Historical Figures

29. The defeat of Prithviraj Chauhan caused an uproar in North India!

After the defeat of King Prithviraj Chauhan, the areas of Ajmer, Delhi, Hansi, Sirsa, Samana and Kohram came under Muhammad Ghori. The defeat of Prithviraj in the battle of Tarain caused great loss to Hinduism. Thousands of Hindu warriors were killed in this war. The power of the Chauhans was destroyed. The great wealth of the country was in the hands of the Mlechhas. He created an atmosphere of fear and terror in the entire country.

The morale of the Hindu kings was broken. Thousands and lakhs of Brahmins were put to death. The chastity of lakhs of women was violated. Temples and schools were demolished and dedicated to fire. Jain monks left northern India and fled to countries like Nepal and Tibet. There was an outcry in the whole country and history wrote the first chapter of slavery on the land of India. Earlier the people of the Indo-Land of India were not familiar with the word 'Slavery'.

In AD 1192, along with Shahabuddin Ghori, his court writer Hassan Nizami also came to Ajmer from Ghazni. Describing the city of Ajmer in his book Tajul Masir, he has written - 'The gardens of Ajmer are decorated with seven colors. Its hills and forest face reminds us of the famous gallery of China. The flowers of its gardens give such fragrance as if they were sent from heaven to earth. The fragrant breeze of the morning sprays perfume in the gardens and the waves coming from the east look as if an otter has been lit. The clothes of the forest are fragrant with the flowers of Sunbaal and Banfasha. The morning breath comes as if the clothes smell of roses and poppy flowers. The soil of Ajmer has the aroma of musk of deer of Tibet. The freshwater fountains of Ajmer compete with the fountains of heaven. Their water is so clean that even at night, the pebbles put in the bottom of the fountains are clearly visible. The water of these fountains is as sweet as the water of Salsbil and it is situated as the life-giving water. The city and the area around it is very beautiful, there is brightness and light everywhere in its environment. There is beauty and purity in its flowers. There is purity in its air and earth. Water and trees are plentiful. It is a place of eternal bliss and luxury."

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This description of Ajmer city has been given by the court writer of Muhammad Ghori. Therefore it can be easily guessed that how poor and dirty Ghazni must have looked in those days, that is why Ajmer appeared like a heaven to the people who came from Ghazni!

Shahabuddin Gauri broke this heaven. His armies carried out a destructive orgy in Ajmer city. Many ancient temples located in the city were destroyed. The pillars and idols of many God temples were broken.

The Sanskrit Pathshala and Saraswati temple built by Vigraraj IV i.e. Visaldev, uncle of Prithviraj Chauhan in Ajmer city, were also demolished and a part of it was converted into a mosque. This building was one of the most beautiful buildings on earth at that time, but after this demolition, this building went into the pit of oblivion and no one took care of it for six hundred years. In those days, similar to this school building, there used to be a grand Indrasen temple of Jains. Gauri's forces destroyed him too. Shahabuddin Ghori captured and killed the prominent persons of Ajmer.

Delhi was ruled by the Turks and the rule of the Delhi Sultanate began. Gauri broke the Chauhan Empire into small pieces. Qutbuddin Aibak was made the governor of Delhi and all the Muslim dominated areas of India were subordinated to him. Ajmer and Nagaur became the main centers of Muslim power. Gauri appointed Amir Ali as Mukti i.e. Jagirdar of Nagaur and Hamiduddin Nagori as Qazi of Nagaur.

Bharat Bhoomi received incomparable services from the Ikshvaku dynasty to the majestic dynasties like Mauryas, Guptas and Pratiharas. The Chauhans also maintained the independence of the Hindu caste for many centuries, but divinely Prithviraj Chauhan was defeated in AD 1192. Due to this the independence of Hindu caste was destroyed and Muslim state was established in India.

Muhammad Ghori's court writer Hasan Nizami has written in his book Taj-ul-Masir that after killing Prithviraj, Shahabuddin Ghori took the wealth from Govindraj, the minor son of Prithviraj Chauhan, and placed Govindraj on the throne of Ajmer. After this Shahabuddin Gauri stayed in Ajmer for some time and went to Delhi.

Dr. Dashrath Sharma and Edward Thomas have mentioned a coin received from Ajmer, which has Prithviraj Chauhan on one side and Muhammad bin Sam on the other side. Shahabuddin Ghori was called Muhammad-bin-Sam. This coin probably belongs to the time when Shahabuddin was in Ajmer and he had given the kingdom of Ajmer to Govindraj, the son of Prithviraj. The script of this currency is in Hindi language. This coin signifies that Muhammad Ghori confiscated some coins of Prithviraj and got his name inscribed on them on the other side and re-issued them.

Shahabuddin Ghori issued many more coins from Ajmer. The gold coins minted by him bear an idol of Goddess Lakshmi on one side and 'Srimahmad-vini-sama' in Nagari script on the other. His copper coins bear the inscription 'Srimhamad-Sama' with Nandi and Trishul on one side and 'Sreehamir' similar to those of the Chauhans on the other.

Gaurishankar Ojha has made the mistake of reading Srihmeer as Mr. Amir. This coin was originally minted by Shahabuddin Ghori, on one side of which 'Srimhamad Sam' i.e. Shri Muhammad bin Sam is inscribed. Nothing can be said about the marking on its other side because Hammir of Ranthambore got his name engraved Srihmir i.e. Shri Hammir on that marking.

In AD 1193, Muhammad Ghori attacked King Jaichand of Kannauj and killed him too and destroyed his kingdom. Due to this the areas of Kannauj and Badaun etc. also came under Muslim.

Watch in the next episode- Ghazni takes terrible vengeance from the Rajputs of Ajmer!

-Doctor. Mohanlal Gupta