Prithviraj Chauhan
Prithviraj Chauhan: India's last Hindu Emperor!
As I said earlier, the history of human civilization is only a few thousand years old on this world map!
Humans have created many different civilizations and empires thanks to their creative talent!
Many virtuous emperors/kings/maharajas have ruled this world in great glory! But everyone immersed in the coral grass of the terrible times!
Only those who shine in history, who achieved extraordinary success by virtue of their actions!
It can be seen in history, when foreign robbers came to drive madness in the chest of India, then someone became a defender and protected the entire country and shook the base of the attackers!
But most of them met a tragic end, due to the role of one/more person close to Mir Zafar!
Today I will present to you the biography of such a world-famous emperor, who reigned as a brave emperor and finally met a tragic end due to some unfaithful members of the tribe, yet he did not abandon his religion!
Prithviraj Chauhan...
This great hero was born in 1149 in Gujarat. According to Prithviraj Vijay Kavya, he was born on the 12th day of Jaishtha month of Bangla.
His father's name was Chauhan Raja Someshwar. His mother was Karpura Devi.
He is most famous in history for his archery / archery.
Prithiraj Chauhan was among the great kings not only in India but also in the world at that time as a brave mighty warrior and emperor.
After the death of Prithviraj II his father Someshwar Chauhan ascended the throne and died when Prithviraj was only eleven years old. Prithviraj Chauhan sat on the throne at a young age on the advice of his mother.
Biography of Prithviraj Chauhan:
According to some historical accounts,
Kapuri Devi was the only child of his father, so every day Maharaja Anangapala thought about who would rule his kingdom after his death.
Thinking like this, one day he expressed his desire to hand over the kingdom to his grandson in front of his daughter and son-in-law.
Thus Prithviraj Chauhan was made heir by consensus of the three.
When Maharaja Anangapala died in 1166, Prithviraj Chauhan was crowned as the new king on the throne of Delhi through Vedic chants.
However, being a minor, all the administrative affairs of the kingdom were looked after by his mother. Kadambabhasa was the chief minister of the Chauhan kingdom at this time.
According to some historians, it was because of this minister that Prithviraj won all the wars in the early part of his reign. Another section thinks that this minister Kadambabhasai was responsible for repeated Muslim attacks in India.
Prithviraj's mother Karpura Devi's uncle Bhubanaikamalla was appointed as one of the most important ministers of their reign at this time.
In the poem Prithviraj Vijaya, it is mentioned that just as Garuda served Vishnu, so Bhubanaikamalla served Prithviraj.
Prithviraj Chauhan was the last Hindu emperor of India.
By the end of the 12th century, Ajmer and Delhi were in his hands. He ascended the throne at the age of thirteen and gained fame by extending his kingdom as far as Thaneswar in the north and Mebar in the south.
After Prithviraj Chauhan ascended the throne, he defeated the Chandela king Paramardi in the first battle and achieved significant success.
He recaptured Jejakabhukti (now Bundelkhand) after a long battle.
King Prithiraj of the Chauhan clan was the most handsome, valiant and brave of the Rajputs. Among the Rajputs they claimed to be Agnivanshi.
He was the first to unite the Hindu kings of India against the Turkish invasion. Prithviraj Chauhan expanded his empire to Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana, parts of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
Prithviraj
Their kingdom was called Shatadalpaksha.
According to historians, Prithiraja was able to defeat the Naga tribes.
When his distant brother Nagarjuna attacked the Chauhan dynasty, he was defeated by Prithviraj Chauhan.
Prithviraj Chauhan had a family feud with Nagarjuna, son of Vigraraja IV, long ago. Nagarjuna declared war on Prithviraj and captured Gudapura fort, but Prithviraj recaptured the fort and defeated Nagarjuna.
Prithviraj
By 1182 AD, Prithviraj Bhiwani defeated the kings of the Alwar region and took control of the region.
The Madanpur inscription of this period states that he defeated the Chandila king Paramardi of Jejakabhukti. This Jejakabhukti is present-day Bundelkhand. Then after a war with Bhima II, the Chalukya king of Gujarat, a peace treaty was signed between Prithviraj and Bhima.
Evidence that this war actually took place between the Chalukyas and the Chauhans is found in various inscriptions.
According to Prithviraj Raso Kavya Prithviraj's uncle Kahnadeva killed the seven sons of Bhima's uncle Shadyangadeva.
In revenge for this murder, the Chalukyas attacked the Chauhans and killed Prithviraj's father Someshwar and captured Nagor.
