Thread by @SaswatRoutroy

#777thAnniversaryOfLakhnautiCampaign
#777thAnniversaryOfDefeatingBengalSultanate
See this- the majestic Sun Temple of Konark? It was built as a gratitude to Surya Deva, the Sun God of Hindus. The Surya idol used to remain hung in mid-air, an architectural marvel of that period.

The Sun Temple of Konark is not just a temple dedicated to any Hindu deity. It is the symbol of glory of victory of Hindu forces over the Muslim forces, and that the glory was as bright as the rays of the Sun God.

The glorious victory of Hindus was like a light which fought off the darkness of the Islamic rule. The Sun Temple of Konark was built to commemorate the victory of Odia Hindu forces against the Islamic Bengal Sultanate.

Long before the Marathas or Vijayanagara, the keenest blades drawn against the forces of Delhi were those of the Eastern Ganga Chandravamshi Gajapatis- Emperors of Odisha and Eastern India.

From their capital at Cuttack, the Chandravamshi Chodagangas waged a 250 year long war against all the Islamic hordes of North India and Central Asia. In early 1200s, #Khandayat Emperor Anangabhimadeva III- Lord of the TriKalinga- broke the Jihad armies of Delhi multiple times.

Emperor Anangabhimadeva III had stopped the Islamic armies' inexorable march into India & cemented Odisha as a Dharmakshetra under Jagannatha. While Islamic forces were raging down empires in north India, Odisha under Anangabhimadeva III was becoming symbol of Hindu resistance.

If not for Emperor Anangabhimadeva III’s victories, it was clear that Odisha- and all of Southern and Central India- would’ve seen similar scenes.

By the time of Chandravamshi Gajapati Rout Langula Narasimhadeva I’s ascension to the throne of Odisha as the “First Servant of Jagannath”, Cuttack & Delhi had been at war for almost half a century- with constant conflict & raiding being common from the Ganga to the Subarnarekha

a.During Narasimhadeva’s reign, there are records of Bengali refugees fleeing from Delhi Sultanate to take refuge in Ekramakshetra (Bhubaneswar).
b.Destruction of temples & looting of cities was widespread, while Hindus in Bengal & Bihar groaned under heavy taxes like jiziya.

c.Slavery had exploded.
d.With the collapse of Indian cities, general oppression and atrocities upon Hindu and Hindu businesses was very common.
e.Destruction of large-scale religious infrastructure- such as the destruction of Raja Bhoja’s great lakes- were done by Islamists

Langula Narasimhadeva stood against the Islamic forces during his reign from 1238 AD to 1264 AD. He defeated Muslim forces of Bengal who constantly tried to capture the Eastern Ganga dynasty’s rule over Kalinga (ancient Odisha) from the times of his father Anangabhima Deva III.

Narasimhadeva-I was among the very few rulers in India who took the offensive against the Islamic expansion over India by Turko-Afghan invaders. He even surpassed his father’s might and strategies while dealing with the Muslim invaders of Bengal.

Narasimhadeva’s advantages were few but significant:-
a. Being the last bastion of the Classical India of the Guptas and the Pratihara, it was arguably the best organized state in Bharatavarsha.

b. Its superior administration & bureaucracy allowed Odia armies to trade blows on equal terms with vastly more populous & powerful enemies.
c. Odia emperors were called Gajapatis for a reason. Since the time of Mahabharata, Kalinga is known for its massive army of war elephants.

d. Narasimhadeva had inherited 99,999 war elephants from his father.
e. From depictions in Palm Leaf Manuscripts (sourced from Dr J P Das’ works or from Temple Inscriptions and Sculptures)- the Armies of Cuttack were built around regiments of armoured missile cavalry:

swift horsemen who carried lances, longbows, and sabres- riding into melees but dismounting to fight while loosing arrows.
f. Their longbows gave them greater range and power than the composite bows carried by their Mohammedan foes.

g. while their superior discipline allowed them to dispatch off greater number of Ghulam and Ghazi enemy troops.
h. The greatest reason for Odia success against the Islamists- a united ideology.

i. Under Emperor Anangabhimadeva III, Odisha was restructured as a one united land, one clenched fist under the kingship of Jagannath himself. As long as Odias fought for the glory of Srikshetra and Dharma on earth, there could be no defeat for the armies of the TriKalingas.

When Narasimhadeva ascended to the throne of Odisha, Tughril Tughan Khan was the governor of Bengal as a vassal of the Delhi Sultanate.

