History of Hindu Heroism

History of Hindu
Heroism
A QUICK CHRONICLE OF ALL THOSE HINDU BRAVEHEARTS WHO FOR
OVER 550 YEARS FOUGHT ISLAMIZATION AND PAID WITH THEIR LIVES
TO KEEP OUR RELIGIOUS AND CULTURAL IDENTITY ALIVE

You Must Know
Mohammad Ghori
Mohammad Ghazni
Muhammad Bin Tughlaq
Ala-ud-din Khilji
Babur
Akbar
Shah Jahan
Jahangir
Aurangzeb
Tipu Sultan

You must have…
 Nodded yes to all these names
 Remembered your history books talking about them
 Remembered some monuments named after them
 Thought about all aesthetic beauty of Muslim architecture
 Told yourself that India would be culturally void had these rulers not
brought poetry and aesthetics with them
 Remembered that after initial war and arson, Muslim rulers ensured Hindus and Muslims lived
in harmony
 Remembered that Akbar even had a Hindu wife
….and so it goes

Do you know?
Prithviraj
Jayachandra
Pulakesin
Nagabhatta
Lalitaditya Muktapida
Jayapala
Lakshmadeva
Govindachandra
Arnoraja
Naikidevi
Mularaja
Hariraja
Bhimapala
Vidyadhara
Bhimadeva
Paramara Bhoja

 Pulakesin may ring a bell
Prithviraj Chauhan may also sound familiar
The rest….?
A Clue:
Some of these names belong to these dynasties:
Chalukya
Chauhan
 Gahadavad
Rajput
Well…

A Journey of Rediscovery
Time to rediscover the history of Bharata
To be aware of what our ancestors did to protect Bharata
The freedom that we enjoy today and the Sanatana (Eternal) heritage and
culture that gives us this freedom came at a very heavy cost.
We know little or nothing about the names of those who paid that cost.
This is the story of those names of our brave past. An attempt to pay respects
to those brave Hindus who paid with their lives to keep Bharata and her culture
alive.

634 CE & Hindu resistance
“This affair will be a source of great anxiety and so we must put it off…for every time an army
goes, [vast] number of Mussalmans are killed. So think no more of such a design.”
The Caliph to Hajjaj, the Governor of Iraq in 708 in response to a request to send another
expedition after the losses suffered between CE 634 to 708 when the Arab invasion began
into Thana (Maharashtra) and Broach (Gujarat).
When the final conquest of Sindh happened, it was a minor affair
This was because no mass conversions took place
For idolaters, the choice was between Islam and death
Hindus chose the latter
This forced Arabs to relax their code and they hence were forced
to allow Hindus to rebuild temples
Can we emulate our proud Hindu ancestors today?

The Arabs were mighty, but…
 But they had to wait for 70 years till they made an effective breach on Indian borders near Sindh in CE
713.
At the time when Arabs were getting routed in India, the former were the mightiest power
Till then they had had rather easy conquests in Palestine, Iran, Iraq, Khorasan from CE 632 to 643
Byzantine, the province of Egypt had fallen to them in CE 641
By CE 650 inner Mongolia, Bukhara, Tashkand, Samarkand were annexed
These small Hindu principalities of Sindh gave such a tough resistance that the Islamized Turks had to
take over from the Arabs to carry on Jihad against Sind
Can we imbibe this fighting spirit?

The Heroes…
Chaulkya - Pulakesin Avani
Janasraya
This Chalukya ruler defeated
the Arab army, which had run
over the kingdoms of Sindhu,
Kutch, Saurashtra, Cavoatak,
Maurya and Gurjara.
At Navasari this brave king
stopped them and beat them
back. He got the title of
Dakshinpatha – Sadhata (solid
pillar of Dakshinpatha) and
Anivattaka Nirvartayi (repeller
of the unrepellable)
Nagabhatta I – Gurjara Pratihara King
This ruler of Avanti (Malwa) in CE 725
defeated the Mohammadean ruler who
invaded his dominions.
Referring to one these kings, a Muslim
historian wrote: “Among the princes of
India there is no greater foe of the
Mohammedan faith than he.”
The Pratihara kings waged constant war
against the Arab prince of Multan

…The Heroes…
Lalitaditya Muktapida
Between 724-760 this king
blocked those Arabs who made
advances north of Sindh in
Punjab and Kashmir
Jayapala – Shahiya dynasty
Hindus had lost Kabul in the closing decade of
10th century.
King Jayapala made a bold bid to recapture
Kabul. The Rajas of Ajmer, Delhi, Kalinjar,
Kanauj came together & contributed troops and
their might reduced the Islamic warriors to
despair.
Snowstorm forced Jayapala to stop the war and
pen a negotiation for peace saying thus: “You
have heard and know the ableness of Indians –
they fear not death or destruction…In the affairs
of honour and renown we would place ourselves
like roast meat and upon the dagger like the
sunrays”
It is said by Bildhuri that this
King ordered all the Turushkas
to shave off their heads as a
symbol of their submission
So they retired from various
parts of India and left their
positions only to seek refuge at
last near Mahfuzah which the
Arab Governor had built for
them

…The Heroes…
Anandpala
Jayapapala’s successor Anandpala
was equally valiant and refused
passage to the Mahmud Ghazni
army
This led to a long battle, which
Anandpala lost. His son was taken
captive, converted to Islam.
When Mahmud had to leave to
take care of an attack, he left
Indian possessions in hands of
Sukhapala who returned to Hindu
fold
Trilochanapala
He was the successor of Anandpala and had retired to hills of
Kashmir. When Mahmud attacked, the battle lasted several
days.
Kalhana writes in glowing terms in the Rajatarangini : “Even
after he (Mahmud) had obtained victory, the Hammira did not
breathe freely, thinking of the superhuman prowess of the
illustrious Trilochanapala”

