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Old Sunday, June 27, 2010
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Default Notes of Empire/sultanate of Shahab-u-din Ghuri

Early life
Shahabuddin Ghori was born Muizzuddīn Muhammad Bin Sām in 1162 A.D. into a Persian[citation needed] family in Ghor in what is present-day Afghanistan. The exact date of his birth is unknown. His father, Sultan Bahauddin Suri, was the local ruler of the Ghor region at the time.

The Ghorid Empire
Ghor (now a province in central Afghanistan) lay on the western boundary of the Ghaznavid Empire, which, in the early 1100s, covered an area stretching from what is now central Afghanistan to the Punjab in what is now Pakistan, with capitals at Ghaznā and Lahore.

Beginning in the mid-1100s, Ghor expressed its independence from the Ghaznavid Empire. In 1149 the Ghaznavid ruler Bahram Shāh poisoned a local Ghūrid leader, Quṭb ud-Dīn, who had taken refuge in the city of Ghazna after a family quarrel. In revenge, the Ghūrid chief ʿAlāʾ-ud-Dīn Ḥusayn sacked and burned the city of Ghazna and put the city into fire for seven days and seven nights. It earned him the title of Jahānsuz, meaning "the world burner".[1] The Ghaznavids retook the city with Seljuk help, but lost it to Oghuz Turk freebooters.[1] The Ghorids reconquered Ghaznā from the Oghuz Turks and in 1173, Shahabuddin Ghori became governor of the Ghazna province while his brother, Ghiyasuddin Ghori, became the Sultan of the Ghorid Empire.

Invasions of India
Shahabuddin Ghori first invaded India in 1175, capturing Multan and the fortress of Uch. He attacked Gujrat in 1179 and was defeated by Mularaja Bhimadeva II,the raja of Gujrat. He captured Lahore in 1181 and constructed the fortress of Sialkot. In 1191, he pushed further eastwards against the Hindu Rajput kingdoms, and his forces were defeated by the armies of Prithviraj Chauhan, the king of Delhi and Ajmer and his allies. A year later, in 1192, he fought the Hindu Rajputs, which resulted in victory.

Capture of Lahore, 1181

In 1181, Shahabuddin Ghori invaded the Ghaznavid Empire in India, reaching and capturing Lahore, thus ending the Ghaznavid Empire and bringing the remaining Ghaznavid territory under Ghorid control. This victory marked the beginning of the Ghorid Empire. [2]

Defeat in the First Battle of Tarain, 1191

In 1191, Shahabuddin Ghori, leading an army of 120,000 men, invaded India through the Khyber Pass and was successful in reaching Punjab. Shahabuddin Ghori captured a fortress, either at Sirhind or Bathinda in present-day Punjab state on the northwestern frontier of Prithviraj Chauhan's kingdom. Prithviraj's 200,000 strong army led by his vassal prince Govinda-Raja of Delhi, rushed to the defense of the frontier, and the two armies met at the town of Tarain, near Thanesar in present-day Haryana, approximately 150 kilometres north of Delhi.

Shahabuddin Ghori's army had been divided into three flanks: left, right and centre with Shahabuddin Ghori himself, on horseback, leading the centre flank. In addition to being almost twice in number, the Hindu Rajput army had another advantage: elephant cavalry comprising of 300 elephants whereas Shahabuddin Ghori's army had no elephants. Many Turk soldiers in Shahabuddin Ghori's army had not even seen elephants before. According to urban myth in contemporary India, the armies clashed first with the charge of the Rajput cavalry. Shahabuddin Ghori's horse cavalry was unable to hold its own against Prithviraj's elephant cavalry, resulted in the defeat of Shahabuddin Ghori's left and right flanks.

Two regiments of the Muslim army with Shahabuddin Ghori attacked the center with a body of soldiers; where Shahabuddin Ghori met Govinda-Raja in personal combat. Govinda-Raja, mounted on an elephant, lost his front teeth to Shahabuddin Ghori's lance. As the battle continued, the Ghorid army, exhausted, shorn of water, and unfamiliar with the scale of its opponent, retreated. Shahabuddin Ghori was himself wounded in the battle and was rescued by his Turkic slave, Qutb-ud-din Aibak, who went on to become first ruler of the Delhi Sultanate.[3]

Shahabuddin Ghori's defeated army retreated to Lahore and, thereafter, returned to Ghazni.

According to one account, Shahabuddin Ghori, after suffering his first (and last) defeat at the First Battle of Tarain, was resting in Khorasan when he had a dream in which one of the famous Sufi saints of India, Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti, appeared and said to him:

"O Shahabuddin! Almighty Allah has granted you the Kingdom of India. Rise and proceed to India. Success will be yours."

When Shahabuddin Ghori awoke, he was restless. The saint's voice was still echoing in his ears. It was then that Shahabuddin Ghori decided to invade India.

