Prithviraj Raso By James Todd[In brief]

VaRnI4Ever thumbnail
19th Anniversary Thumbnail Voyager Thumbnail
Posted: 17 years ago
#1
This is the version used by the sagars, and acc to it Prithvi had only one wife.
James Tod's books name is "History of Rajasthan" and this link will direct you to the summary of Tod's book.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:History_of_Rajasthan
PS: Scroll down and click on Prithviraj Raso

The Prithviraj Raso or Prithvirajaraso is information about the life of Prithviraj IIIChauhan, a Rajput king who ruled Ajmer and Delhi between 1165 and 1192.

The '''Prithviraj Raso''' was composed by Chand Bardai, Prithviraj's court poet, who accompanied the king in all his battles. Chand Bardai belonged to the community known as Charans, whose traditional occupation is to compose poems and ballads in praise of their patrons, based loosely on historical incident; they were poets and scribes who accompanied the armies of their patrons and encouraged and exhorted the warriors to bravery in battle by reciting the great deeds of their illustrious clan forebears.
Over time, the Prithviraj Raso has been embellished with the interpolations and additions of many other authors. Only a small portion of the existing texts is likely to have been part of the original text. Several versions of the Prithivraj Raso are available, but scholars agree that a small 1300 stanza manuscript in Bikaner is closest to the original text. The longest available version is the Udaipur manuscript, which is an epic comprising of 16,306 stanzas. The language of the texts available today largely appears to be post-15th century.
The Prithviraj Raso is a source of information on the social and clan structure of the Kshattriya communities of northern India.

The story related in the epic

According to the ballad, Prithvi Raj King who, after ceaseless military campaigns, extended his original kingdom of Sambhar (Shakambara) in present-day Rajasthan, to cover Rajasthan, Gujarat and eastern Punjab. He ruled from his twin capitals of Delhi and Ajmer. His fast rise aroused the envy of the then powerful ruler of Kannauj, Jaichand Gahadwala, and caused ill-feeling between the two.

Swayamvar of Sanyogita

The story of Prithviraj's exploits spread far and wide and became the subject of much discussion among the nobility. Samyukta,daughter of Jaichand, fell secretly in love with Prithviraj and began a secret to have an affair with him. Her father got wind of this affair and resolved to have her safely wed at an early date. He arranged a Swayamwara, a Hindu ceremony where a maiden selects a husband from a number of suitors who assemble at the invitation of her guardian. Jaichand invited many princes of high rank and heritage, but deliberately failed to invite Prithviraj. To add insult to injury, Jaichand had a statue of Prithviraj made and placed at the door of the venue, thus parodying Prithviraj as a doorman. Prithviraj came to hear of this. He made his plans and confided the same to his lover, Samyukta.
On the day of the ceremony, Sanyogita emerged from an inner chamber, entered the venue of the Swayamwara, walked straight down the hall past the assembled suitors, bypassing them all. She reached the door and garlanded the statue of Prithviraj. The assemblage were stunned at this brash act, but more was to follow: Prithviraj, who had been hiding behind the statue in the garb of a doorman, emerged, put Sanyogita upon his horse and the two ran away with each other. This incident resulted in a string of battles between the two kingdoms and both of them suffered heavily. The Chauhan-Gahadvala feud led to the weakening of both Rajput kingdoms.



Muhammad of Ghor
Muhammad, hailing from Ghor in present-day Afghanistan, grew increasingly powerful. He captured Ghazni and subsequently defeated the Ghaznavid governor of Punjab. Muhammad Ghori's domain now touched upon that of Prithviraj Chauhan. A clash was inevitable.
First Battle of Tarain (1191 CE): Muhammad Ghori invaded Prithviraj's domains and laid siege to the fortress of Bhatinda in Punjab, which was at the frontier between the two kingdoms. Prithviraj's appeal for help from his father-in-law was scornfully rejected by the haughty Jaichandra. Undaunted, Prithviraj marched on Bhatinda and gave battle to the invaders at a place called Tarain (also called Taraori) near the town of Thanesar.
In face of the Rajput onslaught, the invading Muslim army broke ranks and fled, leaving their leader, Muhammad Ghori, a prisoner in Prithviraj's hands. Muhammad Ghori was brought in chains to Pithoragarh, Prithviraj's capital. He begged his captor for mercy and release. Prithviraj's ministers advised against pardoning the aggressor. However, the chivalrous and valiant Prithviraj thought otherwise and respectfully released the vanquished Ghori.
Second Battle of Tarain (1192 CE): The very next year, Ghori repaid Prithviraj's gesture by again invading Prithviraj's kingdom with a stronger army. Again, the two armies met at Tarain. The Hindus followed a traditional practice of battling only between sunrise and sunset.This practise was based upon great epics and ethics in their civilized society.The Ramayana and the Mahabharata support this practise. Ghori attacked the surprised Rajput army before daybreak and thus emerged victorious. The defeated Prithviraj was pursued up to his capital. At the point when annihilation became certain, Sanyogita committed suicide.

