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Aibak was one of the generals of the Ghurid army that were defeated by the forces of the Chahamana ruler Prithviraja III at the First Battle of Tarain in India.[8] At the Second Battle of Tarain, where the Ghurids emerged victoriously, he was in charge of the general disposition of the Ghurid army and kept close to Sultan Muhammad Ghori, who had placed himself at the centre of the army.[9]
After his victory at Tarain, Muhammad Ghori assigned the former Chahamana territory to Aibak, who was placed at Kuhram (present-day Ghuram in Punjab, India).[10][4] The exact nature of this assignment is not clear: Minhaj describes it as an iqta', Fakhr-i Mudabbir calls it a "command" (sipahsalari), and Hasan Nizami states that Aibak was made the governor (ayalat) of Kuhram and Samana.[2]
After the death of Prithviraja, Aibak appointed his son Govindaraja IV as a Ghurid vassal. Sometime later, Prithviraja's brother Hariraja invaded the Ranthambore Fort, which Aibak had placed under his subordinate Qawamul Mulk. Aibak marched to Ranthambore, forcing Hariraja to retreat from Ranthambore as well as the former Chahamana capital Ajmer.[10]
Campaign against Jatwan
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In September 1192, a rebel named Jatwan besieged the Hansi Fort commanded by Nusrat-ud-din, in the former Chahamana territory.[11] Aibak marched to Hansi, forcing Jatwan to retreat to Bagar, where the rebel was defeated and killed in a battle.[11]
The above-mentioned information about Jatwan's rebellion comes from the contemporary writer Hasan Nizami. Firishta (17th century), however, dates the rebellion to 1203, and states that Jatwan retreated to the frontiers of Gujarat after his defeat. He was later killed as a subordinate of the Chaulukya king Bhima II when Aibak invaded Gujarat.[12] According to historian Dasharatha Sharma, Firishta may have confused the Bagar tract (where Jatwan was killed) with another area called Bagar near the Gujarat border, around Banswara and Dungarpur.[13] Historian A.K. Majumdar adds that Firishta may have confused the Chaulukya ruler Bhima with Bhima-simha, who - according to the Kharatara Gaccha Pattavali - was the governor of Hansi in 1171 CE. Thus, Jatwan may have been a general of Bhima-simha, and may have tried to recover the fort on behalf of his master.[14]
Henry Miers Elliot thought Jatwan to be a leader of Jats, a claim repeated by later writers.[15] Nizami does not state this, and Elliot's guess appears to be based on similarity of the words "Jatwan" and "Jat", and the rebellion's locality, where Jats can be found.[16] According to S.H. Hodivala, "Jatwan" is a mistranscription of the "Chahwan" in the manuscript, and the rebel was probably a Chahamana (Chawhan or Chauhan) subordinate of Prithivraja.[17][14] According to Rima Hooja, it is probably a corrupt form of the name "Jaitra".[18]
Initial conquests in Doab
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The Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra mosque in Ajmer was started in 1192 and completed in 1199 by Qutb al-Din Aibak.
After defeating Jatwan, he returned to Kuhram and made preparations to invade the Ganga-Yamuna Doab. In 1192, he took control of Meerut and Baran (modern Bulandshahr), from where he would later launch attacks against the Gahadavala kingdom.[11] He also took control of Delhi in 1192, where he initially retained the local Tomara ruler as a vassal. In 1193, he deposed the Tomara ruler for treason and took direct control of Delhi.[19]
Sojourn in Ghazni
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In 1193, Sultan Muhammad Ghori summoned Aibak to the Ghurid capital Ghazni.[20] The near-contemporary chronicler Minhaj does not elaborate why, but the 14th-century chronicler Isami claims that some people had aroused the Sultan's suspicion against Aibak's loyalty. Historian K. A. Nizami finds Isami's account unreliable and theorizes that the Sultan may have sought Aibak's help in planning further Ghurid expansion in India.[20]
Return to India
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Aibak stayed in Ghazni for about six months. After his returned to India in 1194, he crossed the Yamuna River, and captured Koil (modern Aligarh) from the Dor Rajputs.[20][21]
Meanwhile, taking advantage of Aibak's absence in India, Hariraja had regained control of a part of the former Chahamana territory.[10] After his return to Delhi, Aibak sent an army against Hariraja, who committed suicide when faced with a certain defeat.[22] Aibak subsequently placed Ajmer under a Muslim governor and moved Govindaraja to Ranthambore.[11]
War against the Gahadavalas
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Main article: Battle of Chandawar
In 1194, Mu'izz returned to India and crossed the Jamuna with an army of 50,000 horses and at the Battle of Chandawar defeated the forces of the Gahadavala king Jayachandra, who was killed in action. After the battle, Mu'izz continued his advance to the east, with Aibek in the vanguard. The city of Benares (Kashi) was taken and razed,