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History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v3.c37.s1: (2) Fall of Kanauj and Benares.

History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v3.c37.s1

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(2) Fall of Kanauj and Benares.

v3.c37.s1.1

Ajmer and Delhi having fallen and the Chauhans having accepted subjection, Shihabuddin next turned his attention to the subjugation of the next powerful kingdom in Northern India, viz. that of the Gāhadavālas of Kanauj and Benares. It is commonly believed that Jaichand had in fact incited Shihabuddin to attack Prithvīrāj as he was his enemy; and he thus fell eventually a prey to the enemy he had himself called in. But so far as we have ascertained, there is no evidence to hold that Jaichand had ever called in the foreign foe. It may be that he did not assist Prithvīrāja when he collected a confederate army to oppose Ghori; probably Prithvīrāja did not call for such aid. The collection of a confederate army by Prithvīrāja is spoken of by the Tabakat as stated already. Who were the kings that joined Prithvīrāja, we have no historical record to determine. The story of the Rāsā that Samarasinha fought on the side of Prithvīrāja is belied by inscriptions which show that Samarasinha lived a hundred years later and we may even doubt if a Guhilot king (who must be Sāmantasinha and not Samarasinha) was among the allies. Whatever this may be, we have no evidence to hold that Jaichand had incited the attack. No Mahomedan historian mentions it and the Rāsā has no value as history of Prithvīrāj. Jayachand's turn came not as a punishment but as a natural next step in the conquest of Hindustan aspired to by the ambitious Muhammad Ghori.

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The rhapsodical Taj does not give any details of this conflict. It says simply that "the Sultan advanced from Ghazni with 50,000 horsemen clad in armour (E. II p. 222-23). The Rai of Benares, Jaichand, chief of idolatry, opposed him with an army countless as the particles of sand. The Rai who prided himself upon the number of his forces and war elephants, seated on a lofty howdah, received a deadly wound from an arrow and fell". "The impurities of idolatry were purged from that land and immense booty was obtained, such as the eye would be weary to look at." "The imperial army then took possession of the fort of Asni where the treasure of the Rai was deposited." The Tabakat dismisses this conflict with the short sentence (E. II. 297) that the Sultan came back from Ghazni in the year 590 H. (1193 A. D.) by way of Benares and Kanauj and defeated the Rai Jaichand in the neighbourhood of Chandanwah and captured over 300 elephants". It is a pity that the author of the Tabakat does not give a more detailed account of this conflict which he probably thought was of less importance than that with Prithvīrāj. But Jaichand was the most powerful monarch in India and he was a proud and brave Rathod who, unlike Rājyapāla, firmly opposed and bravely fought against the formidable foe of his religion and independence. It was, therefore, to be expected that greater details would be given of the memorable battle at Chandanwah which place is said to be somewhere between Kanauj and Etawa. Indian records do not also give us any details of this event; but tradition (Abul Fazal) tells us that Jaichand died by drowning in the Ganges while crossing the river on his elephant. Putting the contemporary Mahomedan evidence and this tradition together, we may believe that Jaichand was wounded in battle and in order to avoid being captured led his elephant into the Ganges and like a devout and dauntless Hindu sought death by Jalasamādhi and drowned himself in the Ganges. The Tabakat says that search was made on the battle-field for Jaichand’s body but it was not found. It, however, adds that after a long search, a body was discovered which was believed to be Jaichand’s from his old age. (This is from some later account given in the Tabakat by Raverty p. 470-Note), But Jaichand could not have been an old man; he came to the throne in 1169 when young and died in 1193 after 24 years of reign.*

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After plundering Kanauj and Asni, Shihabuddin naturally pressed on to conquer and plunder Benares which was the second capital of the Gāhadavālas. The Taj thus describes this event. "The royal army proceeded to Benares and there one thousand temples were destroyed and mosques were raised on their foundations and the face of the Dinar and Dirham was adorned with the blessed name and titles of the king." This means that the country was annexed, Hindu coins of gold and silver being restruck with the name of Shihabuddin. "When the king had settled all the affairs of the city and its vicinity and the record of his celebrated holy war had been written in history and circulated throughout the world", he returned. He halted at Asni for some days "where the chiefs and elders all around hastened to offer submission and rarities as presents" This shows that the country itself offered no resistance and the people accepted readily and quietly the change of government, a fact on which we will comment later on. Shihabuddin returned to Ghazni leaving Kutubuddin as his viceroy.

Cites (2)