In the 12th century, Prithviraj Chauhan (1166– 1192) was the Valiant king, who had ruled the kingdoms of Ajmer and Delhi. Prithviraj had defeated many kings in his lifetime. However, it was his rivalry with Muhammad Ghori that was the major highlight of his life.
Jaichand and Prithviraj were political
rivals, as indicated by their non-cooperation against the Ghurid invaders. But
the Prithviraj Raso claim that Jaichand not only refused to help Prithviraj
against the Ghurids, but also formed an alliance with the invading Ghurid king
Muhammad of Ghor.
Who was Prithviraj Chauhan's wife, Sanyogita?
Sanyogita
was the daughter of Kannauj's King, Jaichand and was often referred to as one
of the most beautiful princesses of her time.
The loving
wife was her husband and king, Prithviraj Chauhan's backbone and had got
married to him by going against her father, Jaichand's wish. Hence, Prithviraj
and Sanyogita's love story is often referred to as a tale of true love and
sacrifice.
How Sanyogita fell in love with Prithviraj Chauhan
If
the legends are to be believed, Muhammad Ghori, the sultan of the Ghurid army
had attacked Delhi 17 times. However, he was defeated by the then-ruler,
Prithviraj Chauhan, on 16 occasions.
When
the stories of his courage had entered Sanyogita's palace in Kannauj, she had
fallen in love with Prithviraj's courage and bravery.
However, before getting
mesmerised by his power and aura, Sanyogita had calmed herself, as she was
aware of the sour bond between her father, king Jaichand and Prithviraj Chauhan.
The reason behind Jaichand and Prithviraj Chauhan's feud
The
king of Kannauj, Jaichand wasn't pleased with the supremacy of Rajput kings
across the different regions of India. Hence, in order to assert his dominance
over them, King Jaichand had announced that he was going to do a Rajsuya Yagya
in Kannauj.
The decision had irked Prithviraj Chauhan as he was against
Jaichand's decision to assert himself as the 'supreme king' and had refused to
attend the yagya.
This
had started a feud between Jaichand and Prithviraj. After Prithviraj had
declined to participate in Jaichand's Rajsuya Yagya, the latter had decided to
take revenge on him.
The
king of Kinnauj, Jaichand had decided to arrange a swayamvar for his daughter,
Sanyogita and had invited all the brave and big kings of that time. However, to
insult Prithviraj Chauhan, he had not invited him to the swayamvar.
When painter, Panna Ray
had turned Cupid for his king, Prithviraj Chauhan and Sanyogita
While on one side, king Jaichand was all set for his daughter,
Sanyogita's swayamvar. On the other side, Prithviraj Chauhan had also fallen in
love with Sanyogita after his painter, Panna Ray had turned Cupid for the
then-future husband-wife.
Panna Ray had once visited Kannauj, and during his visit, he had
shown a painting of his king, Prithviraj Chauhan, to Sanyogita and the latter,
who was already mesmerised by stories of his courage, had fallen instantly in
love with him.
After
which, Panna Ray had also decided to make a painting of Sanyogita and had
presented it to Prithviraj Chauhan. And the king had also fallen in love at
first sight with the princess.
Needless to say, he
too was smitten by her beauty.
Hence, he had decided to marry her. If
the legends are to be believed, when Sanyogita had come to know that her lover,
Prithviraj Chauhan wasn't invited to her swayamvar, she had penned a letter to
the king and had urged him that she wanted to marry him only.
In response to this letter, Prithviraj had
promised Sanyogita that he would come to her swayamvar and they would get
married for sure.
When Sanyogita fled away with Prithviraj Chauhan from her
swayamvar
On
the day of Sanyogita's swayamvar, Kannauj's king, Jaichand had installed a
statue of Prithviraj Chauhan and dressed it in a guard's clothes to set an
example for all the kings, who were going to attend the ceremony.
Soon the ceremony had started, and all the
kings were lined up in front of Sanyogita. The princess was told to put the
garland around the neck of a king with whom she would like to marry. However,
Sanyogita had skipped passed everyone and had put the garland on Prithviraj's
statue.
