There has been a lot of ambiguity and confusion about the death of second last Hindu king Prithviraj Chauhan. Let me share an interesting anecdote about it. Prithiviraj was defeated by Muhammad Ghori in the second battle of Tarain in 1192 AD. As most of the Rajput race would love to believe, he was not killed then and there in the battle ground. Going by what Prithvi raj's court poet Chand Bardai writes in his creation " Prithvi Raj Raso" (epic poem, that describes the life and the bravery of Prithviraj), Prithviraj was captured by Mohammad Ghori and was taken to the prison. The cruel Ghori, burning in the fire of revenge (he was defeated by Prithviraj a year earlier!) , decided to make Prithviraj blind by inserting.hot rolled iron rod into his eyeballs.. Some time later, Ghori got to know about Prithvi's famous archery talent. He could hit the target with his eyes closed! All it needed was a sound directing towards target and the distance apart. One fine day Ghori decided to check this fact himself. Necessary arrangements were made in a stadium with Ghori sitting on a podium placed far above the ground level. Finally Prithviraj brought inside and asked to hit a pre- decided target. Stadium was all crowded and was eager to see this event. As he was getting ready to hit the target, Chand Bradai, who was sitting in the crowd prompt few lines to him as:
" Chaar baans, chaubis gaj angul asht praman,
Aite pe sultan hai mat chuko chauhan..!!"
(4 bamboos 24 yards, and 8 fingers,
This is the sitting position of the king, don’t miss it)
This gave Prithivi raj the much needed sitting position of Ghori. As Ghori shouted to start the event, Prithiviraj hit in the direction of sound and that was it..!! He managed to kill Mohammad Ghori with his "Shabd bhedi baan" He committed suicide immediately afterwards.
I find it hard to believe. This entire story comes from Chand Bardai's book Prithiviraj Raso. Being a court poet and earning his livelihood by writing about his king, such exaggerated anecdotes are expected. Famous Indian historians still believe that Prithiviraj was killed in the battle ground itself as elephants walked over wounded Prithiviraj. Tradition of death with 'dignity and pride' makes Hindus particularly Rajputs believe such made up stories. Never the less, I also enjoy listening to stories but when it comes to accepting a fact, I don’t buy them..!!
