Muhammad of Ghor

Mu'izz ad-Din Muhammad was born in 1149 in the Ghor region of Khorasan. The exact date of his birth is unknown. His father, Baha al-Din Sam I, was the local ruler of the Ghor region at the time.[1] Mu'izz also had an elder brother named Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad. During their early life, Mu'izz and Ghiyath were imprisoned by their uncle Ala al-Din Husayn, but were later released by the latter's son Sayf al-Din Muhammad.[3] When Sayf died in 1163, the Ghurid nobles supported Ghiyath, and helped him ascend the throne. Ghiyath shortly gave Mu'izz control over Istiyan and Kajuran. However, the throne was challenged by several Ghurid chiefs; Mu'izz aided Ghiyath in defeating and killing a rival Ghurid chief named Abu'l Abbas.

Ghiyath was then challenged by his uncle Fakhr al-Din Masud, who claimed the throne for himself, and had allied with Tadj al-Din Yildiz, the Seljuq governor of Herat, and Balkh.[4] However, the coalition was defeated by Ghiyath and Mu'izz at Ragh-i Zar. The brothers managed to kill the Seljuq governor during the battle, and then conquered Zamindawar, Badghis, Gharjistan, and Urozgan. Ghiyath, however, spared Fakhr al-Din and restored him as the ruler of Bamiyan. Mu'izz, after returning from an expedition from Sistan, was shortly awarded with Kandahar by his brother. In 1173, the two brothers invaded Ghazni, and defeated the Oghuz Turks who had captured the city from the Ghaznavids. Mu'izz was then appointed as the ruler of Ghazni.[4]

In 1175, the two brothers conquered Herat from its Seljuq governor, Baha al-Din Toghril, and also managed to conquer Pushang. The ruler of Sistan, Taj al-Din Harb ibn Muhammad, shortly acknowledged the sovereignty of the Ghurids, and so did the Oghuz Turks dominating Kirman.[1]

During the same period, the Khwarazmian Sultan Shah, who was expelled from Khwarezm by his brother Tekish, took refuge in Ghor and requested military aid from Ghiyath. Ghiyath, however, did not help the latter. Sultan Shah managed to get help from the Kara-Khitan Khanate, and began plundering the northern Ghurid domains.

After having helped his brother in expanding the western frontiers of the Ghurid Empire, he began to focus on India. Mu'izz's campaign against the Qarmatians rulers of Multan in 1175 had ended in victory.[5] He turned south, and led his army from Multan to Uch and then across the desert towards the Chaulukya capital of Anhilwara (modern day Patan in Gujarat) in 1178. On the way, Muizz suffered a defeat at the Battle of Kayadara, during his first campaign against an Indian ruler.[5] Gujarat was ruled by the young Chaulukya ruler Mularaja II; the Chaulukya forces included the armies of their feudatories such as the Naddula Chahamana ruler Kelhanadeva, the Jalor Chahamana ruler Kirtipala, and the Arbuda Paramara ruler Dharavarsha.[6] Mu'izz's army had suffered greatly during the march across the desert, and the Chaulukyas inflicted a major defeat on him at the village of Kayadara (near to Mount Abu, about forty miles to the north-east of Anhilwara).[5] The invading army suffered heavy casualties during the battle, and also in the retreat back across the desert to Multan.[5] However, Mu'izz was able to take Peshawar and Sialkot.

In 1186, Mu'izz, along with Ghiyath, ended the Ghaznavid dynasty after having captured Lahore and executed the Ghaznavid ruler Khusrau-Malik.[7]

Mu'izz shortly returned to Ghor, and along with the rulers of Bamiyan and Sistan, aided his brother Ghiyath in defeating the forces of Sultan Shah at Merv in 1190. He also annexed most of the latter's territories in Khorasan.

