What happened between the year 711 to 1192 - five hundred years of resistance to Muslim invasions by Kings of India

 Battle of Aror was fought in 711 AD and Second Battle of Tarain was fought after 500 years in the year 1192 AD. The battle of 711AD was fought in Sindh at a place called Aror which was the capital of Sindh. To reach Aror the Islamic Armies had to cross the Indus. So this battle involved gaining control of the gateway to the plains of Indian Sub Continent. The battle of Tarain was fought closer to Delhi which led to the Muslim control of the heart of Indian Sub Continent. 

Both battles were won only by deceit and treachery as in both instances, Muhammad Bin al-Qasim in 711 AD and Muhammad Ghuri in 1192 AD realized that they cannot win in a straight battle. Both these invaders had been defeated earlier. 

This complete period of 500 years is omitted in the history textbooks in Indian School. Reason is unknown. But while the Islamic Caliphate was expanding in all directions, it was in India that it faced massive resistance and had to literally fight their way inside. 

After facing defeat in 1757 at the Battle of Plassey and in 1767 at the Battle of Buxar, Islamic rule in India lasted for just about 550 years. In that period too the Marathas had subdued the Mughals since 1674. The Muslim rule of foreign invaders lasted at the most 450 years and during that period too, the local kings continued to fight. 

The first matter to be settled is that whether there was any Islamic Culture at all or were they just invasion by poor raiders. The answer to this question is understood in the concept of caliphate. 

Understanding the concept of a caliphate

A caliphate can be considered as a religious office. Even though it can be interpreted as a council, in case of a caliphate it is clearly defined as a single person holding charge and who is the leader of all the people who follow the Muslim faith. 

In the year 632 a meeting of natives of Medina was underway to decide a new leader of the Muslim Community. By that time, the majority Arab Peninsular had converted to Muslim religion. Prior to that Arabia was mostly tribal dominated due to the vast empty-ness of the place.  

Abu Bakr and Umar rushed to this meeting sensing that the tribal elders were planning a coup of sorts. With a substantial amount of debate and discussion, Abu Bakr was elected, near unanimously as the head of the Muslim community under the title of Caliph. Abu Bakr established the Rashidun Caliphate which was the first of its kind, an Islamic political entity and the one to lay the foundation of the mighty Islamic Empire. There was a rapid military expansion and they began defeating the then empires one by one. This first Caliphate reigned from 632 to 661 and was governed by three other caliphs after Abu Bakr. But first we need to see why there was a need for a military campaign. 

Islam was always the unifying factor but the Arab peninsular was dominated and ruled by tribes. They immediately challenged the accession of Abu Bakr as a Caliph. There were scores of rebellions and defiance which had to be dealt with immediately. Within one year Abu launched the Ridda Wars and subdued everyone into submission. He next turned his attention to the nearest two empires, Byzantine and Sasanian, the ones who ruled Mediterranean and were predominantly Christian and the other was the great Persian empire and Zoroastrian. 

The great war machine moves East

Now these are mighty empires with large areas and armies. No one really knows why Abu Bakr went on to challenge two empires at the same time. He has never elaborated it. Maybe he wanted the fighting men of the various tribes united for an invasion rather than they working with the tribal elders to challenge the authority of Abu Bakr. Or simply it must be a desire to expand and the right opportunity. He send one army towards present day Iraq which was a rich province those days and four armies towards Syria which was a Roman Province. His successor, the second Caliph, Umar further pushed into the Persian Empire and Byzantine Empire whole were fighting with each other. Umar took control of Mesopotamia, Syria, Egypt and Palestine. The next two caliphs faced internal trouble, but they kept their military conquests going on and capturing new territories with the Islamic Empire reaching Khorasan which is present day Afghanistan. 

Rashidun Caliphate shifted the capital of the Islamic Empire from Medina to Kufa (Iraq) which was a prosperous part of the world. Umayyad Caliphate shifted their base to Damascus. The Umayyad Caliphate assumed complete control of Byzantine, annexed Armenia and taken control of North Africa. 

