https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Battle_of_AmrohaBattle of Amroha - Revision history2026-07-31T07:34:09ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Battle_of_Amroha&diff=188073&oldid=prev>Utcursch at 17:45, 6 August 20212021-08-06T17:45:39Z<p></p>
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{{Infobox military conflict<br />
| conflict = Battle of Amroha<br />
| partof = the [[Mongol invasions of India]]<br />
| image = <br />
| caption = <br />
| date = 20 December 1305<br />
| place = [[Amroha district]]<br />
| coordinates = {{Coord|28.9043537|N|78.4673426|E|source:nowiki_region:RU_type:event|display=inline,title}}<br />
| map_type = India<br />
| map_size = 300<br />
| map_caption = Location of [[Amroha]] in present-day India<br />
| result = Delhi Sultanate victory<br />
| territory = <br />
| combatant1 = [[Chagatai Khanate]]<br />
| combatant2 = [[Delhi Sultanate]]<br />
| commander1 = Ali Beg {{pow}}<br>Tartaq {{pow}}<br />
| commander2 = {{Unbulleted list<br />
| [[Alauddin Khilji]]<br />
| Malik Nayak<br />
| [[Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq|Malik Tughluq]]<br />
| Bahram Aibah<br />
| Mahmud Sartiah<br />
| Qarmshi<br />
| Qutta<br />
| Takli<br />
| Tulak<br />
}}<br />
| strength1 = 30,000 - 50,000<br />
| strength2 = 30,000<br />
| casualties1 = 20,000 dead<br>9,000 {{pow}} (later executed)<br />
| casualties2 = unknown<br />
| notes = <br />
}}<br />
{{Campaignbox Mongol invasions of India}}<br />
The '''Battle of Amroha''' was fought on 20 December 1305 between the armies of the [[Delhi Sultanate]] of India and the [[Mongols|Mongol]] [[Chagatai Khanate]] of Central Asia. The Delhi force led by Malik Nayak defeated the Mongol army led by Ali Beg and Tartaq near [[Amroha]] in present-day [[Uttar Pradesh]].<br />
<br />
== Background ==<br />
<br />
The [[Mongol Empire|Mongol]] [[Chagatai Khanate]] had invaded the Delhi Sultanate a number of times in the 13th century. After [[Alauddin Khalji]] ascended the throne of Delhi, four such invasions had been repulsed in [[Mongol invasion of India, 1297-98|1297-98]], [[Mongol invasion of India, 1298-99|1298-99]], [[Mongol invasion of India, 1299|1299]], and [[Mongol invasion of India, 1303|1303]]. During the 1303 invasion, the Mongols managed to enter Alauddin's capital Delhi, which prompted him to take a series of steps to prevent further Mongol invasions. Alauddin started residing in the newly-constructed [[Siri Fort]], repaired and built several frontier forts, and appointed powerful commanders in the frontier regions.{{sfn|Banarsi Prasad Saksena|1992|p=372}}<br />
<br />
== Mongol march to India ==<br />
<br />
Despite Alauddin's measures, a Mongol force led by Ali Beg invaded the Delhi Sultanate in 1305.{{sfn|Banarsi Prasad Saksena|1992|p=392}} The Delhi chronicler [[Ziauddin Barani]] describes Ali Beg as a descendant of [[Genghis Khan]], but Ali Beg actually belonged to the [[Khongirad]] tribe. He was married to a [[Chinggisid]] princess, who was a descendant of Genghis Khan through [[Ogodei]].{{sfn|Peter Jackson|2003|p=227}}<br />
<br />
Ali Beg was supported by the generals Tartaq and Noyan Taraghai (sometimes incorrectly transliterated as "Targhi"{{sfn|Peter Jackson|2003|pp=222-224}}). This was Taraghai's third time in India: he was a general in [[Qutlugh Khwaja]]'s army during the [[Mongol invasion of India, 1299|1299 invasion]], and had led the [[Mongol invasion of India, 1303|1303 invasion]]. However, this time, he appears to have returned once the invading army crossed the [[Jhelum river]]. ''Dawal Rani'' by the Delhi chronicler [[Amir Khusrau]] implies that he was later killed by his fellow Mongols.{{sfn|Banarsi Prasad Saksena|1992|p=392}}<br />
