Bravehearts of Bharat: Vignettes from Indian History

by Vikram Sampath

Mahmud Ghazni’s desecration of the holy town of Mathura invited indignation from a host of rulers of north India, including the Chandela king Vidyadhara, the Shahis Trilochanapala and Nidar Bhima and others. They formed another confederacy to avenge Mahmud’s misadventure and forced a retreat of the invader in 1019 CE. As historian Sita Ram Goel rues: ‘Hindus could have destroyed him [Mahmud] had they pursued him in his retreat … Hindus had lost [that vision]. Pursuit of a retreating enemy was contrary to the Rajput code of honour.’10 It was thus the application of moral codes of ethical military conduct with an opponent who neither believed nor honoured such protocols that cost the Indian forces heavily during various critical milestones of history. Mahmud thus lived on to inflict more misery on the country.