In the 1194 A.D. the Hindu Kingdoms of northern India were invaded by Mohammed Ghori, who unlike all those previous islamic invaders who came conquered looted and left decided to stay back and create an empire from the lands that he just conquered.
I have already finished the timeline, that extends till the modern era. I wanted to post the first few parts and then carry on from there. Tell me what you think about it.
India Without the Muslim Sultanates
POD:
AD 1192 Second Battle of Tarain:
Prithvi Raj Chauhan (PRC) the Rajput king on the throne of Delhi wins against the invading muslim armies of Mohammed Ghori.
In a battle of epic proportions that actually took place in the field that day the mad rush of the Indian troops citing reasons of honour into the waiting and withdrawing muslim armies resulted in a defeat. As the charge itself was lead by the king himself it lead to his capture and subsequent execution. Resulting in the loss of a leader who was capable of uniting the northern hindu kingdoms of India.
The POD here is that PRC with a little more thought and after heeding to counsel decides to let the invader attack him first hence fighting the battle on his own terms where the immensely large number of troops on his side could carry the field.
Battle of Tarain:
Day 1
Mohammed Ghori looks at disdain at the empty field in front of him. After throwing down the challenge to the Hindus he waited patiently for them at the borders of their nation willing them to attack. It has been 2 weeks of maintaining the status quo. Neither was willing to attack. His troops were getting restless and it appeared to them that the hindus were massing a major force while waiting and attacking them seemed to be the only way out. They lost the last time just barely and to them it appeared as if they had the hindus completely figured out.
Ghori decides to let his mounted archers attack at the elephant front line of the hindus. He saw how timid they elephants were when attacked by a fast moving target and how easily they went out of control and caused more damage to their own lines from that point on.
On advice from his general Govinda Raja PRC takes note of the tactics of Ghori from the last battle and conceals skirmishers within the lines of the elephant between their legs where they are not visible to the rushing enemy.
The rushing horsemen see a very thin line of elephants spread out before them. They heard rumours of 5000 of these animals being brought into the battle. They use poisoned arrows thinking that they’ll do the job. But the arrows shot from the small bows barely pierce the skin causing wounds too shallow to bring about any effect.
As soon as the horsemen are close enough the skirmishers break cover and begin their grisly work with pikes and swords nearly annihilating the cavalry in the dust and confusion.
Meanwhile Govinda Raja leads half of PRC cavalry on a trek to reach behind enemy lines secretly.
The first day ends in a near disaster for Ghori with nearly half of his cavalry dead or wounded.
Day 2:
By the night of the first day the rajput cavalry reaches to an area within striking distance of the invaders and waits.
PRC moves his army’s main body forward to meet Ghori now that the threat of the mounted archers is suppressed. Ghori decides that the only way to win would be to attack at the center of the army and take out the royal section and throwing the army into confusion. He charges forward leaving about 70000 troops to take on the rest of the hindu army.
PRC is surprised to see 20000 hardcore muslim troops rushing at his center ready to wreak havoc throwing all caution to the wind.
He realises that if he stays to fight then the whole battle would be lost. He retreats.
Meanwhile the cavalry lead by Govinda Raja falls on the afghans from behind. With the rear sealed of ghori decides that now that he has PRC on the run the easiest way to end the battle would be to capture this hindu rat.
The hindu troops continue to fight on inspite of the flight of their king as PRC assigned different princes in his alliance their own section to lead all falling into the grand battle plan.
Ghori rushes on to what he sees as his destiny of being the ruler of India the land of riches.
As he nears the camp of PRC the dust left by the retreating king and his party gradually settles.
Ghori sees before him the famed 5000 elephants of PRC and 100,000 strong army arrayed and ready to battle. PRC rides to the front line and takes command of this mighty army and the prey becomes the hunter.
Caught between the mighty hammer and anvil ghori and his troops are crushed.
Towards the end when Ghori sees that all his people will be slaughtered if he doesn’t act he finally surrenders throwing away his buckler and sword and rides towards PRC with his hands open.
PRC accepts the surrender and a quarter is given to all those who throw their arms down.
Aftermath:
Ghori is made to kneel in front of PRC and swear on his god that neither he nor his descendents shall ever look upon India with intent to conquer or raid.
Him and his men are released once they surrender all their weapons.
AD 1193
PRC orders border fortifications to be constructed to the northwest to prevent further threats. They decide on having a system of fortifications and forts rather than a continuous wall. Most of the work is performed using local kings and vassal states while supervised by PRC’s men. The garrisons inside are however local troops.
PRC realises that the only reason that he was successful in the war was because he could bring a good number of kings and princes under his one banner to fight. He sends out messengers to all the Hindu kings of northern India and all its border lands proposing a pact of mutual defence against an attacking third party and non aggression. At the same time he personally starts corresponding with the other Rajput kings proposing an alliance
For the first time an attempt is made to bring all the hindu kingdoms north of the vindhyas under one roof without using the sword.
