Hindu saviors of Dharma across the ages. Thread.

Nagabhata I, founder of the Gurjara-Pratiharas repulsed an Arab invasion. Nagabhata utterly defeated the Ummayad Caliphate when it tried to invade Ujjain (Records of Al-Baladhuri, Muslim historian).

Lalitaditya Muktapida, the greatest ruler of the Karkota dynasty of Kashmir defeated the mighty Arab Ummayad army that was sent by the governor of Sindh - Junaid, when it invaded Punjab. (Mentioned in Chachnama)

Bappa Rawal played a crucial role in the native war against the Ummayads. He united the smaller states of Jaisalmer and Ajmer and evicted the Arabs from Mewar. His heroics in the battles against the Arabs made him a legendary figure in Rajasthan.

Vikramaditya II, ruler of the Chalukyas of Badami, sent his general Pulakeshin to Gujarat to repulse the Ummayads. He succeeded and Vikramaditya II conferred the title of Avanijanashraya (refuge of the people of the earth) on Pulakeshin in honour of his valour.

The Hindu Shahis of Kabul (Anandpal, Jayapal, Tirlochanpal etc) bravely resisted the Ghaznavid forces for centuries. They fell to the Ghaznavids eventually after fighting valiantly and were expelled to Kashmir after losing control over Gandhara and Punjab.

The Udaipur Prashasti claims that Bhoja's armies defeated the Turushkas (Ghaznavids). The Muslim historian Firishta claimed that in 1043 CE, a Hindu confederacy expelled the Ghaznavids from from Hansi, Thanesar and Nagarkot. Bhoja was part of this mighty alliance.

Historian RC Majumdar laments the fact that the kings who ruled North India at that time never tried to repulse the Ghaznavids from Punjab (barring a single occasion in 1043 CE when the Hindu confederacy went on an offensive against the Turks and laid a siege to Lahore)

The historic defence of Kabul and Zabul by Hindu armies mentioned by Sitaram Goel in his book 'Heroic Hindu Resistance to Muslim Invaders' (636 AD to 1206 AD)
http://voiceofdharma.org/books/hhrmi/ch2.htm

1) Prince Mahmud was defeated by ruler of Ujjain Lakshmadeva.
2) Masud III was defeated by the ruler of Kannauj, Govindacharya.
3) Ajaymeru was soaked with the blood of the Turks when the Ghaznavids were crushed by Arnoraja Chauhan.
http://voiceofdharma.org/books/hhrmi/ch3.htm

The Chalukyan army led by queen Naikidevi, mother of the young Mularaja utterly crushed the Ghurids led by Muhammad of Ghor in 1178. (Prabandha Chintamani). Muhammad Ghori was so ashamed by the defeat, that he never invaded Gujarat again.
http://voiceofdharma.org/books/hhrmi/ch4.htm

The great Prithviraj Chauhan, ruler of Ajmer and Delhi defeated the mighty Muhammad of Ghor in the first battle of Tarain in 1191 CE despite having a kingdom that was incomparable to the mighty Ghurid empire.

Ghori ruled large parts of modern day Pakistan, modern day Afghanistan, modern day Iran and other parts of central Asia.
Prithviraj ruled parts of eastern Rajasthan, Delhi, parts of Punjab and Haryana.

Considering these factors, Tarain I was a great achievement.

Forgot to include a few heroes. Mihira Bhoja, ruler of the Gurjara-Pratiharas was called a bitter foe of the Arabs by Arab chroniclers such as Sulaiman.

The nephew of Mahmud of Ghazni, Salar Masud fought and defeated several kings during his invasion of North India until he met the great king of Shravasti, Suhaldeva who defeated and killed him at the battle of Bahraich.

The Chahamanas under Anahilla repulsed the Ghaznavids according to the Sundha Hill inscription. He may have been a part of Raja Bhoja's confederacy.

