[PDF]Military System in Northern India 606 a D 1206 a D a Study

“Military System in Northern India (606 A.D-1206 A.D): A Study’’,
A THESIS


Submitted to
C.C.S. University, Meerut


For the award of the degree of


DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
IN


History
RESEARCH


(Mr. Prabhakar Tyagi)


(SUPERVISOR)

Dr. (Mrs.) Ajay Vijay Kaur

Senior Lecturer,

Department of History

Ch. Charan Singh University Campus,
Meerut


Dr. (Mrs.) Ajay Vijay Kaur

Senior Lecturer,

Department of History

Ch. Charan Singh University Campus,

Meerut Daled is axe wee tan atedot ee


CERTIFICATE


I certify that Mr. Prabhakar Tyagi worked under my supervision for his
Ph.D. thesis entitled ‘‘Military System in Northern India (606 A.D-
1206 A.D): A Study”, the work done by him is worthy of the
consideration for the award of the Doctor of Philosophy degree in the


History.
It further clarifies that:
1. The Ph.D thesis embodies the work of the candidate himself.


2. The candidate worked under me for the period required under the


statues.
3. The candidate has put in the required attendance during this period.


4. The conduct of the scholar remained satisfactory during the period.


Supervisor


(Dr. (Mrs.) Ajay Vijay Kaur)


Residence:- 318/4, Jagriti Vihar, Meerut, Contact- 0121-2601142


CHAPTER-I
INTRODUCTION


The instinct of self-preservation which is so strong even among the
lower animals has been present in Man ever since the dawn of human
history. From the Paleolithic times he has been fighting and defending
himself against Nature and wild beasts, and with his steady march from
barbarism to civilization and the gradual development of intellectual
pursuits he has discovered weapons first to defend himself, then to defend
his family and clan and finally his own territory and nation. In India
which is the home of one of the oldest civilizations of the world, the
people passed through all the processes of individual, clan and territorial
fighting in the different stages of their interestingly long and complicated
history. The object of this work is to portray as far as possible a picture of
the military system of ancient India and her methods of national defence
with special reference to Northern Indian history from the accession of


Harsha in KYannavj till the accession of Qutubuddin Aibek in Delhi’.


With awesome mutism the silvery plains of North India have been
witness to a countless battles for her mastery since the days of the
Rigveda. Kingdoms rose and fell in never-ending succession. That
explains the dedication of one fourth of the Rigvedic hymns to Indra, the


God of War* That is the raisondetre for the glorification of war so


eloquently indulged in by the two great epics- the Ramayana and the


Mahabharata as well as the Puranas.


War affects the destiny of nations and lives of millions. It is not a
simple affair and its proper study bristles with complex problems. Any
worthwhile study of warfare is bound to be dubbed as incongruous when
done independent of major factors affecting it 1.e., geographical, socio-
philosophical and political. Therefore, before elaborating on warfare in
the early mediaeval period of Indian history, it is incumbent upon us to


peruse these factors in some detail.


GEOGRAPHICAL FACTOR


We first take up the geographical factor. Geography has been
defined as science of the earth and all life upon it. Its scope is extremely
wide. However, for the assessment of warfare in a particular country, a
broad knowledge of its geography will suffice. The major elements which
are to be considered for this purpose are: location, size and shape,
climate, physiographic, people, economic development and
communications. This is essential because every aspect of geography
affects military operations, strategy as well as tactics. Military geography
embodies the study of the physical geography with a view to assessing its
suitability for strategical maneuvering. The lay of the land and


distribution of vital resources are as vital as are the means of


communications*
Shape and Size


The accounts of Greeks testify that the Indians had a very accurate
knowledge of the shape and size of their country. The whole of India was
described to Alexander by Indian who knew it well. Patrokles, who held
the government of the northeast satrapies of the Syrian empire under
Saleukas Nikator and Antiochus Sotar, himself collected information
about India which was lauded by Eratosthenes has described India as a
“rhomboid or unequal quadrilateral in shape with the Indus on the west,


the mountains on the north and the sea on the east and south.”


Diodrous reckoned the extent of India from east to west as 28,000
stadia and from north to south 32,000 stadia. This comes to 60,000, all
put together. The Mahabharata likens the shape of India to that of an
equilateral triangle. This triangle was divided into four small equal
triangles, the base of which is formed by the Himalayas and the apex by
the Kanya Kumari. Astronomers, such as Parasara and Varahamihira
divided India into nine divisions (Nava Khandas). This division along
with their chief regions in brackets were, Central (Panchala), East
(Magadha), South-east (Kalinga) South (Avanti), South West (Anarta),
West (Sindhu-Sauvira), North-west (Harahura), North (Madra) and


North-east (Kuninda). The Puranas generally agree with the nine fold


division of the country. But the three early Puranas, viz. Vishnu, Yayu


and Matsya stick to the Mahabharata’s division of India into five regions.