Central Asia was that time mostly tribal territory and the Caliphate had launched earlier incursions from 705 to 715. But the final conquest was when the caliphate conquered the two ancient cities of Uzbekistan, Bukhara in 709 and Samarkand in 712. Both cities were converted into garrisons for further launch pads into the more prosperous eastern regions that is India. This paved the way for Muhammad Qasim to lead the first incursions into the great Indian Empire that time ruled by a assortment of local Indian Kings. 

Since he was born, al-Qasim of the Banu Thaqif tribe climbed the ranks along with other military commanders belonging to the same tribe both during the Rashidun Caliphate as well as the Umayyad Caliphate. One example was Al-Hajjaj who was made a commander by the Umayyad Caliph in 692 and later a governor too. Another example of a military commander from the same tribe was Uthman who send the first naval expeditions to India to the port cities of Debal (Sindh), Thane and Baruch. 

The first expedition on Thane was a success and was followed by a raid in Debal and Baruch. These raids were send out in the year 636. These could be termed as probing raids. Uthman was the governor of Bahrayn and Oman and Indian accounts show that the raid were successfully repelled by the Chalukyas who had a strong navy. The Caliph at that time of the Umayyad Caliphate was not happy about these sea incursions. Uthman had a strong reason to launch these raids, piracy off the coast of Sindh and Saurashtra. The region of Sindh had semi nomadic tribes and they used Debal as the base to launch their piracy attacks. One such raid on a ship led to the kidnapping of Muslim women travelling from Sri Lanka to Arabia and lots of items of value on board the ship. When diplomatic correspondence failed, al-Qasim was send for action against the Sindh King Dahir. This is the year 711. 

King Dahir started his rule from 695. By this time the Umayyad Caliphate had already made their first naval expeditions which had failed. That was 636. In 649 a scout was send to Makran (city in Baluchistan) which was later captured in 680. All these moves were a preparation of sorts for the ultimate prize - thaghr al-Hind or the Indian Sub Continent. It was time for the conquest of Sindh.

Al-Hajjaj now comes into picture as the Governor of Iraq and the one who has extreme interest in India. He sends numerous incursions into Sindh, all of which are defeated by King Dahir. Two battles took place at the port city of Debal in which some senior military commander was killed. Al-Hijjaj now decided to send an expeditionary force with a different approach. He was going to make use of treachery and bribery. 

King Dahir was a brave and noble person who wanted history to remember him as the King who stopped the Islamic incursions. He had already made up his mind to sacrifice his life for his kingdom and for his people to remember. But he had two main problems, the Jats of Sindh for no reason known or understood had developed some kind of fascination for Islam. The Jat warriors had fought along side Ali of Rashidun Caliphate in 656. Plus Sindh that time had a small population of Buddhist people who were not too happy with the Hindu ruler. 

Al-Hajjaj now launched Muhammad Qasim for his next campaign. First he attacked and captured Debal and freed earlier captives. He next went to Nerun, the second largest city of Sindh which had a Buddhist Governor. Intentions were very clear. He took the support of various tribes and Buddhist rulers. In the final battle, even before the final battle began, the Buddhists were actively helping Qasim and Jats were on their side too. Dahir was approached with the advise to move inside India and take refuge with any king or at least shift his family. Dahir, a brave he was stood his ground till his end. 

His exact words, if I am killed honorably, I will be talked about by great men. It is sad that there were attempts to hide him from the history text books in India. 

Understanding the significance of the victory over Sindh

There were celebrations both at Sindh and Iraq with Umayyad Caliphate now having a base of operations from where they could launch an attack any time into the Hind heart land. Muhammad Qasim becomes the first governor of Sindh as per the coins which were minted having the words "al-Hind" loosely translated to victory over India. 

Governor of Iraq got the authority to appoint the Governor of Sindh. The Governor of Sindh got a free hand to conquer any territory eastwards. 

As Governor, energized by the recent conquest, Qasim launched expeditions into Rajasthan, Gujarat, Kangra and Kashmir. He tried to target Kanauj which was a large and prosperous city. The thing is that in ancient India, cities and kingdoms were wealthy and prosperous. But many kingdoms did not have an actively strong army. Even today we find people questioning the need to fund and build a strong army. You can build hospitals and schools with that money they say. When you do not have a powerful army, you will be invaded and subdued. 

