The Great Valiant King The Prithviraj Chauhan
Prithviraj Chauhan is among the most respected names in the history of India. A great warrior and great patriot, Prithviraj was the last ruler of the Chauhan dynasty. He was born in 1168 to Someshwar Chauhan, the king of Ajmer and Karpura Devi. He lost his father at a very early age, and he became the king of Ajmer at the age of thirteen. Prithvi was a born warrior who had expertise in different fighting skills, including archery and swords. Prithvi also learned the skill of hitting the target with his eyes closed just by hearing the sound. The skill was called ‘Shabd Bhedi Baan that only great warriors like the Great Arjun mastered.
He was known for his fighting skills, which is why his maternal grandfather Angam, the king of Delhi, declared Prithviraj his successor. This irked main, including Raja Jaichand, the king of Kannauj, who later betrayed Prithviraj Chauhan by joining hands with Muhammad Ghori. After sitting on the throne of Delhi, Prithviraj started a campaign called ‘Digvijay’ to expand his empire and create a united territory. He also defeated the king of Gujarat- Bhimdev.
Prithviraj Chauhan was a Suryavanshi Rajput. Prithviraj built Qila Rai Pithora in Delhi. He fell in love with Rajkumari Sanyogita, the princess of Kannauj and the daughter of King Jaichand. However, Jaichand was jealous of Prithviraj’s rising status, and he organized a swayamwar for his daughter’s marriage. Jaichand invited all the kings to the swayamwar except Prithviraj.
However, he put a statue of Prithviraj Chauhan in the place of the gatekeeper to insult him in the entire Rajputana. Jaichand’s daughter Sanyogita also liked Prithviraj, and she put the garland on Prithviraj’s statue. It is believed that Prithviraj came to Jaichand’s palace on his horse and took away Sanyogita with her.
This marked the beginning of enmity between Kannauj and Delhi. This resulted in Jaichand joining hands with foreign invaders, including the Afghans.
During his Digvijay, Prithviraj Chauhan learned many fighting skills, including fighting with bare hands, fighting with one leg, etc. Prithviraj had 4 close friends, namely Sanjam, Punder, Arjun, and Chand. When he was a prince, Prithviraj Chauhan came to know about the people’s sufferings in his kingdom, and he decided to go on a treasure hunt along with his friends. Prithviraj traveled through the lengths and breadths of the country and overcame all the life-threatening difficulties to find the treasure.
The most important phase of Prithviraj Chauhan’s life was his fight with Muhammad Ghori. Muhammad Ghori was an Afghan invader who destroyed several temples in India and looted a lot of wealth. He came to India through the Khyber region in present-day Pakistan. He attacked the kingdom of Prithviraj Chauhan for the first time in 1191. The war between Ghori and Prithviraj was known as the First Battle of Tarain. Ghori and his army were badly defeated by Prithviraj Chauhan in that war.
Also Read, The legacy of Maharaja Ranjit Singh
After the war, Ghori was captured and brought to the court of Prithviraj. However, the latter going by his traditional Rajput traditions, set Ghori free. There’s a lot of confusion about what happened in the next war between Ghori and Prithviraj. While some say that Prithviraj was defeated in the next war with Ghori, the most popular belief is that Prithviraj Chauhan defeated Ghori 16 times. When Ghori attacked the 17th time, Prithviraj was captured and taken to Afghanistan.
Prithviraj Chauhan was subjected to extreme torture in Afghanistan, and both his eyes were taken out using hot iron bars. Later in an archery competition, in the court of Ghori, Prithviraj killed him using ‘Shabd Bhedi Baan’ with the help of his friend Chand (Chandra Bardai). Surrounded by the Afghan soldiers, Prithviraj and Chand stabbed each other as they didn’t want to die at the hands of Afghans.
Apart from being Prithviraj’s friend, Chad was also a poet. He wrote the biography of Prithviraj- Prithviraj Raso. There are multiple stories about what happened to Sanyogita after Prithviraj’s death. Some say that she was abducted by Mohammad Ghori and committed suicide after being subjected to assault. Some others say that she died moments after the death of Prithviraj. Since we are talking about the late 12th century, not every statement can be backed with evidence. The year of Prithviraj Chauhan’s death was 1192. After his demise, no strong king in the region could challenge the foreign invaders for a very long time.
