Prithviraj Chauhan: The Two Battles of Tarain

1.1 Who was Prithviraj Chauhan?

Prithviraj Chauhan, also called Prithviraja III, belonged to the Chahamana dynasty. He took the throne around 1178 at the age of eleven. His father Someshvara had died, and his mother Karpuradevi ruled as regent. His capital was Ajmer.

1.2 How did his family win Delhi?

His uncle Vigraharaja took Delhi from the Tomara chiefs. The Chahamanas then held both Ajmer and Delhi. Prithviraj inherited this joined kingdom. It made him a power on the road into the Gangetic plain.

1.3 How was he seen by his enemies?

Muslim writers called him Rai Pithaura. One modern historian calls him the most chivalrous warrior of his time. Both names help when you read old texts. A question may use either one.

2.1 How did the first battle begin?

In the winter of 1190-91 Muhammad of Ghor captured the fort of Bhatinda. It lay inside Prithviraj’s kingdom. He left a garrison of 1200 horse there and turned to go home. Then he heard that Prithviraj was marching against him with a vast army.

2.2 Where did they meet?

The two armies met at Taraori, near Karnal in Haryana. Older books call the place Tarain. The Muslim army was badly outnumbered. Both of its wings were driven from the field.

2.3 Did Prithviraj capture Ghori in 1191?

No early chronicle says so. They say Ghori was wounded. He rode at the Hindu centre and shattered the teeth of Govind Rai, Prithviraj’s brother, with his lance. Govind Rai drove a javelin through the sultan’s arm.

2.4 How did Ghori escape?

Ghori grew faint from pain and loss of blood. A young Khalj Turk sprang onto his horse behind him and rode him to safety. A litter was made for him. His army then retreated in good order. It was a defeat, not a surrender.

2.5 What did Prithviraj do next?

Prithviraj marched to Bhatinda and besieged it. The garrison held out for thirteen months before it gave in. By then Ghori was already planning revenge. Prithviraj had won a battle but not the war.

3.1 How did Ghori prepare for the second battle?

Ghori went back to Ghazni with one aim. He wanted to raise an army that could avenge his defeat. In 1192 he came back with 12,000 horse. He found Prithviraj camped at Taraori once more.

3.2 What was new in his tactics?

Four of his five divisions were mounted archers. They were told to strike the flanks and rear of the Hindu army. They were not to fight hand to hand. If pressed, they were to feign flight. Rajput armies were used to a straight fight, so these tactics bewildered them.

3.3 How was the battle won?

The archers kept up their attack from morning until afternoon. By then the Hindu army was tired and puzzled. Ghori then charged its centre with 12,000 of his best horsemen. The line broke. This is why the key says the faster cavalry decided the day.

3.4 How large were the armies?

Accounts differ. One chronicler puts the invading light cavalry in divisions of 10,000. A modern history says 12,000. A Persian writer says the whole enemy force was 120,000 horse. Treat all these numbers as rough. Exams rarely ask for them.

3.5 Did the other rajas help?

At the first battle all the rajas of Hindustan stood with Prithviraj. At the second, Jayachandra of Kanauj stayed aloof from the Hindu confederacy. Prithviraj had carried off his daughter, so the feud was old. Later legend even says Jayachandra joined the enemy.

4.1 What happened to Prithviraj in 1192?

The early accounts agree that Prithviraj lost. He climbed down from his elephant, mounted a horse and fled. He was captured near the Saraswati. One chronicler says he was then put to death.

4.2 Was he killed at once?

Not in every account. Another chronicler says the Rai of Ajmer was taken prisoner in the fight and his life was spared. He was later found in some intrigue. Orders were then given for his death. So the sources do not give one clean version.

4.3 What happened to his brother?

Govind Rai was killed in the battle. Ghori knew his head by the two teeth he had broken the year before. That detail links the two battles neatly.

4.4 What did Ghori gain?

Hansi, Samana, Guhram and other forts gave up. Ghori then marched to Ajmer and plundered it. A son of Prithviraj was set up as a governor under Ghori. Qutb-ud-din Aibak was left as his viceroy in India. The road to Delhi lay open.

5.1 What is the Prithviraj Raso?

The Prithviraj Raso is a long epic poem about Prithviraj. Tradition says his court poet Chand Bardai wrote it. The poem is full of battles, romance and revenge. It is the main source of his popular fame.

5.2 What is the Sanyogita story?

In the Raso, Sanyogita is the daughter of King Jaichand of Kanauj. Her father held a swayamvara, a bride’s choice of husband. Prithviraj did not attend. He carried her off from the hall. That created a deep feud between the two kingdoms.

5.3 Does history record the abduction?

A modern history of India does mention the abduction. It says Prithviraj failed to attend the swayamvara and carried off the willing princess. It adds that this exploit bred bitter enmity. Still, the colourful details come from the poem.

5.4 Which older text is more reliable?

The Prithviraja Vijaya was written around 1191-92 by Jayanaka, a Kashmiri poet at his court. Scholars treat it as the most reliable account. It was composed in his own time, unlike the Raso.

6.1 How old is the Raso?

Most scholars say it was not composed in Prithviraj’s time. They date it at least 300 to 400 years later, to the 16th century. The earliest manuscript is dated to 1610. The longest version has 16,306 stanzas. Texts grew over time.

6.2 Who read it as history?

James Tod, an officer of the East India Company, treated the Raso as a valuable eyewitness account. Later scholars such as Kaviraj Shyamaldas, G H Ojha and Cynthia Talbot found many gaps and errors in it. That is why modern historians use it with care.

6.3 What does the Raso say about his end?

It says Ghori took Prithviraj to Ghazni and had him blinded. Bardai followed him there. He told the blind king where Ghori sat in a couplet. Prithviraj then shot Ghori with the Shabd Bhedi Baan, an arrow guided by sound.

6.4 What single fact breaks the legend?

Ghori outlived Prithviraj by about 14 years. He was assassinated on 15 March 1206 on the bank of the Indus. This was on his way back to Ghazni. The likely killers were Khokars or Isma’ili assassins.

6.5 What do historians say about the legend?

One history calls the story of Prithviraj killing Ghori a fabrication. It says it can be dismissed without hesitation. Another account notes that Ghori ruled for over a decade after Prithviraj’s death. The Raso itself needs the poem’s ending to work, but the dates do not allow it.

7.1 What do the exam papers test?

7.2 Which points repeat?

• Dynasty: Chahamana (Chauhan), capital Ajmer.
• First Tarain: 1191, Prithviraj won; Ghori was wounded, not captured.
• Second Tarain: 1192, Ghori won with mounted archers.
• Raso: attributed to Chand Bardai, dated centuries later.
• Ghori died in 1206, so the sound-arrow tale cannot be true.