Emperor Harshavardhan rule of Kanauj - 606 to 647
Arunasva - 647 to 649

Yashovarma - 725 to 752

Now you can understand what Qasim was up to. Wherever the Arabs fought head to head, they lost. So they were largely into deceit and treachery. Marching to Kanauj was one such incident. After the death of Qasim in 715, the hold of Arabic invaders in India got weakened and the various local kings started rebuilding their armies and stopped paying tribute to the Caliphate. This is the example of defiance which only came from the Indian Sub Continent. Even the province of Sindh started with revolts. 

Junayd was appointed governor of Sindh in 723. First he subdued Sindh and then send campaigns into all parts of India. They met with mixed success. Prominent failures were defeat by Yashovarma of Kanauj and Lalitaditya in Punjab. Even though the Arabs depicted these campaigns as successful, Junayd was changed as the governor and was replaced by Tamim who was replaced by Hakam. Here are their time lines

Junayd - 723 to 726

Tamim - 726 to 731

Hakam - 731 to 740

You can see how the governors were changing in short durations. The reason for this was the fight back by the local kings of India. It was happening only in this part of the world while rest of the kingdoms captured by Arabs were permanently subdued. 

Tamim lost large areas of India and troops stationed at various places ran away or maybe were defeated and chased away. Even Governor Tamim fled from Sindh and died while running away. 

Hakam tried to recaptured lost territories but was defeated large scale. 

1.    An inscription of 736 explains the sound defeat by Vallabhi King.

2.    Battle of Navsari in 739 when General Pulakeshin defeated the Arab Army and got the title of Dakshinapatha and Anivartaka. Hakam appealed for reinforcements in 737.

3.    Bappa Rawal of Mewar drives out Arab forces in 734.

4.    Nagabhata defeats a powerful army of Valacha Mlecchas in 725.

5.    Hakam died fighting in Saurastra just like the other before him. 

756 - Governor of Sindh launches a naval attack and is defeated.

776 - another naval attack is defeated and the Arabs now give up completely on any more attacks.

From 747 to 854 the Abbasid Caliphate mostly focused on retaining control over Sindh. Post 854, the Habbari Dynasty maintained control over Sindh but autonomous from the influence of the Caliphate. By 871, the Muslim rule was limited to Sindh. The Arabic forces ruled for just 160 years and could never subdue India.

Here are the time lines of the first to last Caliphates

Rashidun Caliphate - 632 to 661

Umayyad Caliphate - 661 to 750
Abbasid Caliphate - 750 to 1517

Almohad Caliphate - 1147 to 1269

Hafsid Caliphate - 1253 to 1574

Ottoman Caliphate - 1517 to 1924

Ghaznavids march into India

The weakening of Caliphates even though brought a period of relative peace in India, it also provided opportunity for many dynasties to rise against the caliphate. 

Four kings came together to form the Samanid Kingdom centered around Khorasan, an ancient region of Iran. They also controlled the region of Uzbekistan which had the three ancient cities of Samarkand and Bukhara. Now in the earlier portion of the article we have seen that by 712, the Umayyad Caliphate had captured both these cities. Samanid Empire started their rule in 819 and by 892 they became independent of the Caliphate no doubt because of the losses the caliphate had to suffer due to the invasions into India. 

However a twist of fate that the Turkic Military leaders who were primarily slaves took control of the empire by 945. In 962 one of the slave commanders of the army at Khorasan, Alp Tigin seized Ghazna and handed over the charge to another of his slave Sabuktigin. Though Tigin was the Governor of Ghazna for just a year after which he died, Sabuktigin first established his reputation between the other slaves and then got himself elected as their chief in 977. Sabuktigin expanded his kingdom to Afghanistan and Balochistan. In the middle of his military campaigns, Sabuktigin, the founder of Ghaznavid Dynasty died in 997. 

We are now into 300 years after 711 and the invaders are getting ready for the next round of military campaigns to loot the various prosperous towns in India. 

While on his death bed, Sabuktigin appoints his younger son as a successor over the more experienced and more powerful Mahmud. Furious, he marches into Ghazni and takes over the title of Emir from Ismail who lives the rest of his life in a remote palace. 