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After Taraghai's return, Ali Beg and Tartaq continued their march with towards present-day [[Punjab, India]]. According to Amir Khusrau, their army had 50,000 soldiers, although other chroniclers give lower numbers{{sfn|Peter Jackson|2003|p=228}} (as low as 30,000{{sfn|Satish Chandra|2004|p=71}}). The Punjab area was under the control of Alauddin's officer Malik Nayak,{{sfn|Banarsi Prasad Saksena|1992|p=393}} who was a Hindu convert to Islam.{{sfn|Kaushik Roy|2015|p=110}} This officer is also called Naik, Manik, or Manak in some manuscripts; [[Isami (historian)|Isami]] wrongly calls him "Nanak".{{sfn|Kishori Saran Lal|1950|p=168}} One manuscript of Amir Khusrau's ''Khaizan-ul-Futuh'' erroneously mentions the general's name as "Malik Nayb"; some later chroniclers read this as "Malik Na'ib" (which was the title of a post later held by [[Malik Kafur]]); based on this, [[`Abd al-Qadir Bada'uni]] wrongly names the general as Malik Kafur.{{sfn|Peter Jackson|2003|p=227}} Malik Nayak was a different officer, who held the title ''Akhurbeg-i-Maisrah'' (equivalent to "[[Master of the Horse]]"),{{sfn|Kishori Saran Lal|1950|p=168}} and had been granted the [[iqta']]s of [[Samana, Punjab|Samana]] and [[Sunam]].{{sfn|Banarsi Prasad Saksena|1992|p=393}}<br />
<br />
The Mongols did not attack any frontier forts in the territory administered by Malik Nayak. Expecting them to launch a direct attack on Delhi, Malik Nayak seems to have led his army to that city. However, unlike on the previous occasions, the Mongols did not attack Delhi this time.{{sfn|Banarsi Prasad Saksena|1992|p=393}} They knew that the city was heavily guarded, and the Mongol armies had been unable to capture it in the past.{{sfn|Kishori Saran Lal|1950|p=168}} Therefore, they ransacked the territories at the foot of the [[Shivalik Hills]], and then proceeded south-east to the [[Gangetic plains]] along the Himalayan foothills.{{sfn|Banarsi Prasad Saksena|1992|p=393}}<br />
<br />
== Alauddin's response ==<br />
<br />
Alauddin sent a 30,000-strong cavalry led by Malik Nayak to defeat the Mongols. Malik Nayak's subordinate commanders included Bahram Aibah, [[Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq|Tughluq]], Mahmud Sartiah, Qarmshi, Qutta, Takli, and Tulak. This army faced the Mongols somewhere in present-day [[Amroha district]] on 20 December 1305.{{sfn|Banarsi Prasad Saksena|1992|p=393}}<br />
<br />
The Mongols launched one or two weak attacks on the Delhi army. In words of the Delhi chronicler [[Amir Khusrau]], they were "like an army of mosquitoes which tries to move against a strong wind". The Delhi army inflicted a crushing defeat upon the invaders. According to another Delhi chronicler [[Ziauddin Barani]], Alauddin captured 20,000 horses belonging to dead Mongols after the battle was won.{{sfn|Banarsi Prasad Saksena|1992|p=393}}<br />
<br />
== Aftermath ==<br />
<br />
Alauddin organized a grand ''[[durbar (court)|durbar]]'' (court) in Delhi to receive Malik Nayak and his victorious army. Alauddin was seated on a throne at ''Chautra-i Subhani'', and the Delhi army stood in double row, forming a long queue. According to Barani, a huge crowd gathered to see this event, leading to exorbitant increase in the price of a cup of water.{{sfn|Banarsi Prasad Saksena|1992|p=393}}<br />
<br />
The Mongol commanders Ali Beg and Tartaq, who had surrendered, were presented before Alauddin with other Mongol prisoners. According to Amir Khusrau, Alauddin ordered some of the captives to be killed, and others to be imprisoned. However, Barani states that Alauddin ordered all captives to be killed by having them trampled under elephants' feet.{{sfn|Banarsi Prasad Saksena|1992|p=393}} The number of these captives was around 9,000.{{sfn|René Grousset|1970|p=339}} The 16th century historian [[Firishta]] claims that the heads of 8,000 Mongols were used to build the [[Siri Fort]] commissioned by Alauddin.{{sfn|Banarsi Prasad Saksena|1992|p=393}}<br />
