Different scholars have attributed the defeat of the Indians to various causes, which can be summarised as follows:
1- Social Causes:
According to prof. K.A. Nisami, " The defeat of the Indians lay in their social system and the invidious caste rickety and weakness".
i). Lack of Political Unity:-
When Turk came in India, country was divided into many states and these states never wanted to cooperate among them. Indian kingdoms which were divided into different- different empires were fighting and every rule want to occupy as much territory as he can. Due to lack of cooperation among Indian rulers, when Turk attacked India each king/prince had to fight with them single-handed. So Turk found it very easy to defeat Indian rulers. Disunity among the Indian rulers benefited Turks to a very much existence.
ii). An attitude of indifference by the lower classes:-
Lower caste which had no value in that period took the attitude of indifference toward the foreign rulers because they thought that no matter who is ruling there condition will remain same. It is also one of the main factor of the Victory of Turks and defeat of Indians. And this indifference attitude was because only of the rigid system which always did Injustice to the lower caste. Even Indian rulers did nothing to improve the condition of this lower caste. So for the lower caste it didn't matter who was running the administration and ruling over them because they thought that things will never gone to change for them.
iii). Unorganized army (existence of the feudal system):-
Indians did not maintain any standing army and depended for their soldiers on the feudal lard. This was also one of the major reason for the victory of Turks in India.
iv). Leadership:-
This was the most important factor which is responsible for the defeat of Indians. When Turk attacked India, There was no single leader who could unite the Indians politically and militarically. Every king was to save only his Kingdom, they found with Turks with single-handed so Turk found it very easy to defeat them. If Indians could unite themselves then Turk could not defeat the Indians.
2- Religious Causes:
i). Division of Indian Society:- From the religious point of view also Indian society was divided into number of seats and groups and the people did not possess one deity. Instead people worshipped different idols and practised different rituals which cut through the unity of the Indian society.
ii). Religious zeal:- The Turks fought against Indians with a religious zeal and held that if they died, they would become martyrs and if they succeeded they would became Ghazis. As prof. Ishwari Prashad has observed " The Muslims, zealous like the Puritans to establish the kingdom and when they came into contact with the disunited and enfeebled races of Hindustan, they found little difficulty in obtaining victory over them".
iii). Social evils:- The presence of the various social evils like the caste-system, untouchability, the weak position of the Indian women in society etc, also greatly contributed to the weakness of Indian society and proved suicidal in their struggle against the Turks. In view of the sharp social division, the people thought in terms of their narrow interests and never thought in terms of the country.
3- Military Causes:
i). Division of army:- Division of army played an important role in the success of Turks. Indians divided their army only in the three traditional fronts namely Left front, Centre front and Right front. But Turks divided their army into five groups instead of the three traditional parts. Turks divided their army into left front, centre front, right front, advanced guard and reserve. They used the advance guard to test the strength of the enemy and find out its weak point where the attack could be launched . Similarly the reserve was thrown in the battle when the army had exhausted itself and played a decisive role in the battle.
ii). Absence of standing army:- Indian rulers did not maintain any standing army and depended for their soldiers on the feudal lords. This feudal army was not so organized nor efficient. On the other hand Turk army was well organized and Turks also maintain a standing army which was more efficient and effective. Standing army of Turks was also well trained but when we look at the army of Indian rulers (feudal army) it was also lacked in a common training because every Lord or feudal chief had its own army and own ways of it's ways of maintaining.
iii). Out-classed weapons:- Weapons of Indian army was out-classed and out-dated.
iv). Lack of effective cavalry:- Lack of an effective cavalry is another factor responsible for the defeat of the Indians. Turks used horses which are very fast and very useful in the war which helped in the better war strategy also but Indians rulers used elephants in their cavalry. Elephants are slow with the comparison to the horses so the Indian cavalry was not so effective in the comparison of Turks.
4- Moral degeneration: The moral degeneration of the Indians also greatly contributed to their defeat.
i). Popularity of tantric philosophy:- At that time belief of the people in tantric philosophy extent to a very big existence. People started thinking that they can do anything with the help of tantric mantra which they called " tantric Vidya". It decrease their level of confidence because they wanted to a short cut solution of each any every problem by the tantric philosophy. Their beliefs on 'Bhagya'(luck) increased and the value of 'karma' declined. So it contributed to a large extent in their defeat.
ii). Cultural degeneration of the people:- Scenes of sexual acts between men and women is symbolic of the cultural degeneration of the people. Cultural values of Indian culture started declining.
Other Causes:
i). According to prof. V.A.smith, " Hindu Kings though fully equal to their assailants in courage and contempt of death, were distinctly inferior in the art of war and for that reason lost their Independence".
ii). As an impact of Buddhism and Jainism the people of India become votaries of Ahimsa and their martial spirit was greatly dompended.
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