Mahmud was granted the recognition by the Samanid Amir. This encouraged Mahmud to take control of Khorasan. For that he first turned on Samanid and his military actions led to the fall of the Samanid Dynasty. By the year 999, Mahmud became a powerful ruler with blessings of the Abbasid Caliphate. He started with capturing neighboring kingdoms and dynasties. First he started with with the conquest of Punjab and by 1013 he had complete control over Punjab. He never held territory but left subjugated kings in place. This system worked just fine because he was there to loot and not to govern or administer or usher an era of peace and prosperity. In the same year he proclaimed that he is going to keep returning to India every year to loot while keeping anchored in Ghazni. 

In 1015 he attacked Kashmir but was defeated by Sangramaraja not one but twice as he attempted again in 1021. 

In 1018 he targeted the richest city of India at that time, the place of a magnificent temple. The city was destroyed and all temples looted. Mathura was targeted because it was a center for art and culture for Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism all living and prospering in harmony. The burning and looting continued for 20 days.

When he looted the Somnath Temple in 1024, King Bhola of Malwa gathered a large army to pursue him. Like his predecessors, Mahmud was not a brave soldier but more of a looter and raider. He decided to flee and too the desert route via Sindh. This flight killed a large number of his soldiers. 

Historians argue the reason for him looting and destroying temples. He never wanted the Hindus to rise up as a power to challenge his kingdom. There has been a history of sorts and a record that kings from the Indian Sub Continent never attacked neighboring dynasties and rulers. This record is held by India till date. 

Jats finally extracted their revenge in 1026 by attacking Mahmud while he as running away to Multan. They continued the fight for two years. This particular fight proved costly to him and died two years later. 

The irony of history is that so many of the powerful dynasties had just one king who creates the dynasty and then once dead, the dynasty also goes into oblivion. Same happens with Ghaznavi Dynasty. First the two sons of Mahmud fight where the elder son is blinded and thrown into prison. The younger brother lost all his empire by 1040 within 10 years of his rule. As a last desperate attempt he gathers all his treasures from the palace and attempts to move to India to rebuild his army and kingdom. He is looted by his own soldiers. In a desperate move he releases his elder brother from prison who is elevated to the status of king and the first thing he does is now throw his younger brother in prison. Positions exchanged. The younger brother is assassinated in prison, common practice those days. A few years later it is the turn of their sons to fight. They attempt to invade India again in 1058 but are firmly resisted in Malwa and Kannauj. Subsequent kings who took over were of no consequence. 

Ghurids take power and center stage

Ghazni was now being challenged by a new power. Somewhere in North Afghanistan, Amir Banji came to prominence during the Abbasid Caliphate. They were initially Buddhists. The origin of Ghurids is from one of the tribes of the Ghuristan Mountains of the North. 

While rising to power, Amir Suri consolidated some territory and passed it on to his son Muhammad Suri. Mahmud from the Ghazni kingdom while expanding his empire attacked the Suris since they were considered to be Hindus. Even the population was non Islamic. Mahmud changed all that. He first disposed off the king and appointed his son as successor. Abu Ali in 1011 converted the whole region to Muslim and build scores of Mosques and Madrassas. Even though Ghurids regarded Ghaznavis as arch enemies, they could do nothing about it. It was a typical mountainous north versus plains of south in the same country of Afghanistan. 

Abu Ali was overthrown by Abbas in 1035 who himself was overthrown in 1060 when his own generals asked Ghaznavids to replace him. By 1080, the entire kingdom was in chaos due to tribal conflicts and weak kings. 

Order was restored in 1100 by Husayn who ruled till 1146 by paying tribute to both the Ghaznavis in south and Seljuqs in North. After he dies, his seven sons distribute the kingdom among themselves.

While ruling the brothers were quarrelling too. In one instance, Qutb took refuge in Ghazni and was killed by the king. To avenge this act, one of the brothers march into Ghazni in 1148 and in the ensuing battle the brother was killed too. Finally the last of the brother survived and took the throne without any resistance. The kingdom was united again by 1149. It was now time for revenge. 

