Historical Figures

26. Raja Jaichand Gahadwal was not a traitor!

This belief has penetrated deep into the Indian public that Raja Jaichand Gahadwal had invited the ruler of Ghazni, Muhammad Ghori, to attack India in AD 1192 to avenge his old enmity with King Prithviraj Chauhan.

The main basis of this belief is the book Tabakate Nasiri written by Minhajuddin Siraj. Minhajazuddin Siraj was the Qazi of Delhi. He was a contemporary of Nasiruddin Mahmud, who was the Sultan of Delhi from AD 1246 to 1266. He has written that Gauri was provided military aid by Raja Jaichand of Kannauj and Vijaypal of Jammu. This statement of Tabaqat-e-Nasiri is not confirmed by any other text like Prithviraj Raso etc. that King Jaichand had helped Muhammad Ghori in this war.

There is no mention of any role of Raja Jaichand Gahadwal in the Second Battle of Tarain in any contemporary history text. Ajmer historian Harbilas Sharda added to this problem by quoting the statement of Tabaqat-e-Nasiri.

The Bhatons exaggerated the case of Sanyogita, daughter of Jaichand Gahadwal by King Prithviraj Chauhan, that it became an established history that Prithviraj and Jaychant were born enemies of each other. In Hindu kings there are cases of love affairs of princesses and their abduction by kings and princes.

In such cases, there was usually an immediate war between the two sides, but when the princess was married to the abducted king or prince, the enmity was ended. It is mentioned in the texts of some Bhats that after Sanyogita Haran, Jaichand's army reached Prithviraj on the fifth day, killing the chief feudatories of Prithviraj. When Jaichand saw Sanyogita sitting on Prithviraj's horse, he stopped his army from pursuing Prithviraj and returned with his army to Kannauj.

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When King Prithviraj reached Delhi with Sanyogita, Jaichand sent his priest Purohit to Delhi, where Prithviraj and Sanyogita were married by law. With this the enmity of Prithviraj and Jaichand ended and Jaichand adopted a sense of neutrality from Prithviraj.

Jaichand remained neutral even in the battle fought between Muhammad Ghori and Prithviraj Chauhan in the Battle of Tarain. King Prithviraj did not seek help from his father-in-law, Jaichand, in this war or in any battle before it. If there was friendship between Jaichand and Gauri, then why would Gauri attack Jaichand later? Hence this allegation is false.

It is not mentioned anywhere in Prithviraj Raso that Jaichand had invited Gauri to attack Prithviraj. Similarly, in the contemporary Persian texts also there is no indication that Jaichand had invited Ghori.

People who have unwavering allegiance to King Prithviraj Chauhan go on repeating this statement in passion that Jaichand betrayed the country and invited Muhammad Ghori to attack India.

Dr. R. C. Majumdar has written in his book Ancient India that there is no truth in the statement that Maharaj Jaichand invited Mohammad Ghori to attack Prithviraj.

J. C. Poval has written in his book History of India that it is baseless that Maharaj Jaichand invited Mohammad Ghori to attack Prithviraj.

Dr. Ramshankar Tripathi has written that this allegation on Jaichand is false. Contemporary Muslim historians are completely silent on the fact that Jaichand has sent such an invitation.

Mahendra Nath Mishra has written – The notion that Jaichand invited Muslims to climb Prithviraj is baseless. Some texts of that time are available, but this is not mentioned in any. There is no such mention in the description of Prithviraj Vijay, Hamir epic, Rambha Manjari, Prabandha Kosh and any Muslim traveler. History is witness to the fact that Jaichand fought a brave battle with Mohammad Ghori in Chandawar.

A writer named Ibn Nasir has written in his book Kamil-ul-Tawarikh that it is absolutely untrue that Jaichand invited Shahabuddin to attack Prithviraj. Shahabuddin knew very well that until the superpowerful Jaichand was not defeated in North India, the right over the territories like Delhi and Ajmer would not be permanent because Jaichand's ancestors and Jaichand himself had defeated them many times by taking front from Turka. .

Historian Smith does not mention this allegation against Jaichand in the Early History of India.

Dr. Rajbali Pandey has written in his book Ancient India – The belief that Gauri was invited by Jaichand against Prithviraj, does not seem to be correct because Muslim writers have not mentioned it anywhere.

So we can say that it is a big mistake in history to blame Jaichand only on the basis of caste Nasiri. Minhajuddin Siraj was a city qazi appointed by the slave sultans of Delhi, he wrote this to please the sultans. His words cannot be believed as it is not corroborated by any other source.

Watch in the next episode- Muhammad Ghori betrayed King Prithviraj under the guise of a treaty!

-Doctor. Mohanlal Gupta