Captivity, revenge and death

As a prisoner in Ghor, Prithviraj was brought in chains before Muhammad Ghori.he saw hi swife mahrukh there. He haughtily looked Ghori straight into the eye. Ghori ordered him to lower his eyes, whereupon a Prithviraj scornfully reminded him of how he had treated Ghori when the latter was a prisoner. On hearing this,Ghori ordered that his eyes to be burnt with red hot iron rods.
Prithviraj's former courtier Chand Bardai, who was later to compose the Prithviraj Raso, a ballad-biography of Pritiviraj, came to Ghori to be near Prithviraj in his misery. Chand Bardai came in disguise and paens. On one hand, he earned Mahmud's regard; on the other, he took every oprportunity to meet with Prithviraj and urge him to avenge Ghori.[citation needed]: The two got an opportunity to kill Muhammad Ghori when Ghori announced an archery competition. Chand Bardai told Ghori that Prithviraj was so skilled an archer, that he could take aim based only on sound, and did not even need to look at his target.Ghori disdained to believe this; the courtiers guffawed and taunted Chand Bardai, asking how a blind man could possibly shoot arrows. In the spirit of their usual barbaric mockery, they brought the blind and hapless Prithviraj out to the field. Pressing a bow and arrows into his hand, they taunted him to take aim.

Chand Bardai told Ghori that this taunting would avail nothing, for Prithviraj would never do as some sundry courtiers bade him do. He said that Prithviraj, as an anointed king, would not accept orders from anyone other than another king. His ego thus massaged, and in the spirit of the occasion, Mahmud Ghori agreed to personally give Prithviraj the order to shoot.Some iron plates were hung and Prithiviraj was asked to aim at them.A man was to strike the plate with a hammer and Prithviraj was supposed to hit that plate.

Thus, Chand Bardai provided Prithviraj with an aural indication of where Ghori was seated. He gave Prithviraj one further indication of the same, by composing a couplet on the spot and reciting the same in Prithviraj's hearing. The couplet, composed in a language understood only by Prithviraj went thus:
"Char bans, chaubis gaj, angul ashta praman, Ta upar sultan hai, Chuke mat Chauhan."
(Four measures ahead of you and twenty four yards away as measured with eight finger measurement, is seated the Sultan. Do not miss him now, Chauhan).

Ghori then ordered Prithviraj to shoot. Prithviraj thus came to know the location of Ghori and started shooting at the plates.When he hit the target courtiers said "vah" "vah" and Ghori said "Shabash", recognising Ghori's voice and turning in the direction from where he heard Ghori speak, Prithviraj took aim based only on the voice and on Chand Bardai's couplet, he sent an arrow racing to Ghori's throat. Ghori was thus stuck dead by Prithviraj. Prithviraj and Chandar did not want to die from the hands of Ghori's courtiers so they stabbed each other.