Husayn marched against the Ghaznavis in 1150. There was nothing or no one left to resist. It was more of a massacre. Husayn burned down the entire city destroying tombs and monuments, all built with the loot from India. Within seven days, the city is destroyed and inhabitants killed. From 1150 to 1161 till he died, he kept fighting both north and south. 

Two Brothers come to Power

The reign of Ghiyath as the Sultan of Ghurid Dynasty begins in 1163 with a remarkable feature, he is the support of a loyal brother. This is a very rare occurrence of brothers helping each other to rule. Earlier Ghiyath was imprisoned but once released, he consolidated his rule and position. First he waited for the ruling king to die of natural causes and then got the support of the various generals and nobles. In the next ten years Ghiyath and his younger brother Muhammad Ghori went on various military expeditions to consolidate power by disposing off all rivals and challengers. Muhammad Ghori attacked and captured the city of Ghazni and then in 1175 captured Herat. In the same year, he crossed Indus river.

After consolidating power in Afghanistan, he ventured into the Thar desert towards Gujarat to challenge the Chaulukyas. He was stopped at Sirohi by an army led by the Queen Naiki Devi with her infant son. It was a massive defeat for Muhammad Ghori who himself was wounded and with great difficulty managed to reach back Ghazni. 

On a side note - Just like historians in India love to talk about the defeat of India in 1962 but they always miss the victory over Chinese in 1967 not just once but two separate times, you will never read about this victory by a woman over the invading Islamic army. Instead you will be always told about the battle of Tarain where Prithviraj Chauhan was defeated.

Ghori now decides to approach India through the more safer plains route of Punjab. For that he needs to conquer it first. His invasions include capture of Sindh, Peshawar and Lahore in 1186. After over running Bhatinda in 1191 he marches towards Delhi but is defeated by the Rajputs. He invades again the next year when he finally manages to defeat Prithviraj Chauhan through deceit. 

Muhammad Ghori was not exactly in the category of a brave and honorable warrior. He was more of a raider and survivor. He was not into building empire and administer people. These category of raiders and looters keep surviving only by killing and plundering. The purpose of their life is singular, survive by destroying others. After conquering a city he used to installed a puppet and ask for tribute. So basically they were extortionists too. All they wanted is a steady supply of easy cash. 

After studying the tactics of Rajputs, he worked on the counter measures this time. Indian Kings always followed the policy of diplomacy first so that peace can be given a chance. Soldiers were not a disposable commodity. On similar lines, Prithviraj first send out a peace message which was responded to by Ghori. But all of a sudden Ghori attacked and used his 10,000 strong mounted archers against the powerful elephants of the Rajputs. Prithviraj Chauhan was captured in battle and executed immediately. 

As usual, Ghori installed his son as a puppet but was soon faced with revolt. This was also a pattern with India that even in defeat they were not subdued. Each generation had a desire to fight against the mlechchha army. This is a very interesting term used in ancient India. It comes up in description multiple times. If it was a term to describe foreigners, it made a clear distinction between people staying in the Indian sub continent and outsiders. It does not mean that there will be in interaction as the Indian kingdoms were trading with ancient Romans and Greeks. It was only the definition of people who had a different way of life like sleeping and waking up at improper timings or the ones who had distinctly different customs and rituals. This term strengthens the possibility that Vedic system originated in India and was a concept unique to this place. It was not an outside import. 

At this point of time, Qutb Aibak came into prominence after the conquest of Delhi in 1193. Qutb Aibak was placed as a Viceroy of Delhi. While Ghori continued eastwards reaching Kashi, Qutb moved south and in 1196 defeated the Rajput kings at the same location where Queen Naiki Devi had defeated Ghori. Qutb was a slave who had risen the ranks and was eager to please his boss that he was a worthy soldier. 

Another tribal military commander of Ghori, Bakhtiyar Khalji launched attacks into Bihar and destroyed the Nalanda University in 1203. The University started operations in the year 427 and was a significant place of learning. The library had thousands of books and manuscripts covering topics of medicine, astronomy, literature to name a few. Just like modern universities there were separate buildings where different subjects were taught under the guidance and supervision of great scholars. Bahkhtiyar Khalji destroyed this university campus and burnt all the manuscripts and documents. Why did he do that? It was plain and simple, these were people who were not interested in the culture of learning and wisdom. It is no wonder that these raiders were called barbaric hordes. 

