Prithviraj Chouhan was the last Hindu king of India. He ruled Delhi and Ajmer for about 24 years. The importance of Delhi as it is today was equally important in that era also. Delhi was a powerful state from strategic, economic, commercial and geographical point of view. The one who had authority over Delhi was considered the king of the whole of India.
Prithviraj Chouhan
Friends, the defeat of Prithviraj Chouhan in Tarain pushed this country into the pit of slavery. First the Turks, then the Mughals and later the British kept this country a slave. Thus India was ruled by foreigners for about 800 years. After many sacrifices and struggles, India got freedom from this slavery in the year 1947.
Early Life of Prithviraj Chouhan
Prithviraj Chouhan was a brave, courageous, mighty and skilled person in all martial arts since childhood. He is also known as Prithviraj III and Rai Pithora. Prithviraj Chouhan had good knowledge of languages like Sanskrit, Prakrit, Magadhi, Paishachi, Shauraseni and Apabhramsa etc. Apart from this, he also had good knowledge of Mimamsa, Vedanta, Vedas, Puranas, Mathematics, History, Military Science and Medical Science. Prithviraj Chouhan was also proficient in wielding arrows, elephant and horse control.
There is a difference of opinion among historians regarding the date of birth of Prithviraj Chouhan. According to some historians, he was born on 1 June 1149 AD in Gujarat, while some historians give his date of birth as 1168 AD. According to the Prithviraj Raso epic, Prithviraj Chouhan was born on 1 June 1163 in Patan, Gujarat. His father was Someshwar Chouhan, who became the ruler of Ajmer a few years after the birth of Prithviraj Chouhan. His mother's name was Karpur Devi, who was the daughter of Anangpal, the ruler of the Tomar dynasty of Delhi. Prithviraj Chouhan also had a younger brother whose name was Hariraj.
Prithviraj Chouhan lived in Patan (Gujarat) with his parents and brother. It was here that Prithviraj Chouhan was brought up. At that time Ajmer was ruled by Prithviraj II. After the death of Prithviraj II, Someshwar Chouhan came to Ajmer with his family. After reaching Ajmer, Someshwar Chouhan took the reins of governance in his hands. Some years later Someshwar Chouhan died. After the death of his father, Prithviraj Chouhan was placed on the throne of Ajmer.
Coronation of Prithviraj Chouhan
After the death of his father in 1179 AD, he took the throne of Ajmer and ruled under the supervision of his mother. Delhi was then ruled by Anang Pal II, the ruler of the Tomar dynasty, who was the maternal grandfather of Prithviraj Chouhan. Anang Pal had no son, but he had two daughters, Sundari and Kamala. Sundari was married to Raja Vijaypal of Kannauj, who had a son, Jaichand, while Kamala (Karpur Devi) was married to Someshwar Chouhan. Due to not having a son, Anang Pal made Prithviraj Chouhan his successor. After the death of Anangpal in 1168 AD, Prithviraj Chouhan took the throne of Delhi. The boundaries of Delhi Kingdom were spread over a very wide region at that time.
Prithviraj Chouhan's war campaign
Battle with Nagarjuna
In 1178 AD, Prithviraj Chouhan's cousin Nagarjuna revolted and occupied Gudpur (possibly present Gurugram). Nagarjuna was the son of Vigraharaja IV. Fierce skirmishes took place between both the sides in which Nagarjuna was killed by the hands of Prithviraj Chouhan. Prithviraj Chouhan beheaded Nagarjuna and his associates and hanged them by the gate of fort.
Battle with Bhimdev Chalukya of Gujarat
Prithviraj Chouhan's uncle Kanhdev had killed seven sons of Sarangdev, the uncle of Bhimdev. To avenge this, Bhimdev attacked Ajmer state and captured Nagaur by killing Someshwar Chouhan. In response, Prithviraj Chouhan attacked Gujarat and killed Bhimdev.
War with Mahoba
In 1182 AD, Prithviraj Chouhan attacked with the aim of capturing Bundelkhand. At that time Bundelkhand was ruled by the Chandela king Parmardidev (Parmal). Their capital was Mahoba.
Alha and Udal, the generals of King Parmal, had the responsibility of protecting Mahoba. Both Alha and Udal were brothers. Both fought fiercely against Prithviraj Chouhan's army. In this war Suraj Singh, son of Prithviraj Chouhan, Ranjit Singh, son of Raja Parmal and Veer Abhai were killed. It is said that despite the severed head of Veer Abhai, he fought for hours in the war.
Alha's brother Udal was killed in the battle at the hands of Prithviraj Chouhan. On the death of Udal, Alha lost his temper. He took an oath to kill Prithviraj Chouhan.
He fall on Chouhan's army becoming a havoc. Prithviraj Chouhan was injured by Aalha's tremendous blow. However, Alha left Prithviraj Chouhan alive on the orders of his Guru Gorakhnath. It is said that this battle was the last battle of Alha, after which he retired from the war.
