The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India: A History of the Establishment and Progress of the Turkish Sultanate of Delhi, 1206–1290 A.D. c7.65

c7.65

He was still in the Doab when Muizzuddin once again marched his forces to Hindusthan. The operations against the Dors in the upper Doab were clearly designed to prepare the way for an eventual conquest of the Gahdvala dominion, for it contained the coveted Hindusthan proper. Aibak probably visited Ghazni to assist in the formulation of plans which his master now came personally to execute. With the Delhi forces having joined him, Muizzuddin marched at the head of the invasion army numbering fifty thousand horsemen, towards Benares³. Jayachandra's reconnoitering force suffered defeat in a priliminary engagement with Aibak's advance guards⁴. The two main armies eventually met in the vicinity of Chandwar, on the Jumna between Kanouj and Etah. The battle was severely contested, the Gahdvalas, led by Jayachandra in person, almost carrying the day when his own death threw his army into confusion. Muizzuddin was quick to take advantage of the development and turned the confusion into a rout¹.