<br />
Amir Khusrau and another chronicler [[Isami (historian)|Isami]] state that Alauddin spared the lives of Ali Beg and Tartaq (probably because of their high ranks). According to Amir Khusrau, one of these commanders died "without any harm being done to him", and the other was "left alone". He ambiguously adds that Alauddin "was so successful in sport that he took their lives in one game after another".{{sfn|Kishori Saran Lal|1950|p=170}} According to Isami, Alauddin made the two Mongol commanders ''[[emir|Amir]]s'' (officials with high status), and also gave each of them an India-born slave girl. Two months later, Tartaq started demanding answers about the fate of his army and his belongings, in a state of drunken stupor. As a result, Alauddin ordered him to be killed. Sometime later, Ali Beg was also killed because of "the evil in his heart".{{sfn|Banarsi Prasad Saksena|1992|p=393}}<br />
<br />
Historian [[Peter Jackson (historian)|Peter Jackson]] speculates that Ali Beg and Tartaq might have been killed when a large number of Mongols in Delhi rebelled against Alauddin, prompting the Sultan to order a [[1311 massacre of Mongols in the Delhi Sultanate|massacre of all the Mongols]] in his empire.{{sfn|Peter Jackson|2003|p=174}}<br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
{{Reflist|2}}<br />
<br />
=== Bibliography ===<br />
<br />
{{ref begin}}<br />
* {{cite book |author=Banarsi Prasad Saksena |author-link=Banarsi Prasad Saksena |chapter=The Khaljis: Alauddin Khalji |editor=Mohammad Habib and Khaliq Ahmad Nizami |title=A Comprehensive History of India: The Delhi Sultanat (A.D. 1206-1526) |volume=5 |edition=Second |year=1992 |orig-year=1970 |publisher=The Indian History Congress / People's Publishing House |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_9cmAQAAMAAJ |oclc=31870180 }}<br />
* {{cite book |author=Kaushik Roy |title=Warfare in Pre-British India – 1500BCE to 1740CE |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oh7ICQAAQBAJ&pg=PT110 |year=2015 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-317-58691-3 }}<br />
* {{cite book |author=Kishori Saran Lal |author-link=K. S. Lal |title=History of the Khaljis (1290-1320) |year=1950 |publisher=The Indian Press |location=Allahabad |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2XXqAQAACAAJ |oclc=685167335 }}<br />
* {{cite book |author=Peter Jackson |author-link=Peter Jackson (historian) |title=The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lt2tqOpVRKgC&pg=PA221 |year=2003 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-54329-3 }}<br />
* {{cite book |author=René Grousset |title=The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia |url=https://archive.org/details/empireofsteppes00grou |url-access=registration |year=1970 |publisher=Rutgers University Press |isbn=978-0-8135-1304-1 }}<br />
* {{cite book |author=Satish Chandra |title=Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals-Delhi Sultanat (1206-1526) |volume=I |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L5eFzeyjBTQC&pg=PA71 |year=2004 |publisher=Har-Anand Publications |isbn=978-81-241-1064-5 }}<br />
{{ref end}}<br />
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{{Alauddin Khalji}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Alauddin Khalji]]<br />
[[Category:Wars involving the Chagatai Khanate|Amroha]]<br />
[[Category:Battles involving the Delhi Sultanate|Amroha]]<br />
[[Category:Conflicts in 1305|Amroha]]<br />
[[Category:1305 in Asia]]<br />
[[Category:14th century in India]]<br />
[[Category:1305 in the Mongol Empire]]</div>>Utcursch