Abstract
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 to first quarter of 11th Century CE in their twin objectives to destroy Indic civilisation and carry out large scale loot and plunder. The Pashtun Shahi rulers of present-day Kabul-Peshawar-Salt Range belt defended against the attacks by the Turkic Ghaznavid invaders for almost five decades. 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 Shahi dynasty died fighting till the House of Pashtun Shahis was annihilated in 1026 CE. The irony is that today, Pashtun rulers of this brave dynasty are totally forgotten, both in their Pashtun lands of birth as well in the lands where the Indic civilisation still survives.
This monograph covers Pashtun Shahi ruler; Raja Jaypal’s valiant struggles against the Ghaznavids and analysis it, using Kautilyan art of Warfare and Warfighting framework to bring out relevant military lessons applicable in the present times.
