Muhammad of Ghor (Ghurid Dynasty)
Mu’izzuddîn Muhammad Bin Sām or Shahāb-ud-Din or Muhammad of Ghor ( 1150-1206) was one of the leaders of this Ghurid dynasty from the legendary Sur family that ruled the Ghor for five hundred years. He established a vast empire consisted on India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and central Asia.
Ghurid Empire
Muhammad of Ghor came to Ghazni City in 1173 to take the revenge from Mahmud Ghazni descendants for the murder of his ancestor Mohammad Suri (who was killed by Mahmud Ghazni ) and captured the city. In the meantime he also helped his brother Ghiyasuddin against Khwarizmi Empire for Khorasan kingship over West Asia. In 1175, Muhammad of Ghor took Multan from the dynasty of Hamid Ludi, who were also Pashtun but had affiliation with the Ismaili Shi’ite religion, and were allegedly un-Islamic. Then in 1175, he captured Uch.
In 1186 he conquered Lahore and ended the Ghaznvi Empire finally by defeating Khusrau Malik. He became the single ruler of the Ghurid Empire after the death of his brother Ghiyasuddin in 1202 and reigned until he got murdered in 1206 in Jhelum, Pakistan.
Muhammad of Ghor vs Prithviraj chauhan
The first battle of tarrin was fought between Muhammad of Ghor vs Prithviraj chauhan on the battleground of tarrin. In 1191, Ghori moved to Hindustan via the Khyber Pass and reached Punjab and captured a fortress of Bathinda in India. He appointed Qazi Zia-ud-Din as governor of the fort. But at the same time he heard the news that the Prithviraj army was on the way to take the fort back so he waited there. Ultimately, the two armies met at the town of Tarain, 14 miles from Haryana (India). Firstly Muhamamd Ghori attacked and in return Prithviraj responded by counterattacking from three sides. Ghori couldn’t bear the attack, and his army was damaged and got defeated. Muhammad Ghori himself got wounded in the battle and escaped from there.
Second battle of Tarain was fought in 1192
second Battle of Tarain
After losing the first battle Muhmmad of Ghor started preparation of secod battle. On next year he came back to india for war against Prithviraj again . In the second battle of Tarain, Rajput army had 3,000 elephants, 300,000 cavalry, and infantry and the Mohammed Ghori army was consisted of 120,000 fully-armored soldiers. At this time Muhammad Ghori attacked at early morning. The Rajput army was unaware of the attack and not prepared to fight at all. Muhammad Ghori defeated the Prithviraj and captured him. After this first time a Punjab became part of the Muslim Empire.
In 1193 Qutub ud Din Aibak (Ghori general) took over Ajmer and quickly captured northern and central India and make part of the Ghurid empire. Later Kingdoms of Rajput as Samana, Kohram Saraswati, and Hansi also became the part of Ghurid Dynasty without much resistance. After the battle of Chandler, Qutub ud Din Aibak arrived in Delhi and captured it by defeating Raja Jaichand of Kannauj. Just in a year Ghurid empire stretched to Rajasthan and Ganges-Yamuna Doab in the northern part of India.
Muhamamd of Ghor became very impressed from Qutb-ud-din Aibak by his great achievements in India. So in a magnificent darbar in Lahore, attended by a massive majority of noblemen and officials of his Kingdom, the Muhammad Ghori named Qutb-ud-din Aibak as its Naib of Sultanat in India. On this occasion, Muhammad Ghori gave the title “Aibak” (axis of faith) to Qutb-ud-din.
Muhammad Ghori death
Grave of Muhammad Ghori
In 1206 Muhmmad Ghori came to Lahore to crush an uprising. His caravan stopped at Damik near Sohawa (which is near the city of Jhelum in the Punjab province of modern-day Pakistan) on his route back to Ghazni. At this place Muhammad Ghori died by a attack while offering his evening prayers. It was15 March 1206. Ghori did not have children, but his Turkish slaves, who were trained as soldiers and administrators succeded him.After Muhammad Ghori death, the Ghurid Empire splitted into different empires. His great Empire was split between his slaves after his murder.
- The Sultanate of Delhi, which marked the commencement of the Slave Dynasty, was established by Qutb-Uddin Aibak in 1206 and became the ruler of Delhi.
- The Multan was given to Nasir-ud-Din Qabacha in 1210.
- Yildiz Tajuddin became the Ghazni ruler.
- Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khilji became Bengal ruler.
In 1994-1995, Pakistani Atomic scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan constructed a mausoleum for Muhammad Ghori.
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