Page 77

Chapter 3 – Rise of the House of Ghor

When the power of the house of Ghazni declined, the ascendancy passed to another Afghan line, the house of Ghor. Two brothers, Sultan Ghiyas-ad-din and Sultan Mu’izz-ad-din (the latter afterwards known as Mohammad Ghori), made the history of this short dynasty famous, as has been narrated in the third chapter of the third volume. The former of these able chieftains came to the throne in 558 A.H. (1163 A.D.), and with the aid of his brother Mu’izz-ad-din, who succeeded him as Sultan Mohammad Ghori (599–603 A.H., or 1202–1206 A.D.), extended the domain of Afghan authority by a series of ravaging campaigns in Hindustan rivalling those which Mahmud of Ghazni had previously carried on. We have an account of the main current of these events recorded by the pen of a native chronicler of Ghor, named Minhaj-as-Siraj, who wrote a general history from the earliest times down to the year 658 A.H. (1259 A.D.), and a brief selection from his annals is here given in a slightly abridged form:–

‘When Ghiyas-ad-din succeeded to the throne of

Page 78

Ghor after the death of Saif-ad-din and the intelligence thereof came to Bamian, Fakhr-ad-din addressed his nephew Mu’izz-ad-din (later the Sultan Mohammad Ghori), saying: “Your brother is an active prince, what do you mean to do? You must bestir yourself.” Mu’izz-ad-din bowed respectfully to his uncle, left the court, and started at once for Firoz-koh. When he arrived there, he waited upon his brother and paid his respects. One year he served his brother, but having taken some offence, he went to Seistan to Malik Shams-ad-din Sijistani and staid there one winter. His brother sent messengers to bring him back, and when he arrived, he assigned to him the countries of Kasr-kajuran and Istiya. When he had established his authority over the whole of Garmsir, he entrusted to his brother the city of Takinabad, which was the largest town in Garmsir. This Takinabad is the place which was the cause of the quarrel with the house of Mahmud Sabuktagin, and it passed into the hands of the kings of Ghor.

When Sultan Mu’izz-ad-din became master of Takinabad, the armies and leaders of the Ghuzz fled before the forces of Khita toward Ghazni, where they remained for twelve years, having wrested the country from the hands of Khusru Shah and Khusru Malik. Sultan Mu’izz-ad-din kept continually assailing them from Takinabad and troubling the country. At length, in the year 569 A.H. (1173 A.D.), Sultan Ghiyas-ad-din conquered Ghazni and returned to Ghor, after placing his brother Mu’izz-ad-din upon the throne.

Page 79

The Bala Hissar at Peshawar

Page 80

Blank page

Page 81

This prince secured the territories of Ghazni, and conquered Gurdez two years afterwards, in 570 A.H. (1174 A.D.). In the third year he led his’ forces to Multan and delivered that place from the hands of the Karmathians. In the same year, 571 A.H. (1175 A.D.), the people of Sankaran revolted and made great confusion, so that he marched against them and put most of them to the sword.

In the year after this victory, he conducted his army by way of Uchh and Multan toward Nahrwala. The Raja of Nahrwala, Bhim-deo,. was a minor, but he had a large army and many elephants. In the day of battle the Mohammedans were defeated and the Sultan was compelled to retreat. This happened in the year 574 A.H. (1178 A.D.).

In 575 A.H. (1179 A.D.), Ghiyas-ad-din attacked and conquered Peshawar, and two years afterwards he advanced to Lahore. The power of the Ghaznavids was now drawing to a close, and their glory was departed, so Khusru Malik sent his son as a hostage and also an elephant as a present to the Sultan. This was in the year 577 A.H. (1181 A.D.). Next year the Sultan marched to Daibul, subdued all that country even to the sea, and returned with great booty. In 580 A.H. (1184 A.D.), he went to Lahore, ravaged all the territories of that kingdom, and returned after building the fort of Sialkot, in which he placed Husain Kharmil as governor. When the Sultan was gone, Khusru Malik assembled the forces of Hindustan, and having also obtained a body of Gakkars, he laid siege to Sialkot,

Page 82

but, after some time, was obliged to withdraw. The Sultan returned to Lahore in 581 A.H. (1185 A.D.).

The house of Mahmud had now come to its end; the sun of its glory was set; and the registrar of fate had written the mandate of its destruction. Khusru Malik could offer no resistance; he came forth peacefully to meet the Sultan and was made prisoner. Lahore fell completely into the power of the Ghori prince and he secured all its dominions in Hindustan.

Ali Karmakh, chief of Multan, was appointed commander at Lahore, and the father of the author of this book, Maulana A’jubat-az-Zaman Afsah-al-Ajam Siraj-ad-din Minhaj, was appointed judge of the army of Hindustan and received the honour of investiture from Mu’izz-ad-din. He held his court at the headquarters of the army, and twelve camels were assigned for moving his Bench of Justice from place to place.

