Muhammad of Ghor
Obv: Rider bearing lance on caparisoned horse facing right. Devnagari Legends: Sri /hamirah'. Rev: Simple rendition of recumbent bull with long snout facing left, Devnagari Legends: ' Sri Mahamada Same ' in arc.
Muhammad Shahab-ud-Din Ghori (Persian, Pashto, Urdu: محمد شہاب الدین غوری), also spelled Mohammad Ghauri, originally named Mu'izzuddin Muhammad Bin Sam but famously known as Muhammad of Ghor (1162 - 1206), was a governor and general under the Ghorid dynasty. He was the governor of Ghazni, a province in modern-day Afghanistan from 1173 to 1206 and Sultan from 1202. His ethnic background was most likely of Persian-speaking Eastern-Iranian Tajik stock. He conquered various kingdoms in India as far south as the [1] His successor, General Qutb-ud-din Aybak was the first Muslim Sultan of Delhi, where his heirs ruled until 1290. Delhi would remain under Muslim rule until the beginning of the British Raj and the end of the Moghul Empire.
Muhammad of Ghor is credited with launching Muslim rule in India. Previously, Muslims raiding India from Afghanistan had treated it as the source of plunder. By appointing Qutb-ud-din Aybak as his Viceroy in India, Muhammad started to establish Islamic governance in India on a permanent basis.
Life
Muhammad of Ghor was the brother of the Sultan Ghiyas-ud-din Muhammad of Ghor, a province in modern-day Afghanistan. Ghor lay on the western boundary of the Ghaznavid Empire. Before 1160, the Ghaznavid Empire covered an area running from central Afghanistan to the Punjab, with capitals at Ghazni and Lahore.
In 1160, the Ghorids conquered Ghazni from the Ghaznavids, and in 1173 Muhammad Shahab-ud-Din Ghori became governor of the province. In 1186-87 he conquered Lahore, ending the Ghaznavid Empire and bringing the last of Ghaznavid territory under his control. Muhammad Shahab-ud-Din Ghori was a loyal brother. He refrained from declaring his independence in the Indian Subcontinent, knowing that it would result in civil war between the two brothers. Till the death of Ghiyas-ud-din Muhammad in 1202, Ghori never considered himself anything but a general in his brother's army. After every victory he would send the best of the looted items to his elder brother in Afghanistan. Ghiyas-ud-din reciprocated by never interfering in the affairs of his younger brother. Thus they were each able to concentrate on their own responsibilities. As a result, Ghori managed to push Muslim rule much further east than Mahmud of Ghazni did.
Muhammad attacked the north-western regions of the Indian Subcontinent many times. The first time he was defeated in the First Battle of Tarain in present-day Haryana, India by Prithviraj Chauhan, the Hindu Rajput ruler of Delhi and Ajmer. But he defeated Prithviraj Chauhan in the Second battle of Tarain in 1192 C.E. Rajput kingdoms like Saraswati, Samana, Kohram and Hansi were captured without any difficulty. Then Ghori proceeded to Ajmer. Nobody challenged him. After reaching Ajmer, he spared the son of Prithviraj Chauhan, Kola, who in turn took the oath of loyalty to Ghori. One of his generals conquered Bihar in 1199 and Lower Bengal in 1203.[2]
Muhammad "had little time to consolidate his Indian conquests", however.[3]
Death
In 1206, Ghori had to travel to Lahore to crush a revolt. On his way back to Ghazni, his caravan halted at Dhamiak near Jhelum. He was killed while offering his evening prayers. Many think that the murderer was an Ismaili. However, some historians believe that the murderer belonged to the warrior Gakhar tribe that resided in the area. In some compositions it is stated that Ghori did not kill Prithviraj but rather blinded him. Subsequently, Prithviraj discharged a Shabdbhedi arrow (an arrow shot at the source of a sound), on being challenged by Ghori to do so. The arrow hit Ghori and subsequently he was killed. Nonetheless in Ghor province, there exists a grave of Ghori as well as his arch rival Prithiviraj in the same vicinity despite the fact that his actual grave is in modern-day Pakistan.
Muhammad Ghori had no heirs and thus he treated his slaves as his sons. It is said that he trained thousands of Turkish slaves in the art of warfare and administration. Most of his slaves were given excellent education. During his reign many hardworking and intelligent slaves rose to positions of excellence. Once a courtier lamented; that Sultan has no male heirs. Ghori immediately replied;
<blockquote?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 Khutba throughout these territories.[4]
Legacy
Muhammad's death left his generals in control of the whole of North India. He was succeeded by Qutb-ud-din Aybak, who had started of by sacking Ayodhya in 1193 C.E. then served as Muhammad's governor in India. He was Sultan until 1210, claiming the title "Sultan of Delhi. His established the Ghulam Dynasty, which ruled until 1290. He also started to build the Qutb complex at Delhi.
Muhammad Ghori is remembered as an empire builder and is justly called the founder of the Muslim Empire in the Indian Subcontinent.
In response to India's development of its surface to surface missile Prithvi (actually named after one of the Five Element] - The Earth, Prithvi in Sanskrit), Pakistan launched its own missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads on April 6, 1998 called Ghauri - I. It was symbolically named after Muhammad of Ghori, who is highly revered in Pakistan for having defeated his arch-rival, the [Hindu Rajput ruler Prithvi Raj Chauhan, who is highly revered in India. Pakistan has since developed the Ghauri - II and Ghauri - III as well.
Notes
- ↑ Bosworth, Clifford Edmund. GHURIDS (or AÚl-e ˆansab) Encyclopaedia Iranica. "... The Ghurids came from the Šansabānī family. The name of the eponym Šansabānasb probably derives from the Middle Persian name Wišnasp (Justi, Namenbuch, p. 282). [...] Nor do we know anything about the ethnic stock of the Ghori's in general and the Sansabanis in particular; We can only assume that they were eastern Iranian Tajiks ... The sultans were generous patrons of the Persian literary traditions of Khorasan, and latterly fulfilled a valuable role as transmitters of this heritage to the newly conquered lands of northern India, laying the foundations for the essentially Persian culture which was to prevail in Muslim India until the 19th century. ..." Retrieved October 15, 2008.
- ↑ Hunter, page 222.
- ↑ Hunter, page 222.
- ↑ Pander, page 35.
Referencers
- Hunter, William Wilson. 1882. 2000. The Indian empire; its history, people and products. London: Trübner. London; Routledge. ISBN 9780415244954
- Pande, Rekha. 1990. Succession in the Delhi Sultanate. New Delhi, India: Commonwealth Publishers. ISBN 9788171690695
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