But later they were all defeated by Prithviraj.
On the other hand, the entire region of Abu Pahar was ruled by the Chalukya feudal lord Dharavarsha at that time. Prithviraj tried to capture this region while conquering Gujarat. But he failed.
At that time Jaichand was ruling the Gahdabal kingdom centered on Kanauj.
According to the poet Chand Bardai, King Prithviraj Chauhan's swordsmanship and archery were renowned throughout India, and admired even outside India.
Rajkabi Chand Bardai was a friend of Prithviraj. According to history, birth and death lagna of Prithviraj and Chand Bardai are same. Chand Bardai was also a relative of Prithviraj on the family side.
Prithviraj Chauhan himself was not only a brave warrior, he also built an army that was very powerful and huge.
According to ancient texts, Prithviraj had more than 300 elephants in his army and his army consisted of more than 300,000 brave soldiers, who belonged to different castes.
Due to this huge army, Prithviraj Chauhan defeated the kings of many states and expanded the boundaries of his kingdom.
Then Prithviraj Chauhan conquered places like Hansi, Saraswati and Sirhind and included them in his empire.
There was a lot of cordiality between Prithviraj Chauhan and his childhood friend Chandravardai. They were friends, but they both thought of each other more as brothers than friends.
Chandravardai was Anangapala of your clan. Chandravardai also took over as the ruler of Delhi and also built Pithoragarh with the help of Prithviraj Chauhan, which still stands as an old fort in Delhi.
of Kanauj (originally they were Brahmins of Kanyakubja caste who are also said to be descendants of Lord Shri Parashuram. )
Raja Jaichand never tolerated Prithviraj Chauhan's praise. His main objective was to harm Prithviraj in any way.
The Kanauj princess Akishta was very beautiful. The fame of his form also spread throughout India.
Prithviraj and Songzukta:
Similarly, Songzukta also had a friends. His name was Chakori, according to some historians his name was Madana.
Madana was friendly on the one hand, Sebika was skilled in swordsmanship and horse riding when needed. It is through Madana that Princess Aktishta hears about Maharaj Prithviraj Chauhan's looks, qualities, youth, valor and courage.
After hearing Prithviraj's heroic stories day after day, the princess felt a strong desire to see Prithviraj.
On the other hand, Prithviraj also kept listening to people praising the beauty of the connection. He also wanted to see the attachment.
The two met for the first time at the Koteshwar temple. Both Prithviraj and Akishta came in front of each other in disguise. Gradually, the relationship between the two became more intense.
Multiple love letters are exchanged.
Chand Bardai used to write love letters in Brajabuli for Prithviraj. The letter was delivered to the Kanauj princess through pigeons.
Again, the love letter of Songzukta would also reach the court in Delhi.
This is how Prithviraj and Ankita's love was going. But when King Jaichand came to know about the secret love story of Prithviraj and Ankita, Taratari organized a private meeting of the princess.
Prithviraj and Songzukta
Svayambar organized a grand royal yajna before the meeting. Jaichand sent an insulting letter to Prithviraj Chauhan before the yajna.
Prithviraj planned in no time to give a worthy reply.
Prithviraj arrives at the court of Kanauj in the guise of Ganapathdangi, the servant of the royal poet Chandrabardai.
Royal poets had a different respect then. Learned royal poets were respected even by the kings of enemy countries.
Chanda Bardai, Ganapathdangi and Guti some Chauhansenas were accommodated in Kanauj's guest house.
During the talk of the poets, Ganapathdangi asked the scholars of Kanauj some questions related to poetry, but when the scholars of Kanauj were unable to answer them, Ganapathdangi himself gave the answer.
As a result, Chand Bardai's reputation in the royal court of Kanauj increased. In the middle of the night, Prithviraj Chauhan reached the place of sacrifice and saw hundreds of soldiers guarding the place of sacrifice.
The day before the Yajna begins, Prithviraj kills all the soldiers guarding the Yajna and leaves a letter on the Yajna altar which makes it easy to understand that only Prithviraj Chauhan can do it.
The next morning Jaichand was furious after learning everything. The princess's personal meeting began to be organized.
But no invitation was sent to Prithviraj. Instead, a statue of Prithviraj was erected near the entrance of the palace. The intention is to insult Prithiraj.
Distraught, the attachment sent a letter to Prithviraj informing him of his spontaneous meeting.