Victory in the Second Battle of Tarain, 1192

In 1192, Shahabuddin Ghori re-assembled his army of 120,000 men and returned to challenge Prithviraj at the Second Battle of Tarain. When he reached Lahore, he sent his envoy to Prithviraj Chauhan to demand his surrender but Prithviraj Chauhan refused to comply. Prithviraj Chauhan then issued a fervent appeal to his fellow Rajput rulers and aristocracy to come to his aid against Shahabuddin Ghori.

Prithviraj assembled a very large army with the aid of approximately 150 Rajput rulers and aristocrats, according to Firishta, it consisted of 3,000 elephants, 300,000 horsemen and considerable infantry.[4] Some historians believe these figures may be exaggerated but the army was larger than that of Shahabuddin Ghori. The army proceeded to meet Shahabuddin Ghori in Tarain where Prithviraj a year before he had inflicted defeat on his adversary, confident of defeating him again. Shahabuddin Ghori delivered an ultimatum to Pritviraj that he convert to Islam or be defeated. Prithviraj countered with an offer that Muhammad consider a truce and be allowed to retreat with his army. His terms not met, Shahabuddin Ghori decided to attack.

Shahabuddin Ghori divided his troops into 5 parts and attacked the Rajput armies in the early morning hours sending waves of mounted archers to attack the Rajput forces, but retreated as the Rajput elephant phalanx advanced. Shahabuddin Ghori deployed four parts to attack the Rajputs on four sides keeping a fifth part of his army in reserve. Khande Rao (General of Prithviraj), was killed. The enthusiasm of Prithviraj also dampened against these reverses. At dusk, Shahabuddin Ghori himself led a force of 12,000 heavily-armored horsemen to the center of the Rajput line, which collapsed into confusion, Prithviraj deserted the battlefield and attempted to escape.[3][5] but was captured. The Rajput Army also broke ranks and fled, thereby conceding victory to Shahabuddin Ghori.[6][7][8][9][10][11][12]

Shahabuddin Ghori took the captured Prithviraj back with him to Ghazni, where he was executed in 1192.

With his victory at Tarain, Shahabuddin Ghori managed to push Muslim rule much further east than Maḥmūd of Ghaznā had. Shahabuddin Ghori became Sultan of the Ghorid Empire upon the death of his brother, Ghiyās-ud-Dīn, in 1202.

Consolidation of the Ghorid Empire
After defeating Prithvīrāj Chauhān, Shahabuddin Ghori marched onwards unchallenged towards Ajmer and soon established Ghorid control in northern and central India.[13][14][15] Rajput kingdoms like Saraswati, Samana, Kohram and Hansi were captured without any difficulty. Finally his forces advanced on Delhi, capturing it soon after. Within a year, Ghaurī controlled northern Rajasthan and the northern part of the Ganges-Yamuna Doab.[16] The Kingdom of Ajmer was then given over to Golā, on condition that he send regular tributes to the Ghorids.

Shahabuddin Ghori, having settled the affairs of the province of Lahore, conferred the government of Lahore on Ali Karmakh[17] who was then the Governor of Multan. In 1206, Shahabuddin Ghori appointed Qutb-ud-din Aibak as his Naib us Sultanat in India[17] at a grand darbar (reception) at Lahore, which was attended by a large majority of the nobles and dignitaries of his kingdom. It was at this occasion that Shahabuddin Ghori bestowed upon Qutb-ud-din the title of Aibak, meaning "Axis of the Faith".[18]

Muḥammad Ghorī returned west to Ghaznā to deal with the threat to his western frontiers from the unrest in Iran, but he appointed Aibak as his regional governor for northern India. His armies, mostly under Turkish generals, continued to advance through northern India, raiding as far east as Bengal. Aibak sacked Ayodhya in 1193, followed by his conquest of Delhi. In 1204, after becoming sultan, Shahabuddin Ghori defeated the advance of Muḥammad II of Khwārezm. Aibak's protégé Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji had been appointed as a general by Muhammad of Ghor in 1203, and in 1204 he helped defeat the army of Lakshman Sen of the Sena Dynasty,[citation needed] but Shahabuddin Ghori failed to conquer Bengal. In 1206, a rebellion rose in Punjab. Muḥammad Ghorī returned to India and crushed the rebels, but was assassinated at Jhelum (where he was buried) on his way back to Ghaznā.[19]

Ghorid-Ghaznavid Struggles
Shahabuddin Ghori is credited with the decimation of the Ghaznavids his ancestoral enemies.

In alliance with the Hindu Raja of Jammu Vijaya Dev, he attacked Lahore in 1187, which was held by his ancestral enemy, the descendent of Mahmud of Ghazni, and made him prisoner. Mahmud of Ghazni's line of Sultans and Governors became extinguished.[20]

Mahmud Ghazni had attacked Ghor and the King Amir Suri an ancestor of Shahabuddin Ghori died taking poison after being taken prisoner. Various sources including Ferishta and Siraj attests to the events.

