The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India: A History of the Establishment and Progress of the Turkish Sultanate of Delhi, 1206–1290 A.D. c21.8

c21.8

A defeat in such circumstances is scarcely surprising. Hope of further resistance lay in the fortresses and in organising countrywide opposition by the people. The former method, however, has one disadvantage; being purely defensive in nature, leaving the conqueror, as it does, free to exploit the countryside and therefore able to organise repeated attacks, it could have only a temporary value. Rarely did the Hindu princes take the offensive, but they bastirred themselves only when the enemy appeared before the stronghold. What a forward policy could achieve is shown by the Mher and Chalukya forces when they defeated Aibak and sent him flying for refuge in Ajmer. Another example is afforded by the siege of Lakhnauti by Narasinha of Orissa. Ejection of the invader was possible only by the sustained and united application of such offensive policy. But unity of purpose never inspired the Rajput; towards the end of the century the Chauhanas achieved notable success by continued offensive, but they fought only for military glory; they gloried equally in defeating the Baghelas of Gujrat and the Paramaras of Malwa.