History of PRC and Sanyo - Page 33

SOMALEKHA-WIFE OF PRITHVI RAJ CHAUHAN-(1168-1192)

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The Yaminis (Ghaznavids) had been overthrown in Afghanistan by the new dynasty of Shansabanis (Ghurids) around the time that Vigraharaja (also known as Visaladeva) was consolidating his hold over territories recovered from the Muslim possessions in the Punjab. Prithiviraja II, the successor to Vigraharaja, had placed his maternal uncle, Kilhan, in charge of the fort at Asika (Hansi). His Hansi stone inscription of AD 1168 describes the Hammira (Amir) as a 'dagger pointed at the whole world'. The flag that fluttered at the gateway of this fort, we are told, 'defied the Hammira, as it were'. Another line in this inscription compares Prithiviraja II to Sri Rama, and Kilhana to Hanumana.¹

Besides the Chauhans of Delhi and Ajmer, India at that time had two more powerful kingdoms arrayed against the Muslim invader - the Chaulukyas (Solankis) of Gujarat and the Gahadavads of Kanauj. Had these three Hindu powers joined hands, they would have cleared out the barbarians not only from the Punjab, Multan, Sindh and the North-West Frontier Province but also from Afghanistan which had become the launching pad for Islamic aggression. But this they failed to do because each one of them was bidding for an empire at the cost of others. It seems that the earlier vision which had inspired Hindu princes in North India to come together into a confederacy in the face of a common enemy, had also vanished by this time. In the event, the Chauhans were defeated by fraud, and the Gahadavads were taken by surprise. The Chaulukyas also had a taste of what a Muslim victory would mean, though they survived for the time being.

Muhammad Ghuri was installed at Ghazni in AD 1173 by his elder brother, Ghiyasuddin, who had himself ascended the throne at Ghur in AD 1163. The task of conquering India was assigned to Muhammad Ghuri while his brother was extending the Ghurid empire towards the west. The Ghaznavids were still in possession of the provinces they had been able to conquer in north-western India. 'Muhammad Ghori,' writes Dr. Misra, 'was fully alive to the strength of the forces opposing him and, unlike Mahmud of Ghazni, he relied more on stratagems than on the strength of arms to gain victories against his adversaries.'²

It would have been logical for him, to start with, to take the North-West Frontier Province and the Punjab from the Ghaznavids. But this would have alerted the Chauhans beyond the Sutlej. They, too, could have advanced further west to contest for the Ghaznavid possessions. Muhammad Ghuri knew that he could throw out the Ghaznavids whenever he chose. His problem was the three Hindu kingdoms which were blocking his way into the heartland of Hindustan.

So Ghuri entered India through the Gomal pass and 'wrested Multan from the Qaramatih chiefs in AD 1175'. Next he 'intrigued with the wife of the Bhatti Rai of Uch and promised to marry her if she poisoned her husband'. Firishta records that 'she declined the honour for herself but secured it for her daughter, caused her husband to be put to death and surrendered the fort'.³ Ghuri's way to Gujarat now lay open by way of Western Rajasthan. The Chauhans were not likely to mind if the Chaulukyas went down. Prithviraj III who was to become an inveterate foe of Ghuri in later years, had ascended the throne of Ajmer only an year earlier. He was prevailed upon by his Chief Minister, Kadambavasa, not to interfere. On the other hand Mahmud Ghaznavi's successful raid on Somanath, one hundred and fifty years earlier, had encouraged Ghuri to imagine that Gujarat was an easy prey. He was dreaming of reaching Somanath, and repeating the 'pious performance' of Mahmud. Muslim historians had been gloating over Mahmud's raid throughout the long interval, without remembering the difficulties with which the raider had subsequently secured his escape.

Muhammad Ghuri advanced upon Gujarat in AD 1178 with a large army. Merutuga writes in his Prabandha-chintmaNi that 'the mother of young Mularaja, queen Naikidevi, the daughter of Parmardin of Goa, taking her son in her lap, led the Chaulukya army against the Turushkas and defeated them at Gadararaghatta near the foot of Mount Abu'. Mularaja II was a minor at that time. Firishta records that the king of Gujarat 'advanced with an army to resist the Mohammedans and defeated them with great slaughter. They suffered many hardships before they reached Ghazni.' In Sanskrit inscriptions of Gujarat, Mularaja is invariably mentioned as the 'conqueror of Garjanakas [dwellers of Ghazni]'. One inscription states that 'during the reign of Mularaja even a woman could defeat the Hammira [Amir]'.

