Rajput Kingdoms
began from the seventh and eighth centuries and lasted till the Muslim conquest in the twelfth century.
were the main defenders of the Hindu religion and culture. homogenous by constant intermarriage and by adopting common customs.
They made waras their chief occupation.
However, trade and agriculture alsoprospered.
The Arab travellers refer to the prosperity of the land and the great trade of the cities.
They built strong forts.
The Gurjara-
Pratiharas were the earliest of the Rajput rulers.
Its first great leader was Harischandra.
He conquered extensive territory in Rajaputana and ruled with his capital at Bhinmal.
The Gurjaras were in different branches.
One branch ruled Gujarat andanother at Avanthi.
The Pratiharas involved themselves in a threecornered contest with the Palas of Bengal and the Rashtrakutas ofDeccan.
Later the Pratiharas became weak.
The Chauhans, the mostvaliant of the Rajput races, ruled Ajmir.
Vigraharaj was their mostimportant king, who occupied Delhi.
Therefore the Chauhans facedthe onslaught of the Muslims under Muhammad of Ghori.
TheParamaras were also important Rajput rulers of this period.
The most important king was Bhoja.
His military conquests as well ascultural contributions remain notable in the history of Rajputs.
Arab Conquest of Sind (712 A.D.)
The religion Islam was born at Mecca in Arabia.
Its founderwas Prophet Muhammad.
he migrated to Medina in 622 A.D., which was the starting point of the Muslim calendar and theMuslim era called hijra.
The followers of Muhammad set up an empire called theCaliphate. The Umayyads and the Abbasids were called the caliphs.
Mahmud of Ghazni (A.D. 997-1030).
Mahmud is said to have made seventeen raids into India.
At that time, North India was divided into a number of Hindu states.
On the frontier of India, there existed the Hindu Shahi kingdomwhich extended from the Punjab to Kabul.
The other importantkingdoms of north India were Kanauj, Gujarat, Kashmir, Nepal, Malwa and Bundelkhand.
The initial raids were against the HinduShahi kingdom in which its king Jayapala was defeated in 1001.
After this defeat, Jayapala immolated himself because he thoughtthat his defeat was a disgrace.
His successor Anandapala foughtagainst Mahmud but he was also defeated in the Battle of Waihind, the Hind Shahi capital near Peshawar in 1008.
In this battle,Anandapala was supported by the rulers of Kanauj and Rajasthan.
As a result of his victory at Waihind, Mahmud extended his ruleover most of the Punjab.
The subsequent raids of Mahmud into India were aimed atplundering the rich temples and cities of northern India.
In 1011, heraided Nagarkot in the Punjab hills and Thaneshwar near Delhi.
In 1018, Mahmud plundered the holy city of Mathura and also attackedKanauj.
The ruler of Kanauj, Rajyapala abandoned Kanauj andlater died. Mahmud returned via Kalinjar with fabulous riches.
His next important raid was against Gujarat. In 1024, Mahmud marched from Multan across Rajaputana, defeated the Solanki King Bhimadeva I, plundered Anhilwad and sacked the famous temple of Somanatha.
Then, he returned through the Sind desert.
This was his last campaign in India.
Mahmud died in 1030 A.D. Mahmud was considered a hero of Islam by medieval historians.
He also patronized art and literature.
Firdausi was the poet-laureate inthe court of Mahmud.
He was the author of Shah Namah.
AAlberuni stayed in India for 6 years and wrote the famous Kitab-i-Hind, an account on India.
Muhammad Ghori
The Ghoris started as vassals of Ghazni but becameindependent after the death of Mahmud.
Taking advantage of thedecline of the Ghaznavid empire, Muizzuddin Muhammad popularly known as Muhammad Ghori brought Ghazni under their control.
Having made his position strong and secure at Ghazni, MuhammadGhori turned his attention to India.
Unlike Mahmud of Ghazni, he wanted to conquer India and extend his empire in this direction.
The Battle of Tarain (1191-1192)
Realising their grave situation, the Hinduprinces of north India formed a confederacyunder the command of Prithiviraj Chauhan.Prithviraj rose to the occasion, and defeatedGhori in the battle of Tarain near Delhi in 1191A.D.
Muhammad Ghori felt greatly humiliatedby this defeat.
In the ensuing Second Battle of Tarain in 1192, Muhammad Ghorithoroughly routed the army of Prithiviraj, who was captured andkilled.
The second battle of Tarain was a decisive battle.
It was amajor disaster for the Rajputs.
Their political prestige suffered aserious setback.
The whole Chauhan kingdom now lay at the feetof the invader.
The first Muslim kingdom was thus firmly establishedin India at Ajmer and a new era in the history of India began.
Afterhis brilliant victory over Prithiviraj at Tarain, Muhammad Ghorireturned to Ghazni leaving behind his favourite general Qutb-uddin Aibak to make further conquests in India.
Aibak consolidated his position in India by occupying places like Delhi and Meerut.
In1193 he prepared the ground for another invasion by MuhammadGhori.
This invasion was directed against the Gahadavala ruler Jayachandra. Muhammad routed
Jayachandra‟s forces.
Kanauj wasoccupied by the Muslims after the battle of Chandawar.
The Battles of Tarain and Chandawar contributed to the establishment of Turkish rule in India.
Causes for the failure of Hindu kingdoms
The causes for the downfall of Hindu states have to be analysedhistorically.
The most important cause was that they lacked unity.
They were divided by factions.
The Rajput princes exhausted oneanother by their mutual conflicts.
Secondly, many Hindu states weredeclining in power.
Their military methods were out of date and farinferior to those of Muslims.
Indians continued to rely on elephants while the Muslims possessed quick-moving cavalry.
The Muslimssoldiers had better organization and able leaders.
Their religiouszeal and their greed for the greater wealth of India provided stimulus to them.
Among the Hindus, the duty of fighting was confined to aparticular class, the Kshatriyas.
Moreover, the Hindus were alwayson the defensive, which was always a weak position.
The Muslim invasions into India had ultimately resulted in theestablishment of Delhi Sultanate which existed from A.D. 1206 to1526.
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