The Battles at Tarain and Consolidation of Muslim Rule

It was the battles at Tarain that was remarkable as it provided the initial entry of Muslim rule in India. But soon after that they got involved in dealing with regular threats from Mongol invasions, putting down frequent internal rebellions that arose both within the dynasty as well as from the Rajput chiefs. They also tried to expand territory by conquest of neighboring territories.

Each of the Delhi Sultanate rulers dealt with these problems in different ways. During the reign of Khilji and Tughlaq dynasty, for example, the empire expanded West and South. The invasion from the Mongols was also effectively stopped by erecting strong defenses.

The first battle of Tarain was fought between Mohammed Ghori and the Indian Rajput King Prithviraj Chauhan in 1191 A.D. at Tarrain near the present day Thaneshwar city in Haryana. Prithviraj Chauhan won the battle.

However, it was after defeating the Rajput King at the second battle of Tarrain in 1192 A.D that Mohammed Ghori was able to gain foot-hold in Northern India and thereby establish the Muslim rule. After crossing the Khyber Pass, Ghori reached North Western part of India, the present day Punjab, and attacked and captured the fortress of Bathinda which was the outpost of the Rajput kingdom.

This made Prithviraj counter-attack and recapture Bathinda by fiercely attacking Ghori's forces from both sides called 'the flanks'. The attack was a success for Prithviraj as Ghori's forces could not withstand and hence retreated. Ghori narrowly escaped death and was saved by one of his loyal slave Qutub-ud-din Aibak, who later established the Slave Dynasty in Delhi.

The mistake Prithviraj made was that he did not pursue his enemy further but was satisfied with recapturing the Bathinda fort. Had Prithviraj killed Ghori in the battle then the military history would have been different. Probably, India would have seen a different medieval period without the Delhi Sultanates or even the Mughal rulers.

The establishment of Muslim rule brought changes in military structure, military reforms, new weapon systems, strategies and battle field tactics.

The success of Prithviraj during the first battle was not capitalised upon. Hence the very next year, Ghori returned with vengeance and attacked Prithviraj's forces in the second battle of Tarain.

Prithvi Raj Chauhan was an exemplary ruler and military strategist. It is said he had the art of hitting target only on the basis of the sound. He extended his empire by defeating many kingdoms like Chandellas, Gahadavalas, etc.. The Gahadavala ruler Jaychandra tried to curb the ambition of Prithvi Raj Chauhan. It is said that Prithvi Raj Chauhan abducted the daughter of Jaychandra, Sanyogita, when he was not invited for the ‘Swayamvar’ by the latter. This incident has been immortalized by Chand Barrdai in his epic Prithvi Raj Raso.

His major military achievement was the success in the first battle of Terrain in 1191. He forced the army of Muhammad Ghori to retreat. It is said that he did not attack the retreating army to protect the Rajput honour and tradition. Next year, in 1192, Muhammad Ghori again attacked and this time Prithvi Raj Chauhan was defeated.

Many of the rulers had turned against him and did not help him in the second battle of Terrain. The defeat of Prithvi Raj Chauhan paved the way for the establishment of the Turkish rule in India which continued for about 300 years.

The second battle at Tarain was significant because during this battle Ghori won the numerically strong Rajput forces. This was possible because Ghori's forces were swift in the use of Cavalry as against that of the Rajputs which were slow, although they were large in numbers. Ghori's forces were well organized with good line of command and control. The horses were fitted with horse shoes that provided high speed and life. 

Also, new battlefield tactics were used by Ghori by way of tactically retreating his forces which made the Rajputs move towards the centre and thereafter encircling them with their flanks and attacking fiercely. Besides, Ghori's forces were always on the offensive and hence had the option of choosing the place to strike. These techniques led to the victory of Mohammed Ghori who later captured Delhi and Ajmer and established his rule.

