The battle of the Talas River was a decisive
moment for the history of Central Asia, even-though its' effects
were not immediately apparent. Abbasid victory not only stopped China’s
westward expansion, but also determined the religious path
of a region that is at the crossroads of Asia. The ensuing centuries saw the gradual conversion
of local populations to Islam, among which were the warlike
Turkish tribes, nomadic warriors that were
especially gifted horse archers. Their mastery of horsemanship hadn’t gone
unnoticed by the Muslim Caliphates, who recruited them to serve
as an elite arm of their own armies. However, in the wake of the breakup of the
Abbasid Caliphate into smaller states and sultanates, these elite Turkish warriors emerged
as the power brokers in the region. One of the first breakaway sultanates was
founded by Mahmud of Ghazni... Under the leadership of Mahmud of Ghazni,
the Ghaznavids became a significant power, and he was among the first
to adopt the title of “Sultan”. Mahmud was able to inflict a series
of military defeats to the Hindu Shahis and for the first time penetrate
into the heartland of India. He launched 16 large scale raids,
targeting the wealthy religious centers, with the ultimate goal of amassing fame
and wealth within the Islamic world. However, he did not try to retain
a permanent foothold in the area and the locals were able to recover
from Ghaznavid raids. But… with the death of Mahmud began
a gradual decline, and by mid-12th century, one of his former vassals, the Ghurids,
a dynasty of Tajik origin, gradually asserted their authority
in the Ghor region, methodically expanding their power base,
until they eventually sacked the city of Ghazni in 1149, thereby emerging
as an independent power. What followed was a period of expansion that would lead to the formation of the Ghurid Empire, under the leadership of two brothers,
Ghiyath al-Din and Mu’izz al-Din, also known as the Muhammad of Ghor. During the 1170s and 1180s they embarked on
a series of successful campaigns against the neighboring Seljuks and other pretenders to
the Ghurid throne. Ghiyath al-Din concentrated on the western
domains of the empire, while Muhammad, after helping his brother to secure the west, looked
southwards to India. But, unlike the Ghaznavids that came before,
Muhammad aimed at carving out an empire in India, and the nearby Rajput kingdoms appeared
ripe for the taking… In India, this was the time of the Rajput
kingdoms. Rajputs were a loose grouping of patrilineal
clans found in the Indian sub-continent. After the dissolution of the Pratihara Empire,
their former feudatories established decentralized power bases all over central and Western India. Many kingdoms sprang into existence, all culturally
and ethnically indistinguishable from one another, yet mutually antagonistic. Between 1000 and 1200 AD, the Rajput kingdoms’
had to face constant incursions and invasions from Turkish tribes. During the times of Muhammad of Ghor, northern
India was divided into 3 main power centres, the Solanki Chalukyas of Gujarat, the Gahadavalas
under Jaichandra at Kannauj and the Prithviraj Chauhan of Ajmer and Delhi. The most prominent of these Kingdoms was that
of Prithviraj Chauhan. By 1178, Muhammad was intent on attacking
India and his main invasion route led directly through Prithviraj’s domain. His first intended target was the
Chalukya Solanki kingdom. Subsequently, he sent an envoy to the court
of Prithviraj, attempting to persuade the Indian King to come to a peaceful agreement. According to the terms presented by the envoy,
Muhammad would agree to provide passage and divide the Solanki kingdom with Prithviraj. In addition, he demanded that Prithviraj convert
to Islam and accept Ghurid suzerainty. Prithviraj rejected, but failed to send reinforcements
to the neighbouring kingdom that was about to be attacked. Undeterred, the Ghurid ruler amassed a mobile
army of Turkish horse warriors and marched on a circuitous route
through the Thar Desert and into the outskirts of
Chalukya territory. After many days of marching through inhospitable
and hostile territory he was eventually confronted by a large
Chalukya army on a valley near mount Abu. Muhammad’s army, tired and dehydrated from
the long march, and unable to use the mobility of its cavalry within the narrow valley, was
forced into a close quarter’s frontal battle against the Rajputs and was eventually routed. However, the fleeing Ghurid army was not decisively
pursued by the Chalukyas and thus avoided total destruction. Nevertheless, the invading army suffered heavy
casualties during the battle and the subsequent retreat back across the desert. In spite of this setback, Muhammad was not
a man to be disheartened by adversities, and during the following decade
he set out to rebuild his forces and expand his territories
into Peshawar. He then advanced with his army and took Sialkot
and by 1187 he conquered Lahore, executing its ruler, thus ending
the last remnants of the Ghaznavids. Now… his realm bordered Prithviraj’s domain,
and between 1187 and 1190, a series of minor and medium probing
incursions were launched. The situation escalated rapidly, and in 1190,
Muhammad concentrated a large force of horse warriors and advanced against the important
border fortress of Bathinda. After a brief siege he was able to capture
the stronghold and placed a garrison there, under the command of one of this generals. News of Bathinda falling to the enemy soon
reached Delhi. The shock of the loss of this significant
