad though, captured [[Sialkot]] in 1185.{{sfn|Paramatma Saran|2001|page=117}} He returned to Ghazni after erecting a fortress in [[Sialkot]].{{sfn|Mohammad Habib|1981|page=111}} The advancement of Ghurids in Sialkot, lead to a response from Khusrau Malik who besieged the fort in 1185. However, the Ghurid governor of [[Sialkot]] managed to defy the Ghaznavid advance. Khusrau Malik, thus, returned to Lahore after a futile effort.{{sfn|Mohammad Habib|1981|page=111-112}}
 
On the report of Ghaznavid advance in [[Silakot]], Muhammad advanced from Ghazna with 20,000 cavalry to eradicate the Ghaznavids. As the Ghurids laid siege to Lahore, Khusrau Malik was hard pressed and soon the garrison capitulated. Khusrau Malik was brought out of his castle in accordance with negotiations but was treacherously imprisoned by Mu'izz al-Din and later executed along with all of his family in 1191{{sfn|K. A. Nizami|1991|page=159}} or possibly by 1186 itself.{{sfn|Iqtidar Alam Khan|2008|page=67}} Thus, Mu'izz al-Din overthrew the Ghaznavids by 1186.{{sfn|Hermann Kulke & Dietmar Rothermund|2004|page=167}}
 
After the campaigns against the Ghaznavids, Muhammad captured the upper Indus plain and most of [[Punjab]] to march into the [[Northern India]].{{sfn|Andre Wink|1991|page=144}}{{sfn|Satish Chandra|2007|page=67}}
 
==Invasion of the Doab==
{{Main|First Battle of Tarain|Second Battle of Tarain}}
Muhammad marched from [[Ghazni]] and captured [[Bhatinda]] in 1190<ref>{{Cite book|author=David Ludden|title=India and South Asia: A Short History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pBq9DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT79|year=2013|publisher=Oneworld Publications|isbn=978-1-78074-108-6|page=71|quote=In 1190, he occupied Bhatinda, in Punjab, which triggered battles with the Rajput Prithviraja Chauhan, whom he finally defeated in 1192}}</ref> which was under the control of the [[Chahamanas of Shakambari|Chahamana (Chauhan) Rajput clan]] who emerged as the leading power of northern India in the later twelfth century.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Shail Mayaram|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/52203150 |title=Against history, against state : counterperspectives from the margins|date=2003|page=22|quote=The Chauhans (Cahamanas) Rajputs had emerged in the later tenth century and established themselves as a paramount poweroverthrowing the Tomar Rajputs. In 1151 the Tomar Rajput rulers (and original builders) of Delhi were overthrown by Visal Dev, the Chauhan ruler of Ajmer|isbn=0-231-12730-8|location=New York|publisher=Columbia University Press|oclc=52203150 }}</ref> The Chahamana ruler of Ajmer, [[Prithviraj Chauhan]] (c. 1166-1192), aided by his Rajput allies gathered a vast army of 100,000 lancers and advanced to dislodge the Ghurid garrison in Bhatinda.<ref>{{harvnb|Kaushik Roy|2004|page=39}}:"In 1191, Ghori fought the Rajput confederacy of one lakh Rajput calvalrymen led by Prithviraj at place called Tarain"</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Iqtidar Alam Khan|2008|page=111}}: "Leading an alliance of Rajput Rajas, Prithviraja defeated Mu izz-al Din Muhammad Ghauri in first battle of Tarain (1191). The next year in another contest with Muhammad Ghauri at the same battlefield, Prithviraj was defeated, taken prisoner and killed."</ref> In a decisive battle fought north of Delhi in [[Tarain]], the outnumbered Ghurid forces were completely routed by the forces of Prithviraj.{{sfn|Satish Chandra|2007|page=69}} Muhammad was himself wounded in personal combat with Govind Rai of Delhi. However, he was carried away from the battlefield by a Khalji stripling.{{sfn|K. A. Nizami|1970|page=161}} The Rajputs, however did not chase the Ghurids in their retreat and followed up their victory by laying siege to the fort of Tabarhind (under possession of Mu'izz's general Qazi Ziauddin Tulaki) which was captured after a long siege of thirteen months.<ref>{{harvnb|Kaushik Roy|2014|page=41–42}}: "Cavalry was not suited for laying siege to forts and Rajputs lacked both the siege machines and infantry to storm and destroy fortress walls. Tulaki was able to keep Prithviraj at bay for thirteen months. Within this time, Mahmud Ghori had raised 120,000 cavalry."</ref>
 