First Battle of Tarain

A sign post in Sohawa pointing towards the direction of Mu'izz's Tomb

Main article: First Battle of Tarain

In 1191, Mu'izz proceeded towards Indian Sub-continent through the Khyber Pass in modern-day Pakistan and was successful in reaching Punjab. Mu'izz captured a fortress, Bathinda in present-day Punjab state on the northwestern frontier of Prithvīrāj Chauhān's kingdom. After appointing a Qazi Zia-ud-Din as governor of the fortress,[8] he received the news that Prithviraj's army, led by his vassal prince Govind Tai were on their way to besiege the fortress. The two armies eventually met near the town of Tarain, 14 miles from Thanesar in present-day Haryana. The battle was marked by the initial attack of mounted Mamluk archers to which Prithviraj responded by counter-attacking from three sides and thus dominating the battle. Mu'izz mortally wounded Govind Tai in personal combat and in the process was himself wounded, whereupon his army retreated[9] and Prithvīrāj's army was deemed victorious.[10]

According to Rima Hooja and Kaushik Roy, Govind Tal was wounded by Ghori, and later fought at the second battle of Tarain, where he was killed.[11][12]

In 1200, Tekish died, and was succeeded by Muhammad II of Khwarezm (who took the honorific name 'Ala' al-Din). Among the first to hear of this were Ghiyath and Mu'izz al-Din. Within weeks the two brothers had moved their armies westwards into Khorasan. Once they had captured Nishapur, Mu'izz al-Din was sent on an expedition towards Ray, but he let his troops get out of control and got little further than Gurgan, earning criticism from Ghiyath which led to the only reported quarrel between the brothers.[19]

Ghiyath died at Herat in 1202 after months of illness. Mu'izz, who had quickly returned to Ghor from India, obtained the support of Ghurid nobles, and was crowned as Sultan of the Ghurid Empire at Firuzkuh. Just after his ascension, Muhammad II invaded his domains, and besieged Herat. Mu'izz managed to repel him from Herat and then pursued him to Khwarezm, besieging Gurganj, their capital. Muhammad desperately requested aid from the Kara-Khitan Khanate, who sent an army to aid Muhammad. Mu'izz, because of the pressure from the Kara-Khitans, was forced to relieve the siege and retreat. However, on his way to his domains in Ghur, he was defeated at Andkhud in 1204.[20][21] Mu'izz, however managed to reach Ghur, and prepared a counter-attack against the Khwarmezians and Kara-Khitans. A revolt shortly broke out in Punjab and the surrounding regions, which forced Mu'izz to make order in the region before mounting a counter-attack against his enemies.

Muhammad Ghori's grave within his tomb near Jhelum

In 1206, Mu'izz, having settled the affairs in India,[22] left all the affairs in India in hands of his slave Qutb al-Din Aibak.

On his way back to Ghazni, his caravan rested at Dhamiak near Sohawa (which is near the city of Jhelum in the Punjab province of modern-day Pakistan). He was assassinated on March 15, 1206 while offering his evening prayers. His killers are unconfirmed. It may have been the Khokhars or Ismāʿīlīs.[23] One source states that he was assassinated by the Nizari Ismaili Assassins

In Indian folklore, the death of Mu'izz was caused by Prithviraj Chauhan,[lower-alpha 1][24] but this is not borne out by historical documents and Prithviraj died much earlier before the death of Mu'izz.[lower-alpha 2][25][26]

A coin of Muhammad Ghori

Mu'izz had no offspring, but he treated his Turkic slaves as his sons, who were trained both as soldiers and administrators and provided with the best possible education. Many of his competent and loyal slaves rose to positions of importance in Mu'izz's army and government.

When a courtier lamented that the Sultan had no male heirs, Mu'izz retorted:

"Other monarchs may have one son, or two sons; I have thousands of sons, my Turkish slaves who will be the heirs of my dominions, and who, after me, will take care to preserve my name in the Khuṭbah (Friday sermon) throughout these territories."

