The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c20.110

v3.c20.110

Muhammad's policy in Ajmer was not entirely successful. The son of Prithvī Rāj whom he had installed there was illegitimate, and the Rājputs, who resented his subservience to the foreigner, made his birth a pretext for disowning him and elected in his place Hemrāj, the brother of Prithvī Rāj. Hemrāj had molested Aibak when he was besieging Meerut, but had been defeated and driven off. In 1194 Rukn-ud-dīn Hamza, Qavām-ul-Mulk, who had captured and held Ranthambhor, reported that Hemrāj was in rebellion and was marching to attack him. Aibak marched from Delhi to the relief of the fortress, but Hemrāj eluded him and took refuge in the hills of Alwar, the district then known as Mewāt. From this retreat he attacked and captured Ajmer, compelling his nephew to flee for refuge to Ranthambhor, and from Ajmer he dispatched a force under a leader named Jhat Rāi against Delhi. A demonstration by Aibak was sufficient to drive Jhat Rāi back to Ajmer, whither Aibak followed him. Hemrāj came forth to meet his enemy but was defeated and driven back into the city, where he mounted a funeral pyre and perished in the flames, and a Muslim officer was appointed to the government of the city and province.