Alauddin Khalji
Alauddin Khalji was the Sultan of Delhi from 1296 until his death in 1316. Alauddin instituted a number of significant administrative changes in the Delhi Sultanate, related to revenues, price controls, and society. He also successfully fended off several Mongol invasions of India.
Alauddin was a nephew and a son-in-law of his predecessor Jalaluddin. When Jalaluddin became the Sultan of Delhi after deposing the Mamluks, Alauddin was given the position of Amir-i-Tuzuk. After suppressing a revolt against Jalaluddin, Alauddin obtained the governorship of Kara in 1291, and the governorship of Awadh in 1296, after a profitable raid on Bhilsa. In 1296, Alauddin raided Devagiri, and used the acquired loot to stage a successful revolt against Jalaluddin. After killing Jalaluddin, he consolidated his power in Delhi, and subjugated Jalaluddin's sons in Multan.
Over the next few years, Alauddin successfully fended off the Mongol invasions from the Chagatai Khanate, at Jaran-Manjur, Sivistan, Kili, Delhi, and Amroha. In 1306, his forces achieved a decisive victory against the Mongols near the Ravi riverbank, and later ransacked the Mongol territories in present-day Afghanistan. The military commanders that successfully led his army against the Mongols include Zafar Khan, Ulugh Khan, and Alauddin's slave-general Malik Kafur.
Alauddin conquered the kingdoms of Gujarat, Jaisalmer, Ranthambore, Chittor, Malwa, Siwana, and Jalore. These victories ended several Rajput and other Hindu dynasties, including the Paramaras, the Vaghelas, the Chahamanas of Ranastambhapura and Jalore, the Rawal branch of the Guhilas, and possibly the Yajvapalas. His slave-general Malik Kafur led multiple campaigns to the south of the Vindhyas, obtaining a considerable amount of wealth from Devagiri, Warangal and Dwarasamudra. These victories forced the Yadava king Ramachandra, the Kakatiya king Prataparudra, and the Hoysala king Ballala III to become Alauddin's tributaries. Kafur also raided the Pandya kingdom, obtaining much treasure, elephants, and horses.
During the last years of his life, Alauddin had an illness and relied on Malik Kafur to handle the administration. After his death in 1316, Malik Kafur appointed Shihabuddin, son of Alauddin and his Hindu wife Jhatyapali, as a puppet monarch. Alauddin's elder son Qutbuddin Mubarak Shah seized power shortly after his death.
Early life
Contemporary chroniclers did not write much about Alauddin's childhood. According to the 16th/17th-century chronicler Haji-ud-Dabir, Alauddin was 34 years old when he started his march to Ranthambore. Assuming this is correct, Alauddin's birth can be dated to 1266–1267. His original name was Ali Gurshasp. He was the eldest son of Shihabuddin Mas'ud, who was the elder brother of the Khalji dynasty's founder Sultan Jalaluddin. He had three brothers: Almas Beg, Qutlugh Tigin, and Muhammad.Alauddin was brought up by Jalaluddin after Shihabuddin's death. Both Alauddin and his younger brother Almas Beg married Jalaluddin's daughters. After Jalaluddin became the Sultan of Delhi, Alauddin was appointed as Amir-i-Tuzuk, while Almas Beg was given the post of Akhur-Beg.
Marriage to Jalaluddin's daughter
Alauddin married Jalaluddin's daughter, Malika-i-Jahan, long before the Khalji revolution of 1290. The marriage, however, was not a happy one. Having suddenly become a princess after Jalaluddin's rise as a monarch, she was very arrogant and tried to dominate Alauddin. According to Haji-ud-Dabir, Alauddin married a second woman, named Mahru, who was the sister of Malik Sanjar alias Alp Khan. Malika-i-Jahan was greatly infuriated by her husband taking a second wife. According to Dabir, this was the main cause of the misunderstanding between Alauddin and his first wife. Once, while Alauddin and Mahru were together in a garden, Jalaluddin's daughter attacked Mahru out of jealousy. In response, Alauddin assaulted her. The incident was reported to Jalaluddin, but the Sultan did not take any action against Alauddin. Alauddin was not on good terms with his mother-in-law either, who wielded great influence over the Sultan. According to the 16th-century historian Firishta, she warned Jalaluddin that Alauddin was planning to set up an independent kingdom in a remote part of the country. She closely monitored Alauddin and encouraged her daughter's arrogant behavior toward him.Governor of Kara
In 1291, Alauddin played an important role in crushing a revolt by the governor of Kara Malik Chajju. Jalaluddin rewarded Alauddin by appointing him as the new governor of Kara in 1291. Malik Chajju's former Amirs at Kara considered Jalaluddin as a weak and ineffective ruler and instigated Alauddin to usurp the throne of Delhi. This, combined with his unhappy domestic life, made Alauddin determined to dethrone Jalaluddin.Conspiracy against Jalaluddin
While instigating Alauddin to revolt against Jalaluddin, Malik Chajju's supporters emphasized that he needed a lot of money to raise a large army and stage a successful coup: Malik Chajju's revolt had failed for want of resources. To finance his plan to dethrone Jalaluddin, Alauddin decided to raid the neighboring Hindu kingdoms. In 1293, he raided Bhilsa, a wealthy town in the Paramara kingdom of Malwa, which had been weakened by multiple invasions. At Bhilsa, he learned of the immense wealth of the southern Yadava kingdom in the Deccan region, as well as about the routes leading to their capital Devagiri. Therefore, he shrewdly surrendered the loot from Bhilsa to Jalaluddin to win Sultan's confidence, while withholding the information on the Yadava kingdom. A pleased Jalaluddin gave him the office of Ariz-i Mamalik, and also made him the governor of Awadh. In addition, the Sultan granted Alauddin's request to use the revenue surplus for hiring additional troops.File:The Execution of Jalal-al-Din Firuzshah II, Jami al-Tawarikh.jpg|thumb|upright=1.7|The Execution of Jalal-ud-Din Khalji, with Alauddin newly enthroned. Jami al-Tawarikh.
