UPSC History North India from 700 CE to 1200 CE NCERT Extracts - The Ghaznavids and The Rajput State

 The Ghaznavids

• Towards the end of the ninth century, Trans-Oxiana, Khorasan and parts of Iran were being ruled by the Samanids who were Iranians by descent.
• The Samanids had to battle continually with the Turkish tribesmen
• It was during this struggle that a new type of soldiers, the ghazi, was bom.
• The Islamized Turkish tribes were to emerge as the greatest defenders and crusaders of Islam. But the love of plunder went side by side with the defence of Islam.
• Among the Samanid governors was a Turkish slave, Alaptgin, who, in course of time, established an independent kingdom with capital at Ghazni.
• It was in this context that Mahmud ascended the throne (998-1030) at Ghazni.
• Mahmud is considered a hero of Islam by medieval Muslim historians because of his stout defence against the Central Asian Turkish tribal invaders. The ghazi spirit, therefore, further increased during his reign.
• The proud Iranians had never accepted the Arabic language and culture.
• The Samanid state had also encouraged the Persian language and literature.
• A high water-mark in the Iranian renaissance was reached with Firdausi’s Shah Namah.
• Firdausi was the poet laureate at the court of Mahmud.
• He transported the struggle between Iran and Turan to mythical times, and glorified the ancient Iranian heroes.
• There was a resurgence of Iranian patriotism, and Persian language and culture now became the language and culture of the Ghaznavid empire, so much so that Mahmud himself claimed descent from the Iranian legendary king,
• Mahmud is said to have made 17 raids into India. The initial raids were directed against the Hindushahi rulers who at the time held Peshawar and the Punjab.
• The Hindushahi king, Jayapala, had invaded Ghazni in alliance with the son of the former governor of Ghazni under the Samanid ruler. But Jayapala had to suffer defeat.
• In 1001, Jayapala was defeated by Mahmud and taken prisoner, but was released. However, he decided to enter a funeral pyre because he thought he had disgraced himself.
• His son, Anandapala succeeded him to the throne. A decisive battle between Mahmud and Anandapala was fought in 1008-09 at Waihind (near Peshawar), the Hindushahi capital.
• It seems that many princes of north-western India, including the rulers of Kanauj and Rajasthan, took part in the battle. The Muslim ruler of Multan also supported Anandapala.
• Although the Indian forces were more numerous, and includes the Khokhars, a bravi war-like tribe living in the Punjab, the cavalry charge of Mahmud's mounted archer carried the day.
• The subsequent raids of Mahmud into India were aimed at plundering the rich temple and cities of northern India in order to continue his struggle against his enemies in Centrs Asia.
• Mahmud also posed as a great 'butshikan5 or "destroyer of the images" for the glory of Islam.
• His most daring raids, however, were against Kanauj in 1018, and against Somnath in Gujarat in 1025.
• In the campaign against Kanauj, he sacked and plundered both Mathura and Kanauj.
• Mahmud marched from Multan across Rajputana in order to raid the fabulously rich temple at Somnath. This was his last campaign in India outside the Punjab. He died at Ghazni in 1030.

