1000-1192 CE
From 1000 to 1192 CE, the Rajputs defended India's gates with a valor that would become legend — clan after clan hurling themselves against Ghaznavid and Ghurid invaders, their hilltop fortresses holding while the plains burned below. Prithviraj Chauhan's ballads would be sung for centuries, yet at Tarain the age of the Rajput kingdoms ended, and Turkish horsemen rode into the heart of Hindustan.