Besides the superior battlefield techniques employed by the Turkish forces, the successful penetration and establishment of Muslim rule in India can be attributed to the following:

• India, at that time, lacked a unified central authority. It was divided among many small Kingdoms such as the Pratiharas and Chauhans in the North, Rashtrakutas in the Deccan or Central India and the Palas in East India.
• Small kingdoms meant less power and weak forces. It was easy for Mohammad Ghori to defeat smaller kings.
• There was frequent infighting within the Rajput clans for supremacy.

From then on, the Muslim dynasty called the Slave dynasty was founded with Qutubud-din-Aibak as its first independent ruler in 1206 A.D. He ruled for four years and established Muslim rule by putting down revolts from the surrounding Rajput kings.

Because of his bravery and generosity he was called 'Lakh Baksh'. Consolidation of Muslim rule took place during the reign of Iltutmish who ruled from 1210 to 1236 A.D. Further territorial expansion took place during the rule of Alauddin Khilji when Gujarat, Rajasthan, Malwa, Ujjain and neighboring territories were captured. Attempt was also made to expand to the South.

Military Contributions

During the rule of Delhi Sultanate the military saw new developments. In fact, as and when power shifted to new Kings there were changes in the way the military was organized. Generally, it was the king or the Sultan who was the supreme commander of the armed forces. A new war ministry was created to administer the military department and was under the control of a Minister called the 'diwan-i-arz'.

He was responsible for recruitment of soldiers, training and maintenance of discipline in the army. Branches of the army consisted of infantry, cavalry and elephants. Loyalty of these branches was ensured through keeping them under the command of experienced and trusted people. The cavalry branch was considered paramount as it had great mobility and proved effective as well.

During the rule of Ghiyas-ud-din Balban of the Slave dynasty a strong central army was maintained to put down internal uprisings. The military was reorganized into commands. Each command was responsible for maintaining law and order and provide support to the Sultan during rebellions. Borders were fortified to ensure strong rule and an efficient intelligence or spy system was put in place.

During the days of Khilji dynasty under Alauddin Khilji (1296 -1316) a large standing permanent army was established for further expansion of the empire as well as to protect his empire from Mongol invasion.

The Mongols were using gunpowder and hence it spread to India as well. However, the use of firearms and canons by the Delhi Sultanates was of limited nature and varying degrees during military operations. It was only during the Mughal rule that the effective use of these weapons was made.

Weakening of Delhi Sultanates

Weakening of Sultanate Empire took place for several reasons. It started from the Tughlaq dynasty itself. Unsuccessful campaigns contributed to the weakening of the empire. For example, the invasion of Timur by the successors of Tughlaq led to desolation and to several regions demanding autonomy from the authority of Delhi. Gujarat, Malwa, Punjab and Rajasthan, which were once annexed and controlled by the Sultans, no longer remained so and they started agitating for more power and autonomous status.

The second reason was frequent internal power struggle leading to revolts from within the Sultanate which threatened internal stability. Many times succession of rulers was not peaceful. Deceit and treachery were common among the royal family where brothers and descendents attempted to capture power by killing and using other treacherous means. In fact, this was a common phenomenon in every dynasty.

The third reason was the problem of maintaining large standing army. Salary and payment issues affected the continuation of large army in due course of time. It placed a financial burden on the state leading to either levying more taxes on the people or collecting taxes from neighboring chieftains who refused to pay at times. So they had to conquer neighboring territories for wealth, which in turn drained their own wealth.

The fourth reason was the failure to control the free-floating mercenaries, who were hired for money. These mercenaries sold their services to whoever paid more money. The availability of such mercenaries led to more rebellions as the smaller kings used these soldiers to rebel against the Sultan.

And finally, internal rebellions contributed to further weakening of the empire. For example at the time of last of the Delhi Sultanate rule under Ibrahim Lodhi (1517 - 1526) rebellions by his own brother Jalal Khan and others elsewhere led to dissatisfaction inviting foreign conquest by Babur who defeated Lodhi at the first battle of Panipat in 1526 and establishing the Mughal rule in India.