Background

 Reference ( Encyclopedia )
Islamic rulers started their invasion of India when a general by the name of Mohammad bin
Qasim was sent by the Umayyad Caliph (710/711 CE) for further conquest and he captured
Sindh and Multan (now in Pakistan) from the Hindu king Raja Dahir. Later on, when the
Ghaznavid Dynasty rose to power, Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni (999-1030 CE) made his several
ferocious raids into India in the early 11th century CE which gave an impetus to the later
Ghurids. The ascension of the Ghurids started from the time when due to the vacuum left by
the decline of the earlier Islamic dynasties such as the Samanids, Seljuk Turks, etc. Two empires
simultaneously rose – the Khwarazm Empire based in Persia and the Ghurids based in Ghor –
changing the political landscape of West and Central Asia. The Ghurids started as the vassals of
the Ghaznavids before they shattered and toppled the overlordship of the Ghaznavids due to
their decline. The Ghurids rose to power during the time of their king Sultan Ala al-Din Husayn
(1149-1161 CE) who, in order to avenge his brothers who were killed by a Ghaznavid ruler,
ravaged and burned the city of Ghazni which also earned him a nickname 'Jahan-Soz' which
roughly translates to 'World Burner'.

Shihab-ud-Din Muhammad Ghuri

Shihab al-Din also known as Muʿizz al-din Muhammad ibn Sam, popularly known
as Muhammad Ghuri, was the Muslim ruler who laid the foundation for the subsequent Islamic
ruling dynasties of India. Muhammad Ghuri was born in 1149 CE and was the nephew of Sultan
Ala al-Din. When Ala al-Din and later his son Sayf al-Din died, Muhammad's elder brother
Ghiyath al-Din came to the throne with the support of their nobles. He gave his younger
brother many areas to rule; Muhammad became the ruler of Ghazni when they captured it in
1173 CE from the Oghuz/Ghuzz Turks who had earlier seized it from the Ghaznavids, gradually
establishing a solid base there for their further conquests.

Indian Campaigns
Muhammad Ghuri after helping his brother in several campaigns, which secured their positions,
turned his eye to India. Firstly, they were under continuous pressure from the Khwarazm
Empire in the west, and secondly, Mahmud of Ghazni has already set a precedent of raiding the
fabled rich lands of India. So, after ascending the throne of Ghazni in 1173 CE, Muhammad
Ghuri took the Gomal Pass which led to present Dera Ismail Khan and to upper Sind sagar doab,
and conquered Multan and Uch in the northwest of the Indian subcontinent. Then in 1178 CE,
 just like Mahmud has done in Gujarat earlier, he crossed the Thar Desert and attacked the
Solanki’s of Gujarat probably to imitate the same feat, only to be completely routed by the
Gujarati ruler, which made Ghuri change his mind and tactics. He soon abandoned the
romanticism of a trans-desert invasion and concentrated his mind on Lahore for a secure base
in the Punjab region to further launch his campaigns to India. By 1190 CE, he evicted the
Ghaznavids from the Punjab area and conquered Sialkot, Lahore, and then also Peshawar. He
then pressed for Delhi and the rich fertile lands of the Ganga-Yamuna Doab.

 This reference is taken from the book Indian History Background and perspective page
number 14-15 which is written by Zahid Hussain.
After Muhammad bin Qasim’s rule in Sindh, no Muslim conqueror came to India. During the last
two decades of the twelfth century. Muhammad Ghuri who was of the Turkish descent but
came from Ghor in Afghanistan, mounted an attack on India. At that time, two powerful Hindu
Kings were at loggerheads with each other. One was Jai Chand Chauhan of Kannoj and the
other was Prithviraj, a Rajput prince. The Chauhan’s and the Rajput’s did not see eye to eye in
matters of caste and social status. In his first attempt, Ghuri was defeated by Prithviraj. Jai
Chand hinted to Ghuri that if he attacked Prithviraj again, he would assist him by not helping
Prithviraj. Accordingly Ghuri attacked Prithviraj Kingdom in the year 1190, and routed the latter.
This time Ghuri did not leave the India and occupied Delhi. He established his own kingdom
which came to be known in history as the Sultanate of Delhi.