Mu'izz's prediction proved true. After his assassination, his Empire was divided amongst his slaves. Most notably:

• Qutbu l-Din Aibak became ruler of Delhi in 1206, establishing the Sultanate of Delhi, which marked the start of the Slave dynasty.[27]
• Nasir-ud-Din Qabacha became ruler of Multan in 1210.
• Tajuddin Yildoz became ruler of Ghazni.
• Ikhtiyar Uddin Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khilji became ruler in parts of Bengal.

• A mausoleum for Muhammad Ghori was built at his gravesite in Dhamiak by Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan in 1994-1995 and was later handed over to the Punjab archaeology department.[28]
• Pakistani military named three of its medium-range ballistic missile Ghauri-I, Ghauri-II and Ghauri-III, in the memory of Mu'izz.[29]

• Abbasi, M. Yusuf (1990). "The evolution of Muslim nationalism and the Pakistan Resolution". In Yusuf, Kaniz F.; Akhtar, Muhammad Saleem; Wasti, Syed Razi (eds.). Pakistan Resolution Revisited. Islamabad, Pakistan: National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research. pp. 8–9. ISBN 978-969-415-024-6.
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• Bosworth, C. Edmund (2001). "GHURIDS". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Edition. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
• Chandra, Satish (2006). Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals (1206–1526). Part One. Har-Anand Publications.
• Datta, Amaresh (1988). "Epic (Hindi)". In Paliwal, Krishnadatt (ed.). The Encyclopaedia Of Indian Literature. Volume Two: Devraj to Jyoti. Sahitya Akademi. ISBN 81-260-1194-7.
• Haig, T.W. (1993). "Muhammad b. Sam, Mu'izz Al-Din". In Bosworth, C.E.; Van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W.P.; Pellat, C. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam. VIII.
• Hoernle, Rudolf (1906). "Review of Das, Syamsundar Annual Report on the search for Hindi Manuscripts (four volumes for the years 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903)". The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. April: 497–503. doi:10.1017/S0035869X00034638.
• Hooja, Rima (2006). A history of Rajasthan. Rupa & Co. pp. 267–68. ISBN 9788129108906.
• Luṇiyā, Bhanwarlal Nathuram (1978). Life and Culture in Medieval India. Kamal Prakashan.
• Nizami, K.A. (1998). "Ghurids". In Bosworth, C.E.; Asimov, M.S. (eds.). History of Civilizations of Central Asia. UNESCO. p. 177-190.
• Roy, Kaushik (2016). Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge.
• Sen, Sailendra Nath (1999). Ancient Indian History and Civilization. New Age International.
• Sharma, Dasharatha (1959). Early Chauhān Dynasties. S. Chand / Motilal Banarsidass. p. 138. ISBN 9780842606189.
• Sharma, Shripad Rama (1966). The Crescent in India: A Study in Medieval History. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
• Sharma, Gopi Nath (1970). Rajasthan Studies. Agra, India: Lakshmi Narain Agarwal. p. 201. OCLC 137196.
• Tucker, Spencer C., ed. (2010). "1191:South Asia". A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East. Vol. I. ABC-CLIO.
• Wink, Andre (2002). Al-Hind: The Making of the Indo-Islamic World. 2. Brill.

• Roy, Kaushik (2004). India's historic battles : from Alexander the Great to Kargil. Delhi: Permanent Black. ISBN 9788178241098.
• Jadunath Sarkar (1960). Military History of India. Orient Longmans. ISBN 9780861251551.
• John Keay (May 2001). India: A history. Grove Press; 1 Grove Pr edition. ISBN 0-8021-3797-0.
• A History of India By August Friedrich Rudolf Hoernle, Herbert Alick Stark
• The history of India from the earliest ages By James Talboys Wheeler
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• Elliot, Sir H. M., Edited by Dowson, John. The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians. The Muhammadan Period; published by London Trubner Company 1867–1877. (Online Copy)