Rai
Pithora, popularly known as Prithviraj Chauhan (1149-1192 CE), was the Rajput
king of the Chauhan dynasty, who ruled the kingdoms of Ajmer and Delhi in the
northern India during the latter half of the 12th century.
Prithviraj
Chauhan was the 2nd last Hindu king to sit upon the throne of Delhi before the
Hemu. He succeeded to the throne in 1179 CE at the age of 13 and ruled from the
twin capitals of Ajmer and Delhi which he received from his maternal
grandfather, Arkpal or Anangpal III of the Tomara dynasty in Delhi. His
elopement in the 1175 with the Samyukta (sanyogita), the daughter of the Jai
Chandra Rathod.
1st
Battle of Tarain, 1191
In
1191, Shahabuddin Muhammad Ghori captured the fortress of Bhatinda in the East
Punjab, leaving the garrison of 1200 men, which was located on the frontier of
his domain. He marched to Bhatinda and met his enemy at the place called as
Tarain near the ancient town of Thanesar. The Ghurid army initiated battle by
attacking with the cavalry who launched arrows at the Rajput center. The army
of Prithviraj counter- attacked from three sides and dominated the battle, pressuring
the Ghurid army into the withdrawal. Prithviraj succeeded in stopping the
Ghurid advance towards the Hindusism in the 1st battle of Tarain. Prithviraj
did not pursue Ghori’s army not wanting to invade hostile territory or
misjudging Ghori’s ambition, instead electing to retake the fortress of
Bhatinda.
2nd
Battle of Tarain, 1192
In
the 1192, Ghori reassembled the force of 120,000 men and returned to challenge
the Chauhan at the Second Battle of Tarain. When he reached Lahore, he sent his
surrogate to demand surrender but Chauhan refused to comply. Chauhan then
appealed to his fellow Rajput rulers and the aristocracy to come to his aid
against Ghori.
Prithvi
raj assembled the very large army with the aid of approx 150 Rajputs rulers and
aristocrats. According to the Persian historian Firishta, it consists of 3,000
elephants, 300,000 horsemen and considerable infantry. The force was larger than that of Ghori, the
armies met in Tarain where the Ghori delivered an ultimatum to Chauhan that he
convert to Islam or be defeated. Chauhan countered with an offer that Ghori
should consider a ceasefire and to retreat with his army. Ghori decided to
attack.
Ghori
then divided his army into the five parts and attacked in early morning hours,
sending waves of mounted archers. They retreated as the Chauhan elephant
phalanx advanced Ghori deployed the 4 parts to attack the Rajput on four sides,
keeping the fifth part of his army in reserve. The general Khande Rao of the
Chauhan forces was killed. At the dusk, Ghori himself led the army of 12,000
heavily armoured horsemen to the centre of the Rajput line, which collapsed
into the confusion. Chauhan attempted to escape but was captured. The Rajput
army broke ranks and fled thereby conceding victory to Ghori. Chauhan was put
to death.