CHAPTER 15 - Sovereign Lord

Summary

The title “Prithivi-Raj” means “Sovereign Lord”. At the end of the eleventh century, Rai Pithora of Ajmer adopted this title after inheriting the kingdom of Delhi. Within a few years, Rai Pithora and the ritual-ridden Rajputs would fail in the defence of India. Their defeat at the second battle of Tarain opened India to foreign subjugation for about eight hundred years. While there would be flashes of brilliance for Indian civilization during this period, for the vast majority of the Indian populace, the era would be characterized by cruelty and death, famine and poverty, a liturgy of misery.

The Nanda and the Maurya dynasties of the first millennium BCE were ruled by kings and emperors of low caste birth. During this period, the kshatriyas were politically irrelevant and their numbers were depleted. In the post Maurya period, many warrior tribes settled in North India including the Yuezhi from Central Asia, the Sakas from Persia and the White Huns from Eastern Europe. In the fourth century CE, the Guptas claimed lineage to the ancient royal family of the Lichchhavis and laid the foundations for a feudal society. In the post Gupta period, the ruling families in North India, many of mixed descent resulting from intermarriage between the new-comers and the older settled populations, developed distinguished genealogical lineages for themselves to legitimize their position as the ruling class. The exalted lineage was buttressed with tales of chivalry and an exaggerated code of honour. These families became known as the Rajputs.

Delhi was colonized by the Tomara Rajputs from Kanauj during the sixth century. These immigrants built the famous Iron Pillar in Delhi which still stands intact. After the destruction wrought by Mahmud of Ghazni, the city was re-populated in 1052. In the twelfth century, it was ruled by a Tomara king who died without having any male children, so leaving the kingdom to his grandson Rai Pithora Chauhan of Ajmer. As the population of Delhi had increased, Rai Pithora built a massive wall, about nine metres wide and eighteen metres high around the city. The walled city of Delhi was known as Qila Rai Pithora or “the fort of Rai Pithora”.