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Mahmud of Ghazni's First Invasion of the Punjab

Type Event Region India Time 1001

In 1001 CE, Ghaznavid Sultan Mahmud led roughly 15,000 cavalry on his first large-scale expedition into northwestern India, targeting the Hindu Shahi…

Timeline

  1. 1001Ghazni · AfghanistanMahmud set out from Ghazni with some 15,000 picked cavalry and a large number of ghazi warriors, crossed the Hindu Kush southward, and entered the borderlands of Gandhara and the Punjab, camping outside Peshawar in September.
  2. 1001Peshawar · Khyber PakhtunkhwaHindu Shahi king Jaipal met him with 12,000 cavalry, 30,000 infantry, and several hundred war elephants. The battle raged until midday; unable to withstand the repeated Ghaznavid cavalry charges, the Indian army broke, with tens of thousands killed, and Jaipal himself was captured.
  3. 1001–1002Punjab · PunjabMahmud pressed on to the area around the Shahi capital's outer port (Waihind), forcing Jaipal to cede territory east of the Indus and pay a ransom of 250,000 dinars along with 50 war elephants. Mahmud then incorporated Peshawar and parts of the Punjab into the empire, returning to Ghazni the following spring.

Sources