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Introduction > Page2
Prithvi Raj's father, Someshwar, was the brother of Vigraharaj IV. The story of Prithvi Raj and his ruler colleagues of different principalities in India engrossed in their petty squabbles and enmities while Muslim hyenas prowled on India's borders, make depressing reading.
Bheemdeo, the ruler of Gujarat, had killed Prithvi Raj's father Someshwar in battle. Prithvi Raj was, therefore, itching to avenge his father's death. An opportunity presented itself when Bheemdeo asked for the hand in marriage of Ichchhini Kumari, the daughter of Jait Parmar, the ruler of Abu. When his suit was rejected, he threatened invasion. Jait Parmar sought Prithvi Raj's help. Prithvi Raj was only too willing to oblige because he had an old score to settle with Bheemdeo. In the battle fought on the banks of the Sabarmati river within Bheemdeo's territory, Prithvi Raj inflicted a crushing defeat on the former. A grateful Jait Parmar then gave his daughter Ichchhini Kumari in marriage to the proud victor Prithvi Raj.
Prithvi Raj's capital had been Ajmer. That non-descript modern name derives from the delightful Sanskrit word Ajaymeru. What is currently known as the Moinuddin Chishti tomb, the Taragadh, the Adhai-din-ka-Zopda, the Annasagar lake and the city palace, all existed during Prithvi Raj's times. They were part of his fortifications. And yet they have been falsely ascribed to subsequent Muslim usurpers by sycophant chroniclers. The palace in Ajmer town, mischievously credited to Akbar, was the palace in which Prithvi Raj used to stay when in town and not in the nearby mountain fortress of Taragadh.
By a stroke of luck Prithvi Raj also became the owner of the large territories forming part of the kingdom of Delhi. Anangpal, the maternal grandfather of Prithvi Raj, ruled in Delhi. He had two daughters. One of them was the mother of Prithvi Raj while the other had a son called Jaichand who ruled at Kannauj. Having no son, Anangpal willed away the kingdom to Prithvi Raj.
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