The Turkish Invasions

Mahmud of Ghazni was son and successor of Subuktagin, the king of Ghazni. He wanted to make Ghanzi the most powerful kingdom in the area. For this he required a large, well-equipped army which could be maintained by large amounts of money. Since he has heard of India's wealth, he decided to raid India and plunder her wealth. He did not want to establish direct rule in India.

The temples of India were famous for their fabulous riches. The treasure of temples were full of diamonds, rubies and pearls. Mahmud of Ghazni was interested in India's wealth to build a large, well-equipped army. He did not want to establish direct rule in India. For this reason, he targeted the wealthy temples of India and took away the riches to his homeland.

Muhammad Ghori was the ruler of a petty hill-state of Ghur in Afghanistan. He attacked the north-west frontier of India with the aim of conquering northern India. He made the first systematic attempt to found a Turko-Afghan empire in India.

The Battles of Tarain were fought between Muhammad Ghori and Prithviraj Chauhan. In the first battle which was fought at Tarain in 1191, called the First Battle of Tarain, Muhammad Ghori was defeated by Prithviraj Chauhan. Muhammad Ghori was seriously wounded and escaped death narrowly. He went back to his country but again invaded India with a better and bigger army in 1192. This time, at the Second Battle of Tarain, he defeated Prithviraj Chauhan and occupied Delhi and Ajmer.

The impacts of Turkish invasion of India were:

1. Mahmud of Ghazni did not establish an empire in India. His raids opened the north-western gates of India to the foreigners.
2. Many temples and statues of gods and goddesses were destroyed as a result of Mahmud of Ghazni's invasions.
3. As a result of Turkish invasions, a number of colonies of Muslim traders sprang up in some of the towns in North India. These traders helped in promoting India's trade with the Central and West Asian countries and thus increasing the income of the state.
4. With these invaders, a number of preachers called 'sufis' came to India. They preached the gospel of love, faith and dedication to one God. Their teachings influenced the local people and led to interaction between Islam and Hinduism and acted as a precursor to the beginning of composite culture in India.
5. They paved the way for the establishment of Turko-Afghan Empire in India.

(a) Mahmud of Ghazni

(b) Muhammad Ghori

(a) Mathura

(b) Kanauj

(a) Firdausi

(b) Al-Utbi

(a) The Chauhans of Delhi

(b) Rathors of Kanauj

(a) Qutbud-din Aibak

(b) Bakhtiyar Khalji

(a) This temple is Somnath temple at Gujarat. It was invaded by Mahmud of Ghazni.

(b) Mahmud looted the treasures of the temples and gathered a huge booty of diamonds, rubies and pearls and took them to Ghazni.

(c) The wealth looted from India was used to maintain his large, well-equipped army. Besides that he also used it to create a splendid capital city at Ghazni. Mahmud built many buildings at Ghazni, the most famous of which was the 'Celestial Bride' — the great mosque surrounded by 3000 quarters for students and teachers. He also built libraries, a museum and a university.

(d) Mahmud of Ghazni was regarded by the Indians as an invader and plunderer. In his country, he was regarded as a just ruler.