Write about the battles fought by Muhammad Ghori to conquest Indian territories?
Answers
Explanation:
Shihab al-Din (also Muʿizz al-Din Muhammad ibn Sam), popularly known as Muhammad Ghori (r. 1173-1206 CE), was the Muslim ruler who laid the foundation for the subsequent Islamic ruling dynasties of India which saw its pinnacle later in the Mughal Empire (1526-1857 CE). He ruled a vast area comprising parts of modern-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Iran, Bangladesh, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan together with his elder brother Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad (c. 1139-1202 CE), which widely came to be known as the Ghurid or Ghorid Empire.
Name of the Battle: Invasions of Muhammad Ghori
Historians say that the actual founder of the Muslim Empire in India was Muiz-ud-din Muhammad bin Sam, also known as Muhammad of Ghur, Muhammad Ghori or Shihabud Din Muhammad Ghori. Though, it was the Muslim invader Muhammad bin Qasim, who invaded India for the first time, followed by Mahmud of Ghazni, both of them could not create a Muslim empire in India in a true sense. It was Muhammad Ghori who was successful in establishing a secured and powerful Muslim kingdom in India, after a series of invasions. He was the true founder of the Muslim rule in India.
The reasons that led to the invasions
Muhammad Ghori was an ambitious leader. He was the younger brother of the ruler of Gaur, Ghais-ud-Din, who handed the responsibility to Ghori to rule over Ghazni in 1173 AD. But Ghori, being a very ambitious ruler, was not satisfied with only Ghazni and wanted to expand his empire to get hold of more power and control and wanted to conquer India. He was well aware of India's political, religious, social, and military weaknesses and also the enormous wealth and gold that India had. He wanted to attain more power and more wealth. He also had the desire to spread Islam in India by conquering the Hindus of the country. Thus, for all these reasons, he carried out a number of invasions to take over India.
The Strength of warring Forces
Though the exact number of forces is not known for all his invasions; according to historians, in the second battle of Tarain, the Rajput army consisted of 3,000 elephants, 3,00,000 cavalry and infantry, while Muhammad Ghori had 1,20,000 fully armoured men.
Aftermath of the battle: Winner and Loser
Historians say that there were as many as 7 major invasions of Muhammad Ghori against India, in which he was the winner in most invasions. His invasions in India were:
Conquest of Multan and Sindh, 1175-1178: The first invasion of Muhammad Ghori was in 1175 AD when he attacked Multan, defeated the ruling Ismailian Heretics and was successful in capturing Multan. From Multan, he captured Uch in Upper Sindh in 1178 AD and established a fort there. He also conquered Lower Sindh later.
Name of the Battle: Invasions of Muhammad
Conquest of Multan and Sindh, 1175-1178: The first invasion of Muhammad Ghori was in 1175 AD when he attacked Multan, defeated the ruling Ismailian Heretics and was successful in capturing Multan. From Multan, he captured Uch in Upper Sindh in 1178 AD and established a fort there. He also conquered Lower Sindh later.
Anhihvara, Capital of Gujarat, 1178: During the same year, he also invaded Gujarat but suffered defeat from Gujarat ruler Bhimdev at the battle of Kayadara. This was his first invasion against a Hindu ruler in India and he had to go back to his kingdom.
Conquest of Punjab and Lahore, 1179-1186: Muhammad Ghori realised that the main place to conquer India was not Sindh and Multan but Punjab. In 1179 AD, he captured Peshawar. In 1181 AD, he attacked Khusrau Malik, who did not fight against him and gave him gifts as compensation and also his son as a hostage. In 1185 AD, Ghori invaded Punjab once again and this time he looted the countryside and occupied the fort of Sialkot. Khusrau Malik took the help of Khokhars to take over Sialkot but was not successful. In 1186 AD Muhammad Ghori attacked Punjab once again and this time he besieged Lahore.
The First Battle of Tarain, 1191: In 1191, to conquer the whole of India, Ghori marched towards Delhi and he captured Sirhind. It was the Rajput King of Delhi and Ajmer, Prithavi Raj Chauhan, who put up a brave fight with his soldiers against Ghori in Tarain, a place near Karnal in the present Haryana state of India. In this first battle of Tarain, Ghori was badly injured and defeated and he had to retrace b