After years of planning and preparation, Alauddin successfully raided Devagiri in 1296. He left Devagiri with a huge amount of wealth, including precious metals, jewels, silk products, elephants, horses, and slaves. When the news of Alauddin's success reached Jalaluddin, the Sultan came to Gwalior, hoping that Alauddin would present the loot to him there. However, Alauddin marched directly to Kara with all the wealth. Jalaluddin's advisors such as Ahmad Chap recommended intercepting Alauddin at Chanderi, but Jalaluddin had faith in his nephew. He returned to Delhi, believing that Alauddin would carry the wealth from Kara to Delhi. After reaching Kara, Alauddin sent a letter of apology to the Sultan and expressed concern that his enemies may have poisoned Sultan's mind against him during his absence. He requested a letter of pardon signed by the Sultan, which the Sultan immediately despatched through messengers. At Kara, Jalaluddin's messengers learned of Alauddin's military strength and of his plans to dethrone the Sultan. However, Alauddin detained them and prevented them from communicating with the Sultan.
Meanwhile, Alauddin's younger brother Almas Beg, who was married to a daughter of Jalaluddin, assured the Sultan of Alauddin's loyalty. He convinced Jalaluddin to visit Kara and meet Alauddin, saying that Alauddin would commit suicide out of guilt if the Sultan did not pardon him personally. A gullible Jalaluddin set out for Kara with his army. After reaching close to Kara, he directed Ahmad Chap to take his main army to Kara by land route, while he himself decided to cross the Ganges river with a smaller body of around 1,000 soldiers. On 20 July 1296, Alauddin had Jalaluddin killed, after pretending to greet the Sultan, and declaring himself the new king. Jalaluddin's companions were also killed, while Ahmad Chap's army retreated to Delhi.
Ascension and march to Delhi
Alauddin, known as Ali Gurshasp until his ascension in July 1296, was formally proclaimed as the new king with the title Alauddunya wad Din Muhammad Shah-us Sultan at Kara. Meanwhile, the head of Jalaluddin was paraded on a spear in his camp before being sent to Awadh. Over the next two days, Alauddin formed a provisional government at Kara. He promoted the existing Amirs to the rank of Maliks, and appointed his close friends as the new Amirs.At that time, there were heavy rains, and the Ganga and the Yamuna rivers were flooded. But Alauddin made preparations for a march to Delhi, and ordered his officers to recruit as many soldiers as possible, without fitness tests or background checks. His objective was to cause a change in the general political opinion, by portraying himself as someone with huge public support. To portray himself as a generous king, he ordered 5 manns of gold pieces to be shot from a manjaniq at a crowd in Kara.
One section of his army, led by himself and Nusrat Khan, marched to Delhi via Badaun and Baran. The other section, led by Zafar Khan, marched to Delhi via Koil. As Alauddin marched to Delhi, the news spread in towns and villages that he was recruiting soldiers while distributing gold. Many people, from both military and non-military backgrounds, joined him. By the time he reached Badaun, he had a 56,000-strong cavalry and a 60,000-strong infantry. At Baran, Alauddin was joined by seven powerful Jalaluddin nobles who had earlier opposed him. These nobles were Tajul Mulk Kuchi, Malik Abaji Akhur-bek, Malik Amir Ali Diwana, Malik Usman Amir-akhur, Malik Amir Khan, Malik Umar Surkha, and Malik Hiranmar. Alauddin gave each of them 30 to 50 manns of gold, and each of their soldiers 300 silver tankas.
Alauddin's march to Delhi was interrupted by the flooding of the Yamuna river. Meanwhile, in Delhi, Jalaluddin's widow Malka-i-Jahan appointed her youngest son Qadr Khan as the new king with the title Ruknuddin Ibrahim, without consulting the nobles. This irked Arkali Khan, her elder son and the governor of Multan. When Malika-i-Jahan heard that Jalaluddin's nobles had joined Alauddin, she apologized to Arkali and offered him the throne, requesting him to march from Multan to Delhi. However, Arkali refused to come to her aid.
Alauddin resumed his march to Delhi in the second week of October 1296, when the Yamuna river subsided. When he reached Siri, Ruknuddin led an army against him. However, a section of Ruknuddin's army defected to Alauddin at midnight. A dejected Ruknuddin then retreated and escaped to Multan with his mother and the loyal nobles. Alauddin then entered the city, where a number of nobles and officials accepted his authority. On 21 October 1296, Alauddin was formally proclaimed as the Sultan in Delhi.