On a side note - After the destruction of the university in 1203, it was never reconstructed. Most of the scholars and some collection of documents were taken inside the mountains of Tibet where the teachings continued to flourish. Shakyashri Bhadra along with other scholars was invited to Tibet in 1204 which is how Buddhism continued in Tibet. Nalanda was all but forgotten even from the memories of people till the East India Company carried out some surveys in the region. Detailed excavations post Independence revealed the grand scale of this university. 

However the detailed description of the wealth and prosperity of India has been explained in detail by two Chinese monks who travelled to India to study the Sanskrit texts and translate them to fully understand the Buddhist principles. 

1.   Faxian or Hiuen Tsang - From 399 to 412 with 10 years in India.

2.   Xuanzang or Chen Hui - From 629 to 645 with 16 years in India which includes visiting the Kumbha Mela of 644. 

Each of them have described the glory in India in their memoirs.

Post 1192 events usher in dark ages for India

After being seated on the throne of Delhi both Aibak and Khaliji went on their respective military campaigns against the various kings. Aibak captured parts of Uttar Pradesh right from Budaun to Kannauj and then moved into Madhya Pradesh. After the Bihar campaign Khaliji came back to meet Aibak. Both met on 23rd March 1203 where Khalji presented the wealth he had looted and war trophies. The location they selected was both interesting and important. Somewhere between Delhi, Bareilly and Kannauj is the town of Budaun. During vedic times, it was the epicenter of Panchal kingdom. Ashoka build a fort here which is known as Budaun Fort. This place was an important Buddhist center too. Excavations from time to time reveal rich sources of information but the main challenge is where to look. The city itself was founded by an Ahir King by the name Budh and he named the city after himself. This was the year 905. It was captured by Aibak in 1196 and was then been used as a staging post. 

After being praised by Aibak, Khalji then sets sight on the most prosperous region of India, Bengal. He rapidly marches to Bengal in 1203. He first captures Nabadwip and in a shock action makes the Sena King flee from his palace. Khalji then moves to the capital city of Gauda to capture it. In the case of Bengal too, the Sena Dynasty does not give in so easily. They move in the interiors and keep fighting the Khalji Dynasty for the next two hundred years, right from Bengal to Benaras. 

The person who started all this, Ghiyath dies in Herat in 1203. Ghori now being his younger brother gets tempted to take the title of the greatest Sultan of all times. His followers name his the King of Islam the leader of the army that defeated the infidels (Indian). Basking in all this glory, his seat of power is taken by his rivals and he has to rush back to reclaim the city and the kingdom of Afghanistan. He is defeated there and ultimately assassinated in 1206. 

Everyone is quick to react. Aibak stations himself at Lahore and declares himself independent in 1208 and announces the formation of the Delhi Sultanate who rules the plains of India for the next 300 years. Aibak never stayed in Delhi but instead appointed a governor there fearing that the local Kings of India even though defeated are never subdued. Lahore was a safe haven for him relatively as it was closer to Afghanistan. He died an accidental death in 1210. After entering into Bengal, Khalji shifts focus to Tibet, probably looking for the monks who escaped to Tibet from Nalanda University. His army is slaughtered in the valleys of Tibet and he returns wounded and exhausted with just 100 soldiers left. He is assassinated in 1206. He never got to use the gold coins he has struck between 1204 to1206 proclaiming him as the conqueror of Bengal. 

Why were Indian Kings losing battles?

To answer this question I have to go back to a certain railway journey which I did somewhere in 2003 where a businessman was asking a soldier that what do you do these days since there are no wars fought any longer. 

Businessmen down the ages have always questioned kings in India that what is the purpose of maintaining such a large army. We are economically so strong and prosperous. 

The answer to all that lies between the event I explained from 711 to 1192. The fact that even though all the kings ruled by vedic traditions, they never kept a strong army to defend India. 

The Air Force Chief summarizes this