History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v3.c37.2

v3.c37.2

When Prithvīrāja was defeated and killed in the second conflict, memorable as the first of the battles wherein Hindu independence was finally lost, Shihabuddin, like a consummate general, at once advanced upon Ajmer the chief capital of his enemy. It fell without resistance and so much booty was obtained that "you might have said that the secret depositories of seas and hills were revealed. While the Sultan remained at Ajmer, he destroyed the idol temples and built in their place mosques and colleges". We have already stated that the building now called Adhai Dinki Jhopdi was originally a Sanskrit college built by Vigraharāja III (Taj. p. 215). Having conquered and plundered Ajmer like a consummate general, Shihabuddin entrusted the government of Ajmer to Prithvīrāj's son, like a consummate politician: he did not at once annex the conquered kingdom but made Rainsi, son of Prithvīrāja, king of Ajmer, no doubt paying a yearly tribute as a dependent king. The Taj says that "in him were discovered indexes of wisdom and prognostications of goodness" which means that he was good and wise enough to see the situation and accept subjugation and tribute. This, to our mind, makes it further certain that Prithvīrāja was not beheaded in Ajmer but was killed in battle, as his son Rainsi would not, in the former case, have thought it fit to accept the kingdom.