EARLY MEDIEVAL INDIA  

• After the death of Harsha, there was no political unity in north India for about five centuries.
• The important kingdoms in north India were Kashmir, Gandhara, Sind, Gujarat, Kanauj, Ajmir, Malwa, Bengal and Assam.
• The Palas of Bengal reigned supreme till the Pratiharas became the most powerful rulers of north India. But in the tenth century, the Rashtrakutas of Deccan tried to extend their power in north India but ultimately failed in their attempt.

Rajput Kingdoms

 

• The dominance of Rajputs began from the seventh and eighth centuries and lasted till the Muslim conquest in the twelfth century.
• In the period of Muslim aggression, the Rajputs were the main defenders of the Hindu religion and culture. There are several theories about the origin of Rajputs. They were considered as the descendents of the foreign invaders and the Indian Kshatriyas. The foreign invaders were Indianized and absorbed into Indian society. Many legends of Rajputs support this theory.
• They became homogeneous by constant intermarriage and by adopting common customs. They made war as their chief occupation. However, trade and agriculture also prospered.
• 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 Rajputana and ruled with his capital at Bhinmal. The Gurjaras were in different branches. One branch ruled Gujarat and another at Avanthi.
• The Pratiharas involved themselves in a three cornered contest with the Palas of Bengal and the Rashtrakutas of Deccan.
• Later the Pratiharas became weak. The Chauhans, the most valiant of the Rajput races, ruled Ajmir.
• Vigrah Raj was their most important king, who occupied Delhi. Therefore the Chauhans faced the onslaught of the Muslims under Muhammad of Ghori. 
• The Paramaras were also important Rajput rulers of this period. The most important king was Bhoja. His military conquests as well as cultural contributions remain notable in the history of Rajputs.
• Constant fighting weakened the Rajputs. Also, they never united against a common enemy. Their lack of political foresight and constant rivalries prevented any combined opposition to the Muslim invaders.

Arab Conquest of Sind (712 A.D.) 

• The religion Islam was born at Mecca in Arabia. Its founder was Prophet Muhammad. But his teachings made the wealthy people of Mecca his enemies. Therefore, he migrated to Medina in 622 A.D., which was the starting point of the Muslim calendar and the Muslim era called hijra.
• The followers of Muhammad set up an empire called the Caliphate. The Umayyads and the Abbasids were called the caliphs. They expanded their rule by conquests and spread their religion Islam.
• In 712 A.D., Muhammad bin Qasim invaded Sind. He was the commander of the Umayyad kingdom. Qasim defeated Dahir, the ruler of Sindh.
• Qasim organized the administration of Sind. The people of Sind were given the status of zimmis (protected subjects). There was no interference in the lives and property of the people. Soon, Qasim was recalled by the Caliph.
• Muslims could not expand their authority further into India due to the presence of the powerful Pratihara kingdom in western India.
• Although the conquest of Sind did not lead to further conquests immediately, it had resulted in the diffusion of Indian culture abroad.
• Many Arab travelers visited Sind. Indian medicine and astronomy were carried to far off lands through the Arabs.
• The Indian numerals in the Arabic form went to Europe through them. 

Mahmud of Ghazni and his Invasions 

• By the end of the ninth century A.D., the Abbasid Caliphate declined.
• The Turkish governors established independent kingdoms and the Caliph became only a ritual authority. One among them was Alptigin whose capital was Ghazni. His successor and son-in-law Sabuktigin captured
• Peshawar from Jayapala. He was succeeded by his son, Mahmud

1. 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 kingdom which extended from the Punjab to Kabul.
• The initial raids were against the Hindu Shahi kingdom in which its king Jayapala was defeated in 1001.
• His successor Anandapala fought against Mahmud but he was also defeated in the Battle of Waihind, the Hind Shahi capital near Peshawar in 1008.
• As a result of his victory at Waihind, Mahmud extended his rule over most of the Punjab.
• In 1011, he raided Nagarkot in the Punjab hills and Thaneshwar near Delhi.
• In 1018, Mahmud plundered the holy city of Mathura and also attacked Kanauj.
• In 1024, Mahmud marched from Multan across Rajputana, defeated the Solanki King Bhimadeva I, plundered Anhilwad and sacked the famous temple of Somnath. This was his last campaign in India. Mahmud died in 1030 A.D.
• Mahmud was not a mere raider and plunderer of wealth. He built a wide empire from the Punjab in the east to the Caspian sea on the west and from Samarkand in the north to Gujarat in the south.
• The Ghaznavid empire roughly included Persia, Trans-oxyana, Afghanistan and Punjab.
• Mahmud was considered a hero of Islam by medieval historians. He also patronized art and literature. Firdausi was the poet-laureate in the court of Mahmud. He was the author of Shah Namah. Alberuni stayed in Mahmud’s court and wrote the famous Kitab-i-Hind, an account on India.
• He paved the way for the Turks and Afghans for further conquests and made deeper incursions into the Gangetic valley at any time. 
• The Hindu Shahi kingdom was guarding the gates of India against foreign invaders. Mahmud destroyed it and thus India’s frontiers became defenceless.

2. Muhammad Ghori

• The Ghoris started as vassals of Ghazni but became independent after the death of Mahmud.
• Taking advantage of the decline of the Ghaznavid empire, Muizzuddin Muhammad popularly known as Muhammad Ghori brought Ghazni under their control.
• In 1175, Muhammad Ghori captured Multan and occupied whole of Sind in his subsequent expeditions. In 1186 he attacked Punjab, captured it from Khusru Malik and annexed it to his dominions.
• The annexation of Punjab carried his dominion eastward to the Sutlej and led his invasion of the Chauhan kingdom.

(i). The Battle of Tarain (1191-1192)

• Prithviraj rose to the occasion, and defeated Ghori in the battle of Tarain near Delhi in 1191 A.D. Muhammad Ghori felt greatly humiliated by this defeat.
• To avenge this defeat he made serious preparations and gathered an army of 1,20,000 men. He came with this large force to Lahore via Peshawar and Multan. He sent a message to Prithviraj asking him to acknowledge his supremacy and become a Muslim.
• Many Hindu rajas and chieains also joined him. In the ensuing Second Battle of Tarain in 1192,
• Muhammad Ghori thoroughly routed the army of Prithiviraj, who was captured and killed.
• The second battle of Tarain was a decisive battle. It was a major disaster for the Rajputs.
• The whole Chauhan kingdom now lay at the feet of the invader. The first Muslim kingdom was thus firmly established in India at Ajmer and a new era in the history of India began.
• After his brilliant victory over Prithiviraj at Tarain, Muhammad Ghori returned 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.
• Kanauj was occupied 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 most important cause was that they lacked unity. They were divided by factions. The Rajput princes exhausted one another by their mutual conflicts.
• Many Hindu states were declining in power. Their military methods were out of date and far inferior to those of Muslims. The Muslims soldiers had better organization and able leaders. Their religious zeal and their greed for the greater wealth of India provided stimulus to them.
• Among the Hindus, the duty of fighting was confined to a particular class, the Kshatriyas. Moreover, the Hindus were always on the defensive, which was always a weak position.  

Share

& Comment

Tweet