The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c20.103

v3.c20.103

Muhammad’s sole care, after reaching Ghaznī, was to organise and equip such an army as would enable him to avenge his defeat, and in 1192 he invaded India with 12,000 horse. He was not in time to relieve Bhātinda, but he found Prithvī Rāj encamped at Tarāorī, and adopted tactics which bewildered the Rājput, a slave to tradition. Of the five divisions of his army four, composed of mounted archers, were instructed to attack, in their own style, the flanks and, if possible, the rear of the Hindus, but to avoid hand to hand conflicts and, if closely pressed, to feign flight. These tactics were successfully employed from the morning until the afternoon, when Muhammad, judging that the Hindus were sufficiently perplexed and wearied, charged their centre with 12,000 of the flower of his cavalry. They were completely routed and Prithvī Rāj descended from his elephant and mounted a horse in order to flee more rapidly, but was overtaken near the river Saraswatī and put to death. His brother was also slain and his body was identified by the disfigurement which Muhammad’s lance had inflicted in the previous year.