In the following year AH 401 (AD 1010), Mahmood led his army towards Ghoor[21]

According to Minhaj us Siraj, Amir Suri was captured by Mahmud of Ghazni, made prisoner along with his son and taken to Ghazni, where Amir Suri died.[22]

Soor, being made prisoner was brought to the king, but having taken poison, which he always kept under his ring, he died in a few hours; his country was annexed to the dominions of Ghizny[23]

A little over a hundred years after Mahmud, one of his successors to the throne of Ghazni fell into a blood feud with the ruler of Ghor, southeast of Herat. In represal Ghazni was sacked by the prince of Ghor a fellow Muslim in 1150, and burned for seven days and nights. All the magnificient Mahmudi palaces and halls were destroyed and plunder, devastation and, and slaughter were continous. It might be a historian reporting one of Mahmud's own murderous Indian raids. The Ghori victor earned the title of Jahansoze the world burner. The bells ring again : the perpetrations of the northern foreigners were not essentially anti Hindu. They could be quite merciless with Muslim rivals as well, for that was a part of their way of life. Ghazni now fell to a Turkman tribe which was in its turn ousted by the nephew of Jahansozein 1173. The later gave it to his brother later to be known as Muhammad of Ghori [20]

Muhammad of Ghori launched expeditions into India, first capturing Multan from a fellow Muslim chief in 1175-76. Three years later he invaded Gujarat and was roundly defeated by the Hindu King. Another three years later, and Shahabuddin Ghori was back to take Peshawar and Sialkot in 1181. Now in alliance with the Hindu Raja of Jammu Vijaya Dev, he attacked Lahore in 1187, which was held by his ancestral enemy, the descendent of Mahmud of Ghazni, and made him prisoner. Mahmud of Ghazni's line of Sultans and Governors became extinguished.[20]

Personal life
Muhammad Ghorī was a loyal brother; he refrained from declaring his independence in the Indian Subcontinent, knowing that it would result in civil war between the two brothers. Until the death of Ghiyās ud-Dīn in 1202, after every victory the General would send the best of the looted items to his elder brother in Khorasan. Ghiyās ud-Dīn reciprocated by never interfering in the affairs of his younger brother. Thus they were each able to concentrate on their own responsibilities.

Assassination
In 1206, Shahabuddin Ghori had to travel to Lahore to crush a revolt. On his way back to Ghazni, his caravan rested at Damik near Sohawa (which is near the city of Jhelum in the Punjab province of modern-day Pakistan). He was assassinated on March 15, 1206, while offering his evening prayers.

The identity of Shahabuddin Ghori's assassins is disputed, with some claiming that he was assassinated by local Hindu Ghakhars and others claiming he was assassinated by Hindu Khokars, both being different tribes.

The Khokhars were killed in large numbers, and the province was pacified. After settling the affairs in the Punjab. Shahabuddin marched back to Ghazni. While camping at Dhamayak in 1206 CE in the Jhelum district, the sultan was murdered by the Khokhars[24]

Hasan Nizami and Ferishta record the killing of Shahabuddin Ghori at the hands of the Gakhars. However, Ferishta may have confused the Ghakars with the Khokhars.[25] Other Historians have also blamed Shahabuddin Ghori's assassination to a band of Hindu Khokhars.[26]

All the historians before the time of Ferishta agree that the Khokhars , not the Gakhars killed Shahab ud din Ghori.[27]

Some also claim that Shahabuddin Ghori was assassinated by the Hashshashin, a radical Ismaili Muslim sect.[28][29]

As per his wishes, Shahabuddin Ghori was buried where he fell, in Damik.

His mouseleum was recently reconstructed and financed by the Khan Research Laboratories, the developers of Pakistan's nuclear-capable Ghauri missile, which is named after Shahabuddin Ghori and a model of which is displayed outside his mouseleum.

Succession
Shahabuddin Ghori had no offspring, but he treated his Turkic slaves as his sons, who were trained both as soldiers and administrators and provided with the best possible education. Many of his competent and loyal slaves rose to positions of importance in Shahabuddin Ghori's army and government.

When a courtier lamented that the Sultan had no male heirs, Shahabuddin Ghori retorted:

"Other monarchs may have one son, or two sons; I have thousands of sons, my Turkish slaves who will be the heirs of my dominions, and who, after me, will take care to preserve my name in the Khuṭbah (Friday sermon) throughout these territories."[cite this quote]

Shahabuddin Ghori's prediction proved true. After his assassination, his Empire was divided amongst his slaves. Most notably:

Qutb-ud-din Aibak became ruler of Delhi in 1206, establishing the Sultanate of Delhi, which marked the start of the Slave dynasty[30]
Nasir-ud-Din Qabacha became ruler of Multan in 1210
Tajuddin Yildoz became ruler of Ghazni
Ikhtiyar Uddin Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khilji became ruler of Bengal
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