…The Heroes…
Bhimapala (Nidar Bhima)
He was the king of Lohara, on the border of Kashmir and he was the reason Mahumd suffered
great disaster against India and with great difficulty, managed to return to Ghazni
Contemporary Muslim historians do not mention this expedition. The Shahiyas fought with valour
for 50 years and ultimately collapsed – but not before three Shahi kings had sacrificed themselves
on the battlefield.
Prithviraja II
The Hansi stone inscription describes the Hammira as a dagger pointed at the whole world
The flag that fluttered at the gateway of this fort we are told defied the Hammira
Prithviraja II was compared to Sri Rama and Kilhana (who was in charge of Hansi) to Hanumana

…The Heroes…
Lakshmadeva
After the death of Bhoja Paramara in CE 1055 and Raja Karna Kalachuri CE 1072 , Mahmud attacked
again but was defeated again by Lakshmadeva the Paramara ruler of Ujjain
Govinda Chandra of the Gahadavad Dynasty
Kanauj was protected by this ruler and many inscriptions around this period speak again and again of
the rout of Turushka armies
Arnoraja, Chauhan Dynasty Vigraharaja
Worst defeat of Muslims was at the hands of Arnoraja, the Chuahan ruler of Ajmer (CE 1133-
1151) and the Muslim commander had to flee before the might of the Chauhans
Vigraharaja conquered Delhi and Hansi from the Tomaras
Raja Vidyadhara – Chandela Dynasty
When Mahmud asked him to surrender & become Muslim, he replied saying that he had nothing to say except on
the battlefield.

…The Heroes and a Heroine…
Queen Naikidevi and
Mulraja
When Gujarat was attacked in CE
1178, Queen Naikidevi taking her son
in her lap led the Chalukya army
against the Turushkas and defeated
them at the foot of Mount Abu
Mularaja was described as conqueror
of Garjanakas (dwellers of Ghazni).
One inscription states that during the
reign of Mularaja even a woman could
defeat the Hammira
Prithviraj III
While Mahmud reached Lahore he was met with
Prithviraj III.
Prithviraja-Vijaya accounts say that the Chauhan
ruler was aware of the rise of a “beef eating
Mlechha named Ghuri who had captured Garjani.”
Hammira Mahakavya states that Prithviraja-
defeated Ghuri 7 times while Prabandha
Chintamani and Prithivirajaraso put his victories at
21!

…The Heroes…
Bhimadeva II
Aibak had turned to Gujarat in 1197 where the Chalukyan army again faced
the Muslims at the foot of Mt Abu where Ghuri had been defeated in 1178
In the cover of night they caught the Chalukyan army unawares and Hindus
were defeated
However, Bhimadeva II recovered the whole of kingdom and was back in
Anhilwara in 1201
Inscriptions at Dabhoi and Verawal refer to heroic struggles of two generals
of Chalukya King Lavanaprasad and Sridhara
Thanks to him, Gujarat remained independent for the whole of the next
century.
No other dynasty put up a more sustained struggle against Muslim invaders

…The Heroes
Lakshmana Sena and the King of
Kamrupa
East Bengal was protected by successors
of Lakshman Sena
Madanapara and Edipur inscriptions of
Visvaraupa Sena and Keshava Sena,
successors of Lakshmana Sena speak of
victories won by them over yavanas
Epigraphic evidence states the they ruled
for three generations at Vikramapur near
Dacca
In Assam, the King of Kamrupa destroyed
Bakhtiyar Khilji and repeated invasions on
the Brahmaputra were warded off
Jayachandra, Gahadavad
ruler of Kanauj
 Encountered Ghuri in fierce battle in
1194, but was defeated
 Jayachandra’s son Harishchandra
recovered Kanauj, Jaunpur &
Mirzapur in 1197
 Kanauj stayed independent till
Iltutmish conquered it

Defence of Somanath
 “50,000 infidels were killed round about the temple.”
The battle in CE 1026 raged with fury and victory was long
doubtful
Though the sacred image of Somanatha was destroyed,
Mahmud Ghazni was frightened by the rallying of Hindu
forces and beat a retreat
However, Mahmud could not take the road he took to
attack Somnath – as the Chalukya King Bhimadeva I
(Gujarat) or Paramara Bhoja of Malwa stood in his way
(Gardizi refers to a Param Dev, Badshah of Hindus which
could mean either of these kings).
Mahmud finally beat a retreat via Multan and Mansurah

Concluding Notes
 The first Arab invasion was in 636 near Thana Mumbai
Muslim rule was successfully established in Bharata in 1206
The Muslim rule over northern India (from 1206 to 1707) till Aurangzeb’s death was 500 years
Hindu resistance lasted over 570 years
Countless Hindu kings and common Hindus continuously fought for their ancient dharma and to keep
Islamic rule at bay
Hindus never took advantage of their enemy’s weakness, which magnanimity proved costly
We did have Muslim rule, but nowhere else in the world did Islam encounter such fierce challenge except
at the hands of Hindus. Nowhere else in the world has any civilization except the Hindu survived to tell the
tale.
Our Hindu past is a thing to be proud of, and so is our fighting spirit.

Credits
Information for this entire presentation is derived from the book “Heroic Hindu Resistance to
Muslim Invaders” by Sita Ram Goel and Dr Ram Gopal Mishra.
Presented by Manini on behalf of IndiaFacts Research Centre

It’s an IndiaFacts
Presentation

History of Hindu Heroism

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