AD 1194 July
Kings and chieftains arrive from all over India to take part in celebrations of the victory against the invaders. During the celebrations deliberations begin about the proposed pacts of non aggression and mutual defence.
Though initially it leads to an uproar amongst most of the kings as none of them see any form of growth in their kingdom were it not for battle.
Knowing that this point would come up eventually PRC offers that his kingdom will arbitrate incase of any territorial disputes. Though it isn’t exactly something that the Hindu kings are used to they decide owing to the fact that they have just won a major victory and the fact that they still deem the muslim invasion threat persistent they agree to the terms gradually.
As the negotiations of the Non aggression pacts are going on PRC lays in front of the other Rajput kingdoms of India a completely different plan.
A.D. 1194 Alliance:
PRC offers to the Rajput kingdoms a complete alliance in which he proposes that all of them pool their resources and bring them under one umbrella similar to
Samhiti and Smriti forms of governance stated in the Vedas(Indian religious texts). He proposes for starters a full alliance not merely a mutual pact of non aggression and defence.
The alliance is set up with the following principles:
- All members of the alliance will deal with all forms of threats especially foreign invasions as a common enemy.
- They shall never be the aggressors against another kingdom governed by a Hindu king.
- Any other Hindu kingdom if interested can join into the alliance but will have to meet and honour all commitments of the alliance.
- The alliance shall maintain and garrison all the border forts being constructed.
- Troops for the garrison shall be maintained by the local kingdoms but with a few central staff from Hastinapur(not delhi anymore as no muslim influence)
- The alliance will meet and use Hastinapur as its chief headquarters and residence.
- The members of the alliance cannot take part in any adventures of aggression against smaller kingdoms nor can they aid any non alliance member without first declaring their intent to do so.
- The alliance shall never involve itself in any foreign issue unless specifically invited by the local people.
- Every kingdom depending on its size and strength will provide a certain number of troops and funds to train and arm them all into a central fighting unit an army belonging to the alliance.
- All the members together form an executive body called the Grand Council comprising a noble or another representative of the king and his kingdom acting as their voice.
The only dark aspect of the entire negotiations is that the king Raja Jayachandra of Kannauj an eastern kingdom walks out of the meeting. Being the only king to do so. He detests PRC and the glory that he has attained.
The negotiations over all the above conditions and clauses take place over almost two years time, but gradually all the Hindu kings are convinced slowly yet surely that this is the way for them to remain prosperous and secure.
A.D. 1197 the alliance is finally sealed with each of the kings swearing to uphold all their duties upon their honour and the gods that they all worship.
A.D. 1200:
Over the years the as the forts are being constructed slowly, it occurs to the Alliance that rather than have a scattering of local troops whose abilities are always questionable it would be better if there is a group of soldiers trained and armed in a similar manner.
Considering that the forts range from the open plains of Sindh to the rocky peaks of Hindu Kush mountains the soldiers have to be trained in a variety of environments.
Thus are born
the frontier corps.
A group of soldiers to be raised by the time the fortifications are complete. Who are initially trained in their local environment and then rotated into the different locations of the forts and then they shall continue to learn as they serve.
A.D. 1215:
It has been nearly 20 yrs since the fortifications have been initiated. Now they stand complete tall and defiant. Filled with warriors trained almost perfectly. For the first time since the birth of civilisation people begin to have an idea of something higher than their king and god and begin to believe in the collective called a Nation.
The frontier corps on the whole were about 200000 strong and each person who served had his family by his side in the villages that came up in the shadows of the fortresses which doubled as trading posts.
On reaching an age where he could no longer serve they could retire to a piece of land granted to them in the kingdom of their origin.
The main army of the alliance was nearly 400000 strong with its infrastructure completely separated from that of the standing army of each of the kingdoms. The soldiers constantly rotating in and out of their home armies building bonds.
Gradually most of the North Indian Hindu kingdoms came forward and became a part of the alliance. But still Kannauj remained defiant and aloof.
A sense of Hindu pride and nationhood gradually took root in the peoples hearts.
Temples were built and religion flourished. Budhism and Jainism barely got along what with a highly tolerant society flourishing.
A grand meeting of all Hindu religious heads and interpreters took place. The taboo of not leaving the birthland and going overseas was declared to be exactly what it was a taboo and a fallacy nothing more.
A.D.1217
Traders and scholars who now with royal patronage made visits to China their northern neighbour came back with tales of instruments and powders that light up the sky.
PRC is fascinated by the idea of fireworks and asks for a demonstration as soon as possible.
A school was established to teach the nobles and princes the art of waging a war. This laid the foundation to the systematic way the Alliance army would function in the years to come. Considering that the alliance covered a very wide range of territories the school became a center for a variety of tactics and strategies to develop.
The size of the alliance now asked for a better system of transport. So this year a plan is laid out to connect all the major cities using roads all built to standards established by the Grand Council.
