What was the outcome of the first battle of Tarain, fought in 1191?
- A.Muhammad Ghori defeated Prithviraj Chauhan
- B.Prithviraj Chauhan defeated Muhammad Ghori
- C.The battle ended without a result
- D.Jaichand defeated Muhammad Ghori
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is B, Prithviraj Chauhan defeated Muhammad Ghori. In the first battle of Tarain in 1191 the Rajput army of Prithviraj Chauhan III of Ajmer and Delhi broke the Ghurid centre, Ghori himself was wounded and carried away by a follower, and he withdrew to Ghazni. Option A is wrong because that is the result of the second battle of Tarain in 1192, when Ghori returned with mounted archers, used a feigned retreat and captured Prithviraj. Option C is wrong because the first battle had a clear result, a Rajput victory, even though it was not followed up. Option D is wrong because Jaichand of Kanauj took no part at Tarain; he was defeated separately at Chandawar in 1194. Historians add that the Rajput victory was not followed up, no attempt was made to hold the passes of the north west or to pursue the enemy, and that neglect cost Prithviraj the second battle a year later.
Read the full article: Arab and Turkish Invasions of India: Dates and Battles
Practice Questions
View allWho led the Arab conquest of Sindh in 712 CE?
- A.Hajjaj bin Yusuf
- B.Muhammad bin Qasim
- C.Mahmud of Ghazni
- D.Muhammad Ghori
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He was the young Arab commander sent into Sindh in 712 CE, who captured Debal, crossed the Indus and defeated and killed Dahir at the battle of Raor, and then took Brahmanabad, Alor and Multan.
Read the full explanation →Which ruler of Sindh was defeated and killed by the Arabs at the battle of Raor?
- A.Dahir
- B.Jaipal
- C.Anandpal
- D.Jaichand
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He was the Brahman ruler of Sindh who refused to compensate the Arabs for the ships plundered by the pirates of Debal, and he fell fighting Muhammad bin Qasim at Raor in 712 CE, after which Sindh passed under Umayyad rule.
Read the full explanation →The Chach Nama is the chief source for which event of Indian history?
- A.The raids of Mahmud of Ghazni
- B.The Arab conquest of Sindh
- C.The second battle of Tarain
- D.The founding of the Slave dynasty
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The Chach Nama, a Persian translation of an older Arabic account, narrates the rule of the Chach family of Sindh, the attack on the Arab ships at Debal and the campaign of Muhammad bin Qasim, and remains the main source for 712 CE.
Read the full explanation →Mahmud of Ghazni plundered the Somnath temple in Gujarat in which year?
- A.1001 CE
- B.1008 CE
- C.1018 CE
- D.1025 CE
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The raid on the Somnath temple on the coast of Saurashtra was the richest of all the expeditions of Mahmud of Ghazni and the one for which he is most remembered in Indian history.
Read the full explanation →Who accompanied Mahmud of Ghazni to India and wrote the Kitab ul Hind?
- A.Alberuni
- B.Firdausi
- C.Amir Khusrau
- D.Ibn Battuta
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The Central Asian scholar Abu Rayhan Alberuni came to India with Mahmud of Ghazni, learnt Sanskrit, and wrote Tahqiq i Hind, known as Kitab ul Hind, which describes Indian religion, society, astronomy and mathematics and is the most valuable account of eleventh century India.
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