The later was the generally accepted division in the early centrues of the


Christian era. Its was also adopted by the Chinese pilgrims, including the


celebrated Yuan Chwang who visited Indian in the seventh century AD.”


Five divisions of “Five Indias,” as they are termed by the Chinese,


are given below:


Il.


Il.


IV.


Northern India included Punjab, Kashmir, the neighbouring hill


states and the whole of eastern Afganistan.


Western India comprised western Rajasthan, Gujarat, Kachh,
portion of the adjoining coast on the lower course of the Narmada


river and Sindh.


Central India included the whole of the Gangetic region from
Thaneshwar to the head of the Delta and between Himalaya


mountains and the river Narmada.


Assam, Bengal, together with Sambhalpur, Orissa and Ganjam


formed Eastern India.


Southern India included the whole of the Peninsula from Nasik on


the west and Ganjam on the east to Kanya Kumarl on the South.°


This arrangement is simplet than that of the nine divisions. The


Chinese borrowed their system from the Hindus who likened their
country to the lotus flower, the middle being the Central India, and the


eight surrounding petals being the other divisions.’


According to the Vishnu Purana “the country that lies north of the
ocean and south of the snowy mountains is called Bharat ... ”*. India lies
in the north of Equator and the tropic of Cancer girdles her in the middle.
Himalayas and its off-shoots form the moundatin barrier of the sub-
continent. On the west it separates the Indus valley from Persia, Seistan,
Makran and Baluchistan with the help of the Kirthan, Sulaiman and
Safedkoh ranges. Further north the Hindukush safeguards the borders.
Pamirs and Karakarom intervene between Kashmir and Turkistan.
Radiating from Pamirs, the Himalays extend throughout the north upto
Brahamputra. On the eastern most limits of India, the mountains fold
round, run from north to south, separating Bengal and Assam from


9
Burma.


Whereas the natural boundaries of India in the north and the south
are well marked, on the west they have often been changing. For quite
some time eastern Ariana or the large part of the Afghanistan formed part
of India. During his visit to India (629-645 AD) Yuan Chang found that
the king f this country was of kshatriya caste.'° During the whole of the


tenth and early years of the 11" century AD Kabul valley was ruled over


by a Brahmana dynasty. No wonder that the population of eastern
Afghanistan is of Indian descent. The Indian element, which had braved
the foreign aggressions for centuries, could no longer subsist after the
slaughter began at the hands of the Ghanavids. '!


Area

Yin-tu or India, according to Yuan Chwang, measured 90,000 Li in
circuit'*, “which is more than double the truth.”'’ Indian encircles an area
of about fifteen hundred thousand square miles and is thus equal in extent
to the whole of Europe excluding Russia. The coastline stretches beyond
three thousand and miles and the length of its mountains is 1500 miles.
India has the highest mountain on the surface of earth. Its plains are low
and alluvial, high table lands, dense forests as well as vast sheets of dry


deserts. It has the hottest of the plains as well as coldest of the hill


stations. *
Climate and Products


There is almost every variety of climate and natural product in
India. Its mountains have lofty summits eternally covered with snow. The
lower mountainous region abounds in thick green forests. The plains have
extremes of temperature and fertility. There are hot, arid deserts in the
south-west. The rich alluvial plains of the Ganga lay between the


Himalayas in the north and the Narmada in the south. The plains alternate


with wild hilly regions and table-lands. Seasons vary from the extremely
hot to the bitterly cold.” The rains bring nourishment to the soil, but


hamper military operations on a mass scale.


A medieval Arab writer thus speaks of this country- “India... is the
most agreeable abode on the earth and the most pleasant quarter of the
world. Its dust is purer than air, and its air purer than purity; its delightful
plains resemble the garden of paradise, and the particles of its earth are


like rubies and coarals.'®
Geography and Warfare


In India the course of warfare has to an exceptional degree, been
dictated by the geography, particularly its climate and influx of
population.'” Although there is lack of natural boundaries within her
frontiers yet the invader has to be extremely careful. The Indus valley,
which is a world in itself, has on its east a mighty desert which would
lead the invader has to be extremely careful. The Indus valley, which is a
world in itself, has on its east a mighty desert which would lead the
invader into an inhospitable region. Its parched solid and merciless sun
make survival extremely difficult. Her inhabitants were hardly, restless
and ferocious fighters. Across the Aravali range, only a few hundred
miles away from the heart of arid desert, is the Ganga valley, which has


