Who Defeated Muhammad Ghori In 1178 Naiki Devi

Defeat Of Muhammad Ghori

 Shahab-ud-din Muhammad Ghori was born in 1162 in a small region of Ghor. Taking a cue from the life of the Mehmud of Ghaznavi, he believed in expansionist policies. India back then was a land full of treasures and attracted the evil eyes of looters and plunderers. Ghori wanted to win India. His first major conquest was the siege of Multan in 1175. The Karmathians of Multan were easily subjugated. A year later, he marched towards the fort of Uchch which was situated south of the confluence of the rivers, Chenab and Jhelum. The fort of Uchch was captured in 1176. The two easy victories planted a notion in Muhammad Ghori’s head that he was the chosen warrior and that he was invincible.  In the year 1178-79, he gathered a large force, and marched towards Anhilwara, the then capital of Gujarat. But this year was going to remove many of his misconceptions, fate was writing a different story for him. He was about to be beaten by a brave woman Indian queen.  Back then, the regions of Saurashtra and Kachchh was under the reign of Solanki Dynasty which was an offshoot of the Chalukya Rajputs. The Solanki dynasty was established by King Mularaj Solanki in the year 961 AD. They rule then went to Mularaja, Chamundaraja, Vallabharaja, Durlabharajam, Bhima I, Karna, Jayasimha, Kumarapala and then finally Ajayapala. . Ajaypal was married to Naikidevi, the daughter of Shivchitta Permardin of the Kadam dynasty of Goa. Ajaypala died an untimely death and his teenage son Mulraj II was anointed the king.

 Naikidevi became the queen regent while Ajaypal’s uncle, Bhimdeva II was the commander of the army.   A kingless kingdom was easy target for Sultan Ghori’s who immediately planned to lay siege on the Solanki kingdom. The queen mother contacted all the kingdoms in the North for help, only Rai of Narwhala responded positively. He sent a a troop of War Elephants. Ghori’s army was bigger and battle hardened. The odds were heavily against the Hindus, Queen-Mother Naikidevi decided to give the invaders a bloody nose and squarely denied Gori’s surrender proposal. While the army of the queen was smaller and not as well prepared as Ghori’s, there was one advantage that the natives had and the invaders didn’t, the advantage of the geography of the region. Queen Naikidevi chose the hilly passes of Gadaranghatta about forty miles to the north-east of the capital Anhilwara as the battlefield. The choice of battlefield tilted the odds in the favour of the Solanki kingdom. By this battle of the passes, one is instantly reminded of the Battle of Saraighat, where Ahom General Lachit Borphukan chose the narrow Saraighat on the banks of Brahmputra and flattened the pride of the invading Mughal army. Ghori simply walked into the trap created by Rani Naikidevi. Naikidevi was as fierce as the Goddess Durga herself. Mounted on an elephant herself, with the young boy-king by her side, the brave Naikidevi led the charge herself. A terrible war ensued. The lands flooded with blood and fat. The sound of striking swords, screaming armies and trumpeting elephants resounded the atmosphere. Queen Naikidevi herself claimed many scalps. Like a great jungle fire, the Queen’s army started consuming Ghori’s army. 

When the dust settled, Ghori was seen fleeing with a handful of his warriors. Ghori had come to subjugate Gujarat, he fled with only a handful of his bodyguards in tow. The court historians of Ghori deliberately omitted this disastrous misadventure but the story is well chronicled by Acharya Merutunga, a famous Jaina Acharya in his work called “Prabandha Chintanami”Ghori wasn’t just physically beaten, the torments of the war had a devastating effect on his psyche and he never again dared to march towards Gujarat. He preferred Northern routes after this humiliation. The story of Queen Naikidevi is literally absent from Indian historical records. It is not a part of any history syllabus. No chronicler thought about writing a book on her. No artist thought about drawing a portrait of her. No movie director thought about making a biopic on her. Despite defeating one of the biggest tyrants in Human history, Despite defeating one of the biggest tyrants in Human history, Queen Naikidevi remains unknown to Indians and very few people outside the state of Gujarat know about her story. This was the story of conviction, a story of courage, a story of terrific planning and a brilliant execution and the story of Queen Naikidevi, the hero her own countrymen forgot.