Alauddin Khilji (or Khalji) belonged to the Khalji dynasty. He was the most powerful ruler of his dynasty and one of the sultans of the Delhi Sultanate. He was the most ambitious ruler among. He had acquired the rule of the Delhi Sultanate after stabbing his uncle ‘Jalaluddin’ in the back while embracing him.
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Biography/Wiki
Alauddin Khilji was born in the year between 1266 and 1267 (according to the 16th and 17th century chronicler Haji-ud-Dabir), as Ali Gurshasp, also known as Juna Khan Khalji, in the Khalji dynasty in Qalat, Zabul province, Afghanistan. He was passionate about ruling the world and wanted to become the Second Alexander. He was also titled as the Second Alexender, also known as Sikander-i-Sani, by the community and followers of him.
Alauddin Khilji was the only ruler who made many reforms in the existing administration and improved the army to prevent any rebellion against him. His reforms resulted in better government, and the government was run by himself. Some of his reforms included Revenue Reforms (direct taxation and removal of Hindu provincial chiefs), Market Reforms (lowering prices of goods to support a large army at low wages), Social Reforms (banning alcohol, prostitution, magicians and charlatans) and Military Reforms. Although these reforms were imposed to prevent any kind of protest and rebellion, few of them turned out to be good for maintaining a powerful administration. But he worsened the position of the Hindus during his rule.
Family, Religion, Wife and Sexuality
Alauddin Khilji was born to Shihabuddin Mas’ud. He belonged to the ancestry of Turkic Khalji. He was raised by his uncle and the founder of the Khalji dynasty Sultan Jalaluddin with his three brothers Almas Beg alias Ulugh Khan, Qutlugh Tigin and Muhammad after the death of his father. He followed Islam and was a Sunni Muslim.
Alauddin Khilji married his uncle, Jalaluddin’s daughter Malika-i-Jahan. After Jalaluddin became the sultan of Delhi, his daughter became a princess and she was very arrogant towards Alauddin. As Alauddin was not happy with his first marriage, he married a woman named Mahru. After sacking Devagiri, he remarried the Devagiri princess Jhatyapali and had a son by her named Shihabuddin Omar, who was also the successor of the Khalji dynasty. He also married another Hindu woman, Kamaladevi, who was the ex-wife of Karna, the last Vaghela king of Gujarat.
Although Alauddin Khilji was married to four women, he had developed a deep bond with his slave-turned-military commander, Malik Kafur. Alauddin Khilji was allegedly bisexual and, in the last years of his life, he fell deeply in love with Malik Kafur.
Ascension as ruler
Alauddin Khilji proved himself a great warrior in the face of the Sultan of Delhi, Jalaluddin, who appointed Alauddin Amir-i-Tuzuk. Later, to gain Jalaluddin’s trust, he managed to suppress a revolt against the sultan and obtained the governorship of Kara in 1291, and then the governorship of Awadh. In 1296 he attacked Devagiri and plundered the king. He was supposed to bring all the looted treasure to Delhi. Instead, he took it to Kara. It was quite a rebellious move on his part; then, Sultan Jalaluddin himself went to ask Alauddin, who killed the Sultan by stabbing him in the back. This automatically made him the next Sultan of Delhi.
After becoming the Sultan of Delhi, he managed to deceive the Mongols and conquered many Hindu kingdoms including ‘Gujarat’, ‘Chittor’, ‘Malwa’, ‘Siwana’, ‘Jalore’ etc. During his conquests, his military commander and adviser, Malik Kafur, proved to be of great help. Malik Kafur was a slave captured during the Gujarat raid.
Alauddin Khilji was a passionate ruler and liked to be called the Second Alexander by his people. He even inscribed the title Sikander-i-Sani on the coins.
Death cause
Alauddin Khilji had become very insecure about his position during the last years of his life. Supposedly, he only trusted Kafur Malik, whom he made viceroy and had acquired most of the administrative powers. Alauddin Khilji suffered from a serious illness and followed all of Malik Kafur’s advice, including abolishing the Wazir Office, removing most of the senior officers from his department, and assassinating his brother-in-law, Alp Khan.
