Introduction to Delhi Sultanate (Based on NCERT)

Introduction to Delhi Sultanate

The Turks invaded India in the second half of the eleventh century and the first half of the twelfth century. The first leaders of the Turkish invasion were Muhammad Ghazni and Muhammad Ghori. The success of the first Turkish invasion in the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate has to be considered the most important. If seen, the period of the Delhi Sultanate starts from 1206 AD, but before that, it is necessary to read about Mahmud Ghazni and Muhammad Ghori.

Mahmud Ghazni

Mahmud Ghaznavi was the son of a Turkic chieftain of the Yemeni dynasty, Subuktagin, the ruler of Ghazni. Mahmud started a campaign against the Hindushahis as soon as he ascended the throne.

Invasions of Mahmud Ghaznavi

• Mahmud made the first attack against the Hindu royal king 'Jaipal' in the year 1001. Jaipal was defeated in this war.
• In 'Vaihind' (near Peshawar) there was a war between Mahmud and Anandpal in 1008-1009 AD. In these battles, the Ghaznavids now had complete control over Punjab.
• After this Mahmud attacked Multan. In his subsequent invasions, he wreaked havoc on vast areas up to Lahore, Nagarkot, and Thaneshwar and forced Buddhists and Hindus to adopt Islam forcibly.
• Mahmud Ghazni attacked India 17 times.
• It was his 9th attack on Mathura.
• His biggest attack was on the Somnath temple of Kathiawar in 1026 AD. On the western border of the country, there is an ancient temple of Somnath Mahadev on the sea coast in ancient Kushsthali and Kathiawar of present-day Saurashtra (Gujarat).
• Mahmud broke the Shivling of Somnath temple. Destroyed the temple. From Somnath alone, he had got more money than all the loot so far.
• His last invasion took place in 1027 AD. He annexed Punjab to his kingdom and changed the name of Lahore to Mahmudpur. These invasions of Mahmud weakened the dynasties of India and opened the door for foreign Muslim invasions in later years.

Muhammad Ghori

Muhammad Ghori was an Afghan warrior, who was the ruler of a kingdom called Gaur under the Ghazni Empire. Muhammad Ghori became the ruler of Gour in 1173 AD. At the time when there were powerful kingdoms of great kings like Prithviraj in the northwest of Mathura division and Jayachandra in the south-east, at that time there was a Muslim chieftain named Shahabuddin Muhammad Ghori (1173 AD-1206 AD) on the west-north frontier of India. He established a new Islamic state by snatching the authority from the descendants of Mahmud Ghaznavi.

Invasions of Muhammad Ghori

• Ghori made the first attack on India in 1175 AD on Multan.
•  The second attack on Gujarat was in 1178 AD.
• After this, he took Peshawar in 1179 AD  and Sialkot in 1185 AD.
• In 1191 AD, he fought with Prithviraj Chauhan. Muhammad Ghori had to be badly defeated in this war. Gauri was taken hostage in this war, but Prithviraj Chauhan left her. This was called the First Battle of Tarain.
• After this Muhammad Ghori attacked Prithviraj Chauhan with more strength. This second battle of Tarain took place in 1192 AD. Prithviraj Chauhan was defeated in this war and he was taken, hostage.
• After this, Gauri defeated King Jaichand of Kannauj, which is called the battle of Chandavar.

After the victory in these wars, Ghori returned to Afghanistan but appointed his slaves (slaves) as the ruler there. Qutbuddin Aibak was one of his most capable slaves, who established an empire on which the foundation of the Delhi Sultanate and the Khilji, Tughlaq, Sayyid, Lodi, Mughal, etc dynasties were laid. Although the rulers of the slave dynasty ruled only from 1206 to 1290, on the foundation of their rule, other foreign Muslims ruled the throne of Delhi, which lasted till the death of Aurangzeb in about AD 1707.

 

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