Prithviraj Chauhan was a Rajput King hailing
from the Chauhan Dynasty. He ruled the kingdoms of Ajmer and Delhi in
Northern India in the 12th century. He was one of the last independent Hindu
Kings to sit upon the throne of Delhi.
He is also known as Rai Pithora. He was born to the Chahamana King Someshvara and Queen Karpuradevi
(a Kalachuri princess).
He lived at Taragarh fort which was also known as Ajaymeru after which the town of Ajmer got its name.
He was a brilliant child and very sharp at
learning military skills. He had the skill of hitting the target only based on
its sound (Shabd Bhedi archery skill). He defeated the mighty Bheemdev, ruler
of Gujarat, at the mere age of thirteen.
He succeeded to the throne of Ajmer at the age
of thirteen, in 1179, when his father died in a battle. He ruled over the twin
capitals of Ajmer and Delhi which he inherited from his maternal grandfather
Arkpal or Anangpal III of the Tomara Dynasty.
He once killed a Lion on his own without any
weapon. He was known as the Warrior King.
As the King, he set out on several campaigns
to expand his territories and became well known as a valiant and courageous
warrior.
• Cultural Activities:
Prithviraj had a dedicated ministry for poets
and scholars including:
i. Jayanaka,
a poet-historian who wrote Prithviraja Vijaya.
ii. Vidyapati
Gauda.
iii. Vagisvara
Janardana.
iv. Vishvarupa,
a poet.
v. Prithvibhata,
a royal bard (identified as Chand Bardai by some scholars).
• Rivalry With Jaichand:
Prithviraj was a courageous, chivalrous and
extremely fearless human. After ceaseless military campaigns, he extended his
original kingdom of Sambhar to Rajasthan, Gujarat and Eastern Punjab. His fast
rise caught the envy of the then powerful ruler Jaichand. There was a lot of
ill-feeling between the two.
• His Love for Jaichand's daughter:
He was the center of much discussion in the
circle of the nobility. Sanyogita, the daughter of Jaichand fell secretly in
love with him. She started a secret poetic correspondence with him.
Jaichand got information about this affair and
he arranged a Swayamwar (a ceremony where a bride had right to choose groom of
her choice and could select her husband from the assembled eligible princes of
various states). She had the right to garland the prince to become his queen.
This was an ancient Hindu custom among Royal dynasties.
However, Jaichand invited all the big and
small princes of the country, except Prithviraj Chauhan to Kannauj for the
royal Swayamwar. To add insult to injury, he even made a statue of Prithviraj
and kept it as a doorman (dwarpal) at the gate.
On the Swayamwar day, Sanyogita bypassed all
the princes only to reach the door and garland the statue of Prithviraj. All of
the princes felt insulted.
Prithviraj, who was hiding behind the statue
whisked Sanyogita away and put her up on his steed to make a fast getaway to
his capital in Delhi.
• First Battle of Tarain:
During 1190–1191 CE, Muhammad Ghori invaded
the Chahamana territory and captured Tabarhindah or Tabar-e-Hind (identified
with Bathinda). When Prithviraj learned about this, he marched towards
Tabarhindah.
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.
Muhammad Ghori was brought in chains to
Pithoragarh - Prithviraj's capital and he begged for mercy and release. His
ministers advised against pardoning the aggressor. But he pardoned Muhammad
Ghori when he kept his hand on Quran and asked for forgiveness, bowing down to
Hindu King.
• 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 Ghori.
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 Ghori returned to Ghazna
and made preparations to avenge his defeat. He gathered a well-equipped army of
1,20,000. 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 neighboring 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. He planned an
attack against the Chahamanas.
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 under 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 Ghori captured Ajmer after killing
several thousand defenders, enslaved many more, and destroyed the city's
temples.
• Blinding of Prithviraj:
The story of Prithiviraj does not end here. As
a prisoner, he was presented before Muhammad, where he looked Ghori straight
into the eye.
Ghori ordered him to lower his eyes, whereupon
a defiant Prithiviraj scornfully told him how he had treated Ghori as a
prisoner and said that the eyelids of a Rajput's eyes are lowered only in
death. On hearing this, Ghori flew into a rage and ordered that Prithviraj's
eyes be burnt with red hot iron rods.
This heinous deed being done, Prithiviraj was
regularly brought to the court to be taunted by Ghori and his courtiers. In
those days Prithiviraj was joined by his former biographer Chand Bardai, who
had composed a ballad-biography on Pritiviraj in the name of Prithviraj Raso
(Songs of Prithviraj). Chand Bardai told Prithiviraj, that he should avenge
Ghori's betrayal and daily insults.
The Blind Prithviraj Avenges the injustice
done to him. The two got an opportunity when Ghori announced a game of Archery.
On the advice of Chand Bardai, Prithviraj, who was then at the court said he
would also like to participate. On hearing his suggestion, the courtiers
laughed loudly at him and he was taunted by Ghori as to how he could
participate when he could not see. Whereupon, Prithiviraj told Muhammad Ghori
to order him to shoot, and he would reach his target.
Ghori became suspicious and asked Prithviraj
why he wanted Ghori himself to order and not anyone else. On behalf of
Prithiviraj, Chand Bardai told Ghori that he as a king would not accept orders
from anyone other than a king. His ego satisfied, Muhammad Ghori agreed.
On the said day, Ghori sitting in his royal
enclosure had Prithiviraj brought to the ground and had him unchained for the
event. On Ghori's ordering Prithviraj to shoot, Prithiviraj turned in the
direction from where he heard Ghori speak and struck Ghori dead with his arrow.
This event is described by Chand Bardai in the couplet, "Dus kadam aggey, bees kadam daey, baitha hai Sultan. Ab mat chuko
Chauhan, chala do apna baan." (Ten feet ahead of you and twenty feet
to your right, is seated the Sultan, do not now miss him Chauhan, release your
baan - arrow).
Thus ended the story of the brave but
unrealistic Prithviraj Chauhan - the last Hindu ruler of Delhi. Delhi was to
remain under Muslim rule for the next 700 years till 1857 and under British
rule till 1947. Those few Hindus who came close to liberating Delhi during the
seven centuries of Muslim rule were Rana Sanga in 1527, Raja (Hemu)
Vikramaditya in around 1565 (2nd battle of Panipat), and Shrimant Vishwas Rao
who was the Peshwa's son and was co-commander of the Maratha forces in the 3rd
battle of Panipat in 1761.
Writer:- ASHUTOSH POKHRIYAL
Prithviraj Chauhan died in 1192 AD. Mohd. Gauri was murdered in 1206 while offering morning prayer.
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