MOHAMMED-IBN-SAM OR MOHAMMED OF GHAURI (GHORI), THE TORMENTOR OF HINDUS WAS A DESCENDANT OF HINDU CONVERTS TO ISLAM
The next Muslim onslaught came in the year 1187, when the Muslim chieftain of a place named Ghor in Afghanistan, overthrew the Ghaznavid ruler in Ghazni. These Gauris (pronounced by the Muslims as Ghauri, Ghori and rendered in English as Ghurid) were originally Hindu cowherds and were subjects of the Shahiyas, who had been converted by force to Islam, by the Ghaznavids, who overthrew the Shahiya power in Afghanistan in 980 C.E.
Now in the 1187 After a lapse of 200 years, these ex-Hindus who had been forced to embrace Islam, had become cruel and merciless like any other Muslims and not a trace of their Hindu ancestry was evident in their mindset, except for the name Gauri (derived from Gau which means cow in Sanskrit). Their name %u201CGauri%u201D traced their humble origins as Hindu cowherds. From their name Gauri, the place from where they hail, derived its Islamized name Ghaur or Ghor. Though Muslims, the Gauris got poetic justice, by annihilating the kingdom of their former tormentors, the Ghaznavids. But ironically these former Hindu cowherds, the Gauris had now become the new ruthless tormentors of their former compatriots - the Hindus.
HOW THE HINDUS INFLICTED THE FIRST MAJOR AND DECISIVE DEFEAT ON MUSLIMS AT THE BATTLE OF BAHARAICH IN 1033
The fact that in spite of the subterfuge that the Muslims used, the Hindus did register one spectacular victory over the Muslims in 1033 at Baharaich in today%u2019s Uttar Pradesh. The invader was Mahumd Ghazni%u2019s son, Masud Ghazni, who following his father%u2019s footsteps invaded India with a large army. The difference now was that he did not intend limiting himself to looting as his father had done, but planned a permanent occupation of the entire country.
With this aim in mind, he penetrated deep in to the Ganges valley and established his camp at Baharaich in today%u2019s eastern Uttar Pradesh. From there he sent word to the surrounding Hindu kings to surrender and embrace Islam!
As was their practice, before the beginning of hostilities, the Hindu kings also sent a messenger to Masud that this land being theirs, his troops should peacefully vacate it (as was done once again unsuccessfully by the Government of India before the inception of the 1999 Kargil war when Pakistan occupied Indian territory at Kargil Drass and Mushkoh sectors in Kashmir). But Masud sent a reply that all land belonged to Khuda (the Persianized version of Allah) and he could settle wherever he pleased. And that it was his holy duty to convert to Islam all those who did not recognize his Khuda and accept Islam.
Consequently, Masud's huge army was besieged by the even greater Hindu army and no side gave the other any quarter. The Hindus, for once as an exception had learnt their lesson about Muslim treachery, after being victimized for four hundred years from 638 onwards. At the battle of Baharaich, gradually the Hindus began to decimate the Muslim army and as the hostilities progressed, Masud saw the unsuccessful end of his expedition. This bitter and bloody war was fought in the month of June 1033.
In this ferocious and bloodied war, no side took any prisoners and it ended only with the slaughter of the entire invading Muslim army along with many martyrs from the defending Hindu army.
What was exceptional during this war was that the folly of pardoning a defeated enemy, that was displayed by Prithviraj Chauhan 160 years later in 1191, was not to be seen. The Hindus seemed to have followed the tradition of their ancient king Ramchandra of Ayodhya when he defeated and killed Ravana and his entire army at the battle of Lanka.
The battle of Baharaich ended on 14th June 1033. At the gory end, the entire invading army along with their commander lay dead. Not one enemy soldier was allowed to return. There still exists today near Baharaich the grave of the commander of the invader - Prince Ghazi Mian Masud. There he is hailed today by the local Muslims as a Ghazi and a Peer (a Muslim who is raised sainthood by being a killer of non-Muslims). And every year till this day an Urs (Muslim religious assemblage)
The defeat of the Shahiyas opened the Indian heartland to these heartless invaders and Mahmud of Ghazni, repeatedly attacked India. His raids for plundering and destroying Hindu shrines at Somnath, Palitana, Thanesar (Staneshwara), Mathura, Kannauj, Khajuraho regularly every year are still recollects with dread. His aim initially was limited to collecting a large booty every time as also take many Hindu captives who were sold into slavery in the bazaars of Baghdad and other Muslim cities. His raid on the famous Hindu shrine of Somnath located at Prabhash Patan in Gujarat is seared in Hindu memory till today.
