About the Paper
India is one of the oldest continuous civilisation states in the world with recorded history itself dating back to more than two millennia. Unfortunately, the focus of our military history has been on the last 300 to 500 years only. Military history of the earlier periods appears to have been forgotten. One such forgotten chapter of the Indian military history is the five decades of struggle between the Pashtuns of present-day Afghanistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) in Pakistan against Turkic Ghaznavid invaders.
Turkic Ghaznavid invaders from modern day Ghazni in Central Afghanistan attacked North-West and North India incessantly from the second half of 10th Century CE till first quarter of 11th Century CE in their twin objectives to destroy Indic civilisation and carry out large scale loot and plunder. History of the last four generations of the Pashtun Hindu Shahi rulers of present-day Kabul-Peshawar-Salt Range belt; of Raja Jaypal Shahi and his three subsequent descendants; Raja Anandpal Shahi, Raja Trilochanpal Shahi and Raja Bhimpal Shahi is the history of Pashtun’s long drawn struggle with the Turkic Ghaznavids kingdom founded by Turkic slave general Alptigin and his successors Sabuktigin and Mahmud. The gravity of this deadly struggle can be gauged from the fact that in a short span of 25 years, the last four generations of Pashtun Hindu Shahi dynasty died fighting till the House of Pashtun Hindu Shahis was annihilated in 1026 CE. Ironically, valiant deeds of Pashtun Hindu Shahi dynasty have been forgotten, both in their Pashtun lands of birth as well in the lands where the Indic civilisation still survives.
This Manekshaw Paper covers Pashtun Hindu Shahi ruler Raja Anandpal’s valiant struggles from 1002 CE to 1013 CE against Mahmud Ghaznavi and analysis it, using Kautilyan art of Warfare and Warfighting framework so as to bring out relevant military lessons for the present generation of scholars-warriors.