the means of supporting the densest population. It has been the centre of


Indian Civilization from very early times. The bounties of nature have
made man averse to hard toils. To this valley of gold, there is but a
narrow entrance. “The Aravali hills from the south-west and the
Shiwalika (Sapadalaksa) from the north-east approach each other across
the plain separating the Punajb from the Ganga valley leaving a
conveniently narrow gap, not more than a hundred miles in width.”’®
Through this bottleneck alone the Ganga Valley, popularly called,
Hindustan could be approached from the west by the attacking hordes.
The fate of Hindustan was decided right at the entrance to the valley i.e.
the plains of Karnal District of Haryana, comprising the famous battle-
grounds of Panipat and Tarain. “For once the invader set his foot inside
the flat river-country of the Ganga, defence was necessarily at a
disadvantage.'” Vast cavalry forces can easily sweep as they have done
age after age in the past-through the green belt from the Khaibar Pass via
Delhi to Bengal’s capital; without meeting with any natural obstacle, if
any the forts on the way are by-passed. In these plains, empires have
fought empires, and India’s fate has been decided by one single gigantic


20
clash of arms.


Bengal, which is a country of ‘plenty,’ is remarkably well-provided
with natural defences, Entrance to it has also been made narrow by the


northern spurs of Vindhyas and the southern ones of the Tarai. Her


climate, numerous swift flowing rivers and rivulets with seasonal floods,


*?1 On the west, almost unbroken


are a great obstacle to the northerners.
chain of hills and trackless forests extend to a great to length towards the
sea; on the east he is shut off by the Brahamputra which leads to another
narrow valley, equally fertile but whose uneven soil, flooded streams and


eee : 22
moist air are a death trap to the western invader.”


Lack of adequate knowledge of Indian geography proved
disastrous to many foreign invaders. Muhammad Ghori’s earlier attempts
at invading India provide a good illustration of this fact. At this juncture a
word about the route from Afghanistan to India will not be out of place.
The familiar route was not through the well-known Khaiber pass or the
Bolan or the lesser known Kurram and Tochi passes, but through the
Gomal which led to Dera Ismail Khan and from there to upper Sind-
Sagar-Doab. This is borne out by the fact that during the 125 century the
first military target was Multan or Uch and not Lahore or Peshewar,
Kurram, Tochi and Gomal passes provided the shortest route to the
Punjab. Such is not the case with the Khaiber pass, which involved a long
detour through the north. This route had become unsafe at the hands of
ever hostile tribes inhabiting northern Sind-Sagar-Doab. In his first
expedition Muhammad Muizzuddin Ghori could conquer Multan and


Uch. In his next expedition he tried to penetrate through western


Rajasthan. Pressure from the Turks had kept the Rajputs preoccupied
during the last half a century. The defeat and destruction of “Turuska’
army by Anahilladeva, a contemporary of Bhima I of Gujarat, and also at
the hands of Kalhara, whose inscriptions range from 1161 to 1179 AD,
bring out clearly the importance of geographical factor in the warfare of
northern India. Unmindful of the fate of his predecessors on the
treacherous track of conquest, Muhammad Ghori directed his forces
against the Chalukyas of Gujarat. He reckoned that his conquest of
Gujarat would provide him a key to the Indian hinterland and facilitate
his plan of out-flanking Ghazna vids of the Punjab. Passing through
Multan and Unch in 1178 AD he dashed across the great desert and
arrived at the foot of Mount Abu with an army exhausted and work out.
There he found the Rajputs under the Standard of Mulraja II eager to
thwart his design. In the ensuing action, fought near the village of
Kayadra on the ground of enemy’s choosing, he suffered a signal defeat
and was lucky to escape home. The geography had thus pronounced its
dictates. It showed to him that there was only one feasible approach to
Hindustan and that lay through the Punjab. Accordingly, the next few
years witnessed his steady advance through Khusrau Malik’s dominions.
Preshawar fell in 1179 AD, Sialkot in 1185 AD and Lahore AD. Three
years thereafter, he could advance his ambitious designs against India


2
proper.”


Before Muhammad Ghori, the Arab arms had as woefully sunk to
the sands of Sindh. This was not because the Arabs had lost their martial
vigour by which they had conquered mighty empires of Europe and Asia.
It was because they had failed to grasp the true geographical factor
affecting conduct of war in India. The Arab invasion was a failure. “It
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