Muhammad Ghuri did not lead another expedition against a Hindu prince for the next 12 years. His experience in Gujarat was too traumatic to be forgotten in a fit of megalomania. He employed the interregnum in occupying the Ghaznavid possessions in India till he reached Lahore in AD 1186. Now he stood face to face with Prithiviraja III, the famous Chauhan ruler of Ajmer (AD 1177-1192) whose feudatory, Govindaraja, was stationed at Delhi. Prithvirja-vijaya tells us that the Chauhan ruler was fully alive to the rise of a 'beef-eating Mlechha named Ghori in the north-west who had captured Garjani [Ghazni]'.⁵ Hammra-mahkvya of Nayachandra Sri states that Prithviraja defeated Muhammad Ghuri at least seven times while Prabandha-chintmaNi of Merutuga and Prithvirjarso of Chand Bardai put the number of Prithviraja's victories at twenty-one. Muslim historians - Minhaj, Firishta, and others - on the other hand, mention only two battles between these two rulers, one in AD 1191 and the other a year later. 'Dasharatha Sharma reconciles these two versions by suggesting that the Ghorid generals began raiding the Chahmana [Chauhan] territories soon after the occupation of Lahore in AD 1186 but were beaten back by the Chahmana forces. Muslim historians have ignored them altogether.'⁶

It was only in AD 1191 that Muhammad Ghuri 'caused the forces of Islam to be organised and advanced against the fortress of Tabarhindah (Sirhind) and took that stronghold'. This was a frontier fortress held by a Chauhan feudatory. Prithviraja now advanced with his own army and met Muhammad Ghuri at Tarain. 'Before the onslaught of the Chahmana army, the right and left flanks of the Muslim army broke down and took to flight' The Sultan might have fallen off his horse had not a Khalji youth recognised him and carried him out of the field of battle. The Muslim army, not seeing their leader, fled headlong from the battlefield and did not draw rein till they had reached a place considered safe from pursuit. The Sultan was also brought there in a litter of broken spears. From there, they returned to their own dominion.'⁷ The Rajputs did not press their advantage to a final conclusion. They were satisfied with Sirhind which was recovered soon after.

Dr. Misra observes: 'Prithviraja could have now easily consummated his victory by chasing and annihilating his routed enemy. But, instead, he allowed the defeated Muslim army to return unmolested. This magnanimity, though in accord with the humane dictums of the Hindu Shastras, was completely unsuitable against a ruthless enemy who recognised no moral or ideological scruples in the attainment of victory. The Hindus lacked the capacity to comprehend the real nature of their ruthless adversaries and the new tactics needed to encounter their challenge to Indian independence.'⁸ The nemesis came next year, in AD 1192, when Muhammad Ghuri who had made 'sleep and rest unlawful to himself' came back with another army in order to avenge his defeat. Hindus had permitted his earlier army to escape without suffering much hurt.

Before he reached Tarain again, Muhammad Ghuri had sent a messenger from Lahore asking Prithviraja 'to embrace the Musalman faith and acknowledge his supremacy.' Firishta reproduces as follows the letter which Prithviraja wrote to him from the field of battle: 'To the bravery of our soldiers we believe you are no stranger, and to our great superiority in numbers which daily increases, your eyes bear witness' You will repent in time of the rash resolution you have taken, and we shall permit you to retreat in safety; but if you have determined to brave your destiny, we have sworn by our gods to advance upon you with our rank-breaking elephants, our plain-trampling horses, and blood-thirsty soldiers, early in the morning to crush the army which your ambition has led to ruin.' The language of this letter is the typical Rajput language - full of kShambhva (forgiveness) emanating from perfect confidence in one's own parkrama (prowess).

Now the Sultan tried his stratagem He replied: 'I have marched into India at the command of my brother whose general I am. Both honour and duty bind me to exert myself to the utmost' but I shall be glad to obtain a truce till he is informed of the situation and I have received his answer.' The Hindus fell into the trap. Firishta records 'The Sultan made preparations for battle' and when the Rajputs had left their camp for purposes of obeying calls of nature, and for the purpose of performing ablutions, he entered the plain with his ranks marshalled. Although the unbelievers were amazed and confounded, still in the best manner they could, they stood the fight.'⁹ The battle raged upto afternoon, when the Hindus found themselves tired and exhausted. They had not eaten even a breakfast. The fight was finished when Ghuri threw in his reserve division constituted by the flower of his army. The Rajputs were defeated, and suffered great slaughter.

The Muslims now occupied Delhi and marched into Ajmer. Prithviraja who had been made captive and who refused to swear submission, was beheaded and his son was installed as the new king. Rajput resistance was still continuing in the countryside. Ghuri wanted to mollify the patriots by means of a showboy. But that was of no avail. Hariraja, the younger brother of Prithviraja, reoccupied Ajmer in AD 1193. He also planned to attack and take Delhi again. The plan failed because Ghuri had assembled another big army for his march on the Gahadavad kingdom of Kanauj. Hariraja committed suicide. He was too ashamed to live after so many of his people had embraced death in defence of their country and culture, and after he had remained unsuccessful in redeeming his own pledge.