First battle of Lakhnauti:-
a.In 1242 CE. Narasimhadeva’s army overran a number of vassal Hindu rajas of the neighboring regions of Bengal and freed them from slavery of Delhi sultanate.

b.His army under the generalship of his brother-in-lw and Haihaya prince Paramardi Deva moved towards the northern areas of Gauda, Rarh, Varendra, and Gauda, which were the subordinate territory of the Delhi Sultanate.

c.Tughril Tughan gave a clarion call to all the Muslims for a jihad against the Hindus in 1244 CE. Even the Qazi Minhaj-us-Siraj joined Tughan’s forces against the Hindu forces of Narasimha.
d.The Odia forces were outnumbered by a bigger Muslim force of bloodthirsty Jihadis.

e.The Odia forces retreated upto fort of Katasin (Contai in southern regions of today’s Bengal). The region was surrounded by jungle and thick cane bushes.
f.The Odia army had dug trenches which forced the advancing Muslim cavalry to slowdown and halt

g.The Odia army also left some of their elephants unattended along with fodder in open field to lure the advancing enemies and expose them to capture.
h.Upon seeing their trenches halting up the Muslim forces, the Odia army attacked them with guerrilla warfare tactics.

i.After killing some of the Muslim forces, the Odia army divided itself into two parts and one part played as if it is retreating, thus forcing the Muslim army to believe that the Odia forces have left.

j.The Muslim forces halted the army in ease and settled down for midday meal. A sudden and unprecedented attack was launched by the the other part of the Odia army led by Narasimhadeva himself, thus leading to a massive slaughter and easy victory.

k.In the Contai battle, Tugha Khan himself narrowly escaped his death and retreated.

The inscription of Kendupatna says:-

Radha Varendra Yabani Nayanjanaasru,
Pureya Dur Binibesita Kalima Srihi,
Tadh Bipralamm Karayadrabhuta Nistaranga,
Gangapi Nunamamuna Yamunadhunavut,

Translation: The Ganga herself blackened for a great extent by the flood of tears which washed away the collyrium from the eyes of the Yavanis [Muslim women] of Radha and Varendra [west and north Bengal] whose husbands have been killed by Narasingha’s army

The second battle of Lakhnauti:-
1.In 1244 AD, the Odia army again captured Varendra and Rarh & surrounded the Lakhnauti fort.
2.The Muslim commander of the Lakhnauti fort, Fakr-Ul-Mulk-Karimuddin-Laghri, was killed by the Odia army.

3.Minhaz wrote in Tabaqat-i-Nasiri: On 14th March the Ganga forces of Gajapati Narasimhadeva consisting of mighty Paikas and elephants finally decimated the Mamluk forces to dust. Many battle weapons were also seized from the Muslim Bengal Army.

4.Later, Sultan Alauddin Masud Shah sent governor of Awadh Qamruddin Tamur Khan to assist Tugha Khan.
5.Seeing the Kalinga army surrounding the Lakhnauti fort, governor of Awadh admitted defeat and removed Tugha Khan from his governorship to end the seize and save themselves

6.Later, Qamaruddin Tamur Khan himself became governor of Bengal.

Valor of Paramardi Deva, brother-in-law of Narasimhadeva I:-
1.In 1247 AD, commander lkhtiyar-ud-Din Yuzbak became the governor of Bengal.
2.The new governor received assistance from Delhi Sultanate & attacked the Odia forces twice but failed miserably.

3.The Muslim army again got fresh reinforcement from the Delhi Sultanate and marched further into the Odishan territory.
4.A massive battle ensued at Mandarana or Umurdan in today's Jahanabad subdivision of Hooghly.

5.Paramardi Deva was defeated and killed in the battle-field but he resisted the Muslim army long enough for the Odia reinforcement to arrive and attack the Muslim forces.

6.The Muslim forces had no choice but to retreat. The campaigns by Narasimha Deva I was so aggressive that for the next 200 years, no Muslim dared to attack Odisha.

7.Rarh and Gauda remained occupied by the Odia forces and was under the northern regions of Kalinga while Varendra was under the Mamluk Muslims who carried out their Islamization deep into the common citizens.

8.In 1278 AD, the Odia princess Chandrika took permission from her brother Narasimha Deva I and built the majestic Vaishnava temple “Ananta Vasudeva Temple” in Bhubaneshwar.

9.It was built in honor of her husband & commander-in-chief of Odia army Paramardi Deva who lost his life while fighting the war against Islamic army at Umurdan