Alauddin Khilji died on January 4, 1316, which was suspected to be a conspiracy by Malik Kafur and other Sultanate officials. Kafur buried Alauddin’s body (brought from Siri Place) in Alauddin’s mausoleum, which was already built for Alauddin before his death.
Alauddin’s tomb and madrasa are situated at the rear of the Qutb complex, Mehrauli, Delhi.
Facts
- Alauddin served his uncle Jalaluddin as Amir-i-Tuzuk (equivalent to Ringmaster) and Almas Beg as Akhur-beg (equivalent to Master of Horses).
- His marriage to his first wife Malika-i-Jahan was unsuccessful; since the father of his first wife, Jalaluddin, had become sultan and eventually she became a princess, which caused a change in her behavior. She became more domineering towards Alauddin. He even attacked his second wife Mahru out of jealousy.
- Malik Chajju, the governor of Kara, considered Jalaluddin an ineffective ruler and had started a revolt against him. Alauddin played an important role in suppressing this rebellion and was therefore appointed as the new Governor of Kara by Jalaluddin.
- Jalaluddin’s wife was totally against Alauddin and had warned the sultan about his intentions.
- Malik Chajju instigated Alauddin against Jalaluddin, and made him set up a conspiracy against Jalaluddin to dethrone him.
- Alauddin raided many neighboring Hindu kingdoms and plundered the treasures. He delivered this plundered treasure to Jalaluddin, which helped him gain the trust of the Sultan.
- He took the treasure looted in the Devagiri raid to Kara instead of handing it over to Jalaluddin. Jalaluddin decided to go to meet Alauddin and with a small army of 1000 soldiers.
- Jalaluddin arrived in Kara on July 20, 1296 to meet Alauddin. While he was embracing the sultan, he stabbed him in the back and declared himself the next sultan of Delhi. But he was announced as the sultan of Delhi on October 21, 1296 when he arrived in Delhi.
- According to the chronicler Ziauddin Barani, the first year of Alauddin’s rule was the happiest year for the people of Delhi.
- During his period as Sultan of Delhi, he expanded his region by raiding its neighboring kingdoms which included Gujarat, Mewar, Jalore, Malwa, Madurai etc.
- Alauddin defeated the Mongols each time they tried to attack Delhi. He defeated them in the Jalandhar (1298), Kili (1299), Amroha (1305) and Ravi (1306) wars. He treated the Mongols with brutal punishments like killing children in front of their mothers.
- When he conquered Ranthambore, he was faced with three unsuccessful revolts against him, which he put down each time. To prevent future rebellions, he imposed an intelligence surveillance system and tightened its rules.
- According to some ancient stories, Alauddin invaded Chittoor to capture the Queen of Padmavati from Rawal Ratan Singh/Ratnasimha (the King of Chittoor). However, no such facts are found in modern history.
- Due to the lack of a prepared army and strategy, Alauddin had to take refuge in the under-construction Siri Fort to escape the Mongols’ another invasion of Delhi around August 1303.
- To prevent further attacks by Malika-i-Jahan, he planted more army and tightened security on the route the Mongols used to enter their borders and made some economic reforms to maintain his army properly.
- Alauddin was the first Muslim king to invade South India with the help of his most loyal servant Malik Kafur.
- He established the best run administration in Delhi by paying his officers well; furthermore, he appointed different officers in different positions to manage his government himself.
- Alaudin set the prices of the goods according to the real value, which made people survive efficiently on a low salary.
- The tax system established by him proved to be very effective and was followed until the 19th century.
- According to the chronicler Ziauddin Barani, Alauddin also had intentions of starting a new religion.
- Alauddin was reportedly bisexual and, in the last years of his life, shared a special bond with his most loyal officer, Malik Kafur, whom he had captured as a slave during the invasion of Gujarat.
- In 2017, Ranveer Singh played the role of Alauddin Khalji in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Hindi film ‘Padmavat’.
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Source: dienchau2.edu.vn
