1. Shahab-ud-din Ghori was a sultan of the Ghorid Empire who invaded northern India multiple times in the late 12th century. In 1192 at the Second Battle of Tarain, his forces defeated the army of Prithvi Raj III, the ruler of Delhi and Ajmer. Prithvi Raj was captured and executed, allowing Ghori to extend Muslim rule further into India. 2. Ghori appointed Qutb-ud-din Aibak as the governor of northern India. While Ghori continued to campaign and expand the empire, his armies and generals, led by Aibak, continued conquering northern India after his death in 1206.

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SHAHAB-UD-DIN GHORI
General
1. Shahab-ud-din Ghori was born Muizz-ud-dīn Muhammad Bin Sam in 1162 A.D.
into a Persian family in Ghor, what is present-day Afghanistan. His father, Sultan
Bahaud-din Suri, was the local ruler of the Ghor region at the time.
The Ghorid Empire
2. Ghor (now a province in central Afghanistan) lay on
the western boundary of the Ghaznavid Empire, which in
the early 1100s, covered an area stretching from what is
now central Afghanistan to the Punjab in Pakistan, with
capitals at Ghazna and Lahore.
Beginning in the mid-1100s, Ghor expressed its
independence from the Ghaznavid Empire. In 1149 the
Ghaznavid ruler Bahram Shah poisoned a local Ghurid leader, Quṭb ud-Din, who had
taken refuge in the city of Ghazna after a family quarrel. In revenge, the Ghurid chief Ala-
ud-Din Ḥusayn sacked and burned the city of Ghazna and put the city into fire for seven
days and seven nights. It earned him the title of Jahansuz, meaning "the world burner".
The Ghaznavids retook the city with Seljuk help, but lost it to Oghuz Turk freebooters.
The Ghorids reconquered Ghazna from the Oghuz Turks and in 1173, Shahab-ud-din
Ghori became governor of the Ghazna province while his brother, Ghiyas-ud-din Ghori,
became the Sultan of the Ghorid Empire.
Invasions of India
3. Shahab-ud-din Ghori first invaded India in 1175, capturing Multan and the fortress
of Uch. He attacked Gujrat in 1179 and was defeated by Mula raja Bhimadeva II, the raja
of Gujrat. He captured Lahore in 1181 and constructed the fortress of Sialkot. In 1191, he
pushed further eastwards against the Hindu Rajput kingdoms, and his forces were
defeated by the armies of Prithvi raj Chauhan, the king of Delhi and Ajmer and his allies.

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A year later in 1192, he fought the Hindu Rajputs, which resulted in victory.
Capture of Lahore
3. In 1181, Shahab-ud-din Ghori invaded the Ghaznavid Empire in India, reaching
and capturing Lahore, thus ending the Ghaznavid Empire and bringing the remaining
Ghaznavid territory under Ghorid control. This victory marked the beginning of the Ghorid
Empire.
Battle of Tarain
4. In 1191, Shahab-ud-din Ghori, leading an army of 120,000 men, invaded India
through the Khyber Pass and was successful in reaching Punjab. Shahab-ud-din Ghori
captured a fortress, either at Sirhind or Bathinda in present-day Punjab state on the
northwestern frontier of Prithvi raj Chauhan's kingdom. Prithvi raj's 200,000 strong army
led by his vassal prince Govinda-Raja of Delhi, rushed to the defense of the frontier, and
the two armies met at the town of Tarain, present-day Haryana.
In addition to being almost twice in number, the Hindu Rajput army had elephant cavalry
comprising of 300 elephants whereas Shahab-ud-din Ghori's army had no elephants.
Many Turk soldiers in Shahab-ud-din Ghori's army had not even seen elephants before.
Shahab-ud-din Ghori's horse cavalry was unable to hold its own against Prithvi raj's
elephant cavalry. Shahab-ud-din Ghori's defeated army retreated to Lahore and
thereafter returned to Ghazni.
5. According to one account, Shahab-ud-din Ghori, after suffering his first (and last)
defeat at the First Battle of Tarain, was resting in Khorasan when he had a dream in which
one of the famous Sufi saints of India, Khawaja Moin-ud-din Chishti, appeared and said
to him:
"O Shahab-ud-din! Almighty Allah has granted you the Kingdom of India. Rise and
proceed to India. Success will be yours."
When Shahab-ud-din Ghori awoke, he was restless. The saint's voice was still echoing
in his ears. It was then that Shahab-ud-din Ghori decided to invade India.

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6. In 1192, Shahab-ud-din Ghori re-assembled his army of 120,000 men and returned
to challenge Prithvi raj at the Second Battle of Tarain. Prithvi raj Chauhan then issued a
fervent appeal to his fellow Rajput rulers and aristocracy to come to his aid against
Shahab-ud-din Ghori. Prithvi raj assembled a very large army with the aid of
approximately 150 Rajput rulers and aristocrats, according to Firishta, it consisted of
3,000 elephants, 300,000 horsemen and considerable infantry. Shahab-ud-din Ghori
delivered an ultimatum to Pritvi raj that convert to Islam or be defeated. Prithvi raj refused
and Shahab-ud-din Ghori decided to attack. Prithvi raj deserted the battlefield and
attempted to escape but was captured. The Rajput Army also broke ranks and fled,
thereby conceding victory to Shahab-ud-din Ghor. Shahab-ud-din Ghori took the captured
Prithvi raj back with him to Ghazni, where he was executed in 1192.
7. With his victory at Tarain, Shahab-ud-din Ghori managed to push Muslim rule
much further east than Maḥmud of Ghazna had. Shahab-ud-din Ghori became Sultan of
the Ghorid Empire upon the death of his brother, Ghiyas-ud-Din in 1202.
Muḥammad Ghorī returned west to Ghazna to deal with the threat to his western frontiers
from the unrest in Iran, but he appointed Aibak as his regional governor for northern India.
His armies, mostly under Turkish generals, continued to advance through northern India,
raiding as far east as Bengal. but Shahab-ud-din Ghori failed to conquer Bengal.
Death
In 1206, a rebellion rose in Punjab. Muḥammad
Ghori returned to India and crushed the rebels,
but was assassinated at Jhelum (where he was
buried) on his way back to Ghazna.