stronghold galvanized Prithviraj into action. He called upon his feudatories, quickly amassing
a large army, and marched out to meet the invaders. Upon learning of the king’s approach, Muhammad set out with his mounted army to intercept him… The two armies met on the fields of Tarain,
some 150 km north of Delhi. While exaggerated contemporary accounts place
the size of Prithviraj’s army at around 200,000 troops, modern historians estimate
that the Rajput army did not exceed 50,000 men. The Rajputs of the period
were ferocious warriors who excelled in close combat,
which they generally favored. Indian metallurgy and weapons
were renowned for their quality and generally enjoyed a reputation
as the best in the world, a fact that gave them
a further edge in close quarters fighting. On the other side of the field, the size of
Muhammad’s army was similarly exaggerated, with original sources claiming that around
100,000 troops arrayed on the field, while the actual size of the Ghurid force
was around 15,000 cavalry, which included camels,
but their exact number is unknown. Although substantially outnumbered, Muhammad’s
mounted force was comprised of professional Mamluk slave troops, agile and fast
moving horse archers, who were superior to
their feudal counterparts. The two armies represented opposite ends of
the military spectrum. On one side, a feudal force of slow moving,
undisciplined but courageous warriors, with little to no experience in dealing with complicated
cavalry maneuvers, and on the other side, a swift and fast moving
mounted army of professional soldiers, almost exclusively composed of steppe cavalry
that excelled in mobile warfare. The Ghurid army deployed in a standard
Turkic battle formation, with an advance guard,
a strong center and two wings. A relatively small reserve of elite Ghulam
lancers was kept in the rear. Across the field, Prithviraj deployed his
army in a linear formation, with two wings and a center. The large force of elephants was deployed
in front of the main line. The battle began with a probing attack ordered
by Muhammad. The horse archers of the vanguard galloped
towards the huge bulk of the Indian army and began peppering their formations with arrows. Prithviraj’s response to this was immediate. He ordered an all out frontal assault! This surprised the Ghurids, who weren’t
accustomed to Rajput style of warfare. Muhammad’s vanguard retreated toward their
main line, but the Rajputs unexpectedly moved so rapidly that the Ghurids were unable to
respond accordingly. Before Mohammed could maneuver and adapt to
this general charge, his vanguard’s retreat was blocked by the men behind them and the
Rajputs were quickly closing-in! Incredibly, the Ghurid warriors held off the
massive charge, their experience and professionalism paying dividends, as they cut down wave after
wave of enemy attacks. But with the Indian cavalry striking the Ghurid
flanks, Muhammad’s entire line was dislodged, and the Muslim commander could see that his
army will be overwhelmed. The fierce melee slowly began to turn in favor
of the Rajputs who were able display their prowess in close quarters, and the sheer weight
of their numbers became a decisive factor, as the Ghurid flanks were gradually driven
back and cut off from their center. Unable to withstand the pressure
of the Indian onslaught, Muhammad’s troops on the
flanks broke and fled. Meanwhile, the war elephants and cavalry of
Prithviraj’s center that had driven back the Ghurid vanguard onto their frontline,
kept the Turkish center under sustained pressure. Here too, the light horsemen were outside
of their element, hemmed in by the immense pressure
of the relentless Rajput advance, and unable to use their mobility
they began to waver. Muhammad now understood that the battle had
reached its critical point. Seeing his flanks routing and his center on
the verge of collapse, he charged in to the fray attempting a personal last ditch effort
to reverse the course of battle. The Ghurid general soon came face to face
with the commander of the Rajput center, Govind Rai, who was mounted on an elephant,
personally charging his front lines. As soon as Muhammad spotted him,
he hurled his spear at him. Govind Rai was able to
block the projectile with his shield, but the impact broke
a few of his front teeth. In turn, Govind threw his own spear,
critically wounding Muhammad, almost knocking him u nconscious! Unable to defend himself, Muhammad of Ghor
was saved by the heroic actions of one of his bodyguards, who was able
to lift the Sultan onto his horse and spirit him away from the battlefield. The remaining leaderless Ghurid army, seeing
their general carried off the battlefield, broke and routed. The Rajputs pursued the retreating army of
Muhammad for almost 40 km, but they couldn’t match the pace of the fast moving
steppe mounts of their enemy. Muhammad underestimated the strength
and ferocity of the Rajput frontal assault and their ability in close combat. Prithviraj’s audacity and explosiveness
caught the Ghurids off guard and forced them to an engagement
that played into his own strengths. The Indian commander, took the initiative
early in the battle and retained it throughout the engagement, forcing his enemies to react
to his actions and rendering them unable to employ their advantages
in mobility and firepower. The ultimate salvation of the Ghurids was
the fact that the Indian army was incapable of completely pinning them down and destroying
them during their retreat. And although Muhammad of Ghor was now retreating,
he would live to fight another day…
