Turkish Conquest of India

After the Arab penetration into Sindh, it was the Turks who  made inroads into India in 11th Century. The credit of establishing the Muslim rule in India goes to the Turks.

Alptigin, a Trukish Slave of the Samanid king Amir-Abu-Bakr Lawik founded the Ghaznivid
dynasty in 963. He occupied the kingdom of Jabul, with its capital Ghazni. He was followed
by his son-in-law, Subuktigin, a capable and ambitious ruler. He succeeded in capturing all
the territories which lay between Lamghan and Peshawar from the Hindushahi ruler
Jayapala. Thus, the Hindushahi kingdom failed to check the growing power of Ghaznavids
towards East. But his raids did not produce a lasting effect. Subuktigin was followed by his
son Ismail, who was overthrown by Mahmud, his brother in 998. He became famous in
history as Mahmud Ghazni.

Condition of India on the eve of Mahmud Ghazni invasion :

On the eve of invasion North India was divided into a number of independent states.

• On the frontier of India, there existed the Hindushahi kingdom which extended from the Punjab to Kabul. Its capital was Waihind. Jayapala and his son Anandapala were the prominent rulers.
• Kashmir was an independent state ruled over by the Lohara dynasty and it had
  family relations with the Hindushahis.
• Kanuaj was ruled over by Rajyapala, the Gurjara Pratihara king
• There were independent kingdoms in Bengal (Pala dynasty),Gujarat (Solanki
  dynasty), Malwa (Paramara dynasty) and Bundhelkhand ( Chandella dynasty) as
• In the south the later Chalukyas and Cholas have their powerful kingdoms.

Mahmud Ghazni invasions :

• In pursuance of his vow he invaded India many times.
• His seventeen raids into India made during the period between 1000 and 1027 CE, is a significant event in the history.
• Mahmud’s invasion of India was purely religious and economic and not political.
• The initial raids were against the Hindu Shahi kingdom in which its king Jayapala was defeated in 1001.
• After this defeat, Jayapala immolated himself because he thought that his defeat was a disgrace. His successor Anandapala fought against Mahmud but he was also defeated in the Battle of Waihind, the Hind Shahi capital near Peshawar in 1008.
• In 1011, he raided Nagarkot in the Punjab hills and Thaneshwar near Delhi.
• In 1018 Mahmud plundered the holy city of Mathura and also attacked Kanuaj. The ruler of Kanuaj, Rajyapala abandoned Kanuaj and later died. Mahmud returned via Kalinjar with fabulous richest.
• In 1019 and 1029 he undertook two raids on Gangetic valley.
• In 1025 he attacked on Somanath, the famous holy town on the coast of Kathiawar. It was a beautiful temple and possessed enormous wealth.

• In this expedition he preceded through Multan defeated Bhimadeva of Anhilwad and reached Somanath Temple.
• The Hindus fought very bravely and initially the enemies could not damage
  the temple. However, after 3 days of fights, Mahmud Ghazni’s troops were
  successful in plundering the Somanath temple, in which the sacred idol, Linga was destroyed. Ghazni looted all the treasures of the temple, which was at that time worth 20-million Dinars, more than eighty times of what he had collected in his first invasion.
• Mahmud came back to India for the last time in 1027 to punish the Jats who had
  troubled him on his return journey from Somanath. The Jats were severely punished, looted property, enslaved their women and children.
• Thus, Mahmud Ghazni successfully attempted seventeen invasions on Indian Territories and died in 1030 CE

Estimate:

• He built a wide empire from the Punjab in the east to the Caspian Sea on the west and from Samarkand in the north to Gujarat in the south. The Ghaznavid empire roughly included Persia, Trans-oxyana, Afghanistan and Punjab.
• His conquest of Punjab and Multan completely changed the political situation in India. He paved the way for the Turks and Afghans for further conquests and make deeper incursions into the Gangetic valley at any time.
• Mahmud was considered a hero of Islam by medieval historians.
• He also patronized art and literature. Firdausi was the poet-laureate in the court of Mahmud. He was the author of Shah Namah
• Alberuni, the scholar of Turki, Sanskrit, Mathematics, Philosophy, Astrology and history stayed in Mahmud’s court and wrote the famous Kitab-iHind, an account on India.

