information:highlighting
Death and succession

Most medieval sources state that Prithviraj was taken to the Chahamana capital Ajmer, where Muhammad planned to reinstate him as a Ghurid vassal. Sometime later, Prithviraj rebelled against Muhammad, and was killed for treason. This is corroborated by numismatic evidence: some 'horse-and-bullman'-style coins bearing names of both Prithviraj and "Muhammad bin Sam" were issued from the Delhi mint, although another possibility is that the Ghurids initially used Chahamana-style coinage to ensure greater acceptance of their own coinage in the former Chahamana territory. After Prithviraj's death, Muhammad installed the Chahamana prince Govindaraja on the throne of Ajmer, which further supports this theory.

The various sources differ on the exact circumstances:

The 13th-century Persian historian Minhaj-i-Siraj states that Prithviraj was "sent to hell" after being captured. The 16th-century historian Firishta also supports this account. According to historian Satish Chandra, Minhaj's account suggests that Prithviraj was executed immediately after his defeat, but R. B. Singh believes that no such conclusion can be drawn from Minhaj's writings. Viruddha-Vidhi Vidhvansa by the Hindu writer Lakshmidhara is the only source that claims that Prithviraj was killed on the battlefield.

The Prithviraj Raso claims that Prithviraj was taken to Ghazna as a prisoner, and blinded. On hearing this, the poet Chand Bardai traveled to Ghazna and tricked Muhammad of Ghor into watching an archery performance by the blind Prithviraj. During this performance, Prithviraj shot the arrow in the direction of Muhammad's voice and killed him. Shortly after, Prithviraj and Chand Bardai killed each other. This is a fictional narrative, not supported by historical evidence: Muhammad of Ghor continued to rule for more than a decade after Prithviraj's death.

After Prithviraj's death, the Ghurids appointed his son Govindaraja on the throne of Ajmer as their vassal. In 1192 CE, Prithviraj's younger brother Hariraja dethroned Govindaraja, and recaptured a part of his ancestral kingdom. Govindaraja moved to Ranastambhapura (modern Ranthambore), where he established a new Chahamana branch of vassal rulers. Hariraja was later defeated by the Ghurid general Qutb al-Din Aibak.