Hansi

Hansi is an old fortified town west of Delhi, dominated by the walls of Asigarh. Traditions associate the fort with the Tomara rulers and with the making of swords. Its importance as a stronghold is reflected in the fighting that followed the defeat of Prithviraj Chauhan in 1192, when Jatwan besieged the commander Nasrat al-Din at Hansi. A relief force under Qutb al-Din marched to the town and defeated him.

Under Akbar, Hansi was a district of Hisar with a brick fort and a substantial assessed force of cavalry and infantry. In the late eighteenth century, as Mughal power waned, the Irish adventurer George Thomas made Hansi the center of his short-lived territory and repaired its fortifications. Maratha forces defeated him in 1801, and British power followed the Second Anglo-Maratha War. In 1803 James Skinner raised a cavalry regiment at Hansi, giving the town a new place in the military history of northern India.