A.D. 1218
Diwali this year is truly celebrated as the festival of lights with an immense display of fireworks. The scholars have now learnt finally how the rockets are to be made as well as the secret of gun powder. With samples and a few techniques smuggled in.
The military establishment that watches this display realise the immense use these rockets could have in form of signals in the battlefield as well as a communication device among their spread fortresses and the central military headquarters in Hastinapur(delhi).
A.D. 1218:
Contact and a formal form of communication is established with the tribes in the Assam forests. The same year stories of a massive invincible army begin to be carried along the trade routes. Since there is never any smoke without fire especially in matterssuch as this the Alliance attaches special personnel to the traders going out to gather more news and bring it back as soon as possible.
A.D. 1219:
The rockets enter their service in the Alliance Frontier Corps used as a system of signals. The age old forms of catapullets are built with pots filled with the black powder and clay pellets which are meant to explode and cause confusion among the marching armies.
On the day of Dushera PRC dies. The entire alliance is shocked and shaken. He had lived beyond all the original founding kings of the alliance and acted as a continuity ensuring that the Alliance would continue to function as they hoped it would cementing forever the principles of its founding.
Kannauj finally joins the alliance.
King Kola the son of PRC is crowned king of the Hastinapur based empire.
It had been a bitter sweet year for the alliance.
The first action that king Kola takes on ascending the throne is to ensure that all centers of secular learning receive royal patronage to be able to take them to the heights that their ancients held as some of the most learned men in the world.
A.D.1220: August
On an unusually cold summer morning high in the Khyber Pass at the last frontier fortress a tired and dusty half alive person walks into the gate and demands to be shown directly to the commandant of the fort.
He tells of an army nearly a million strong heading towards Hindustan (India) six months behind him.
The rocket signals are sent out instantly and within the month the Grand Army of the alliance is ordered to march towards the pass.
All the territorial armies of the kigns are also activaed and they begin preparations.
A.D. 1221 June:
Spurred on by tales of the legendary riches and wealth of MIghty Hindustan, Genghis Khan and his entire army enter and occupy todays balochistan and afghanistan areas and wait and begin preparing for an almighty blow to bring yet another civilisation to its knees.
Meanwhile the Grand Army has reached the border lands of the Khyber pass.
Considering the terrain tactics using elephants will not work so they are all retained at the plains below the pass acting as a second line should the first line fail.
The Battle for the fortress:
Deciding that a full scale massed attack against the Grand Army to be too great a risk Ghenghis decides that first he has to take control of the fortress.
500 of his crack troops are dispatched on a night mission with padded shoes. They scale the walls on a cloudy night with barely padding around their weapons to keep down the sounds to as low as possible.
They then fight their way through a surprisingly easy resistance and throw open the gates to allow their waiting cavalry to rush in and take the fort completely. 30,000 cavalry rush towards the gates.Just as they near the gates a red rocket goes up from the fort.
Then night turns to day as hundreds of fireworks dazzle the eyes of all and fire rains down on the cavalry in the form of flaming arrows and bombs from the catapults and the rushing cavalry are sent packing.
Furious over the loss of his cavalry Genghis orders a full assault over the archers and artillery. With hooves clad in cloth the mongol cavalry attacks in the night. In the confusion and darkness a full 20,000 archers and nearly 500 pieces of artillery are destroyed.
Effectively seizing the fort and pushing the Grand Army into retreat atleast for the time being.
Rather than stay on in the fort Ghenghis Khan then decides to rest his troops.
A.D. 1221 July:
After resting his troops sufficiently Ghenghis Khan decides to attack and seize the initiative. Even though his troops have reports of a massive army standing against them he prepares a plan that involves probing attacks and multipronged approaches against the single army. Unlike the usual armies the Mongols fought as units rather than as a centrally commanded army allowing them greater flexibility on the battle field and also lead to a disruption of the enemy formations.
The mongol units approach the Grand Army in a highly innovative formation where each separate wing has its own formation of archers and cavalry and infantry allowing each to attack and retreat as it saw fit causing chaos on the field.
Unknown to the Mongols the Hindu kings also trained their Grand Army on similar lines on observing the approaching mongol formations even they start preparing with all haste in similar fashions. But unlike the Mongols the Grand Army also acts as one cohesive force guided and commanded centrally with the field decisions being left to the individual units aided by signals via the rockets.
In the ensuing battle almost 300,000 soldiers die before Ghenghis khan realises that both are evenly matched in wits and he being the attacker cannot afford to loose anymore men than he already has.
For the first time Ghenghis sits with his enemies and decides to work out a form of peace. He is allowed to cross across Hindustan to his destination in exchange for a pact of peace and non aggression as well as wealth for the damages incurred by the Grand Army in terms of men and material lost.
Ghenghis Khan then marches on westward carrying with him tales of a mighty land called Hindustan brimming with riches and fierce warriors.
What follows this encounter is a period of consolidation and growth for the Alliance in terms of all that it learned and developed.