Indian History is filled with full of mysteries, conspiracy. One of the conspiracy theory is about Raja Jaichandra of Gahadavala dynasty (commonly known as Jaichand). History says he was the traitor and that he betrayed his motherland. Surprisingly, Jaichandra is used as synonymous to a TRAITOR in literature and common parlance.

But it is really so? Let’s check some facts about him. He was the son of Gahadawala king Vijaychandra & queen Chandralekha and was the grandson of king Govindachandra who levied reverse Jaziya on Muslims called Turuṣka-Daṇḍa.

He ascended the throne in 1170 CE. He was the king of one of the richest land in India. Many Muslim historians declared him as a king of Benaras as he possessed largest territory. An inscription also found in Ayodhya dated 1184 AD which praises king Jaichandra who erected a Vaishnava (Ram) temple in Ayodhya at Treta-ke-Thakur.

Then who proclaimed Jaichandra as Traitor? It was Ain-i-Akbari (16th century i.e. 400 years after Prithviraja and Jayachandra) of by Abu’l-Fazl ibn Mubarak (a courtier of Akbar’s court). Abul Fazl made this fantasy about Jaichandra joining Ghurids against Prithviraj in the Battle of Tarain

Interestingly, Early Muslim historians never mention this thing that Jaichandra joined Ghurids against Prithviraj (ref. Tabakat-i-Nasiri, Tajul-masir).

Screenshot from Tabakat-i-Nasiri :

Screenshot from Tajul-masir

On the contrary, he is called as enemy of Islam who fought with Ghurids at Battle of Chandawar.

Unfortunately, the propagandists give reference of stories mentioned in books like “Ek lota pani” in which the word “Jaichandi” is used for a traitor. Interestingly, the story which used the word “Jaichandi”, also comes from Mughal Court i.e. Badshahnama written by Shahjahan Courtier / Historian / Traveller Abdul Hameed Lahori.

Screenshot from the book Ek lota Pani

There is great possibility that Badshahnama is also inspired by ain e akbari as there is no other book other than this which told us that Jaichandra joined Ghurids. Even Prithviraja Raso did not made this mistake of Jaichandra joining Ghori.

After the death of Prithviraj in 1192 AD. Mlecchas turned their attention towards rich Kingdom of Gahadavalas. A brutal war took place in 1194 AD where unfortunately Jaichandra struck by an arrow and killed.

Here I am attaching a picture of inscription found by A. Fuhrer, which praises Jaichandra, now kept in Lucknow museum.

No doubt Prithviraj was a brave & patriot king & chandbardai a courtier Prithviraj who wrote Prithviraj raso book praises Prithviraj a lot but he also wrote many fake things in his book which was discarded by many prominent historians like GH Ojha etc.

The history of Jaichandra was quite detailed which can’t be mention completely here.

So I am Summarizing his history in few points:

◾Jaichandra was a patriot and NOT a Traitor.

◾He never betrayed Prithviraj and joined Ghori.

Unfortunately many Hindus say that we can’t prove Jaichandra as patriot in our life. This is particularly the mindset created by Mughal Historians like Abul Fazl and Lahori to defame our Kings and record wrong History. So why the hesitation to rectify our mistake of calling Jaichandra a Traitor? On one side we are abusing Mughals but on other we want to believe the myths coming right from Mughal Court.

Credits : OnlyDharma1 & one more historian who help me allow me to use their content & provide me additional information to write this article

DISCLAIMER: The author is solely responsible for the views expressed in this article. The author carries the responsibility for citing and/or licensing of images utilized within the text.