Ms.
Ravinder Kaur
Dept. of History
GNKC, Yamuna Nagar
Introduction
Venue: Various Parts of India
Year: 1175-1206 AD
Muhammad Ghori’s Invasions on
India
Conquest of Multan and Sindh, 1175-1178: The first
invasion of Muhammad Ghori was in 1175 AD when he
attacked Multan, defeated the ruling Ismailian Heretics
and was successful in capturing Multan. From Multan, he
captured Uch in Upper Sindh in 1178 AD and established a
fort there. He also conquered Lower Sindh later.
Anhihvara, Capital of Gujarat, 1178: During the same
year, he also invaded Gujarat but suffered defeat from
Gujarat ruler Bhimdev at the battle of Kayadara. This was
his first invasion against a Hindu ruler in India and he had
to go back to his kingdom
Conquest of Punjab and Lahore, 1179-1186: Muhammad Ghori
realised that the main place to conquer India was not Sindh and
Multan but Punjab. In 1179 AD, he captured Peshawar. In 1181 AD,
he attacked Khusrau Malik, who did not fight against him and
gave him gifts as compensation and also his son as a hostage. In
1185 AD, Ghori invaded Punjab once again and this time he
looted the countryside and occupied the fort of Sialkot. Khusrau
Malik took the help of Khokhars to take over Sialkot but was not
successful. In 1186 AD Muhammad Ghori attacked Punjab once
again and this time he besieged Lahore.
The First Battle of Tarain, 1191: In 1191, to conquer the whole of
India, Ghori marched towards Delhi and he captured Sirhind. It
was the Rajput King of Delhi and Ajmer, Prithavi Raj Chauhan,
who put up a brave fight with his soldiers against Ghori in
Tarain, a place near Karnal in the present Haryana state of India.
In this first battle of Tarain, Ghori was badly injured and
defeated and he had to retrace back his steps.
The Second Battle of Tarain, 1192: In 1192 AD, Muhammad
Ghori invaded India again, this time he came with an army of
1,20,000 soldiers, which also included the help of Turks, Afghans,
Persians etc. In the second battlefield of Tarain, Prithavi Raj
Chauhan could not restrain the strong army of Ghori.
Muhammad Ghori defeated Prithavi Raj, he was captured and
killed. Thus, Ghori was successful in capturing Delhi and Ajmer.
The Battle against Jai Chand Rathor in Kanuaj, 1194 AD: Jai
Chand Rathor, the king of Kanuaj was not in good terms with
Prithavi Chauhan and was happy when he was captured and
killed. But, in 1194 AD, when Muhammad Ghori invaded India
again, this time he attacked Kannauj and defeated Jai Chand
Rathor, in the battlefield of Chandawar. After this invasion,
Qutab-ud-Din Aibak became the viceroy of Muhammad Ghori.
After this, while Ghori returned back to the west to carry out his
conquests in the western frontiers, Qutab-ud-din Aibak
continued his conquests in India.
Conquests of Gujarat, Bundelkhand, Bengal and
Bihar, 1195-1202 AD: Qutab-ud-Din Aibak attacked
Bhindev, king of Gujarat. He was defeated first but in
the next battle he defeated Bhimdev and conquered
Gujarat. His next target was Bundelkhand, ruled by
the Chandel Rajputs. He defeated them also and
conquered Bundelkhand. During this time,
Muhammad Khilji, a slave of Muhammad Ghori
attacked Bihar in 1197 and Bengal in 1202. Both Bengal
and Bihar came under the control of Ghori, and Khilji
became the viceroy of Bengal and Bihar.
Revolt of Khokhars, 1205 AD: In 1205, Ghori again
came to India, and this time the Khokhars stood
against him. But he defeated them.
Death
In 1206, when Ghori was going to Ghazni, he was killed
by someone in Dhamyak district of Jhelum (now in
Pakistan). Some say that this act was the result of the
revenge for the massacres that took place in India due
to Ghori's invasions of India.