While everyone was still processing what had exactly
happened and why Sanyogita had put the garland around the neck of Prithviraj
Chauhan's statue, the king had sprung right in front of her.
The
sudden appearance of Prithviraj had left everyone in shock, and in split
seconds he had taken Sanyogita in his arms and had left away from the palace.
This war was fought on the
banks of river Yamuna between the region of Etawah and Kanauj. The battle was
tough and bloody and both sides fought gallantly.
Of
course, it wasn't quite easy for Prithviraj, and in the process, he had lost
his thousand soldiers. However, in the end, Sanyogita and Prithviraj were
happily together.
Entry of Shabuddin Ghori in this love story: A ruler from the
Ghurid dynasty based in the Ghor region of what is today central Afghanistan
Sanyogita's father,
Jaichand joined hands with Afghan ruler, Muhammad Ghori (1144 –1206) to kill
Prithviraj Chauhan
After
Prithviraj Chauhan had fled away with Sanyogita from Kannauj, her father, King
Jaichand was furious and had vowed to take his revenge on Prithviraj Chauhan.
In order to defeat him, Jaichand had joined hands with Afghan ruler, Muhammad
Ghori, who had already tasted defeat from Prithviraj in the past 16 encounters
with him.
However, with the help of Jaichand and
some other Rajput kings, they had attacked Prithviraj from multiple fronts. The
attack was a surprising one for Prithviraj, as he had never thought that an
Indian ruler would take help from an Afghan invader, but Jaichand was so much
thirsty for revenge that he had reportedly opened gates for the Ghurid army.
Muhammad Ghori had blinded Prithviraj Chauhan after
defeating him
The
combined attack of Muhammad Ghori, King Jaichand, and a couple of Rajput kings
was too much for Prithviraj Chauhan, and after a long battle, he was defeated
by the hands of the Ghurid army.
Sanyogita had committed
Jauhar after Prithviraj Chauhan's demise
Over the years, there has been a lot of
debate over the authenticity of Prithviraj and Sanyogita's love story, but even
to this very day, whenever someone talks about the epic love stories, this is
the story that comes up right in front of everyone's mind. The story is about
doing everything for love and sacrificing everything for love.
The Epic Love Story of Prithviraj Chauhan & Sanyogita
That Proves All Is Fair In Love & War
After
Prithviraj's death, there was no strong and brave ruler who could fight and
hold back Turkish invasions with such great valour as that of Prithviraj's.
Shahabuddin
Ghori did not have any offspring who could inherit his empire. But he treated
his Turkic slaves as his children, he provided them with education and trained
both as soldiers as well as administrators. Many of his loyal slaves got
positions in government as well as in army.
Muhammad's
only offspring was his daughter who died during his own lifetime. His sudden
assassination in Damyak led to a period of struggle among his slaves and other
senior Ghurid elites for the succession.
In India Qutb-ud-din Aibak
became his successor and ruled over Delhi. Another slave, Nasir-ud-din Qabacha
became the ruler of Sindh and Multan.
In fact, Qutb-ud-din Aibak laid down the
foundation of slave dynasty in India. Nasir-ud-din Qabacha was finally defeated
by Shams-ud-din Iltutmish and Sindh and Multan became part of the Delhi
kingdom.
Shahabuddin Ghori was assassinated on March 15, 1206
In
1206, a rebellion rose in Punjab so Ghori returned and crushed the rebels and
on his way back to Ghazni he was assassinated by someone which is still
arguable as some say it was a Hindu Ghakars while others say it was a Hindu
Khokers — both different tribes.
Mahmud
of Ghazni opened the gate for the Turkish conquests in India but the task of
consolidation was done by Shahab-ud-din Ghori and his successors led to the
establishment of Muslim settlements in the subcontinent for many hundred years.
The story of his assassination by the Khokhars is probably an
invention of later times based on indirect evidences.
Muhammad's
coffin was carried from Dhamiak to Ghazni by his Vizier Moidul Mulk along with
other elites, where he was buried (Ghazni) in the mausoleum of his daughte
The End
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