Battle of Bahraich

Battle of Bahraich was a decisive battle between forces of Raja Suheldev and Ghazi Saiyyad Salar Masud on 13–14 June 1033 CE. The battle was fought near Chittaura Lake near the present day Bahraich city, Uttar Pradesh. The invading Ghaznavid army of 100,000 was completely annihilated and leading to a pause in the Muslim conquests on the Indian subcontinent whose second phase had started with Mahmud of Ghazni.

Background
During the sack of Somnath temple in 1026 CE, Mahmud of Ghazni was accompanied by his 11-year-old nephew Saiyyad Salar Masud. He was the son of Ghazi Salar Sahu, a descendent of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah, son of Hazrat Ali and Sitr-i-Mu’alla, sister of Mahmud Ghaznavi. He was born at Ajmer in 1015 CE. After the death of Mahmud Ghaznavi, Masud invaded India in May 1031 CE with a 100,000 strong army. He had imbibed the military skill and religious zeal of his uncle and even at the young age he was a proven military commander.

His first military conflict was with Raja Mahipal Tomar of Delhi, which he was able to surmount only with the help of timely re-enforcements from Ghazni. From here he marched into the upper Doab towards Meerut whose ruler Raja Hari Dutt surrendered and accepted Islam. From here Masud marched unto the Kannauj via Bulandshahr& Badaun. Kannnauj, by then was a far cry from the glory days of Gurjar-Pratihar. Kannauj surrendered vast amount of wealth to the Masud along with allowing Kannauj to be used as a military base for the further Islamic conquest in the Awadh and Purvanchal.

During this period Kingdom of Shravasti was ruled by the Raja Suheldev who is also known by various names like Sakardev, Suhirdadhwaj, Sukhdev etc. He was the son of Mangal Dhwaj and disciple of Balak Rishi whose Ashram was located in Bahraich. In the popular culture and memory, he is known as one among the Pasi kings but is claimed by several other castes as well, most notably by the Bhars. He is also claimed to be a Kshatriya of the Nagvanshi lineage or a Bais/Vais Rajput by some. It is due to the obvious difficulty of projecting the modern day caste identities in the history and also due to the division & assimilation of castes and formation of new castes over the period.

During the invasion by Salar Masud, regions of Lakhimpur, Sitapur, Lucknow, Barabanki, Unnao, Faizabad, Bahraich, Sravasti, Gonda etc. were ruled by a confederacy of 21 Pasi & Bhar chieftains under Raja Suheldev. They were 1) Rai Saheb 2) Arjun 3) Bhaggan 4) Rai Raib 5) Gang 6) Makran 7) Shankar 8) Karan 9) Birbal 10) Jaipal 11) Shripal 12) Harpal 13) Harkaran 14) Harkhu 15) Narhar 16) Bhaalar 17) Judhari 18) Narayana 19) Dal 20) Narsingh 21) Kalyana.

Battle
After a triumphant march though Meerut, Kannuaj & Malihabad, Masud arrived in Satrikh, a town in the Barabanki district. Starikh was an important Hindu place for pilgrimage where Guru Vashisht taught the young Ram and Lakshman. Using Satrikh as his base, Masud sent his armies to conquer the neighboring areas. Miyya Rajab and Salar Saifuddin took Bahraich. Amir Hasan Arab took Mahona, Malik Fazal took Varanasi. Sayad Sahu took Karra and Manikpur. Syad Aziz-ud-din was sent against Hardoi, but fell in the battle at Gopamau. While at Satrikh, Masud got the distress call from Dost Mohammed at the fort of Dhundgarh near Rewari. Masud was forced to send his religious teacher, Saiyad Ibrahim Mashhadi Barah Hazari to relieve the siege. As per Ain-e-Masudi, on whichever route Saiyad Ibrahim Mashhadi Barah Hazari traversed, no non-Muslim could escape his sword unless he converted to Islam. But he was slain at the battle of the Dhundgarh along with several other commanders. His tomb is located at Kot Qasim, 20 km away from Tijara, a town in Alwar district near Rewari.

