PRITHVIRAJ CHAUHAN
One of the most powerful person of his times. He was considered as the greatest of the Rajputs whose one decision changed the history of our country.
Prithvirāja III (reign. c. 1178–1192 CE ), popularly known as Prithviraj Chauhan or Rai Pithora in the folk legends, was an Indian king from the Chahamana (Chauhan) dynasty. He ruled Sapadalaksha, the traditional Chahamana territory, in present-day north-western India. He controlled much of the present-day Rajasthan, Haryana, and Delhi; and some parts of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. His capital was located at Ajayameru (modern Ajmer), although the medieval folk legends describe him as the king of India's political centre Delhi to portray him as a representative of the pre-Islamic Indian power.
Early in his career, Prithviraj achieved military successes against several neighbouring Hindu kingdoms, most notably against the Chandela king Paramardi. He also repulsed the early invasions by Muhammad of Ghor, a ruler of the Muslim Ghurid dynasty. However, in 1192 CE, the Ghurids decisively defeated Prithviraj at the Second battle of Tarain. His defeat at Tarain is seen as a landmark event in the Islamic conquest of India, and has been described in several semi-legendary accounts, most notably the Prithviraj Raso.
BIRTH
Prithviraj was born to the Chahamana king Someshvara and queen Karpuradevi. Both Prithviraj and his younger brother Hariraja were born in Gujarat, where their father Someshvara was brought up at the Chaulukya court by his maternal relatives. According to Prithviraja Vijaya, Prithviraj was born on the 12th day of the Jyeshtha month. The text does not mention the year of his birth, but provides some of the astrological planetary positions at the time of his birth, calling them auspicious. Based on these positions and assuming certain other planetary positions, Dasharatha Sharma calculated the year of Prithviraj's birth as 1166 CE
THE REIGN
No specific details which could tell the reign of Prithviraj Chauhan with authenticity, but Prithviraj Raso written by his friend and courtier Chand Badri tells about the life of the great king and his empire
Prithviraj was coroneted at avery young age and it was his mother who looked after the reign, he was also surrendered by able courtiers for his support. It’s believed that Prithviraj assumed actual control of the administration in 1180 CE
Prithviraj was considered as one of the finest rulers of his time, the people of is empire considered him as the people’s king. During his tenure the empire grew and was prosperous. He was considered to be the last Hindu king of the country.
Prithviraj was a brave king and fought many battles and emerged victorious but the battles of Tarain 1 and 2 which changed the history of the country
PERSONAL LIFE
Prithviraj was brave, intiligent and had fallen in love with the most beautiful woman of that time Samyogita. According to a legend mentioned in Prithviraj Raso, Prithviraj eloped with Jayachandra's daughter Samyogita, leading to a rivalry between the two kings.
The legend goes like this: king Jaichand's daughter Samyogita fell in love with Prithviraj after hearing about his heroic exploits, and declared that she would marry only him. Jaichand arranged a swayamvara (husband-selection) ceremony for his daughter, but did not invite Prithviraj. Nevertheless, Prithviraj marched to Kannauj with a hundred warriors and eloped with Samyogita. Two-third of his warriors sacrificed their life in fight against the Gahadavala army, allowing him to escape to Delhi with Samyogita. In Delhi, Prithviraj became infatuated with his new wife, and started spending most of his time with her. He started ignoring the state affairs, which ultimately led to his defeat against Muhammad of Ghor.
FIRST BATTLE OF TARAIN
During 1190–1191 CE, Muhammad of Ghor invaded the Chahamana territory, and captured Tabarhindah (identified with either Bhatinda or Sirhind). He placed it under the charge of Zia-ud-din, the Qazi of Tulak, supported by 1200 horsemen. When Prithviraj learned about this, marched towards Tabarhindah with his feudatories, including Govindaraja of Delhi. According to the 16th century Muslim historian Firishta, his force comprised 200,000 horses and 3,000 elephants.
Muhammad's original plan was to return to his base after conquering Tabarhindah, but when he heard about Prithviraj's march, he decided to put up a fight. He set out with an army, and encountered Prithviraj's forces at Tarain. In the ensuing battle, Prithviraj's army decisively defeated the Ghurids. Muhammad of Ghor was injured and forced to retreat.