The many Hindu captives that he took from were transported on foot across the Western ranges of the Himalayas. Many Hindu captives could not face up to the merciless treatment of their cruel captors, and died in large numbers along the way. These deaths of the Hindus is remembered in the name which the Muslim gave to the Western Himalayas as %u201CHindu Kush%u201D, which means the Killer of Hindus (Kush means %u2018to kill%u2019 in Persian)
HOW THE MUSLIMS TRICKED TRILOCHANPALA, KIDNAPPED AND MURDERED HIM BY LURING HIM USING MUSLIMS DRESSED AS HINDU HERMITS (SANYASIS)
After snatching victory through subterfuge at Lahore, the Muslims began to penetrate deeper into the country. Anandpala attained veergati (martyrdom) through the deceit of the Muslims, as had his father Jayapala. Now the teenaged grandson of Jayapala Shaiya, Tirlochanpala Shahiya took the reins of the death struggle against the Muslims in to his hands. He was then just a teenager at seventeen years of age when the ascended the once glorious throne of the Shahiyas.
The Shahiya empire which had once stretched from the rivers Yamuna to the Kubha (Kabul), was now a shadow of its former glory. The first move Tirlochanpala did was to shift the capital from Lahore to Kangra in today%u2019s Himachal Pradesh. Kangra was in a relatively fortified position, from where he tried to reorganize the defense of his vastly reduced domains.
The Shahiya empire which stretched from Herat to Hardwar, was now pushed to one fifth its size and its western border which was once at Heart during the reign of Jayapala Shahiya was now pushed about a thousand miles east at Kalka in the Shivalik Hills which were the foothills of the Himalayas. The Shahiya domains had now shrunk and did not occupy a position to block the further advance of the Muslims into India. But he followed the valiant example of his father and grandfather and allied himself with the kings of Kashyapmeru (Kashmir) and Tibet, to eject the Muslims from Punjab and Upaganasthan (Afghanistan).
Sabuktagin%u2019s son Mahmud Ghazni, wanted to nip this effort in the bud. He again made use of the patented Muslim mechanism of subterfuge. He sent a group of his soldiers dressed up as Hindu mendicants to meet Tirlochanpala. These mendicants went to Kangra and sent in a message that they come from Kubha (Kabul) and bring a message to their king whose ancestors originally ruled Kabul. With this trick, they gained entry into Tirlochanpala%u2019s headquarters at the fortress of Kangra.
Once in his presence, the mendicants surrounded the unsuspecting young prince and sliced his neck and made off with his severed head, leaving a note beside his headless body that Islam will finally overcome anyone who decided to block the path of Allah%u2019s soldiers. A few days later a Muslim army arrived at the Kangra valley, stormed the fort of Kangra, and sacked it of the opulent riches that it held from the once vast Shahiya empire. This happened in the year 1020 C.E. The downfall of the Shahiya empire was so complete within forty years spanning a struggle over three generations that a few centuries later people even doubted if the Shahiyas (Hindu-Shahis) ever existed. The memory of a dynasty that had held guard at the North West frontier of India since the days of the Kushanas in the 3rd century C.E. disappeared into the sands of time. The only reminder today is the ruins of the fortress of Kangra around which the silver coins artfully minted by the Shahiyas are still to be found.
The remainder of the once formidable Shahiya army, became leaderless and demoralized. They migrated deep into the Himalayas and settled down as goat-herds. They came to be known as Gaddis. These Gaddis follow this profession to this day and they still inhabit the Himalayas coming down to the Shivalik foothills and the plains of Punjab in the winter to graze their cattle. Thus with Tirlochapala%u2019s death, the last scion of the Hindu dynasty that ruled Afghanistan and Punjab passed away.
The next Hindu (Sikh) king of Punjab was to be Maharaja Ranjit Singh who ascended the throne after a gap of eight hundred years in the 18th century. The interregnum was to be the dark interlude of Muslim tyranny, during which the majority of the Hindus of Afghanistan, Paktoonistan and West Punjab were converted to Islam at the pain of death.
HOW THE MUSLIMS POISONED THE ELEPHANTS OF THE HINDUS AT THE BATTLE OF LAHORE TO SNATCH VICTORY ONCE AGAIN USING SUBTERFUGE
In the initial defeats of the Muslims, the Hindus had used armor-clad elephants. The Muslim realized that these elephants would be their nemesis. As the Muslims came from Afghanistan, they had no access to elephants, so they decided to use subterfuge which was instinctive for the Muslims practiced as it was from the days of the Treaty of Hudaibiya by their lecherous, treacherous, mass-murderer, false prophet Mohammed .
The Muslims seized on their victory over the Hindu army and overran the capital Kubha (which was renamed Kabul by the aggressors) they destroyed the Hindu temples there and force converted the Hindu population that stayed behind, to Islam. After the defeat of Jayapala Shahiya, his son Anandpala Shahiya, moved his capital from Kubha (present day Kabul) to Udbhandapura (present day Und where Jayapala committed Jauhar) and finally to Luvkushpura (present day Lahore).