[[File:The last stan of Rajputs against Muhammadans.jpg|thumb|[[Rajput resistance to Muslim conquests|The last stand of Rajputs]] portraying the [[Second Battle of Tarain]]]]
After the disaster of Tarain, Muhammad began his preparations to advance once more in the Chahamana kingdom and took an oath that he will not "visit his wife" and "change his clothes" till he avenge his defeat.{{sfn|K. A. Nizami|1970|page=162}} He raised a vast army of Tajik, Turkic and Afghan troopers and advanced again in 1192 with an army consisting of 120,000 to 130,000 horsemen.{{sfn|Andre Wink|1991|page=144}} The battle was fought at the [[Tarain|same place]], in which the Ghurids secured a decisive victory after the final assault by their contingent of 10,000 [[Turkish archery|mounted archers]] under [[Husain ibn Kharmil|Husain Kharmil]] which decided the issue.<ref>{{harvnb|Hermann Kulke & Dietmar Rothermund|2004|page=167}}: "The first battle of Tarain was won by the Rajput confederacy led by Prithviraj Chauhan of Ajmer. But when Muhammad of Ghur returned the following year with 10,000 archers on horseback he vanquished Prithviraj and his army"</ref><ref>{{Cite book|author=Marc Jason Gilbert|title=South Asia in World History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1dhKDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA75|year=2017|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-066137-3|pages=68quote=In 1192, one of Mahmud's lieutenants and eventual successors, Muhammad of Ghur, defeated the chief opponent of the Muslim raiders, the Hindu Rajput Raja Prithvi Raj Chauhan, outside of his capital at Lolkat|language=en}}</ref>
 
Govindaraja of Delhi{{sfn|K. A. Nizami|1970|page=171}} along with the [[Guhila dynasty|Guhila]] Samant Singh of [[Mewar]] were among the slains.{{sfn|Rima Hooja|2006|page=350}} Prithviraj was captured and summarily executed. The Ghurids penetrated into the core kingdom of the Chahamanas and annexed whole of their Sapādalakṣa territory including [[Ajmer]].{{sfn|Satish Chandra|2007|page=72}} However, the Ghurids, as corroborated by the numismatic evidences, reinstated Prithviraja's minor son [[Govindaraja IV]] as their de facto ruler on the condition of tributary.{{sfn|Dasharatha Sharma|1975|page=87}}{{sfn|Satish Chandra|2007|page=70}} The Ghurids followed their victory by sacking [[Ajmer]] in the course of which they massacred several civilians, took many as [[History of slavery|slaves]] and destroyed several Hindu [[temples]] of [[Ajmer]].<ref>{{harvnb|Richard Eaton|2000|page=108}}: "From Ajmer in Rajasthan, the former capital of the defeated Cahamana Rajputs – also, significantly, the wellspring of Chishti piety the post-1192 pattern of temple desecration moved swiftly down the Gangetic Plain as Turkish military forces sought to extirpate local ruling houses in the late twelfth and early thirteenth century"</ref>
 
The decisive battle of Tarain is regarded as a landmark event in the Medieval India, which led to the destruction of Rajput powers for a while and laid the foundation of the [[Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent|Muslim rule in the Indian Subcontinent]].{{sfn|Rima Hooja|2006|page=458}}
 
==Further campaigns==
{{See also|Battle of Chandawar|Ghurid conquest of Bengal}}
Mu'izz al-Din after his triumpth in Tarain, limited his presence in India  to centralize himself in the Ghurid expansion in [[Transoxiana]].{{sfn|Satish Chandra|2007|page=67}}
 
In 1194, Muhammad returned to India and crossed the Jamuna with an army of 50,000 troopers to confront the [[Gahadavala dynasty|Gahadavala]] king [[Jayachandra]] who held his sway over extensive territories in the present-day [[Uttar Pradesh]] and [[Bihar]]. In a decisive battle fought near the modern day Chandawar, the Gahadavalas managed to kept the Ghurid forces at bay until a chance arrow killed Jayachandra and his armies were routed.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Kaushik Roy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KyVnAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA23 |title=Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400-1750: Cavalry, Guns, Government and Ships |date=2014-05-22 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|page=23|isbn=978-1-78093-800-4 |language=en}}</ref>{{sfn|Satish Chandra|2007|page=71}}{{sfn|Mohammad Habib|1981|page=116}} The Ghurids pillaged the [[Holy city#Asia|holy city]] of [[Varanasi|Kāshí]] after capturing [[Kannauj]] and destroyed many Hindu temples there.{{sfn|Andre Wink|1991|page=248}}{{sfn|Richard Eaton|2000|page=128}}
 
