Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 21:44, 13 April 2009

Muḥammad Shihābuddīn Ghorī (Persian: محمد شہاب الدین غوری), originally called Mu'izzuddīn Muḥammad Ibn Sām but famously known as Muḥammad of Ghor and Muḥammad Ghorī, (1162 – 15 March 1206), was a governor and general and ultimately sultan in the Ghorid dynasty. He was the governor of Ghaznā and the surrounding area from 1173 to 1192. He was sultan from 1202 until his death in 1206.

The Ghori Empire

Ghor lay on the western boundary of the Ghaznavid Empire, which in the early 1100s covered an area stretching from central Afghanistan to the Punjab, with capitals at Ghaznā and Lahore. Beginning in the mid 1100s, Ghor expressed its independence from the Ghaznavid Empire. In 1149 the Ghaznavid sultan captured and killed Sayf al-Dīn Ṣūrī of Ghor. In retaliation, the Ghor army under his brother, 'Alā' al-Dīn Ḥusayn, sacked Ghaznā in 1150. The Ghaznavids retook the city with Seljuk help, but lost it to Oghuz Turk freebooters. The Ghorids reconquered Ghaznā from the Oghuz Turks, and in 1173 Muḥammad Ghorī became governor of the province while his brother, Ghiyās al-Dīn Muḥammad of Ghor, became the Sultan of the Ghorid Empire. In 1186 Muḥammad Ghorī conquered Lahore, ending the Ghaznavid Empire and bringing the last part of the Ghaznavid territory under Ghorid control. As a result, he managed to push Muslim rule much further east than Maḥmūd of Ghaznā had. Muḥammad Ghorī became sultan upon the death of his brother, Ghiyās al-Dīn, in 1202.

Indian Conquest

General Muḥammad Ghorī attacked the north-western regions of the Indian Subcontinent twice. In 1191, he invaded the territory of Prithvīrāj Chauhān of Ajmer, who ruled much of present-day Rajasthan and Haryana, but was defeated at Tarain, in present-day Haryana, by Prithvīrāj's vassal, Govindarāj of Delhi. The following year Ghorī assembled a large army and once again invaded the Kingdom of Ajmer. On the same field at Tarain, a second battle was fought in 1192. This time, Jai Chand of Kannauj and Banaras (Jayachandra), one of the former allies of Prithvīrāj Chauhān, failed to aid Prithvīrāj, and Prithvīrāj was defeated. Govindarāj was slain, Prithvīrāj captured, and Muḥammad Ghorī marched onwards unchallenged towards Ajmer. 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 Muḥammad Ghorī controlled northern Rajasthan and the northern part of the Ganges-Yamuna Doab.

Muḥammad Ghorī spared the son of Prithvīrāj Chauhān, Golā, who in turn took the oath of loyalty to Ghiyās al-Dīn. The Kingdom of Ajmer was then given over to Golā, on condition that he send regular tributes to the Ghorids.

According to the Prithvīrāj Rasau, Muḥammad Ghorī took Prithvīrāj back to his kingdom, where he was brought in chains before the sultan, who ordered his eyes to be burnt with red hot iron rods as a punishment and threw him in jail for the rest of his life. Prithvīrāj could not bear the disgrace of defeat and the pain of punishment, hence defeated, blinded and humiliated he lost his will to survive and committed suicide in jail.

The Tārīkh-i Farishtah (finished in 1609 CE), however, relates that Prithvīrāj and part of his army managed to escape from the battlefield, but were overtaken by Muḥammad Ghorī's horsemen on the banks of the Sarsuti River, where the General beheaded Prithvīrāj.