Prithviraj did not pursue the retreating Ghurid army, not wanting to invade hostile territory or misjudge Ghori's ambition. He only besieged the Ghurid garrison at Tabarhindah, which surrendered after 13 months of siege.
SECOND BATTLE OF TARAIN
Prithviraj seems to have treated the first battle of Tarain as merely a frontier fight. This view is strengthened by the fact that he made little preparations for any future clash with Muhammad of Ghor. According to Prithviraj Raso, during the period preceding his final confrontation with the Ghurids, he neglected the affairs of the state and spent time in merry-making.
Meanwhile, Muhammad of Ghor returned to Ghazna, and made preparations to avenge his defeat. According to Tabaqat-i Nasiri, he gathered a well-equipped army of 120,000 select Afghan, Tajik and Turkic horsemen over the next few months. He then marched towards the Chahamana kingdom via Multan and Lahore, aided by Vijayaraja of Jammu.
Prithviraj had been left without any allies as a result of his wars against the neighbouring Hindu kings. Nevertheless, he managed to gather a large army to counter the Ghurids. The 16th century Muslim historian Firishta estimated the strength of Prithviraj's army as 300,000 horses and 3,000 elephants, in addition to a large infantry. This is most likely a gross exaggeration, aimed at emphasizing the scale of the Ghurid victory. Prithviraj's camp, which comprised 150 feudatory chiefs, wrote a letter to Muhammad of Ghor, promising him no harm if he decided to return to his own country. Muhammad insisted that he needed time to confer his Ghazna-based brother Ghiyath al-Din. According to Firishta, he agreed to a truce until he received an answer from his brother. However, he secretly planned an attack against the Chahamanas.
According to Jawami ul-Hikayat, Muhammad assigned a few men to keep the fires in his camp burning at night, while he marched off in another direction with the rest of his army. This gave the Chahamanas an impression that the Ghurid army was still encamped, observing the truce. After reaching several miles away, Muhammad formed four divisions, with 10,000 archers each. He kept the rest of his army in reserve. He ordered the four divisions to launch a surprise attack on the Chahamana camp, and then pretend a retreat.
At dawn, the four divisions of the Ghurid army attacked the Chahamana camp, while Prithviraj was still asleep. After a brief fight, the Ghurid divisions pretended to retreat in accordance with Muhammad's strategy. Prithviraj was thus lured into chasing them, and by the afternoon, the Chahamana army was exhausted as a result of this pursuit. At this point, Muhammad led his reserve force and attacked the Chahamanas, decisively defeating them. According to Taj-ul-Maasir, Prithviraj's camp lost 100,000 men (including Govindaraja of Delhi) in this debacle. Prithviraj himself tried to escape on a horse, but was pursued and caught near the Sarasvati fort (possibly modern Sirsa). Subsequently, Muhammad of Ghor captured Ajmer after killing several thousand defenders, enslaved many more, and destroyed the city's temples.
DEATH
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. This is corroborated by numismatic evidence: some coins issued by Prithviraj from the Delhi mint feature his own name as well as the name of Muhammad on the reverse. After Prithviraj's death, Muhammad installed the Chahamana prince Govindaraja on the throne of Ajmer,
But the Prithviraj Raso claims that Prithviraj was taken to Ghazna as a prisoner, and blinded. On hearing this, the poet Chand Bardai travelled to Ghazna and tricked Muhammad of Ghor into watching an archery performance by the blind Prithviraj. During this performance, Prithviraj shot the arrow in the direction of Muhammad's voice and killed him. Shortly after, Prithviraj and Chand Bardai killed each other.This is a fictional narrative, not supported by historical evidence: Muhammad of Ghor continued to rule for more than a decade after Prithviraj's death
To conclude, I would say that the death of the last Himdu Emperor of the country was a mysterious one. Legend says that if Prithviraj had killed ghori in the first battle of Tarain, the history of the Islamic dynasty would have been entirely different and unpredictable.
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