Afterwards, Muhammad marched towards India again in 1196 and captured the territory of [[Bayana]] from the [[Jadaun Rajputs]] after a brief siege to guard the southern flank of Delhi.{{sfn|Andre Wink|1991|page=146}} The newly conquered territory was placed under his senior slave Bahauddin Turghil who further laid siege to the Gwalior fort and annexed it after subjugating the [[Parihar]] ruler.{{sfn|Andre Wink|1991|page=146}}{{sfn|Mohammad Habib|1981|page=117}}<ref>{{harvnb|K. A. Nizami|1992|page=171}} "In 592/1195-96 Muizzuddin again carme to India. He attacked Bayana, which was under Kumarapala, a Jadon Bhatti Rajput. The ruler avoided a confrontation at Bayana, his capital, but went to Thankar and entrenched himself there. He vas, howvever, compelled to surrender. Thankar and Vijayamandirgarh were occupied and put under Bahauddin Tughril. Mu'izzuddin - next marched towards Gwalior. Sallakhanapala of the Parihara dynasty, however, acknowledged the suzerainty of Muizzuddin"</ref>
 
Muhammad's slave commanders continued the expansion of the Ghurid empire and raided the Rajput strongholds in the [[Ganges Basin|Doab]], [[Rajasthan]], [[Malwa]] and uptil [[Kalinjar]] in the [[Ganges|Ganga Valley]]. In the decade of the 1200s, another lieutenant of Mu'izz al-Din [[Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji]] expanded the Ghurid influence in west of the Ganges Basin in states of [[Bihar]] and [[Bengal]]. He defeated the [[Sena dynasty|Sena king]] of [[Bengal]] [[Lakshmana Sena]] and expanded as far as [[Gauḍa (city)|Lakhnauti]] in [[Bengal]].<ref>{{harvnb|Romila Thapar|2004|page=434}}: "This campaign saw Muhammad in control of Lahore and led to visions of further conquests in India. An attack was launched on the Rajput kingdoms controlling the watershed and the western Ganges Plain, now beginning to be viewed as the frontier. The Rajputs gathered together as best they could, not forgetting internal rivalries and jealousies. Prithviraja defeated Muhammad Ghuri at the first battle at Tarain, north of Delhi, in 1191.Muhammad sent for reinforcements and, in 1192, a second battle was fought at the same place. Prithviraja was defeated and the kingdom of Delhi fell to Muhammad, who pressed on and concentrated on capturing the capitals of Rajput kingdoms with the assistance of his General, Qutub ud-din Aibak. Another General, Muhammad Bhaktiyar Khilji, moved to the east where he defeated the Sena King of Bengal. Although Muhammad was assassinated in 1206, this did not lead to the withdrawal of Turkish interests in India. Muhammad had been determined to retain his Indian possessions and his successors had equally ambitious visions of ruling in northern India"</ref>
 
==Final Campaign==
{{See also|Battle of Andkhud}}
In March 1203, his brother died in Herat due to illness and Muhammad succeeded him as the sole ruler of the Ghurid dynasty. In 1204, he suffered a sharp reverse [[Battle of Andkhud|near the river Oxus]] against the combined forces of [[Qara Khitai]] (Western Lio) and the [[Kara-Khanid Khanate]] contingent led by Tayangu (as aid of Alauddin Shah) which lead to the loss of most of the [[Khurasan]] (except [[Herath]] and [[Balkh]]) and initiated a number of rebellions in his empire.{{sfn|Satish Chandra|2004|page=29}}
 
[[File:The murder of Muhammad Ghori, A.D. 1206.jpg|thumb|Depiction of Mu'izz al-Din's assassination]]
 
The Hindu [[Khokhars]] rebelled by cutting Muhammad's supply line between [[Lahore]] and Ghazna. According to the 16th-17th century chronicler [[Firishta]], the Khokhars were a "disgraced race" who considered "slaying of [[Muslims]] as the path to paradise".{{sfn|Mohammad Habib|1981|page=134}} Muhammad dispatched a force under his slave [[Illtutmish]] to suppress the revolt, although he later himself marched for his last campaign into India in late 1205. In the ensuring battle, the Khokhars were routed after [[Qutb ud-Din Aibak]] or [[Illtutmish]] arrived with a contingent from [[Lahore]].{{sfn|Paramatma Saran|2001|page=118}} After the battle, Mu'izz al-Din ordered a general massacre of the Khokhars and further enslaved many of them.{{sfn|Satish Chandra|2007|page=67}}
 
