Battle of Amroha | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the Mongol invasions of India | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
File:White Sulde of the Mongol Empire.jpg Mongol Empire | Delhi Sultanate | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Ali Beg (POW) Tartaq (POW) |
Malik Kafur Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
30,000[2]-50,000[3] | 30,000[4] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
20,000[5] 9,000 (POW)[6] | unknown |
The Battle of Amroha was fought on December 20 of 1305 between an army of the Delhi Sultanate, led by Malik Kafur, and a Mongol army, led by Ali Beg and Tartaq.
Background[]
For years the Mongols had been attacking India's northwest border. In an effort to strengthen his defenses Sultan Alauddin Khilji had the forts along the border strengthened and equipped with larger garrisons. New, more effective fortifications were built in the area. A whole new army with its own special governor was created whose mission was managing and guarding the border areas.
Despite these measures, in 1305 a large Mongol raiding army under the leadership of Ali Beg and Tartaq suddenly appeared in the Punjab and the neighborhood of Amroha. The Mongols had traveled advancing south-east, following the Himalayas and plundering all in their way until they reached Amroha.
Battle[]
Alauddin Khilji sent a strong army led by two of his generals: Ghazi Malik and a Hindu noble, Malik Kafur, to engage the invaders.[7] They surprised and inflicted a crushing defeat upon the Mongols, who were own their way back to Central Asia with their plunder. 'Ali Beg and Tartaq, the Mongol generals, were captured, brought back to Siri Fort in Delhi and allowed to live in captivity for some time.[8] Although, according to Agha Hussain Hamadani both Ali Beg and Tartaq were trampled to death by elephants[9] along with 9,000 Mongol prisoners.[10]
Notes[]
- ↑ Satish Chandra, Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals, Part one, (Har-Anand Publications, 2013), 71.
- ↑ Satish Chandra, Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals, Part one, 71.
- ↑ Peter Jackson, The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History, (Cambridge University Press, 1999), 228.
- ↑ Satish Chandra, Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals, Part one, 71.
- ↑ Satish Chandra, Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals, Part one, 71.
- ↑ Rene Grousset, The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia, transl. Naomi Walford, (Rutger University Press, 1991), 339.
- ↑ Satish Chandra, Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals, Part one, 71.
- ↑ Peter Jackson, The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History, 227.
- ↑ Agha Hussain Hamadani, The Frontier Policy of the Delhi Sultans, (Atlantic Publishers, 1992), 191.
- ↑ Rene Grousset, The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia, 339.
References[]
- Rickard, J (7 April 2010), Battle of Amroha, 20 December 1305, historyofwar.org
The original article can be found at Battle of Amroha and the edit history here.