Story of sanyogita
Prithviraj Chouhan and the ruler of Kannauj, Jaichand Gahadwal, despite being cousins, were fierce enemies of each other. There were two main reasons behind this, firstly King Anang Pal made Prithviraj Chouhan the successor of Delhi instead of Jaichand and second reason Prithviraj Chouhan's love for Jaichand's daughter Sanyogita. However, some historians describe the love story of these two as ludicrous. According to the story, Sanyogita, the daughter of King Jaichand, was very beautiful. The discussions of her beauty were far and wide. When Prithviraj Chouhan heard about Sanyogita's beauty, he fell in love with her. Here Sanyogita also heard the tales of the bravery of Prithviraj Chouhan, then she too got impressed and started loving Prithviraj Chauhan. After some time Sanyogita's swayamvar was organized. All the kings from all over the country were invited by Jaichand to this swayamvar but Prithviraj Chouhan, the ruler of Delhi, was not invited. Rather, to humiliate Prithviraj Chouhan, he got his effigy made and put it in the place of the gatekeeper. Swayamvar program started. Sanyogita left all the kings sitting in the court and garlanded the effigy of Prithviraj Chauhan standing at the door. Then Prithviraj Chouhan also reached there riding on a horse and took Sanyogita away from there. After reaching Ajmer, both of them got married. To avenge this insult, Jaichand invited Mohammad Ghori to attack Delhi.
First Battle of Tarain (1191 AD)
Friends, Tarain is currently known as Tarawari which is located in Karnal District of Haryana state. At this place, A war between Prithviraj Chouhan and the last ruler of the Ghor dynasty, Muhammad Ghori was taken place in 1191 AD, which is called the first battle of Tarain. The reason for this war was the desire of Mohammad Ghori to take over Delhi. He had captured Bathinda (Tarabhind) which came under the border of Delhi State. The arrival of Mohammad Ghori on the border of Delhi was in the form of a challenge for Prithviraj Chouhan, so the war between the two became inevitable. A fierce battle took place between the two armies. The Turkish army ran away from the attack of the Rajput army. Mohammad Ghori was also badly injured. He was taken prisoner but after a few months Prithviraj Chouhan begged him for mercy and released him.
Second Battle of Tarain (1192 AD)
A year later the second battle of Tarain took place. In this war, the army of Mohammad Ghori landed with full preparation and enthusiasm. On the contrary, Prithviraj Chouhan took the Turkish army lightly because in the last war this army ran away showing its back. Apart from this, Prithviraj Chouhan had 3 lakh soldiers in this war while Mohammad Ghori had only 1 lakh 20 thousand soldiers. At first, Prithviraj Chouhan's army began to overwhelm on the Turks, but they could not last long in front of Turkish army. Prithviraj Chauhan's chief feudatory Govindraj was killed while fighting. Prithviraj Chouhan was also badly injured. In this war, Jaichand Gahadwal supported Mohammad Ghori. Mohammad Ghori captured Delhi and Ajmer. Prithviraj Chouhan was taken prisoner. After handing over the charge of Delhi and Ajmer to Qutubuddin Aibak, Mohammad Ghori went to Ghazni with Prithviraj Chouhan.
Death of Prithviraj Chouhan
After reaching Ghazni, Mohammad Ghori put Prithviraj Chouhan in a dungeon. Here Prithviraj Chouhan was given extreme physical pains. Prithviraj Chouhan's eyes were burst by putting hot bars. Prithviraj Chouhan's dear friend Chandbardai reached Ghazni's court to meet him. On reaching Ghazni, Chandbardai was imprisoned along with Prithviraj Chouhan. Here both made a plan to kill Mohammad Ghori. Mohammad Ghori organized an archery competition in Ghazni in those days. This was a good opportunity for Prithviraj Chouhan and Chandbardai to kill Mohammad Ghori. Chandbardai sent a message to Mohammad Ghori that Prithviraj Chouhan also wants to participate in this archer competition because he is an expert in shooting arrows. Mohammad Ghori wanted to see this skill of Prithviraj Chouhan before killing him.
Competition was organized. According to the plan, Chandbardai told Prithviraj Chouhan in the language of poetry that where, in which direction and at what distance from Prithviraj Chouhan, Mohammad Ghori is sitting at this time. Prithviraj Chauhan, despite being blind, hit Mohammad Ghori's chest accurately and he was killed immediately. After killing Mohammad Ghori, Prithviraj Chouhan and Chandbardai stabbed each other to death. However, some historians do not consider this claim to be true. According to him Mohammad Ghori was alive till 1206 AD.
Prithviraj Chouhans rating
Prithviraj Chouhan was the last Hindu king of India. He was a brave, majestic and Prajavatsal ruler. He was a patron of art and literature. Chanderbardai (the author of Prithviraj Raso) was his friend and prominent poet. Apart from this, in the court of Prithviraj, there were scholars like Jayanak Bhatt (the author of Prithviraj Vijay), Vidyapati Gaur, Janardan, Vishwaroopa and Bageshwar.
Although some historians praise Prithviraj Chouhan as well as criticize him, writing that Prithviraj was a short-sighted ruler. He never maintained good relations with his neighboring states. He showed short-sightedness by making a powerful state like Kannauj his enemy. Mohammad Ghori would never have dared to attack India if he had friendly relations with Kanauj. Due to the vast empire, his luxuries had also increased, he used to be immersed in luxuries. Due to these mistakes, the power of this country went into the hands of foreign invaders, due to which the country had to suffer in the form of slavery of 800 years. These invaders looted the country wholeheartedly for 800 years.
Friends, all this information has been taken from the books written by different authors of history and from the internet. We have included all those materials in this article so that you can get all accurate information on a single page. We apologize for any errors.
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