 This reference is taken from the book Indian history at a glance chapter number 4 page
number 29-37 which is written by Sh. Muhammad Qayyum.

Conquest of Punjab
Muhammad Ghuri realized that it was not possible to conquer India through Sindh and
Multan. The key to Hindustan lay through the Punjab. No wonder, he decided to conquer
the Punjab. In 1179, he attacked and captured Peshawar which was under the ruler of the
Punjab. In 1181 Muhammad Ghuri proceeded against “Khusrau Malik” Instead of fighting,
Khusrau Malik sent costly presents and his own son as a hostage to Muhammad Ghuri. In
1185, he attacked the Punjab once again and plundered the countryside. He also captured
the fortress of Sialkot and garrisoned it with his own troops. When Khursau Malik found
that Muhammad Ghuri was determined to oust him from the Punjab, he entered into an
alliance with the Khokhars. With their help, Khursau Malik besieged Sialkot but was unable
to capture, the same. In 1186, Ghuri once again came to the Punjab and besieged Lahore.
He had been invited by Raja chakra Deo of Jammu who was not on good terms with Khursau
Malik. When Muhammad Ghuri failed to defeat Khursau Malik in a pitched battle, he
resorted to a stratagem. He persuaded Khursau Malik to pay him a visit and guaranteed him
 safe conduct. Muhammad Ghuri also released the son of Khusrau Malik and when the latter
came out to meet his son, he was made a prisoner and later put to death.

 This reference is taken from the book India chapter number 11 page number 231 which
is written by John Keay.
Muhammad Ghuri had become the master of Punjab, Multan and Sindh, but he was far
from being the master of Hindustan. In 1191 Muhammad Ghuri attacked and captured a
fort in Punjab which is thought to have been either that of Sirhind near Patiala or of
Bhatinda near the current Indo-Pakistan frontier. The fort was taken; but Prithviraj
hastened to its rescue and, at a place called Tarain near Thanesar (about 150 kilometers
north of Delhi), he was intercepted by the main Ghurids army.
The ensuing battle is described as having been decided by a personal contest between
Muhammad of Ghor and Govinda-raja of Delhi, who was Prithviraj’s vassal. Govinda lost his
front teeth to the Ghorid’s lance but then took fearful revenge with a spear that struck the
latter’s upper arm. Barely able to keep his seat, Muhammad was saved by ‘a lion-hearted
warrior, a Khilji stripling’ who leapt up behind him in the saddle and piloted him from the
battlefield. Seeing this, many of Muhammad’s troops feared the worst; they believed their
leader to be dead and so broke off the encounter. Had the chahamana forces taken
advantage of the situation, it might have become a rout. But Prithviraj, fresh from the
ritualistic manoeuvres of a conventional digvijaya, mistook retreat for an admission of
defeat. Ignorant of the advice once given by ‘bhimpal’, it was as though he rejoiced over the
capture of a hill and bothered not with the rest of the range. The Muslim forces were
allowed to withdraw in good order. Prithviraj then ordered his army forward to a laborious
siege of the Sirhind/Bhatinda fort.

 This reference is taken from the book History of Muslim Civilization in India and
Pakistan Chapter number three page no 53-61 which is written by S.M. Ikram.
In 602/1206, he suffered a defeat at the hands of the Qara Khita’i Turks and rumors spread that
he had been killed. But in Sha’ban February 1206, Ghuri arrived at Lahore. He permitted his
troops to return to their homes in order to make preparations for his projected operations in
Central Asia. And was returning to Ghazni with a small contingent when on 15 March 1206, he
was assassinated at Damiyak, probably by an Isma’ili fanatic.
The death of Sultan Muhammad Ghuri within fourteen years of the victory at Tarain was a great
blow to the rising Muslim power in India. But his main task had been accomplished. At the time
of his death, practically the whole of northern India was under Muslim rule, and Qutb-ud-din
Aibak, Iltutmish, Nasir-ur-Din Qabacha, and Muhammad b. bakhtiyar Khalji, he was leaving a
group of capable officers who could complete his task. The sultan was without a son when a
courtier sympathized with him on this, he smiled and said that the large number of slaves
whom he had brought up and trained were like sons to him. Later these slaves established the
slave dynasty.
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