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Establishment of The Delhi Sultanate Module - II

Military History of
5.1 Foreign invasions in Medieval India
Medieval India
Do you know when the first foreign invasion into India took place? It was during 5th
century BC that the Persian King Darius invaded the North Western part of India,
which was then divided into small regional states. The division of India into many
principal states and lack of unity among them provided the opportunity for King Darius
to invade and annex them. Thereafter invasions from abroad continued. All invaders Note
who came to India aimed at conquering and acquiring wealth.

Each such invasion not only brought destruction but new developments in various
fields such as the introduction of new language, different religious beliefs and practices,
development of art and culture and most importantly new military organizations, new
weapons and tactics as well.

Important of these many foreign invasions is the one by Sultan Shahab -ud -din -
Mohammed Ghori. The main reason for his expansion was to gain foot-hold in India
and also acquire its huge wealth. His invasion led to setting up of Muslim rule in India
for the very first time.

Do you know?

Mohammed Ghori was ruler of a small region called Ghor in today's central Afghani-
stan. He was originally from Turkey and he desired to expand his empire by turning to
neighboring countries including India.

The invasion took place through Khyber Pass, the route that connected Kabul, the
capital city of Afghanistan and the present day Peshawar in Pakistan. Geographically
speaking, the Himalaya mountain ranges act as the natural frontier of India in the
North, Northwest and the Eastern part, whereas the oceans cover the Southern part
of India. However, at Khyber Pass the mountain ranges are low and hence provided
a viable route for foreign invasions to happen. Even so, capturing India and establishing
his rule was not an easy task for Ghori since he had to fight twice with the Indian local
rulers - in 1191 A.D for the first time, followed by the second invasion the very next
year in 1192 A.D. On both occasions he faced the Rajput king Prithviraj Chauhan
who was then the ruler of Ajmer and Delhi. These battles are remembered as Battles
of Tarain.

Do you know?

The Rajputs were a warrior class and in Sanskrit they were called "son of a king".
They dominated much of northern India and were divided into different clans. Loyalty
was to the individual clan rather than the king.

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