Generals of the Chalukyans, Lavanaprasada and Sridhara put up a great fight against the Turks and managed to defeat them. This was not recorded by the Muslim historians. Muslim defeats were often ignored by Muslim historians.
http://voiceofdharma.org/books/hhrmi/ch5.htm

Bakhtiar Khilji who led the Sultanate armies towards the east, conquering Bihar and western Bengal with ease, were driven out of Eastern Bengal and his army was later crushed by the Kamarupa kingdom, barely managing to escape.
http://voiceofdharma.org/books/hhrmi/ch5.htm

Hindu Khokhars (Khukrain tribe) revolted against Ghori, prompting his return to India. They used Ghori's own tactics against him (deceit) against him and stabbed him to death when he was on his way back to Ghazni from Lahore.

#Badass

After Chittor fell to Khilji's army, a young cadet called Hammir rose up in revolt and recaptured the fort. He even captured the Sultan of Delhi, Muhammad Bin Tughlaq after the battle of Singoli and liberated the Rajputana from Sultanate rule.

Harihara and Bukka were captured by Tughlaq and forced to convert to Islam. After this they were sent to the south. However they met Vidyaranya, who reconverted them to Hindu Dharma and they created the Vijayaynagara Empire inorder to defend Hindu Dharma from the Turks.

Tens of thousands of Vaishnavas laid down their lives to protect the temple of Srirangam during the invasion of the eunuch-general Malik Kafur. In 1360, they were finally defeated by Gopanna Udaiyar.

Bukka's son, Kumara Kampana, crushed the Sultanate of Madurai that had been established by the Turks and restored Dharma to the land, freeing the holy temples of Srirangam & Madurai from the Mlecchas. This conquest has been detailed in the text 'Madhura Vijayam'.

The great ruler of Odisha, Narasimhadeva repeatedly defeated the Mamluks of Bengal. He crushed them in numerous battles - Katasin (1243 CE), Lakhnauti (1244 CE), Umurdan (1247 to 1256 CE). The great temple of Konark was built to commemorate his victories over the Turks.

Rajputs, Jats and Khokhars were especially recruited by Razia Sultana. The reason - These groups were the most bitter opponents of the Turkic invaders, starting this resistance right from the time of Bin Qasim's invasion itself.

Jasrath Khokhar from Punjab, bitterly opposed the Turks and gave them a lot of problems.

Forgot to include Dantidurga as one of the heroes in the Indian fightback against the Arabs. He fought with the general of the Chalukyans Pulakeshin.
(Thanks to @adikulk for pointing it out)

After the defeat of the Kakatiyas by the Delhi Sultanate, the Munsuri Nayaks rose up in revolt in Telugu Desam to defend Hindu Dharma & their country, under the leadership of Musunuri Prolaya Nayak & Musunuri Kapaya Nayak, who later expelled the Turks from Warangal.

Under the great Kapilendradeva, the Gajapatis became mightier than even Vijayaynagara. He defeated the Turks in Bengal, the Bahamanis in various places in the south and crushed the army of their ruler Nizam Shah in Bidar.

Forgive me for not really going in order. Let me go back a bit. I didn't include the deadly invasion of Somnath when 50,000 Hindus gave up their lives defending the temple from Ghazni.

The great Maharana Kumbha captured the Sultanate of Nagaur and defeated the Sultanates of Gujarat and Malwa. He constructed the famous Vijay Stambh to commemorate these victories.

Rana Sanga defeated the Sultanates of Malwa, Gujarat and also Ibrahim Lodi, Sultan of Delhi and his empire expanded up to boundaries of Delhi. He also defeated Babur in the battle of Bayana. He was defeated at Khanwa only because of the betrayal of Silhadi.

Hemu, a Hindu trader from humble origins, rose up to become a general in the army of the Sur Empire and won 22 consecutive battles, finally defeating the Mughals at Tughlaqabad. He crowned himself emperor and restored Hindu rule in Delhi, albeit for a very less time.

Going back again, Devaraya II of the Vijayaynagara Empire also achieved a lot of success against the Bahamani Sultanate.

Possibly the greatest medieval ruler of India along with Shivaji and Ranjit Singh, Krishnadevaraya of Vijayaynagara, annihilated the power of the Bahamani Sultanate. Thimanna the poet, praised him by calling him the 'destroyer of the Turks'.