Consolidation

After defeating Prithvīrāj Chauhān, Muḥammad Ghorī quickly established Ghorid control in northern and central India. Muḥammad Ghorī returned west to Ghaznā to deal with the threat to his western frontiers from the unrest in Iran, but he appointed Quṭbuddīn Aybak 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. Quṭbuddīn Aybak sacked Ayodhya in 1193, followed by his conquest of Delhi. In 1204, after becoming sultan, Muhammad Ghori defeated the advance of Muḥammad II of Khwārezm. In 1206, a rebellion rose in Punjab. Muḥammad Ghorī returned to India and crushed the rebels, but was assassinated on his way back to Ghaznā.

The most profound effect of Ghorī's victory was the establishment of Muslim rule in India which would last for centuries and have great impact on life and culture of South Asia for centuries. Muḥammad Ghorī further expressed his intentions of promoting Islam to convert 'The Land Of The Idols'; however, he died before he could extend his conquests further.

Personal life

Muḥammad 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 al-Dīn in 1202, after every victory the General would send the best of the looted items to his elder brother in Afghanistan. Ghiyās al-Dīn reciprocated by never interfering in the affairs of his younger brother. Thus they were each able to concentrate on their own responsibilities.

Heirs Of Sultan

Sultan Muḥammad Ghorī had no heirs and thus he treated his slaves as his sons. It is said that he trained thousands of Turkish slaves in the art of warfare and administration. Most of his slaves were given excellent education. During his reign many hardworking and intelligent slaves rose to positions of excellence. Once a courtier lamented that the Sultan had no male heirs; Ghorī immediately replied:

"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."

Ghorī's prediction proved true when he was succeeded by a dynasty of Turkish slaves. Upon his death, Quṭbuddīn Aybak, a capable general who had become Muḥammad Ghorī's closest advisor, kept control of the Indian conquests and declared himself the first Sultan of Delhi thus establishing the Sultanate of Delhi in 1206 CE.

Pakistan's Nuclear Missile

In response to India's development of its surface to surface missile, called the Prithvi, Pakistan launched its own missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads on April 6, 1998 called the Ghauri - I. It was symbolically named after Sultan Muhammad Ghori, who is highly revered in Pakistan for his Muslim conquest of the Indian Subcontinent. Pakistan has since developed the Ghauri - II and Ghauri - III as well.

See also

• Ghaurids
• Ghor Province
• History of Pakistan
• History of Afghanistan

Notes

1. ^ Encyclopedia Iranica, Ghaznavids, Edmund Bosworth, Online Edition 2007, (LINK)
2. Bosworth, Clifford Edmund (1977) The Later Ghaznavids: Splendour and Decay: The Dynasty in Afghanistan and Northern India, 1040-1186 Columbia University Press, New York, pp. 120-31, ISBN 0-231-04428-3; see also the original source, Ibn Bābā's chapter on the Graznavids, pp. 132-144.
3. http://books.google.com/books?id=tU1yDpYlu38C&pg=PA187&dq=%22First+Battle+of+Tarain%22
4. http://persian.packhum.org/persian/main The History of the Rise of Muhammadan Power in India. Vol.I.
5. http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761588379/Muhammad_of_Ghur.html
6. The Geography of War and Peace: From Death Camps to Diplomats by Colin Robert Flint, Publ Oxford University Press US, 2005, p. 149

Further reading

• John Keay (2001). India: A history. Grove Press; 1 Grove Pr edition. ISBN 0-8021-3797-0. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
• Elliot, Sir H. M., Edited by Dowson, John. The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians. The Muhammadan Period; published by London Trubner Company 1867–1877. (Online Copy: The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians. The Muhammadan Period; by Sir H. M. Elliot; Edited by John Dowson; London Trubner Company 1867–1877 - This online Copy has been posted by: The Packard Humanities Institute; Persian Texts in Translation; Also find other historical books: Author List and Title List)

Briggs, John (Translator): The History of the Rise of Mohammedan Power in India. (Translation of the Mughal-Era Tārikh-i Farishtah. Available online at the Packard Humanities Institute.)

• History of Afghanistan
• Islamic rule in India
• History of India
• History of Pakistan
• 1162 births
• 1206 deaths
• Muslim generals