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This was the second defeat of Muhammad Ghori at the hands of the Indian rulers. But the second defeat appeared to him more disgraceful than the first inflicted on him by Bhim Dev. On his return to Ghazni, Ghori made hectic preparations to avenge the defeat. He proceeded towards India with a large force numbering 120000 mounted men. When he reached Lahore, he sent his envoy to Prithviraj to demand his submission, but the Chauhan ruler refused to comply. Prithviraj saw through Ghori's stratagem. So he issued a fervent appeal to his fellow Rajput chiefs to come to his aid against the Muslim invader. About 150 Rajput chiefs, both big and small, responded favourably. Except the ruler of Kannauj Raja Jaichand who met Ghori an divulged he secrets of Chauhan's planning of war. Whatever army could be mustered, Prithviraj proceeded with it to meet Muhammad Ghori in Tarain where a year before he had inflicted a crushing defeat on his adversary. Ghori divided his troops into five parts. While he deployed four parts to attack the Rajputs on all four sides, the fifth part was kept as reserve. As the sun declined, Ghori led a final charge with his reserve army. The final charge came as a last straw for the brave Rajputs. Khande Rao, the able general of Prithviraj, was killed. The enthusiasm of Prithviraj also dampened against these reverses. He abandoned his elephant and rode out of the battlefield in order to prepare his defenses for another round of attack. But he was pursued and killed by the Afghan troops in a village near Sambhal U.P. In some popular legends woven around the bravery of Prithviraj, it is said that Ghori did not killed Prithviraj but blinded him. Subsequently, Prithviraj discharged a Shabdbhedi (an arrow which travels in a path created by sound waves) arrow, on being challenged by Ghori to do so. The arrow hit Ghori and subsequently he was killed. Yet there is no historical evidence to substantiate it. After defeating Prithviraj in the the second battle of Tarain in 1192A.D. Ghori moved on to Ajmer and sacked the city. Soon he was forced to beat a hasty retreat, to Ghazni, as he was unable to cope up with the Indian climate. He left behind him his slave Qutub-ud-din Aibak to rule over his territories. Qutub-ud-din started of by sacking Ayodhya in 1193 A.D. and established his own dynasty in 1206 after the death of Ghori. The end of this section |
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