Jayachandra, the Gahadavad ruler of Kanauj, had not only kept aloof from the battles raging to his south and west; he had also rejoiced in the defeat of the Chauhans, the traditional rivals of the Gahadavads in the bid for supremacy over North India. It was his turn to stand up and accept the challenge when Ghuri appeared at the gates of his kingdom with a re-equipped horde in AD 1194. The armies met at Chandawar. 'The battle was fiercely contested and the Gahadavads led by Jayachandra almost carried the day when the latter seated on a lofty howdah received a deadly wound from an arrow and fell from his exalted seat to the earth.' The Muslims were able to plunder Kanauj and Asni where Jayachandra had kept his treasure. But Rajput resistance continued till Jayachandra's son, Harishchandra, recovered Kanauj, Jaunpur and Mirzapur in AD 1197. 'Kanauj seems to have stayed independent till the reign of Iltumish who ultimately conquered it from Harish Chandra's successor, Adakkamalla.'¹⁰

The Prithviraj Raso was embellished with time and quite a few authors added to it. Only parts of the original manuscript are still intact. There are many versions of Raso but scholars agree that a 1400 stanza poem is the real "Prithivraj Raso". In its longest form the poem comprises upwords of 10,000 stanzas. The Prithviraj Raso is a source of information on the social and clan structure of the Kshatriya communities of northern India. It is valuable not only as historical material but as the earliest monument of the Western Hindi language, and the first of the long series of bardic chronicles for which Rajputana is celebrated. It is written in ballad form, and portions of it are still sung by itinerant bards throughout north-western India and Rajputana.

Chand Bardai was married twice. His wives Kamla and Gauran gave birth to 10 sons, namely Sur, Sunder, Sujan, Jalhan, Vallah, Balbhadra, Kehari, Vir Chand, Avdut and Gunraj, and one daughter, Rajabai. He was closest to his son Jalhan, and when the poet went to Ghazni, he asked Jalhan to complete the pending work of 'Prithviraj Raso.^[1]

The royal poet had mastery of grammar, literature, astrology, prosody and the Puranas. He was conversant with the Abhiri, Autkali, Chandali, Dravirhini, Shkari, Swali and Vijaitia dialects. One of his most famous work was Prithviraj Raso. He compiled it in the archaic form of Brajbhasa. It is a long poem consisting of nearly 100,000 stanzas elucidating a chronicle of his master's achievements and the historical accounts. According to Colonel Tod, the poems of Chand Bardai have frequent indistinct references to fire arms, especially the malgola. Impressed by the classic elegance of the work, Colonel Tod translated about 30,000 stanzas into English. French scholar Garsa-de-Tasse certified and testified the authority of this compilation.^[1]

Family

Chand Bardai was married twice. His wives Kamla and Gauran gave birth to 10 sons, namely Sur, Sunder, Sujan, Jalhan, Vallah, Balbhadra, Kehari, Vir Chand, Avdut and Gunraj, and one daughter, Rajabai. He was closest to his son Jalhan, and when the poet went to Ghazni, he asked Jalhan to complete the pending work of 'Prithviraj Raso'

Life

The royal poet had mastery of grammar, literature, astrology, prosody and the Puranas. He was conversant with the Abhiri, Autkali, Chandali, Dravirhini, Shkari, Swali and Vijaitia dialects. One of his most famous work was Prithviraj Raso. He compiled it in the archaic form of Brajbhasa. It is a long poem consisting of nearly 100,000 stanzas elucidating a chronicle of his master's achievements and the historical accounts. According to Colonel Tod, the poems of Chand Bardai have frequent indistinct references to fire arms, especially the malgola. Impressed by the classic elegance of the work, Colonel Tod translated about 30,000 stanzas into English. French scholar Garsa-de-Tasse certified and testified the authority of this compilation.

Chand Bardai was not only a court poet but was a member of the inner circle of the king. The poet accompanied the king during wars. After the second battle of Trian (now Taraori, near Karnal in Haryana state — then Punjab) in 1192 A.D., the king was arrested by Muhammad Ghauri. He was put in Goar jail in Ghazni, and he was blinded. The Royal poet managed to approach his king, and chalked out a plan to finish Ghauri. He convinced Ghauri that the king was an expert in archery and he should be asked to display his skills.

The stage was set. Ghauri was seated at the top to enjoy the skilful art of king Chauhan. In the meantime, the poet described the distance and direction of the seat of Ghauri, to his master in the following verse:

Char Bans Chaubi Gag, ungal asat parman; Ta upar sultan hai, mat chuke Chauhan.

Prithvi Raj Chauhan shot Ghauri dead. And before body guards, Mir and Khan, could slay the king and the Chand Bardai, the latter killed each other with the help of daggers.