He gathered all allies he could from Northern India and opposed the invading Muslims, now led by Sabuktagin%u2019s son Mahmud of Ghazni. The armies met on the banks of the Ravi near Lahore. In the initial skirmishes, the Muslims were worsted by the Hindus who led the attacks using armor-clad elephants, and were determined to liberate their motherland from the schizophrenic savages which is what the Muslims were. In the initial defeats of the Muslims, the Hindus had pushed the Muslims up to the foothills of the Hindu Kush mountains. After these defeats, the Muslim realized that the armor-clad Elephants would be their nemesis and put paid any further invasions of India.
As the Muslims came from Afghanistan, they had no access to elephants, so they decided to use subterfuge which was instinctive for the Muslims practiced as it was from the days of the Treaty of Hudaibiya by their lecherous, treacherous, mass-murderer false prophet Mohammed.
The Muslims sent an envoy to Anandpala, saying that they are suing for peace, their conditions were that they should be allowed safe passage out of the country. As a gesture of goodwill they wanted to come over to the Hindu camp and have a common meal with the Hindus, to seal the peace treaty. Against the advice of his allies, the innocuous and unsuspecting Anandpala agreed to meet the treacherous Muslim marauders.
The Hindus were in for a shock when their elephants refused to obey their mahouts (elephant riders) orders and started running amok and away from the battlefield. The opium that had been fed deceptively by the Muslims, had begun to have its effect. With Anandpala also on one of the elephants which had started running helter-skelter, the confusion grew in the remaining Hindu troops. The Muslims cunningly spread the word that Anandpala was retreating. This led to the disarray and ultimately to defeat of the Hindus at the battle of Lahore.
HOW THE MUSLIMS USED THE PECULIAR WAR ETHICS OF THE HINDUS TO CRAFTILY DEFEAT THEM
The Jaswant Thada at Jodhpur was erected by Rana Jaswant Singh in memory of the victories the Rajputs secured against the Muslims during the 17th century. The Jaswant Thada rivals the Taj Mahal in its pristine beauty and is a poetry in Marble.
The Muslims had studied Hindu warfare practices and misused the weakness of the Hindus to their hilt. Sabuktagin%u2019s spies had told him that the Hindus start warfare at Sunrise and end it at sunset.
The crafty Muslim chieftain decided to use this practice of the Hindus against them. He challenged Jayapala Shahiya to open warfare and decided the place and date of the war. True to his word the Hindu king reached the appointed place one day before the day of the war. This was in the year 980. The Muslims too had assembled at the appointed place and the two adversaries exchanged ambassadors and decided that the hostilities would commence at sunrise the next day. After the Hindus retired for the night, the Muslim were busy preparing for a night assault. While the Hindu army was in deep slumber, except for a few scouts, the Muslim army attacked by taking cover of the dark and stormy night. The storm entirely camouflaged the advance of the Muslims as they stealthily crept towards the Hindu camp, after crossing the few hillocks that separated the two camps.
The Muslims had muffled the sounds of their advance by covering the hooves of their horses with felt and cloth. Dressed in dark clothes the Muslims almost reached the Hindu camps at 2 A.M. at night. When they were spotted, the Hindu scouts raised a hue and cry to awaken their sleeping troops. But it was too late. Before any significant number of the Hindus could arise to don their armor and be ready to fight the Muslims, a large number of them were done to death while they were half awake and struggling to prepare themselves for war.
The entire Hindu army was caught unawares, but they still put up a stiff fight against their beastly adversaries. The battle continued till past dawn, but the Hindu army had been overpowered, tricked as it had been to give the advantage of surprise to the Muslims. By late morning the remnants of the Hindu army retreated back to their capital Kubha (Kabul), with the Muslims in hot pursuit. The Muslims soon occupied Kabul and continued to push the Hindus eastwards.
The Muslims came for the luncheon arranged at the banks of the Ravi river where the Hindu army had encamped. While intermingling with the soldiers, the Muslims moved about towards the stables of the Hindu camp and expressed surprise at how the Hindus fed their mighty elephants. The innocuous Hindus were playing the role of the gracious hosts, and indulged their %u201Cguests%u201D with every query they asked. After all the Muslims were their guests and the Hindus had a quaint belief that %u201CA guest is like God%u201D (Athithi Devoh Bhava
ARABS FAIL TO CONQUER INDIA, TURKS AND MONGOLS (MUGHALS) TAKE UP THE JIHAD AGAINST INDIA
These second Muslim lunge towards India was not led by Arab Muslims, but they were the Persian, Turkish and Mongol converts to Islam. The first Turko-Persian Muslim chieftain to attack the Hindu domains was named Sabuktagin. He ruled from Ghazni and had forced his way up to the domains of Jayapala Shahiya (Hindu-shahis) the Hindu Raja of Kubha (later renamed as Kabul by the city%u2019s Muslims occupiers).
