Sahabuddin Muhammad Ghori was younger brother of the Ruler of Ghor. His name was Gayasuddin. He was raised to the throne of Gazni in 1173 A.D., still he remained loyal to his brother and kept good terms with him. Through he ruled over Gazni virtually as an independent ruler till 1206 A.D. still he got his brother’s name inscribed on him coins and behaved towards him as a feudatory does towards his lord. He carried on many invasions on India only as his brother’s associate and opened the way for the establishment of Delhi Sultanate.

Invasions of Muhammad Ghori on India :

Multan and Sindh

The first invasion of Muhammad Ghori was directed against Multan in 1175 A.D. The heretics were easily defeated and Multan was captured. An orthodox governor was appointed for Multan. From Multan he marched to Uch in Upper Sindh. The relations between the Ruler of Bhatti and his wife were strained. Muhammad Ghori took advantage of them and promised to marry the daughter of that lady if she finished her husband.

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The Queen poisoned her husband but her daughter was not made the chief lady of the harem of Muhammad Ghori. Scholars doubt the genuineness of the story and point out that the Bhatti Rajputs did not hold any part of Sindh and the Ruler of Uch at that time was most probably a Muslim. In 1182 A.D., Muhammad Ghori invaded Lower Sindh and compelled its ruler to submit.

Anhihvara

Muhammad Ghori also invaded Anhilwara of Patan, Capital of Bhima II, and the Vaghela Ruler of Gujarat. However, he was defeated by its ruler. He had to retrace his steps. According to Sir Wolseley Haig, “The sufferings of the retreat far exceeded those of the advance and it was but a miserable ramnat of the army that reached Ghazni.” Habibullah says that Muhammad Ghori was lucky to escape with his beaten army.

Punjab

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Muhammad Ghori realized that it was not possible to conquer India through Sindh and Multan and the key to Hindustan lay through the Punjab. No wonder, the decided to conquer the Punjab. In 1179 A.D., he attacked and captuired Peshawar which was under the Ruler of the Punjab. In 1181 A.D., Muhammad Ghori proceeded against Khusrau Malik. Instead of fighting, Khusrau Malik sent to Muhammad Ghori costly gifts and his own son as a hostage.

In 1185 A.D., he attacked the Punjab once again and plundered the countryside. He also captured the fortress of Sialkot and garrisoned it with his own troops. When Khusrau Malik found that Muhammad Ghori was determined to oust him from the Punjab, he entered into an alliance with the Khokhars. With their help, Khusrau Malik besieged Sialkot but he was unable to capture the same.

In 1186 A.D. Muhammad Ghori once again came to the Punjab and besieged Lahore. He had been invited by Raja Chakra Deo of Jammu who was not on good terms with Khusrau Malik. When Muhammad Ghori failed to defeat Khusrau Malik in a pitched battle, he resorted to a stratagem. He persuaded Khusrau Malik to pay him a visit and guaranteed him safe conduct. Muhammad Ghori also released the son of Khusrau Malik and when the latter came out to meet his son he was made a prisoner and later on pout to death.