Thread by @Kanishka4Kushan

Excellent question!

This exact same point is regularly used by leftists to downplay Ghazni's raid on Somnath as "a normal affair" and to spread the "India didnt exist b4 1947" narrative. A long thread:
1/n

https://twitter.com/Hindu108/status/1315915773974507521

2/n
So the Muslim invasions on India came in 3 parts- the Arabs, the Ghaznivids and the Ghorids. All three had different results and the internal situation in India was different every time.

3/n We will discuss the situation until the raid on Somnath(1026) happened. First, the Arab invasions. In 634, under Umar Caliphate, the first wave of attackers came. The king of Sindh successfully repelled them. In 663,Ali caliphate, Baloch fighters repelled another attack.

4/n There were 4 possible routes to invade the Indian heartland- Khyber pass(overlooked by Kabul-Zabul),Bolan pass(controlled by sturdy Jaats),through the Sea(large scale attempts were logistically impossible&all coastal kingdoms had navies) and that leaves us with Makran in Pak.

5/n The Arabs tried&failed in the first three. In 665,Sinan conquered Makran but couldnt proceed further. Using this as a forward base, & using the fact that Raja Dahar didnt have a navy, they got in seige engines from Syria, & by 711 CE they managed to defeat him.

6/n Arabs tried in total for 300 years to get into Al Hind but they could never cross the Indus. After so many attempts spanning over 3 centuries they had to contend with just petty states of Mansura & Multan. After that, they gave up.

7/n The stronger, inner kingdoms were relatively unharmed, Kashmir under Muktopida for example chased them back 3 times! Nagabhatta II of Pratiharas recaptured Sindh in 9th century. Avanijanashraya Pulakesi virtually annihilated them in battle.

8/n In short the only thing Arabs gained was humiliation& alerting the samrats of Bharat about the dangers of Islam on the Western border. For eg,Yashovardhan sent an emmisary to China to talk about a possible alliance against the Arabs(Tang emperor had lost to Arabs in 751)

9/n The first Muslim invasions had failed. The Hindu Shahi of Afghanistan still proudly stood as the first wall of defence at the start of the 11th century surviving everything. They were now also going to be the first to fight the 2nd wave. Ghazni had arrived.

10/n Jaypala was one of the few wise kings who tried a decesive pre emptive strike on Ghazni city in 987,but heavy rainstorms foiled his plans. He paid for this in the Battle of Peshawar,1001 CE,where he lost&was paraded. Like a kshatriya, he kept honor b4 life& killed himself.

11/n His son,Anandpal formed a large Hindu alliance of Indian rulers+ local Gakhar tribes to take vengeance for him at 1008 in Lahore. Defending India against Mleccha rule was in his blood- he was from the lineage of Porus. But his elephant took flight & the defense collapsed.

12/n By 1013, the last major Hindu Shahi ruler Trilochanpala of Afghan/Pak was defeated, and now the stage was set for moving into India.

13/n Contrary to the popular belief, Ghazni is an overrated dacoit. He pledged his allegiance to the Calipahte for recognition of his empire and promised annual raids into India for "jihad". He was a looter, a plunderer and not a conqueror. He was defeated /ran away many times.

14/n For eg against Chandella ruler Vidyadhara in Central India or during his Kashmir expeditions against Lohra dynasty he either had to retreat or accept a treaty. Even the infamous "17 raids" are exaggerated. We hardly have concrete evidence for 9-10.

15/n B4 we move to Cholas & Somnath, 2 takeaways- (1)Hindu rulers did form alliances & fought together for the nation in times of need. "Bharat" existed & was revered in all ages.
(2)Ghazni was far from a good conqueror- he was a mediocore cowardly looter at best

16/n During his second last raid on Somnath, on his return path, he suffered many casualties by Jaats. He swore revenge on them. 1026 CE, the last raid of Ghazanvi on Somnath and India.

17/n It is true that even after all this, Rajputs had failed to unite but it also needs to be mentioned that for submitting to Ghazanvi, Rajyapal of Kanauj was put to death by Ganda of Kalinjar and the Kachapaghatas of Gwalior in a showcasing of Hindu unity.

18/n Learning from his past experiences, Ghazanvi chose the path of least resistance- he moved stealthily through uninhabited regions to suprise Bhim Dev Solanki- a patron of Somnath. A shocked Bhim Dev took the decision of retreating and waiting for him on his return route.

19/n Ghazanvi faced suicidal resistance- till the last man- in Lurdava n Chukdar but both were small desert towns. 50000 civilians laid down their lives, booty equivalent to 20 milion dinars was looted in Somnath. Raja Paramdeva of Malwa prepared to intercept him.

20/n His way back was blocked by Bhim Deva and Paramdeva. Paramdeva is Raja Bhoja who was an ally of Rajendra Chola.

21/n "When Mahmud resolved upon returning from Somnath, he learned that Paramadev, one of the greatest Rajas of Hindustan, was preparing to intercept him. Not deeming it advisable to contend with this chief, went towards Multan, through Sind In this journey his men suffered much"

22/n Quoted from Tahmat-i-Ahbari written by Nizam ud-dm Ahmad.

Gardizi wrote about why he ran through the desert

“The reason for this” he says “was that Bhimdev the king of Indians, was blocking the way. Amir Mahmud said ‘no stroke of ill fortune must mar this mighty victory’”

23/n So I short the coward ran away like a thief instead of facing these kings. Now what good would a Chola expedition all the way from Bengal to Gujarat do for this coward?

24/n Short answer: the Bengal expedition was over by 1024, the Chola was already out on hunt in the ocean n islands while the Somnath raid occurred in 1026.

25/25 One could speculate a lot of "What if" but these fall in the realm of historical fiction and not history.

A very good example of the former would be @authoramish 's Suheldeva book which features both Rajaraja& Ghazanvid raiders in a thrilling plot.We can read that
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