HOW THE RAJPUT HINDUS TROUNCED THE ARAB MUSLIMS FOR FIVE HUNDRED YEARS
The Muslims had studied Hindu warfare practices and misused the weakness of the Hindus to their hilt. Sabuktagin%u2019s spies had told him that the Hindus start warfare at Sunrise and end it at sunset. The crafty Muslim chieftain decided to use this practice of the Hindus against them. After the Hindus retired for the night, the Muslim were busy preparing for a night assault. While the Hindu army was in deep slumber, except for a few scouts, the Muslim army attacked by taking cover of the dark and stormy night. When they were spotted, the Hindu scouts raised a hue and cry to awaken their sleeping troops. But it was too late. Before any significant number of the Hindus could arise to don their armor and be ready to fight the Muslims, a large number of them were done to death while they were half awake and struggling to prepare themselves for war.
After the Muslim occupied Sindh, they did not rest quiet, they attacked Punjab, but were repulsed, then they attacked Rajputana, but were repulsed by Kings like Raja Bhoj, and when they attacked Gujarat, they were defeated by the Chalukyas (Solankis) of Anahilwada at the battle of Mount Arbuda (Abu).
Thus the Muslims could not make any headway into India from their occupation of Sindh in 715, up to 980. It was only in the year 980, that the Muslims could invade India once again. But they had to use another gateway. Instead of attacking Rajasthan, Punjab and Gujarat from Sindh, they attacked the Shahiya kingdom in Upaganastan (Afghanistan %u2013 literally the land of allied tribes).
HOW THE MUSLIMS BLACKMAILED A GUARD TO OPEN THE DOOR OF THE FORT OF DEBAL
The Victory tower erected by Rana Kumbha, the Hindu Rajput ruler of Chittod to commemorate his innumerable victories over the Muslim invaders.
The Muslims too had a tough job with the Hindus. After an unsuccessful campaign of more than eighty years from 638 C.E., the Muslims ultimately captured the Fort of Deval (Debal near modern Karachi) by deceit, by kidnapping the three children of the chief guardsman of the fort of Debal, beheading one and threatening to behead the other two. With this blackmail, they forced him to leave one of the secret trap doors open, after they had feigned retreat. Due to this betrayal, the Muslims could finally sink their ugly claws into India under their beast-like leader Mohammed-ibn-Qasim (Mohammed bin Kasim).
The Hindus never forgot this treachery and eventually learnt from it . In this treacherous attack, the Muslims kidnapped two princesses of the King Dahirsen (Raja Dabir) of Debal. The leader of the Muslim brigands, Qasim and sent them as captives to the Khilafa (Caliph), as a gift with a message that they were royal virgins, meant to be ravished by his holiness (sic) the lecherous Caliph himself. But these princesses outsmarted the Caliph.
The two princesses tore apart their hymen with their own hands and told the caliph that their modesty had already been violated by Qasim. The Caliph did not believe them, but when he saw for himself the ruptured hymens, he was convinced that Qasim had violated the modesty of the princesses and then sent them over to him. The thought that Qasim had fooled him so enraged the lecherous Caliph that he summoned Qasim to present himself at Baghdad. With Qasim in chains, the Caliph accused him of betrayal. Although Qasim pleaded his innocence, the Caliph, asked for Qasim to be locked in a barrel with nails stuck on the inside and had him rolled down a hill.
Qasim died a cruel but a well deserved death. And the first generation of Hindus whom this beast-like Muslim had tormented and slaughtered, received poetic justice in the death of this accursed Muslim general who vandalized Sindh.
FOUL TACTICS USED BY THE MUSLIMS AGAINST INDIANS (HINDUS)
Although the Arab Muslims on the orders of the gangster Caliph Umar, attacked India in 638, they were repeatedly defeated by the Rajas of Makara (Makran) and Sindh. The Arab chroniclers then wrote derisive accounts of the reasons for their defeats at the hands of the Hindus by saying that the Hindus practice Voodoo and Black Magic and so bring Jinns and Shaitan to help them in war. Hence the Arabs cannot defeat them, the way the Arabs could easily defeat the Persians and the Byzantines.
But the Hindus were tenacious fighters. We need only to remember how the Greeks under Alexander overcame the Persian Achemanian empire in a few years, after which they attacked India, but the Hindus contested the Greeks so fiercely and harassed the Greek army so much that inspite of the Greeks securing a costly victory in the battle along the river Hydaspes (Vitasta, today%u2019s Jhelum), the Greek troops mutinied and refused to advance further into India.
