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Describe the reasons behind the success of Mahmud Gazni and Muhammad Ghori’s invasions of India.

 The reasons behind the success of Mahmud Gazni and Muhammad Ghori’s invasions of India.

 

a.      First important reason was the availability of finest breeds of horses in the steppes of central Asia. They were the best varieties in the entire world and they were bred by sturdy, disciplined warriors. They were imported to Arabia and India because the native breeds there were not as good as the central Asian ones. The people of Ghur enjoyed far-reaching fame as horserearers.

 


b.      Second cause was the easy availability of war implements. The region of Ghur (also spelled Ghowr or Ghor) – one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan – and its neighbouring areas were rich in metals, especially iron. The mountain ranges of this topographic zone were of huge metalliferous value and it appears that particularly iron was available in hefty quantities. The people of Ghur specialized in production of weapons and war-equipment and exported them to neighbouring lands. In the words of the anonymous author of Hududul Alam2 , “From this province come slaves, armour (zirah), coats of mail (jaushan) and good arms.” According to another writer of that time the entire region from Ghur and Kabul to Qarluq/Karkluk/Qarluk/ Karluq – a prominent Turkic tribal confederacy west of Altay mountains in central Asia – was metal-working. Therefore, war implements and materials were easily available to the Turkish warriors. When Mahmud Ghazni attacked Ghur in 1020 CE its chief Abul Hasan Khalaf brought him shields and cuirasses and a tribute of arms was levied on him. The value of Ghurid arms was identified and admired by Mahmud and he employed Ghurid officers as experts in siege-warfare. Thereby, the supply of goodquality horses and war materials to the Turks helped them in their military pursuits everywhere. Ghur had very recently opened its doors to Muslim cultural interface and possessed two most significant and crucial requisites of war in the middle ages – horses and iron.

 


c.       Another factor responsible for success of the Turkish warriors was their Ghazi spirit. This was seen for the first time in West Asia when the Turkish warriors had to constantly fight against the non-Turkish nomadic warriors called the Turkmen or Turkomans. At this time the region of TransOxiana was under Iranian rule and its surrounding areas were inhabited by Turks and non-Muslim nomadic Turkomans. There were constant fights between the Turks and the Turkomans like Guzz or Oguzz etc. living in the KaraKhitai (central Asian steppes). During this period the Turkish emperors made continuous inroads into the Turkmen areas for capturing slaves who were in great demand in slave-markets of Herat in present-day Afghanistan, Sistan in present-day Iran, Samarqand/Samarkand and Bukhara in modernday Uzbekistan. Ghur had a reputation for supplying slaves to these markets. The warriors who were involved in such raids were free to earn through plunders in such expeditions. However, another aim of the Muslim Turkish warriors behind such loot and plunder was to spread Islam amongst the non-Muslim population and so, they were known as the Ghazis. Hence, we see that the Ghazi spirit was first employed and exhibited in fighting the central Asian nomadic tribes and later it was deployed against the “unbelievers” in India. Mahmud Ghazni – a plunderer from Afghanistan – embodied and displayed the same spirit in his raids in India. Few historians view his invasions and conquests in the Indian subcontinent as some sort of a Holy War for which there was no dearth of volunteers to aid and assist in. His triumphs were popularly known all over the East and some 20,000 warriors came to him from the land beyond the Oxus4 , praying and urging to be granted the privilege of fighting for Islamic faith, and possibly, attaining the crown of martyrdom for this lofty and noble cause. With a huge army strengthened and solidified by such zealots he undertook and fought his greatest campaign in India in 1018 CE and forayed farther into east than ever before.

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