Meanwhile, Salar Saifuddin was besieged at Bahraich and Salar Masud had to halt his march towards Ayodhya at the outskirts of the Saket near a town now known as Salarpur. He had to turn north to re-enforce Salar Saifuddin at Bahraich and thus setting the stage for the final showdown. The chieftains of Bahraich had assembled near the river Bhakla, a tributary to river Rapti.

Right wing of the Islamic army collapsed with the death of its commander Mir Nasrullah. The tomb of Mir Nasrullah is located at the village of Dikoli Khurd, 12 km north of Bahraich. Soon Salar Miyya Rajab was slain. He was a close relative of Salar Masud and was known for his temperament and adamant nature. His tomb is located at Shahpur Jot Yusuf village, 3 km east of Bahraich and he is known as ‘Hathila Pir’. Salar Masud was either beheaded by the Raja Suheldev or died due to an arrow piercing his throat. He died under a Mahua tree near the sacred Suryakund of the Ashram of Rishi Balak, Guru of Raja Suheldev. According to one version, a loyalist Salar Ibrahim organised a counterattack and killed Raja Suheldev in the next day of battle. However, it also seems that Suheldev survived the battle and constructed several water tanks in and around the Shravasti to commemorate his victory but was later subverted by the Rajput ruler Chandradeo of Kannauj.

Aftermath
Ghaznavid army was completely destroyed which halted the Islamic conquest of India for about a century. The entire invading army was simply annihilated as no quarter was given.

The Islamic invasions resumed with the Muhammad of Ghor and establishment of Delhi sultanate and the various Pasi, Rajput, Bhar rulers and chieftains of the region were gradually replaced by the new Turkic warlords. The field of battle of Bahraich had already acquired a religious hallow for Muslims who had begun to venerate the ‘Ghazi Baba’ and countless ‘Shaheeds’ of Islam. Later, Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq, built his tomb at the place of the Ashram of Balak Rishi and the attached Sun temple & Suryakund. The Suryakund was said to have miraculous healing powers for skin diseases and leprosy. The place has become the place of pilgrimage during the Urs of ‘Bale Miyan’ or ‘Ghazi Miyan’ towards the end of May in Jyeshtha month. It is the process of acculturation which has Islamised the Hindu folk tradition. The place has retained its reputation as the place of healing for the suffering from leprosy and other skin diseases and also as a fertility shrine. They are no doubt continuing with the sacred tradition of Sun worship, which pre-existed the cult of this Muslim ‘Sun of Martyrdom’ (Aftab-i Shahadat), who was buried under a Mahua tree beside a sun-temple so much so that his head is still supposed to rest on the image of the sun. The Suryakund has been renamed as Hoz Shamshi, Persian for Surya Kund. The story of Salar Masud has been re-cast as a tragic youth who was cursed to die as an unmarried or that of a liberator who fought again the oppression of the ‘evil’ King Suheldev. Even today when a strong wind blows, the gates of the Dargah are closed and an iron chain, said to be of magical powers, is tied at its front so that the “evil spirit” of Suheldev can’t entre the tomb to torment the Ghazi Miyan and his followers.

Cultural Reference
A temple in remembrance of the event has been built near the Chittora Lake by the ‘Suheldev Smarak Samiti’ where a statue of Raja Suheldev is installed. Vijayotsav fair is celebrated in the form of havan and public procession. The tradition of weapon worship is organised during Dussehra. On the day of Basant Panchami, Rajyabhishek of Raja Suheldev is celebrated with great fanfare. ‘Maharaja Suheldev Sewa Samiti' was formed in 2001. Today several drama companies in the region stage the story of Suheldev and his famous victory during various occasions to wild applause from the audience.

Form 60s onwards, the name of Raja Suheldev began to be openly used in the political campaigning by various candidates to appeal to the Hindus especially Pasi & Bhar communities. All major political parties from BSP, BJP to SP to smaller local parties like Bharat Kranti Raksha Party (BKRP) invoke the name of Raja Suheldev to garner votes. Bhar votes as also mobilised in his name by smaller caste based parties like Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party. When BSP came to power in UP, several statues of Raja Suheldev were installed across the state under the greater BSP project of ‘re-instating’ the Dalit leaders and heroes in the public discourse.