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Chahamanas oR Chauhans
Chahamanas later known as the Chauhans. This dynasty was founded by Gurkut in 11th
century A.D. Chauhans ruled over the region around Delhi and Ajmer. That is, Delhi and
Ajmer were the two major cities under the control of the Chahamanas.

Prithviraja-III (1168-1192) was the greatest ruler of this dynasty. He
ascended the throne of Ajmer at the age of 14 and made many conquests.
He conquered many small states of Rajasthan and Bundelkhand. His
echivements and exploits have been described by his court poet, Chand

Bardai in his famous book, ‘Prithvirajraso’. In 1191, he defeated an Afghan
ruler, Sultan Muhammad Ghori in the First Battle of Tarain. But in the
Prithviraja Chauhan second Battle of Tarain in 1192 he lost to him. This defeat resulted in the
foundation of Muslim rule in India.
We have already mentioned that there were many famous Rajput
Kingdoms during this period. They were always fighting each other for

supremacy. These battles made them weak. That was why they could Coins of Prithviraja Chauhan
neither defend themselves individually nor unite against the Turkish invasions.
TurKish invasiOns
mahmud of Ghazni

The son of Sabuktgin was Mahmud of Ghazni, a Turkish ruler who
attacked India 17 times from 1000 AD to 1027 AD. He had no interest
in building an empire in India. His main objective was to take away
wealth from India.

He plundered rich temples and cities in Northern India. Another important
purpose of his attacks was to reduce the import of horses from Arab traders
Prithviraja Chauhan and encourage the horse traders of Ghazni to replace them.

The 16th and the most important invasion of Mahmud was his attack in 1025 AD on the
Somnath temple in Kathiawad, which was famous for its riches. As a result of Mahmud’s
attacks, the Turks knew how to cross the chain mountains of India from the North-West.

After the death of Mahmudm his empire collapsed. After 150 years, the Turkish invaders
again invaded India under the leadership of Muhammad Ghori.

muhammad GhoRi
Muhammad Ghori invaded India in 1175 AD. He was the ruler of Ghor in central
Asia. He conquered Multan, Gujarant, Peshawar and Sialkot. He made Punjab
his base in India. He wanted to set up a full fledged empire in North India.

The expansion of the Chahamana power towards the Punjab brought Prithviraj
Chauhan in conflict with Ghori. This conflict led them to fight two battles. In the
first battle of Tarain in 1191, Prithviraj defeated Ghori and in the second battle
of Tarain in 1192, Ghori defeated Prithviraj. This victory led to the foundation
of the first Turkish dynasty in Delhi and Eastern Rajasthan. A little later in 1194. Muhammad Ghori

52 Social Studies-7