On his way back to [[Ghazna]], Muhammad of Ghor was assassinated near the Indus in [[Dhamiak|Dhamyak]] by the [[Isma'ilism|Ismāʿīlīyah Muslims]] on 15 March 1206.{{sfn|C.E. Bosworth|1968|page=167}}{{efn|Some later accounts stated that his assassins were Khokhars, see [[Muhammad of Ghor#Assassination|his assassination part on the main article]]}} After his death, his empire collapsed{{sfn|Hermann Kulke & Dietmer Rotherbond|2004|page=168}} as his successors were forced to acknowledge the suzerenity of [[Muhammad II of Khwarazm|Alauddin Shah of Khwarazm]] who overthrew them by 1215.{{sfn|Satish Chandra|2007|page=77}} However, his [[Mamluk dynasty (Delhi)|slave generals]] after a brief struggle sustained his conquests in north India and established the [[Delhi Sultanate]] in 1206.{{sfn|Andre Wink|1991|page=152}}
 
==Footnotes==
{{notelist}}
 
==Citations==
{{reflist}}
 
==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
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* {{Cite book|author=Iqtidar Alam Khan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=URluAAAAMAAJ |title=Historical Dictionary of Medieval India |date=2008|publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-5503-8 |language=en}}
* {{Cite book |author=Kaushik Roy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jpXijlqeRpIC |title=India's Historic Battles: From Alexander the Great to Kargil |date=2004 |publisher=Orient Blackswan |isbn=978-81-7824-109-8 |language=en}}
* {{Cite book |author=K. A. Nizami |author-link=K. A. Nizami |chapter= FOUNDATION OF THE DELHI SULTANAT|editor1=Mohammad Habib |editor2=Khaliq Ahmad Nizami |title=A Comprehensive History of India: The Delhi Sultanat (A.D. 1206-1526) |volume=5 |edition=Second |year=1970|publisher=The Indian History Congress / People's Publishing House |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_9cmAQAAMAAJ |oclc=31870180}}
* {{Cite book|author=[[Mohammad Habib]]|editor=[[K. A. Nizami]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iQ1uAAAAMAAJ |title=Politics and Society During the Early Medieval Period: Collected Works of Professor Mohammad Habib |date=1981 |publisher=People's Publishing House |language=en}}
* {{Cite book|chapter=The Turkish Conquest of Northern India|author=Paramatma Saran|editor=S. Ramakrishnan|url=http://archive.org/details/struggleforempir05bhar |title=History and Culture of the Indian People, Volume 05, The Struggle For Empire |date=2001 |publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan |others=Public Resource}}
* {{Cite book |author=[[Richard M. Eaton|Richard Eaton]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UEXZAAAAMAAJ |title=Essays on Islam and Indian History |date=2000 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-565114-0 |language=en}}
* {{Cite book|author=Rima Hooja|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qqd1RAAACAAJ|title=A HISTORY OF RAJASTHAN (PB)|date=2006|publisher=Rupa & Company|isbn=978-81-291-1501-0}}
* {{Cite book |author=Romila Thapar|author-link=Romila Thapar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i6cwDwAAQBAJ |title=Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300 |date=2004|publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-24225-8 |language=en}}
* {{cite book|author=Satish Chandra|author-link=Satish Chandra (historian)|title=History of Medieval India:800-1700|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qHnHHwAACAAJ|year=2007|publisher=Orient Longman|isbn=978-81-250-3226-7|language=en}}
* {{Cite book |author=Satish Chandra|author-link=Satish Chandra (historian)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L5eFzeyjBTQC |title=Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals-Delhi Sultanat (1206-1526) - Part One |date=2004 |publisher=Har-Anand Publications |isbn=978-81-241-1064-5|language=en}}
{{refend}}
 
[[Category:Islamic rule in the Indian subcontinent]]
[[Category:Ghurid dynasty]]
[[Category:Military history of India]]
[[Category:12th-century military history]]
[[Category:History of South Asia]]
[[Category:12th century in India]]
[[Category:Battles involving the Indian kingdoms]]
[[Category:Battles involving Turkic peoples]]
[[Category:13th century in India]]
[[Category:Battles involving the Rajputs]]
[[Category:Battles involving the Qarmatians]]
[[Category:Medieval conflicts]]
[[Category:12th-century conflicts]]
[[Category:History of Pakistan]]
[[Category:History of Islam in India]]

Latest revision as of 03:30, 19 February 2024