Prediction of Victory
Ajmer e Sharif Dargah, Khwaja Gareeb e Nawaz, Khwaja Baba Rajasthan
King Shahabuddin Ghauri who was in Khurasan, dreamt an old Saint, saying :
" O Shahabuddin ! Almighty has granted you kingdom of India Get up and proceed
towards India."
After it, the Saint disappeared. When the king awake, he was under a peculiar state
of mind. The voice was still echoing in his ears, saying ‘ proceed towards
India. Success will be yours’. The King informed his learned men. They congratulated
the King and predicted his victory.
Ghauri on Expedition to India
King Shahabuddin Mohammed Ghauri was badly defeated by king Prithvi Raj one-year
back in the field of Tara-en(Tradri) and with great difficulties, he could save
himself and reached Ghazni.Since he wanted to defeat Prithvi Raj, he was preparing
for a war secretly. But he did not expected to go for a battle against India after
such a short span of time.
The Dream created great enthusiasm in his heart and after prediction by the learned
scholars he inspected the preparation and ordered his army to proceed on the expedition.
On the eight day, he himself proceeded on the crusade. The army officers were very
much surprised over the rush for the expedition. But nobody dared to enquire about
it . When the army camped in Peshawar, an old man of royal family asked " O
king though the preparations are on large scale, but the intention is still secret?"
The King took a deep breath and said. "You don’t know, what happened
to me. Can you recall last year’s defeat that is a blot on my face, be sure
that neither I havechanged my clothes nor I have taken rest on the bed. "
Hearing the king, the old man encouraged Shahabuddin Ghauri, prayed for his victory
and said, If your lordship has the intention then act according to the need of the
hour. Kindly call the Emirs and Chiefs to your court, grant them pardon and honour
them, so that they could fight for you and may sacrifice their lives for you and
wash the earlier defeat. The king liked the idea. So after reaching Multan, he called
the court and granted a general pardon to all the Emirs and Chiefs. Then he addressed
them" TO FIGHT FOR HIM". Every chief swore to fight till last breath for
the cause after putting their hand on swords.
A Decisive War
Shahabuddin took the advantage of the opportunity and he ordered for war in the
evening, left the army camp as it is and after taking a long round of many miles
crossed the river in the darkness of the night, and caught the enemy unaware. The
emperor did not loose his senses and face the attack with a part of his army. Later
the rest of his army also joined him.Rai Pithora’s army was comprised of three
thousand elephants, three lakhs cavalry and a large number of swordsmen, while king
Shahabuddin Ghauri had an army of one lakh twenty thousand soldiers.
Since Rai Pithora was very sure about his victory, so he did not bother for an organized
fight and ordered the entire army to charge against the enemy, On the contrary,
King Shahabuddin, adopting war tactics, divided army into four parts under the command
of four able generals and sent them to fight one after another. Rajput fought with
great courage and bravery that disappointed the Sultan’s army. But he adopted
another tactic. He lagged behind in an organized manner showing that he is defeated.
Rajputs followed them in a disorganized manner. When the king saw the Rajputs disorganized,
he attacked with his fresh army.
There was a fierce fight till noon. Raja Prithvi Raj came out of the warfield and
stayed under the shadow of tree with his participating 150 chiefs. A final attack
was decided. Everyone took an oath and came into warfield. Raja’s army was
tired as it was fighting since morning. The Sultan sensed the opportunity. He launched
a very strong attack with his fresh 12,000 swordsmen who all of a sudden reached
in the heart of enemy’s army. When the other chiefs of king’s army saw
the scene, They also pressed the enemy from left and right. In a moment, thousands
of Rajputs were killed. The enemy’s army was overturned. Meanwhile the elephants,
back bone of Raja’s army took a U-turn and crushed their own men. Rajputs
tried their best to face the position but in vain. Gharib Nawaz’s (R.A) words
were to be proved true, and they were.
It was dusk when the sultan’s army dominated the enemies. A number of Raja’s
including Khande Rao were killed while some other’s escaped. Rai Pithora also
wanted to escape but was captured and slashed on the banks of Saraswati river.
In the end Shahabuddin Ghauri immerged victorious and the hold of Muslims on northern
India became stronger. Later the Rajput’s king-doms like Saraswati, Samana,
Kohram and Hansi were captured without any difficulty. Then Sultan proceeded to
Ajmer. Nobody challenged him but the son’s of defeated and slain Rajas welcomed
him and accepted him. After reaching Ajmer, he handed over the kingdom to Prithvi
Raj’s son, Kola, who took the oath of loyalty
King Shahabuddin at the Feet of Khwaja Sahib
The evening was falling when Shahabuddin entered Ajmer. He heard Azan which made
him surprised. On inquiring, people told him that some Fakir’s who had arrived
a short time ago, used to call like this five times daily. The king took the direction.
The Jamaat for prayers was ready. He joined it. Gharib Nawaz (R.A) was leading the
Namaz.
As and when the prayers were over, and the king saw Khwaja Shaib (R.A), he was very
much surprised , Since he recognized the man who predicted his victory in the dream.
He wanted to fall flat on the feet of Gharib Nawaz (R.A) but the Khwaja embraced
the king instead.
The King sobbed and wept for quite a long time. Khwaja Gareeb e Nawaz (R.A) blessed
him and asked him to sit. When he regained, he made a request for Bayt. Khwaja Gareeb
e Nawaz (R.A) accepted the request and made him his disciple.
After staying in Ajmer for few days, Sultan Shahabuddin Muhammed Ghauri Marched
towards Delhi and captured it. He appointed his faithful Slave Qutubuddin Ebak,
Viceroy of India and went back to Ghazni. Qutubuddin captured rest of India in a
very short span of time and soon the Muslims got hold of the entire north India.