Prithviraj replies that he will be present at Swayambar. At the Swayambar meeting, the princess Aikshta garlanded the statue of Prithviraj. Actually Prithviraj was hiding behind that statue.
The kings present were shocked to see this incident. Prithviraj left the meeting on his own with Aktykta on his horse.
Kanauj soldiers chased them. Chakori came in the middle and helped Prithviraj. He showed the secret way to get out of Kanauj safely.
Some distance away the Chauhan army was waiting for Prithviraj. There was a fierce battle between Chauhan and Kanauj forces.
Jaichand was defeated in this battle. Both sides suffered heavy losses. Then they came to Delhi and got married according to traditional rules.
After that there was a fierce enmity between Jaichand and Prithviraj Chauhan.
Prithviraj's house lit up Kanauj princess attachment.
This love story could have ended like this, then they started to live happily ever after!
But it is not an ordinary love story!
So again this love story took a dramatic turn. This time father-in-law Jaichand joined hands with the enemy to avenge the defeat and humiliation.
First Battle of Tarain
Before that, he was defeated in the first battle of Tarain in 1191 and returned to AfghanistanMuhammad Ghuri went.
Muhammad Ghuri attacked the Chalukya kingdom several times, which bordered the Chauhans. However, he started conducting large-scale campaigns from 1190 AD.
Muhammad Ghori, the ruler of Ghazni, crossed the river Indus and occupied Multan in 1175 and went through the westernmost part of the Chauhan kingdom, destroying all the temples and forts.
Muhammad Ghori's real name was Shihab-ud-Din Ghori. However, since assuming power, he introduced himself as Muhammad Ghuri.
Muhammad Ghori's attack was like Rahu's swallow to the Rajputs. This attack had been going on since the time of Prithviraj's predecessors.
Muhammad Ghori was strengthening himself by capturing Peshawar, Sindh, Punjab etc. in the western provinces. In 1190-91 Muhammad Ghori invaded the Chauhan kingdom and captured the fort of Bhatinda.
His main aim was to capture this Bhatinda fort and return to his own area. But on hearing the news of this attack, Prithviraj Chauhan came to Bhatinda with a large force.
Prithviraj Chauhan defeated Mohammad Ghori's army in the first battle of Tarain.
Before the start of the war, Mohammad Ghuri sent a letter to Prithviraj through his chief Qazi Qiyam ul Mulk Ibn Rukunuddin.
Through a letter, he invited Prithviraj to surrender and take a place as the Kard kingdom of the Ghur Empire. Also, in that letter Prithviraj was asked to accept Islam.
Prithviraj naturally rejected this letter and started preparing for war.
Earlier, Mohammad Ghuri's army conducted several raids to occupy the Chalukya kingdom, which is now northern Rajasthan.
Prithviraj sought help from two other Rajput clans in the vicinity to counter the Ghuri army in this war.
Then the combined forces of several clans of Rajputs numbered 50,000. They were accompanied by 300 elephants and 1000 horsemen.
Rajput soldiers were skilled in frontal warfare. Muhammad Ghuri's army, on the other hand, was mainly a cavalry force. Those who are skilled in dashing attacks on swift horses.
At the same time, they fought by shooting arrows from the swift horses. Most of the 15,000 men were archers or horsemen.
Before the start of the battle, the horses of Ghur's army were tired from the intense heat and hilly roads of Multan.
They reached the plains of Tarain, on the other side of which the Chauhan army was encamped. Muhammad Ghuri divided his army into nine groups.
In the middle was his vanguard and on either side were two wings. Ghuri had no idea about the tactics of the Rajput army.
He first ordered a group of his archers to attack the Rajputs. The Rajput army lost some troops in the beginning in the attack of the fast archers.
But here Muhammad Ghuri made some mistake. Tarain's desert cavalry was ill-suited for repeated moving attacks. It was a narrow place.
Prithviraj can understand the same thing. He made quick decisions and gave orders. And under his orders, the Rajput soldiers attacked the Ghuri soldiers at a rapid pace.
Ghur's troops quickly repulsed the attack. But the majority of the Chauhan army became a danger to them.
Gradually they become weaker. Ghuri's army started going back. At this time Mohammad Ghuri himself jumped into the battle. To boost the morale of the troops, he attacked Jai Govind, the brother of their commander-in-chief Prithviraj Chauhan, who was in the center of the Rajput line.
Jai Govinda suffered a severe head injury while on the back of an elephant. At that time, Ghuri was seriously injured by a spear of a Rajput soldier. He lost consciousness.