The Sultan returned to Ghazni, carrying Khusru Malik with him, and on arriving there, he sent him on to Firoz-koh, to the court of the great king Ghiyas-ad-din. This monarch sent him as a prisoner to the fort of Bahrawan and confined his son Bahram Shah in the fort of Saifrud. When the war with Khwarizm Shah broke out in the year 587 A.H. (1191 A.D.), Khusru Malik and his son were put to death.

The victorious Sultan then prepared another army, with which he attacked and conquered the fort of Sir-hind This fort he placed under the command of Zia-ad-din ibn Mohammad Abd-as-Salam Tolaki. At his request, Majd-ad-din Tolaki selected twelve hundred

Page 83

men of the tribe of Tolaki and placed them all under his command in the fort, so as to enable him to hold it until the Sultan’s return from Ghazni.

Raja Kolah Pithaura marched against the fort, whereupon the Sultan returned and faced him at Narain. All the rajas of Hindustan were with Kolah. The battle was formed, and the Sultan, seizing a lance, made a rush upon the elephant which carried Govind Rai of Delhi. The latter advanced to meet him in front of the battle, and then the Sultan drove his lance into the raja’s mouth and knocked two of his teeth down his throat. The raja, on the other hand, returned the blow, and inflicted a severe wound on the arm of his adversary. The Sultan reined back his horse and turned aside, but the pain of the wound was so insufferable that he could not support himself on horseback. The Mussulman army gave way and could not be controlled. The Sultan was just falling, when a brave young Khalji recognized him, jumped upon the horse behind him, and clasping him round the bosom, spurred on the horse and bore him from the midst of the fight.

When the Mussulmans lost sight of the Sultan, panic fell upon them; they fled, and halted not until they were safe from the pursuit of the victors. A party of nobles and youths of Ghor had seen and recognized their leader with that lion-hearted Khalji, and when he came up, they drew together, and forming a kind of litter with broken lances, they bore him to the halting-place. The hearts of the troops were consoled by his appearance, and the Mohammedan faith gathered new

Page 84

A Khalji Chieftain and his wife

strength in his life. The Sultan collected his scattered forces and retreated to the territories of Islam, leaving Tolak in the fort of Sirhind. Raja Pithaura advanced and invested the fort, which he besieged for thirteen months.

Next year the Sultan assembled another army and advanced to Hindustan to avenge his defeat. A trustworthy person named Mu’in-ad-din, one of the principal men in the hills of Tolak, informed me that he was in this army, and that its force amounted to 120,000 horsemen bearing armour. Before the Sultan could arrive, the fort of Sirhind had capitulated, and the enemy were encamped in the vicinity of Narain. The Sultan drew up his battle-array, leaving his main body in the rear with the banners, canopies, and elephants, to the number of several divisions. His plan of attack being formed, he advanced quietly. The light unarmoured horsemen were made into four divisions of ten thousand each, and -were directed to advance and harass the enemy with their arrows on all sides, on the right and on the left, in the front and in the rear. When the enemy collected his forces to attack, they

Page 85

were to support each other and to charge at full speed. By these tactics the infidels were worsted; the Almighty gave us the victory over them, and they fled.

Pithaura alighted from his elephant, mounted a horse, and galloped off, but was captured near Sarsuti and killed. Govind Rai of Delhi was slain in the battle, and the Sultan recognized his head by the two teeth which he had broken. Ajmir, the capital, and all the Siwalik hills, Hansi, Sarsuti, and other districts were the results of this victory, which was gained in the year 588 A.H. (1192 A.D.).

On his return homeward, the Sultan placed Kutb-ad-din in command of the fort of Kahram, and in the same year this chief, advancing to Mirat, conquered that town and took possession of Delhi. In the following year he captured the fort of Kol. In the year 590 A.H. (1193 A.D.), the Sultan came back from Ghazni by way of Benares and Kanauj, defeated Rai Jai Chand in the neighbourhood of Chandawal, and captured over three hundred elephants in the battle.

Sultan Said Ghiyas-ad-din died at Herat in 599 A.H. (1201 A.D.), while his brother Sultan Mu’izz-ad-din, or Mohammad Ghori, was between Tus and Sarakhs in Khorasan, but the latter returned and secured his elevation to the throne.

Two years later a rebellion broke out among the Gakkars and the tribes of the hills of Jud, and in the winter Sultan Mohammad went to Hindustan to put down the revolt. He defeated the rebels and made their blood to flow in streams, but as he was returning home

Page 86

to Ghazni he fell into the hands of these infidels and was put to death in the year 602 A.H. (1206 A.D.). The period of his reign was thirty-two years.’

The detailed history of Mohammad Ghori’s reign has been given in the third chapter of the third volume of the series, a reference to which will be sufficient.

This collection transcribed by Chris Gage
hosted by ibiblio Support Wikipedia