The Rajput States

• With the break-up of the Pratihara empire, a number of Rajput states came into existence in north India. The most important of these were the Gahadavalas of Kanauj, the Paramaras of Malwa and the Chauhans of Ajmer.
• There were other smaller dynasties in different parts of the country, such as the Kalachuris in the area around modem Jabalpur, the Chandellas in Bundelkhand, the Chalukyas of Gujarat, the Tomars of Delhi, etc.
• The basis of Rajput society was the clan. Every clan traced its descent from a common ancestor real or imaginary. The clans generally dominated a compact territory. Sometimes, these settlements were based on units of 12 or 24 or 48 or 84 villages.
• The Rajputs treated war as a sport. This and struggle for land and cattle led to continuous warfare among the various Rajput states.
• The ideal ruler was one who led out his armies after celebrating the Dassehra festival to invade the territories of his neighbours.
• Most of the Rajput rulers of the rime were champions of Hinduism, though some of them also patronized Jainism.
• The period after the eighth century,, and particularly between the tenth and twelfth centuries, may be regarded as marking a climax in temple-building activity in north India.
• The style of temple construction which came into prominence was called the
• Its main characteristic feature was the tall curved spiral roof over the chief deity rood called the garbhagriha or the deul.
• The most representative temples of this type are the group of temples at Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh and at Bhubaneshwar in Qrissa.
• The Parsvanatha temple, the Visvanatha temple and the Kandarya Mahadeo tempte at Khajuraho illustrate this style in its richest and most finished form.
• Most of these temples were built by the Chandellas.
• In Qrissa, the most magnificent examples of temple architecture of the time are the Lingaraja temple (eleventh century) and the Sun temple of Konark (thirteenth century). The famous Jagannatha temple at Puri also belongs to this period.
• Vastupala, the famous minister of the Chalukyan ruler Bhima, was a writer and a patron of scholars and the builder of the beautiful Jain temple at Mr. Abu.
• Ujjain and Dhara, the capitals of the Paramara rulers, were another famous centre of Sanskrit learning.
• The Jain scholars made significant contributions in this direction, the most famous among them being  Hemachandra who wrote both in Sanskrit and Apabhramsha.
• Hindu generals, such as Tilak, commanded the Ghaznavid armies in which Hindu soldiers also were recruited.
• The governors of Khwarizm (modem Khiva) had the title of Khwarizm Shah. Their empire is called the Khwarizmi empire.
• In 1173, Shahabuddin Muhammad (1173-1206) (also known as Muizzuddin Muhammad bin Sam) ascended the throne at Ghazni, while his elder brother was ruling at Ghur.
• In 1178, he attempted to penetrate into Gujarat by marching across the Rajputana desert. But the Gujarat ruler completely routed him in a battle near Mount Abu, and Muizzuddhin Muhammad was lucky in escaping alive.
• While Muizzuddin Muhammad (called Muhammad Ghuri in history books) was over- running Multan and Uchch, a young lad, barely 14 years old ascended the throne at Ajmer.
• He was Prithviraja who has been the subject of many legends and stories. He overran many small states in Rajasthan.
• He invaded the Bundelkhand area and defeated the Chandella rulers in a battle near Mahoba. It was in this battle that the famous brothers, Alha and Udal, died fighting to save Mahoba.
• He next invaded Gujarat, but the Gujarat ruler, Bhima II who had earlier defeated Muizzuddin Muhammad, defeated Prithviraja also.

The Battle of Tarain

• In the battle which was fought at Tarain in 1191, the Ghuri forces were completely routed, and Muizzuddin Muhammad's life was saved by a young Khaiji horseman.
• The second battle of Tarain in 1192 is regarded as one of the turning points in Indian History. Muizzuddin Muhammad had made careful preparations for the contest.
• Prithviraja realised the nature of the Ghurid threat, he appealed to all the kings of northern India for help.
• Many kings sent contingents to help him, but Jaichandra, the ruler of Kanauj, stayed away. The legend that this was because Prithviraja had abducted Jaichandra's daughter, Sanyogita, who was in love with him, is not accepted by many historians now.
• The story was written much later as a romance by the poet, Chand Bardai, and includes many improbable events.
• Prithviraja escaped, but was captured near Saraswati. Soon after, Prithviraja was executed on a charge of conspiracy, and Prithviraja's son succeeded him.
• The Gahadavala ruler, Jaichandra, was reputed to be the most powerful prince in India at the time.                                
• After Tarain, Muizzuddin returned to Ghazni, leaving the affairs in India in the hands of his trusted slave Qutbuddin Aibak. In 1194 he returned to India and moved toward Kanauj.
• A hotly contested battle between Muizzuddin and Jaichandra was fought at Chandawar near Kanauj.  
• Thus, the battles of Tarain and Chandawar laid the foundations of the Turkish rule in north India.
• Muizzuddin lived till 1206. During this period he occupied the powerful forts of Bayana and Gwalior to guard the southern flank of Delhi.
• Aibak defeated Bhima II, the ruler of Gujarat and Anhilwara
• A Khaji officer, Bakhtiyar Khaiji, had been appointed in charge of some of areas beyond Banaras.
• Bakhtiyar Khaiji marched with an army towards Nadia, the capital of the Sena kings of Bengal. The Sena ruler akshmana Sena had been a noted warrior.
• The Khokhars, a warlike tribe in western Punjab, rose and cut off the communications between Lahore and Ghazni.
• Muizzuddin led his last campaign into India in 1206 in order to deal with the Khokhar rebellion.
• On his way back to Ghazni, Muizzuddin was killed by a Muslim fanatic belonging to a rival sect.
• It may be stated as an axiom that a country is conquered by another only when it suffers from social and political weaknesses or becomes economically and militarily backward compared to its neighbours.
• The growth of feudalism, i.e., rise of the local landed elements and chiefs had weakened the administrative structure and military organisation of the Indian states.
• The superiority of the Turks was more social and organizational.