His bodyguard was accompanied by an army and took him away on horseback. As soon as Muhammad Ghuri fled, the Ghuri army began to disperse.
They started fleeing the way they had come. Prithviraj Chauhan chased them for about 40 km.
But they didn't have the strength to chase on the rocky road. Because the horses of Ghur's army are used to the rough deserts of Central Asia. So, they managed to escape quickly.
Mohammad Ghuri survived this battle despite being seriously injured.
So it can be said that Mohammad Ghuri had a big defeat in this war. This battle was fought between Mohammad Ghori and Prithviraj Chauhan at a place called Sirhind in an area called Tarain.
That is why it is also called the first battle of Tarain.
Prithviraj regained possession of Bhatinda Durg.
Prithviraj Chauhan acquired property worth over 7 crores in this war, some of which he kept for himself and distributed the rest among his soldiers.
As a result of this war, entry of tourists to India was initially unsuccessful.
Analyzing many historical sources and inscriptions, it is said that the Ottoman invader Mohammad Shahabuddin Ghori fought about 17 times with Prithviraj and Prithviraj Chauhan defeated Mohammad Ghori in all the battles.
It is true that Prithviraj expanded his empire, but his war with Muhammad Ghori is more important in history.
An indomitable desire to avenge this defeat awakened in Ghuri's mind. Prithviraj's father-in-law Jaichand added fuel to the fire of revenge.
He used Ghuri to capture Delhi. Gave complete assurance of support.
Responding to this call, Muhammad Ghuri attacked India again.
Mohammad Ghuri readied himself. One hundred and twenty thousand Afghan and Turkish horses.
He created his huge army with Rohi.
Hearing the news of Mohammed Ghuri's invasion of India, Prithviraj had to leave Anthapura and come to the battlefield again. The patriotic king Prithviraj called upon the kings of all the kingdoms under him to help him.
But Prithviraj's father-in-law Jaichand had already convinced everyone to refrain from helping. As a result, the brave warrior Prithviraj had to come to the battlefield of Tarain alone with his small army.
Nevertheless, Prithviraj went to resist Mohammad Ghori's attack with three lakh horses and three thousand elephants and infantry.
Being militarily weak, he could not resist Mohammad Ghori's attack.
Now he could not try hard! In this battle, due to the special tactics of Mohammad Ghori, 100,000 soldiers of the Chauhans died and finally Prithviraj Chauhan was defeated.
Due to the non-cooperation of other Rajput kings, King Prithviraj had to accept defeat in this battle of Tarain.
A wonderful love story turns into a tragic tragedy due to the villainous role of the father-in-law.
In this battle Mohammad Ghori defeated and captured Prithviraj Chauhan. Prithviraj had to suffer many cruel tortures while in captivity. Both eyes are blinded.
Released before ferocious wild animals. Later, Mohammad Shahabuddin Ghori was killed by Prithviraj Chauhan in the middle of the court with the help of a sound-absorbing bow.
Then Mohammad Ghori's troops began to surround Prithviraj Chauhan and his childhood friend Chandrabardai.
Thus it was better to die themselves than to die at the hands of the Turks, so they both decided to end their own lives.
Both then took out daggers/sticks and stabbed each other in the stomach and thus both died of profuse bleeding within a short time.
According to historians the year of Prithviraj's death was 1192.
On the other hand, when Maharani Aktishta came to know about the death of Prithviraj Chauhan and Chandra Bardai, she also committed suicide at Anthapura.
Prithviraj was the last Rajput Hindu king to rule Delhi.
His defeat in the Battle of Tarain marked the beginning of Muslim rule in Delhi.
The victorious hero Muhammad Ghuri established the Sultanate in Delhi.
It may be the identity of King Prithviraj Chauhan in the dispassionate view of history.
But independent minded, Rajput king, brave warrior, last Hindu emperor, tragic death - apart from these, Prithviraj has another great identity in history.
And that identity is found not only in the pages of history, but also in poetry. And that Prithviraj is not a warrior, not a king-maharaja, he is just a lover, whose love story is still a part of folklore in many parts of India!
Even after almost a thousand years, this love story, especially the plucking of the attachment from the svaambar sabha, is still much discussed in rural fairy tales and folklore in various parts of India.
Many poems and books have been written since the Middle Ages on the life of Prithviraj. Many words of his life are also found in the inscriptions.
Rajput king Prithviraj Chauhan has become the face of many films, dramas and novels even today.
King Prithviraj Chauhan was a unique name in the history of the Indian subcontinent.
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