Prithvis Tomb
In their enthusiasm to score brownie points, the Pakistanis have got mixed up on chronology -- they have produced Ghauri before Ghaznavi. Also, they have perversely sought to commemorate these Afghan rulers of Turkish descent in utter disregard of the fact that most of the territories they plundered are their own -- the North West Frontier Province, the Punjab and Sind. The men and women they tortured, enslaved, ravished and put to the sword were their own forebears.
If Pakistanis wish to revel in the inglorious misdeeds of foreigners perpetrated on their own soil and on theirown ancestors, they are welcome to twirl their moustaches in euphoria and say: "Where ignorance is bliss, it is folly to be wise."
Indians may look forward to future generations of Pakistani IRBMs and similar sophisticated weaponry named after the likes of Changez Khan, Nadir Shah and Ahmad Shah Abdali. Alexander the Great and Harshavardhan also have strong claims, but they might be disqualified for obvious reasons.
In the course of his many abortive forays into India, Mohammad Ghori is said to have been captured once by the forces of Delhi. But Prithviraj Chauhan, king of Delhi, magnanimously let him off. Legend has it -- and it is widely believed in India -- that when Ghori eventually succeeded in defeating Prithviraj Chauhan at the Second Battle of Tarain in 1192, he blinded him and took him in chains to Afghanistan along with his friend, the poet Chandravardai.
Ghori held a grand durbar to celebrate his victory. His prize catch, the king of Delhi, blind and a prisoner, was paraded and publiclyhumiliated. Deeply incensed by the treatment meted out to his monarch, Chandravardai took refuge to a subterfuge. He announced that though completely blind, Prithviraj could still hit a target guided solely by sound, and he asked for permission for this feat to be performed.
Prithviraj Chauhan was handed a bow and arrow, and Chandravardai sang a now-famous verse which told him of the elevation and distance to Ghori's throne. And thus, guided solely by sound, Prithviraj shot his arrow through Ghori.
The legend may not be entirely true, but it would be absolutely accurate to say that even after eight centuries have elapsed, Prithviraj is regularly subjected to indignity in the land where he was taken as a captive. I have seen it at first hand.
Many years ago, while travelling by jeep from Kandahar to Kabul, I had to make a night halt en route at Ghazni. At the hotel, I learned that there was a grand mausoleum over the tomb of Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi near the town, and I determined to see it. A few extraAfghanis (the local currency) helped my driver to comprehend the necessity of making a small detour the next morning.
The mausoleum was indeed grand -- judging by local standards -- with a high, arched doorway like the Buland Darwaza. The tomb proper was in a cellar about four or five feet below ground-level. It intrigued me considerably to note that there were no steps leading down into the tomb. Instead, a metal chain hung from the ceiling of the cellar. I was told that I would have to hold the chain and jump down.
I asked for the reason for this peculiar method of entry. The caretaker was evasive at first. But after much persuasion, he disclosed that there was another tomb at the exact spot where you jumped down. There, the infidel king of Delhi, Prithviraj Chauhan, lay buried.
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