New Delhi: Historians accept on the basis of evidence that two battles were fought between Prithviraj Chauhan, a king of Chauhan Dynasty, and Muhammad Ghori of Afghanistan, the Sultan of Ghurid Empire.
While Ghori was defeated in the first battle and had retreated to Afghanistan along with his forces following the trouncing, in the second encounter, the Afghan emerged victorious and Chauhan was killed following a chase after the battle.
Eminent historian Irfan Habib said the first war between Chauhan and Ghori took place in 1911 at Tarain.
Citing the literature available in the old history books written in Persian language, Habib said the second battle of Tarain took place one year later — in 1912.
He said in the second war, Chauhan was killed in erstwhile Punjab.
After a few years in 1206, Ghori was killed by the Ismails near the Sindh river.
According to Habib, there is a difference of several years between the death of Chauhan and Ghori.
Hansraj Suman, a professor of Hindi at the Delhi University, however, refused to agree with Habib’s assertions.
Referring to ‘Prithviraj Raso’, Suman said that in the second battle, Chauhan’s both eyes were blinded and he was taken to Afghanistan by Ghori as a prisoner. However, using his war skills, Chauhan killed Ghori with some assistance from his aide Chand Bardai.
Suman added that ‘Prithviraj Raso’ is being taught in the M.A. Hindi syllabus for a long time now. In the Braj-language poem, Chauhan’s well-versed war skills have been mentioned, and the students are being taught about them as well.
Historians, however, disagree with this version of the narrative.
(IANS)