Even today afghans vent their anger on Prithviraj's Grave by stabbing on it through a rope & then pay accolades to their defeated king Ghauri. It's a pity that the Indian Government who is engaged in the construction work of a war ravaged country has no time to pay honour or renovate the grave of a Valiant King.
Edited by ArielAngel - 17 years ago

Created

Last reply

Replies

34

Views

14.7k

Users

17

Likes

3

Frequent Posters

VaRnI4Ever thumbnail
19th Anniversary Thumbnail Voyager Thumbnail
Posted: 17 years ago
#2
I dont believe in Laksmi dii's Raso . the Sagars have researched on Prithvi for 10 years, and thats they reached to the conclusion that James Todd's Raso is very much true. You will find many other versions of Raso, but wouldn't it be stupid to just believe on a bok, and not believe on Sagars 10 years of research.
PS: guys just sharing my opinion, dont take it otherwise
nishkala thumbnail
18th Anniversary Thumbnail Dazzler Thumbnail Engager Level 1 Thumbnail
Posted: 17 years ago
#3
Thanks a lot.Where did you get this book from?Can you give me the details of the shop and place please?
-kavita- thumbnail
19th Anniversary Thumbnail Dazzler Thumbnail + 3
Posted: 17 years ago
#4
Thanks so much for sharing....very interesting info.....PRC was a very valiant king 👏
miraclemun thumbnail
18th Anniversary Thumbnail Dazzler Thumbnail
Posted: 17 years ago
#5

Originally posted by: ArielAngel

I dont believe in Laksmi dii's Raso . the Sagars have researched on Prithvi for 10 years, and thats they reached to the conclusion that James Todd's Raso is very much true. You will find many other versions of Raso, but wouldn't it be stupid to just believe on a bok, and not believe on Sagars 10 years of research.
PS: guys just sharing my opinion, dont take it otherwise

I complete agree with you! In studying history it is wrong to just base your knowledge of something on only one source...your authencity will be questioned and it will be biased if you only believe one source...and the sagars took their research from many different sources and this makes their serial even more true, then if they were to use just one book source...so, only believing the PRC Raso, would be wrong when going along with historiography...thanks

-M Shah

crazy_kiran thumbnail
18th Anniversary Thumbnail Sparkler Thumbnail Engager Level 1 Thumbnail
Posted: 17 years ago
#6
hey can u please tell me where to get this book from or if it is available to buy frm net 😊 , it wld be a great help.

thanks for the brief description 😊 appreciate it 😊
VaRnI4Ever thumbnail
19th Anniversary Thumbnail Voyager Thumbnail
Posted: 17 years ago
#7
I found it on the net. Hers the link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:History_of_Rajasthan
PS: Scroll down and click on Prithviraj Raso

Originally posted by: nishkala

Thanks a lot.Where did you get this book from?Can you give me the details of the shop and place please?

VaRnI4Ever thumbnail
19th Anniversary Thumbnail Voyager Thumbnail
Posted: 17 years ago
#8
Yeah !!!! also James Todd was awarded for writing it. So Tod seems to be a credible writer.

Originally posted by: miraclemun

I complete agree with you! In studying history it is wrong to just base your knowledge of something on only one source...your authencity will be questioned and it will be biased if you only believe one source...and the sagars took their research from many different sources and this makes their serial even more true, then if they were to use just one book source...so, only believing the PRC Raso, would be wrong when going along with historiography...thanks

-M Shah

suchasa thumbnail
18th Anniversary Thumbnail Explorer Thumbnail
Posted: 17 years ago
#9
thank you very much for the info sorry i dont know ur name
and yes according to what info i got from james todd's literature its true that he had just one wife

james todd's book is called "History of Rajasthan"
this time when i went to Bangalore(thats where i am from) i found that it was available in banarsidass book store and he had ran out of stock and will get it for me next time

anyways there are many books available which gives info on PRC and his life and surprisingly i found that all those books mention of only his marriage to sanyogita and their etenal love and never a thing abt him having many wives,actually prithviraj raso by chand bardai is that first book which says abt prithvi having many wives

actually according to one book "The Great warrior kings of India" it says that prithvi married his only lady love sanyogita and in one other reference about sanyogita it refers to her as queen of delhi

i know we cannot base our opinion on some books and i also know that sagars have done some 10 yrs of research, but donr forget the fact that they are not showing prithvi married to anybody as of now

anyways i have always blived that prithvi had just one wife sanyogita and somehow i dont want to chage that opinion
dps_patel thumbnail
Posted: 17 years ago
#10
This is not by James Todd....

This stuff is from wikipedia....

Related Topics

Top

Stay Connected with IndiaForums!

Be the first to know about the latest news, updates, and exclusive content.

Add to Home Screen!

Install this web app on your iPhone for the best experience. It's easy, just tap and then "Add to Home Screen".