The next important Muslim ruler who had made his influence in Indian History know was Muhammad Ghori. After the death of Mahmud of Ghazni, for nearly hundred and fifty years there was no Turkish invasion on India.

The Ghoris started as vassals of Ghazni but became independent after the death of Mahmud. Taking advantage of the decline of the Ghaznavid empire, Muizzuddin Muhammad popularly known as Muhammad Ghori brought Ghazni under their control. Having made his position strong and secure at Ghazni, Muhammad Ghori turned his attention to India. Unlike Mahmmud of Ghazni, he wanted to conquer India and extend his empire in this direction.

Political Condition of India on the Eve of Ghori Invasion

• Nearly 150 Years had lapsed after the last invasion of Mahmud in 1027. Unfortunately, Indian did not learn any useful political lesson from Ghaznis rides and they failed to develop foresight necessary to meet the new challenge. There was not a single remarkable change in the condition of India expect changes in ruling dynasties and territories.
• Politically India was divided into many kingdoms both in North and South. The North India witnessed the rule of many Rajput princes.
• The chief among them were
• Prithviraj Chauhan was ruling over Delhi and Ajmer
• Jayachandra was the ruler of Kanuaj
• the Solanki king Mularaja II was ruling over Gujarat
• the Sena king Lakshmanasena was ruling over Bengal etc.
• They indulged in constant internecine warfare which ultimately weakened all the Rajaput states.

Invasions

• Muhammad Ghori’s first invasions were on the Multan and fortress of Uch, with a view to bring back the Muslim states of India and conquered it easily in 1175.
• In 1178, he attacked on Anhilwara in Gujarat,but was defeated by its king Mularaja II.

First Battle of Tarain or Thaneshwar 1191.

• In 1191 Muhammad attacked and captured Bhatinda, a part of Prithviraj dominion. This led Muhammad to come into direct clash with Prithviraj Chauhan one of the most powerful Rajput rulers.
• The enemies met each other in the battle field at Tarain, 80 miles from Delhi.
• Muhammad Ghori was defeated in the battle and also wounded in the arm. The
  Muslim army was routed and battle was completely won over by the Rajputs.

Second Battle of Tarain 1192

• Muhammad was not dishearten and prepared his army for the next attack to avenge his defeat with much strategy and power
• Prithviraj also organized Hindu confederacy to resist to Muhammad
• In 1192 both the armies met again in the same battle field Tarain. This time Muhammad defeated Prithviraj and killed.
• The second battle of Tarain is well known as one of the turning points in Indian The battle opened the way for further conquests of India by the Muslims. Ajmer and Delhi were occupied by Muhammad.
• After the battle of Tarain, Muhammad appointed Qutubuddin Aibak, one of his slaves, as the Viceroy of the Indian provinces. He consolidated the Indian conquests of his master, conquered Meerut, Bulandhahar, Aligarh etc. made Delhi as the capital in 1193.

• BATTLE OF CHANDAWAR 1194 In 1194 Muhammad Ghori led another expedition against Jayachandra of Kanuaj. The battle between Muhammad and Jayachandra took place near Chandawar on the river Yamuna between Eatwah and Kanuaj. King Jayachandra was defeated and killed in the battle.
• After successful campaigns Muhammad rested the responsibility of consolidating the conquests in India on his Governor Qutubuddin Aibak.
• Muhammad-bin-Baktiyar Khilji, a general of Ghori, led a daring military expedition against Bihar and Bengal. In between 1202 – 1205 he attacked Odantapuri and plundered Buddhist Monastery, destroyed the university of Nalanda and Vikramasila and defeated Lakshamansena of Bengal.

Estimate

• His greatest achievement was the establishment of Turkish empire in India which added a fresh chapter to the Indian history.
• He was assassinated by the Khokars on the bank of rivers Indus in 1206, while engaging his evening prayers.
• Qutubuddin Aibak, one of the slaves of Muhammad Ghori became the master of his Indian provinces and laid foundation for Delhi Sultanate in 1206.