Skip to main content

History of Haryana

Haryana is known for being the territory over which were fought some of the decisive and famous battles that changed much of the history of India. Chief among them are the battle of Mahabharata and the three battles of Panipat.

The Indus Valley Civilization, or the Harappan Civilization, one of the world's first and oldest civilizations, was located in part of what is now Haryana. Banawali in Hisar District of Haryana was a major city of the Indus Valley Civilization. Rakhigarhi is another city of the Indus Valley Civilization that is situated in the present day Haryana. Haryana was an important centre of Vedic civilization.

King Harshavardhana, one of the greatest kings of ancient India made Thanesar near Kurukshetra in the state of Haryana his capital in the 7th century AD. Prithviraj Chauhan, the last Hindu king in Delhi, founded forts at Tarori and Hansi in the 12th century.

Haryana came under the control of Muslim ruler after Prithviraj Chauhan was defeated by Muhammad Ghori in the Second Battle of Tarain. The area came under the suzerainty of the Delhi Sultanate which ruled much of India for more than three centuries. Firoz Shah Tughlaq of the Tughlaq dynasty built a fort at Hisar in 1354.

Panipat in Haryana was the place where three famous battles were fought. The first battle of Panipat fought between Babur and Ibrahim Lodi of the Lodi dynasty, resulted in the foundation of the Mughal Empire in India. The second battle of Paipat, fought between Akbar and the Hindu king Hem Chandra Vikramaditya also called Hemu, resulted in the restoration of the Mughal empire once again. The Third Battle of Panipat, fought January 13, 1761, between the Marathas and Afghan warlord Ahmad Shah Abdali, who won the battle, dent a severe blow to the cause of Maratha imperialism. Sir J. N. Sarkar writes about the Third Battle of Panipat, “It was in short a nation-wide disaster like Flodden Field; there was not a home in Maharashtra that had to mourn the loss of a member, and several houses their very heads. An entire generation of leaders was cut off at one stroke.”

The Second Anglo-Sikh War of 1848 to 1849 resulted in the defeat of the Sikhs who were defeated by the British at Gujarat, a town near Chenab on 21 February 1849. As a corollary to this, Punjab which included most of present day Haryana was annexed to the British Empire on 2 April 1849.

Haryana became a state of the Indian union on 1 November, 1966.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Muhammad Shah Rangila

Aurangzeb, the last great Mughal emperor, died in 1707. Muhammad Shah became Mughal emperor in 1719. During the interregnum, Bahadur Shah I , Jahandar Shah, Farrukhsiyar, Rafi-ud-Darajat and Rafi-ud-Daula ascended the Mughal throne. Jahandar Shah was murdered on the orders of Farrukhsiyar who had the support of the two powerful Mughal nobles Sayyid Abdullah and his brother Sayyid Husain Ali at that time. They are famous in history as Sayyid brothers, the King-makers. In 1719, Farrukhsiyar were murdered in utter disregard of a Mughal emperor by Sayyid brothers. Rafi-ud-Darajat died of consumption in a few months. Rafi-ud-Daula was addicted to opium and died in 4 months. Sayyid brothers now chose Raushan Akhtar, a son of Jahan Shah (the fourth son of Bahadur Shah I), to be the emperor. Raushan Akhtar ascended the throne under the title of Muhamamd Shah in September 1719. In the beginning Muhammad Shah was a puppet in the hands of Sayyid brothers who soon began to lose their gri...

Turkan-i-Chahalgani, the Group of Forty

Amir-i-Chahalgani, known variously as Turkan-i-Chahalgani and Chalisa (The Forty), was a group of 40 faithful slaves which came into existence with the task of protecting Shamsuddin Iltutmish , the third Slave Sultan of Delhi Sultanate. The idea to form the group was taken by him when he came to realize that Turkish nobles cannot be trusted and could be a threat to his rule. With the passage of time the group went on to become very influential and powerful. Though Iltutmish succeeded in keeping the group under control, after his rule they became notorious and intrigued against nearly all his successors.  The Forty acquired domination on the affairs of the state so much so that no ruler could defy them. Without their support it was utterly out of questions for the rulers to win the battle for succession. The members of this Turkish nobility used to appropriate all the offices of the state to themselves. Some of the rulers of the Slave dynasty after Iltutmish were murdered by these s...

Sanskrit Books and Authors in Ancient India

  Books Authors Abhigyan Shakuntalam (Recognition of Shakuntala) Kalidasa Aihole Prasasti Ravikirti Amarakosha   Amarasimha   Arthashastra Kautilya Ashtadhyayi   Panini Bhattikavya Bhatti Brihat Samhita   Varahamihira Buddhacharita   Asvaghosa   Charaka Samhita ( Compendium of Charaka ) Charaka Devichandraguptam   Vishakhadatta Gita Govinda  ( Song of the Cowherd) Jayadeva Gatha Saptashati Hala Lilavati   Bhaskara II   Hammira Mahakavya   Nayachandra Suri Janakiharana   ( Janaki's abduction) Kumaradasa   Kama Sutra Vatsyayana ...