Ghaznavids: Mahmud of Gazni & Muhammad Ghori

by Devender

0 1554

Islam was founded in Mecca by prophet Muhammad in 622 AD. which is marked by the beginning of Muslim Calender. Later, Prophet moved to Madina. This era was known as Hijra. The followers of the Prophet built an empire which was called Caliphate where Umayyads & Abbasids were called Caliphs (Arabs).

Ghaznavids

The time period of Ghaznavids starts from 1000 and ends in 1200 AD.

Mahmud of Gazni:

Caliphate declined around 900 AD and the Turkish established independent kingdoms. Mahmud of Gazni raided India 17 times aiming at rich temples and cities of North India. In 1001 AD, the North Indian frontier Hindu Shahi kingdom of Jayapala (Punjab to Kabul) was defeated.

After that, the successor of Jayapala, Anandpala was also defeated in 1008 AD in the battle of Waihind where he was supported by Rulers of Kannauj & Rajasthan. As a result of this defeat, Mahmud got his rule established almost all over Punjab.

Famous poets that are patronized by Mahmud of Gazni:

Firdausi who wrote Shahnamah
Alberuni who wrote Kitab-i-Hind

Muhammad Ghori:

Muhammad Ghori succeeded to the throne after the death of Mahmud. He attacked Punjab and captured it from Khusro Malik in 1186. North Indian Hindu princes formed a confederacy under the command of Prithvi Raj Chauhan after realizing the urgency of the situation.

In 1191, Prithviraj Chauhan defeated Muhammad Ghori in the battle of Tarain.

After some time, Muhammad Ghori gathered a huge army and asked Prithiviraj to accept to be a Muslim & accept his supremacy to which Prithiviraj Chauhan delined.

Prithiviraj was captured and killed in the second battle of Tarain in 1192.

This marked the first Muslim kingdom to rule over Ajmer in India. After this, Muhammad Ghori returned to Ghazni and left his general "Qutubuddin Aibak" to make further conquest in India.

Soon, Aibak captured Delhi & Meerut and in 1193, Ghori attacked Kannauj in the battle of Chandwar or Ghardawala where the ruler of Kannauj, Jayachandra got defeated. This marked the setting of Turkish rule in North India.

The Muslim invasions of India resulted in the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate in 1206 which lasted till 1526. It consisted of 5 different dynasties namely: Slave dynasty, Khilji dynasty, Tughlaq dynasty, Sayyid dynasty, and Lodi dynasty.