The Battle of Tarain

The Battle of Tarain, also known as the Battles of Tarain, were two significant conflicts fought between the Ghurid Empire and the Rajput Chauhan dynasty in 1191 and 1192 near Tarain (modern-day Taraori in Haryana, India). The first battle in 1191 saw the Rajput king Prithviraj Chauhan defeat Muhammad Ghori. However, in the second battle in 1192, Muhammad Ghori returned with a larger force and decisively defeated Prithviraj Chauhan, leading to the establishment of Muslim rule in northern India and paving the way for the Delhi Sultanate.

Great Battle of Tarain

Introduction

The Battle of Tarain, fought in 1191 and 1192, were two significant military engagements between the forces of Prithviraj Chauhan, a powerful Rajput king, and Muhammad Ghori, a ruler from the Ghurid dynasty in present-day Afghanistan. The Battle of Tarain was another interesting clash of widely differing civilizations and empires—in this case, a 12th-century invasion of Hindu Rajput India by a Turkish Islamic army.

Rajput versus Turk

• (1) Conversion to Islam after the Battle of Talas River was a process that took several hundred years. Among the groups that converted were the warlike Turkish tribes of the steppe, who were outstanding horsemen and archers, and in the 11th century, several energetic Turkish leaders used these martial skills to carve out substantial empires.
• (2) The most famous of these was Mahmud of Ghazni, who built an empire based in what today is Afghanistan and extending into Iran and Pakistan. Mahmud led 16 raids into northern India, where his zeal for destroying Hindu temples and statues earned him the nickname “Idol Breaker.”
• (3) Mahmud’s empire was supplanted by a pair of brothers from Ghor. One established himself on the throne of Ghazni, while the other, Mohamad of Ghor, looked southward to India to carve out his own kingdom.
• (4) In northern and central India, the Rajput kingdoms dominated and frequently fought each other. Rajput warfare emphasized large masses of conscript infantry coupled with war elephants. They did use cavalry, but this was a lesser arm of the military and was hampered by lack of the excellent horses available across the mountains.
• (5) One of the prominent northern Indian Rajput kingdoms was ruled by a man named Prithvi-raja, an efficient and ruthless leader who controlled a large territory based around the cities of Ajmer and Delhi. The main invasion route into India from Afghanistan led directly through Prithvi-raja’s territory; thus, in the late 12th century, Prithvi-raja and Mohamad of Ghor were on a collision course.

The First Battle of Tarain

• (1) In 1191, Mohamad led a large army south into India and seized the fortress of Bhatinda. Prithvi-raja summoned his conscripts and moved to intercept Mohamad. The armies met at a site called Tarain, just north of Delhi.
• (2) The available sources claim that Prithvi-raja’s army numbered 200,000, with 3,000 elephants, and that Mohamad’s was considerably smaller. The actual numbers are probably less than half of these, but it does seem that Mohamad’s army was much smaller, although more professional.
• (3) Prithvi-raja’s forces charged enthusiastically forward, seeking to crush and envelop Mohamad’s army by sheer weight of numbers. Mohamad was wounded severely enough that he had to leave the field, prompting his troops to also withdraw. The First Battle of Tarain ended as a victory for Prithvi-raja, but not a decisive one.
• (4) It is interesting to compare how the two leaders responded to
  this battle.
  (a) Mohamad organized a new army with a greater emphasis on mobile horsemen and discipline. He purged his army of anyone who had shown cowardice, increased training, and obtained more horses.
  (b) In contrast, the only action taken by Prithvi-raja to prepare for the rematch was to secure agreements from other Rajput rulers to assist him, ensuring that his army would be even larger.

The Second Battle of Tarain

• (1) In 1192, Mohamad returned, and Prithvi-raja moved to meet him with an army said to be more than 300,000 strong. They met on almost the same spot, but this battle would have a definitive outcome.
• (2) Mohamad divided his army into five units, including four with 10,000 light cavalry each, armed mainly with bows. The last was a division of 12,000 heavily armored horsemen. His plan was clever:
  (a) The four horse archer divisions were to advance and retreat repeatedly, all the while raining arrows down on the Rajput ranks. If attacked, they were to fall back and not engage in close combat.
  (b) If one division was being pursued with determination by a unit of the Rajputs, it should retreat, but the other three archer divisions should harass the flanks of the Indian until they gave up the pursuit.
  (c) With their inferior cavalry and slower horses, the Rajputs would not be able to chase their opponents very far, and Mohamad’s horse archers would once again turn, charge, and fire more arrows.
• (3) The plan took advantage of the strengths of Mohamad’s army and exploited the weaknesses of the Rajput. It was also a classic confrontation between a smaller, highly disciplined force that used hit-and-run tactics and a large, unwieldy one that relied on brute force and numbers.
• (4) Finally, Mohamad ordered a general retreat, his men pretending that they were panicking and fleeing. The undisciplined Rajput troops took the bait and rushed headlong after their apparently running foes, losing cohesion in their own ranks in their eagerness to get at their tormentors.
• (5) This was the moment Mohamad had been waiting for; he ordered into battle his reserve division of 12,000 heavily armored horsemen. They smashed into the disordered Rajput ranks and began slashing with their swords. The other four divisions wheeled back to join the slaughter, and the battle became a bloody rout.

Outcomes

• (1) With this victory and several follow-up campaigns, Mohamad of Ghor took control of many of the cities and kingdoms of northern India, including Ajmer and Delhi, establishing a permanent Muslim influence and community in these regions and a dynasty of Muslim monarchs in Delhi that would rule until they were deposed by Mongol invaders in 1290.
• (2) The Second Battle of Tarain was a decisive one in world history because it secured a permanent Muslim presence in India. For the next 800 years, up to the 21st century, there would be tension and sometimes outright war between Hindus and Muslims.
• (3) When India achieved independence from British rule in 1947, these tensions resulted in the establishment of Muslim Pakistan as separate from predominantly Hindu India, a national rivalry that continues to have significant effects on global politics even today.

Conclusion

The Battles of Tarain were pivotal in shaping the medieval history of India. The first battle showcased the resilience of the Rajput rulers, while the second battle marked the beginning of a new era with the establishment of Muslim rule in northern India, paving the way for subsequent Islamic dynasties, including the Delhi Sultanate and later the Mughal Empire. This shift significantly influenced the region’s political, cultural, and social landscapes

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