Durgavati, the Chandela Rajput ruler of Gondwana defeated the mighty army of Akbar led by Asaf Khan. The Mughals had to flee for their lives.

He never gave up. Maharana Pratap lost everything after the Battle of Haldighati. He had no allies. Yet he refused to surrender. He began an epic guerrilla war against the Mughals and by the end of his life, won everything that he had lost, except for Chittor itself.

The turning point in Hindu history. A young Shivaji took a pledge to free India from the Mlecchas. Shivaji defeated both Bijapur and the Mughals in several battles and crowned himself Chattrapati.

Aurangzeb invaded the Deccan to finish off the Marathas. Sambhaji valiantly fought the Mughals for 9 years. He was finally captured and told to convert to Islam by Alamgir. Sambhaji said "Not even if you bribe me with your own daughter" following which he was tortured to death.

Though not as capable as his father or brother, Rajaram fought the Mughals with equal spirit. After he died, his widow Tarabai led the fight against the Mughals.

It was under Tarabai that the Mughals began fleeing the Deccan. The 27 year war between the Marathas and the Mughals was coming to an end and the Marathas finally defeated the much mightier Mughals under Tarabai.

Durgadas Rathore freed Marwar from Mughal rule.

Under the great Bajirao I, the Mughal Empire virtually came to an end. The Marathas captured the Deccan and large parts of North India under his able leadership.

Keladi Chenamma had given refuge to Rajaram. Aurangzeb sent an army to attack her kingdom. Her army resisted and the attack was foiled.

Led the Maratha Resurrection after the catastrophic defeat at Panipat. Completely revived Maratha fortunes and established Maratha supremacy in the Deccan after defeating Tipu Sultan and Hyder Ali. His death was said the be a 'much bigger blow than Panipat'.

Mahadaji Scindia re-established Maratha power in the North. He annihilated the Afghans at Rohilkhand completely ending Afghan power in the North. He restored the Mughal ruler in Delhi as a puppet. Mahadaji Scindia himself became the real ruler of Delhi.

Marthanda Varma totally crushed the Dutch at the Battle of Colachel in 1741 and put a total end to their expansionist campaigns.

Dharma Raja succeeded his uncle Marthanda Varma and valiantly held off Tipu Sultan's mighty army. He also provided refuge to Hindus who were fleeing the persecution done by Tipu. Joined the British alliance that eventually crushed Mysore in the Anglo Mysore wars.

Some asking me to include kings and emperors who defeated Greeks, Parthians, Scythians, Huns etc. The reason I didn't is because these invaders ended up assimilating and adopting Dharma. Turco-Afghan & Turco-Mongol invaders did not because Islam did not allow them to.

Devala Smriti was written by a sage called Devala. This text was used to bring back Muslims to Hinduism. This was possibly developed at around the time of the Arab invasions.

How can one forget the great Lachit Borpukhan, the hero who decimated the Mughals at Saraighat and checked Mughal expansion in the North East?

The famous Cuncolim Revolt of Goa where Kshatriyas attacked and killed Portuguese Padres who were engaging in forced conversion of the local Hindu populace.
http://enacademic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/11594445

Neglected to mention Chattrasal who liberated Bundelkhand from the Mughals.

Totally forgot to mention the father and predecessor of Bajirao I - Balaji Vishwanath who contributed to Maratha power and consolidation over it's territories.

Although remembered primarily as the Peshwa under whom the Panipat debacle took place, under Balaji Bajirao, the Marathas conquered the whole Rajputana and captured even north-western cities of India such as Lahore and Peshawar.

Dulla Bhatti, the 'Robin Hood' of Punjab, was the descendant of Rai Bhullar, a Muslim disciple of Guru Nanak. He fought against the abduction of Hindu girls by Mughal chieftains and was eventually captured and killed for his opposition.

Almost all ancient Hindu temples that were destroyed under Islamic rule were rebuilt by Ahilyabai Holkar. The great queen of Maheshwar even renovated existing Hindu sites that had been degraded under Mleccha rule.