Second Battle of Tarain

Topic: Turkic Invasions and the Delhi Sultanate · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 4 "Turning Tides: The 11th and 12th Centuries"; Class 8, Ch 2 "Reshaping India's Political Map"

Meaning

The Second Battle of Tarain (1192) was fought at Tarain (modern Taraori, Haryana). In it, Muhammad Ghuri defeated and executed Prithviraja III (Prithviraj Chauhan), the Chauhan ruler of Ajmer and Delhi, and then captured Delhi [2].

It matters because it was a watershed (turning point). It broke Rajput power in the Indo-Gangetic plain and firmly set up Muslim rule in north India [2]. Ghuri's generals stayed on to rule, and from them came the Delhi Sultanate.

Explanation

Background: from Ghazni to Ghur

• After Mahmud of Ghazni died, the Ghaznavid empire broke apart.
• The chiefs of Ghur took its place. Ghur is a hilly region in Afghanistan, west of Ghazni. These chiefs had once been vassals (junior rulers who paid tribute) of the Ghaznavids.
• The Ghurids seized Ghazni. Their sultan was Muhammad Ghuri, also called Muizz al-Din Muhammad ibn Sam [2].
• He built a base inside India step by step:
• He first took parts of Punjab and Sindh.
• His campaign into Gujarat failed in 1178.
• So his advance was not one smooth march. He lost, learnt and came back.

Sequence: First Tarain to Second Tarain

• 1191, First Battle of Tarain: Prithviraja III defeated Muhammad Ghuri [2].

• Prithviraja had a joint Rajput force behind him, including Jaichandra (Jai Chand) of Kannauj and Banaras [2].

• 1192, Second Battle of Tarain: Ghuri came back to the same field with a larger army.

• This time Prithviraja fought without Jaichandra's support [2].
• Ghuri won, executed Prithviraja and captured Delhi [2].

How Ghuri won

• Cavalry tactics: Ghuri's mounted troops moved quickly and confused the Rajput army [2].
• Blow to the centre: his main force then smashed the Rajput centre [2].
• Broken alliance: Prithviraja's allies of 1191 did not stand with him in 1192 [2].

Results: conquest, not plunder

• Mahmud of Ghazni raided India, took the wealth and went back. He wanted treasure, not land.
• Muhammad Ghuri wanted territory and meant to keep it.
• Ghuri went back to Ghazni, but left his generals behind to hold and extend the new lands.

• The most important of them, Qutb-ud-din Aibak, later founded the Delhi Sultanate.

• The new rulers built, which shows they planned to stay:

• Aibak built the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque in AD 1198. It is the earliest surviving mosque of the Delhi Sultans, made from material of about 20 Brahmanical temples [3].

• Aibak laid the foundation of the Qutb Minar in AD 1199 [3].

• The conquest spread east: Aibak's commander Bakhtiyar Khilji conquered Bihar and Bengal from the end of the 12th century.

• It lasted: Ghuri was killed in 1206, but north India stayed in the hands of his generals. That is what makes 1192 different from Mahmud's raids.

Time, place and evidence

• When: 1192, late 12th century. This is the start of the period of Turkic rule in north India (c. 1000–1526 in the study note's framing).
• Where: Tarain, today Taraori in Haryana. The field lies between Karnal (about 110 km north of Delhi) and Thanesar [2].
• Key people:
• Muhammad Ghuri (Muizz al-Din Muhammad ibn Sam), Ghurid sultan, the winner [2]
• Prithviraja III, the Chahamana/Chauhan ruler of Ajmer and Delhi, defeated and executed [2]
• Jaichandra of Kannauj, Prithviraja's ally in 1191 but not in 1192 [2]

• Qutb-ud-din Aibak, the general left to hold the conquest

• How we know:

• Coins: a gold coin shows Ghuri as a mounted conqueror with the name 'Muhammad ibn Sam'. Another coin carries the Goddess Lakshmi, a motif used in India since the Kushanas. New rulers kept familiar images so that local people would accept the money.
• Monuments: the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque (1198) and the Qutb Minar (1199) in Delhi are physical proof of permanent rule [3]. Qutb Minar and its Monuments became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993 [3].
• Chronicles: Persian court histories of the period, such as Minhaj al-Siraj Juzjani's Tabakat-i-Nasiri.
• NCERT: Class 7, Ch 4 "Turning Tides" and Class 8, Ch 2 "Reshaping India's Political Map".

Don't confuse with

• First Battle of Tarain (1191): same place, same two rulers, but Prithviraja won, with Jaichandra's support [2]. Only the 1192 battle was decisive.
• Mahmud of Ghazni's raids: Mahmud looted and went home. Ghuri conquered and stayed, and left generals to rule.
• First Battle of Panipat (1526): also fought in Haryana, but there Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi. Tarain began the Delhi Sultanate, and Panipat ended it.
• Qutb-ud-din Aibak vs Muhammad Ghuri: Ghuri won at Tarain. Aibak, his general, founded the Delhi Sultanate and began the Qutb Minar [3].

Prelims Hooks

• Tarain = Taraori, Haryana, between Karnal and Thanesar [2].
• 1191: Prithviraja III defeated Ghuri. 1192: Ghuri defeated and executed Prithviraja [2].
• Jaichandra of Kannauj backed Prithviraja in 1191 but not in 1192 [2].
• Chronology: Ghuri's Gujarat failure (1178) → First Tarain (1191) → Second Tarain (1192) → Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque (1198) → Qutb Minar foundation (1199) → Ghuri killed (1206).
• Prithviraja III belonged to the Chahamana/Chauhan dynasty and ruled Ajmer and Delhi [2].
• Trap: Ghuri's coins carried the Goddess Lakshmi as well as his image as a mounted conqueror ('Muhammad ibn Sam').

Mains Points

• Why 1192 was a turning point and Mahmud's raids were not:
• Mahmud's raids took away wealth. Ghuri's victory removed a ruling dynasty and put in a new one.
• The test is what came next: Aibak stayed, built (mosque 1198, Minar 1199) and founded a sultanate [3].

• Raiding changes a treasury. Conquest changes a state.

• Causes of Turkic success, not "courage versus cowardice":

• Broken alliances: Jaichandra backed Prithviraja in 1191 but not in 1192 [2].
• Battlefield method: fast cavalry manoeuvre against a Rajput centre that one concentrated charge could break [2].

• Persistence: Ghuri came back after defeats in Gujarat (1178) and at Tarain (1191).

• Conquest with continuity:

• The new regime reused temple stone in the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque [3].
• It also struck coins showing Lakshmi so that local people would trust its money.
• Destruction and adjustment went on side by side, so a balanced answer should avoid a one-line verdict either way.

Related concepts

• Ghurids
• Muhammad Ghori
• First Battle of Tarain
• Prithviraj Chauhan
• Qutbuddin Aibak
• Bakhtiyar Khilji
• Tabaqat-i-Nasiri

Read more

• The Ghurid turning point: Tarain and the conquest of the north