Punita Toraskar

Today, I was reading about something called the Mandela Effect. It is actually a very interesting psychological phenomenon. In this, a large group of people share the exact same false or distorted memory of a historical event. A mass delusion of some sort. The name of this effect came from the mass false memory, that Nelson Mandela died in prison. When in reality, he didn't There are many examples of Mandela effect in the world, and one of which is very popular in India. And it pertains to Islamic invasions. Most of us believe that Indian kings of the time were pushovers and they usually folded and ran at the first sight of Islamic invading armies. This memory has been reinforced with history books telling us how Ghazni invaded us 17 times or how Ghori defeated us and installed an Islamic Sultanate that ruled India forever after that, etc etc This makes us think, we always lost. The reality however, is slightly different. Because we are never taught about the following battles. Battles which can bust the Mandela effect prevalent on this subject. Battles in which Indian kingdoms, sometimes alone, sometimes together, smashed, annihilated and routed the invaders, over both land and the sea. These are those battles, that we are never told about. 637 CE - An Arab force under the Umar Caliphate invades what is today's Thana, get their ass kicked by the Chalukya Empire, They tried to repeat it in both Bharuch and Dabhol, with similar ending. 738 CE - A confederation of Chalukyas, Pratiharas, Bappa Rawal and other Mewar Chiefs, destroy the Ummayad armies in the Battle of Rajasthan. The rout was total. So much for the narrative that we kept fighting amongst ourselves. 739 CE - A naval invasion of Sindhi Arabs, was defeated by the unknown Saindhava Dynasty on the Saurashtra Coast 758 CE - The Arabs launched a second naval invasion, but the result was the same. They were totally annihilated by the Saindhava King Krishnaraja off Saurashtra coast 776 CE - A third and final naval invasion was launched by Arab Sindhis. Records say more than a thousand ships were launched. We don't know the exact number, but what we do know that they were so badly routed by the Saindhava King Agukka, that the Arabs gave up on their intentions to invade India for the next 250 years. 1021 CE - Mahmud Of Ghazni laid Siege to the Lohkot Fortress defended by the Lohara Dynasty of Kashmir. He tried to capture it for more than a month, but the Loharas repelled all the attacks. Finally Mahmud of Ghazni was forced to Withdraw and he never subjugated the Loharas till the end. 1034 CE - Raja Suheldev of Shravasti, destroys the Armies of Salar Masud, the nephew of Mahmud of Ghazni, in what is called the Battle of Bahraich. And by destroyed, I meant the entire Ghaznavid army was annihilated. There is even a nice book written on it by @authoramish Do read it 1034 CE - Now this one is a subject for a very good movie. Ahmad Niyaltigin, the Ghaznavid governor of Punjab, raided the prosperous city of Benaras, which was held at that time by the Kalachuri King Gangayadeva. The usual pillage and destruction followed. What happened after that, was a little different. Because Gangayadeva didn't keep quiet. He followed the Ghaznavid army, caught up with them at Kangra, which was then under Ghaznavi control and routed them. 1043 CE - A confederacy of Raja Bhoja of Paramaras, Karna of the Kalachuris, the Chahamanas and the Tomaras, recover a good chunk of the territories lost to the Ghaznavids in the previous decade of invasions. Our history books teach us we lost. Not the fact that we actually recovered our territories quickly afterwards. 1109 CE - Ghaznavids again raid Kannauj and take prisoner the Gahadavala king Madanachandra. His son defeats the Ghaznavids, secures his father and sends them scurrying back where they came from. 1178 CE - 13 years before the battle with Prithviraja, Muhammad of Ghor tries to invade India thru Rajasthan. He meets a determined army, led by the by Regent Queen Naikidevi of the Solankis (Chaulukyas). The Solankis totally annihilate the Ghurid army, in what we call the Battle of Kasahrada, and send them scurrying into the desert, with no water and provisions. Most of the army dies in the retreat and Muhammad of Ghor himself was lucky to make it back home in one piece. 1204 CE - When Qutub Ud Din Aibak expanded the Ghurid Rule in the Gangetic belt and captured the fortress of Kalinjar, located in present day Banda in UP, from the Chandelas. King Trilokyavarman, mounted a counter attack, recaptured the fort, killed every single member of the Ghurid Army. So Qutub ud Din Aibak marched against them with a new army, which was routed in the Battle of Kakadadaha, fought in present day Lalitpur district of UP. Aibak didn't return after that and Chandelas continued to rule for another 115 years. All of us talk about repeated Invasions and Plunder and what not. I will never understand why nobody actually talks about the resistance and defeats that we repeatedly inflicted on these armies, over land and sea, for more than 300 years. P:S: I may have missed out on some more battles. Please do point them out in the comments section. I will be very happy. P:P:S: All these battles are marked on Bharatrajya.com. You can see the territorial changes post some battles on the site.