Alauddin Khilji (or Khalji) belonged to the Khalji dynasty. He was the most powerful ruler of the dynasty and one of the sultans of the Delhi Sultanate. He was the most ambitious ruler among them. He gained the rule of the Delhi Sultanate by stabbing his uncle “Jalaluddin” in the back while hugging him.
Biography/Wiki
Alauddin Khilji was born in 1266-1267 (according to the 16th-17th century chronicler Haji-ud-Dabir) as Ali. Ali Gurshasp, also known as Juna Khan Khalji, was born in the Khalji dynasty of Kalat, Zabul Province, Afghanistan. He was very keen on world domination and aspired to become the second Alexander. He is also known by his community and followers as the Second Alexander, also known as Sikander-i-Sani.
Alauddin Khilji was a ruler who made many reforms in the existing government and improved the army to prevent any rebellion against him. His reforms resulted in a better government, which he ran himself. Some of his reforms included revenue reforms (direct taxation and removal of Hindu governors), market reforms (lowering commodity prices, maintaining a large army with low wages), social reforms (banning alcoholism, prostitution, magicians and charlatans) and military reform. Although these reforms were implemented to prevent any form of protest and rebellion, they proved to be of little benefit in maintaining a strong government. But this worsened the position of Hindus during his reign.
Family, Religion, Wife and Sex
Alauddin Khilji’s father was Shihabuddin Mas’ud. He is of Turkic Halghi origin. After his father’s death, he was raised by his uncle, Sultan Jalaluddin, the founder of the Khalji dynasty, and his three brothers Almas Beg (also known as Uluk Khan, Qutrul Tikin and Muhammad) big. He believes in Islam and is a Sunni Muslim.
Alauddin Khilji married Malika-i-Jahan, the daughter of his uncle Jalaluddin. After Jalaluddin became the Sultan of Delhi, his daughter became a princess and was very arrogant towards Aladdin. Since Alauddin was not satisfied with his first marriage, he married a woman named Maru. After plundering Devagiri, he married again the princess of Devagiri, Jatypalli, and had a son with her named Shihabuddin Umar, who was also the heir to the Kharji dynasty. He also married another Hindu woman, Kamala Devi, the ex-wife of Karna, the last Vaghela king of Gujarat.
Although Alauddin Khilji was married to four women, he developed a deep relationship with the slave-turned-military commander Malik Kafur. Alauddin Khilji was said to be bisexual and in the last years of his life he fell deeply in love with Malik Kafur.
promoted to ruler
Aladdin Khilji proved himself a great warrior before Sultan Jalaluddin of Delhi, who appointed Aladdin as Aamir Tuzuk. Later, to win Jalaluddin’s trust, he suppressed a rebellion against the Sultan and became governor of Kara in 1291 and later of Awadh. In 1296, he attacked Devagiri and robbed the king. He was supposed to take all the looted treasure to Delhi. Instead, he brought it to Kara. His actions were so rebellious. So Sultan Jalaluddin himself went to question Aladdin, who stabbed the Sultan in the back. This automatically made him the next Sultan of Delhi.
After becoming the Sultan of Delhi, he successfully deceived the Mongols and conquered many Hindu kingdoms, including “Gujarat”, “Chittor”, “Malwa”, “Sivana”, “Jallore”, etc. During his conquests, his military commander and advisor Malik Kafur proved to be a great help. Malik Kafur was a slave captured during a raid in Gujarat.
Aladdin Khilji was a passionate ruler who liked to be called the second Alexander by his people. He even had the words “Sikander-i-Sani” engraved on the coins.
cause of death
Aladdin Khilji became very insecure about his position in the last years of his life. It is said that he trusted only Kafur Malik, appointed him governor, and gained most of the administrative powers. Alauddin Khilji fell seriously ill and followed all Malik Kafur’s suggestions including abolishing Wazir Office, removing him from his ministry Most of the experienced officers, killed his brother-in-law Alp Khan.
Alauddin Khilji’s death on January 4, 1316 was suspected of being a conspiracy of Malik Kafur and other officials of the Sultanate. Kafur buried Alauddin’s body (brought from Sili Square) in Alauddin’s mausoleum, which had been built for him before his death.
Alauddin’s tomb and madrasa are located behind the Qutb complex in Mehrauli, Delhi.
fact
- Aladdin appointed his uncle Jalaluddin as Amir-i-Tuzuk (equivalent to master of ceremonies) and Almas Beg as Akhur-beg (equivalent to horse owner).
- His marriage to his first wife Malika-i-Jahan was not successful. Her behavior changed as his first wife’s father Jalaluddin became Sultan and eventually she became a princess. She becomes more forceful towards Alauddin. She even attacked his second wife Mahru out of jealousy.
- The governor of Kara, Malik Chajju, considered Jalaluddin an incompetent ruler and began to rebel against him. Aladdin played an important role in suppressing this rebellion and was appointed as the new governor of Qala by Jalaluddin.
- Jalaluddin’s wife was completely against Aladdin and warned the Sultan of his intentions.
- Malik Zaju incited Aladdin against Jalaluddin, which led him to plot to overthrow Jalaluddin.
- Aladdin raided many neighboring Hindu kingdoms and plundered treasures. He handed over these looted treasures to Jalaluddin, which helped him win the Sultan’s trust.
- He took the treasure looted in the Devagiri raid to Kara instead of handing it over to Jalaluddin. Jalaluddin decided to go to Aladdin with a small army of 1,000 soldiers.
- Jalaluddin arrived at Kara on July 20, 1296 to meet Aladdin. While embracing the Sultan, he stabbed the Sultan in the back and declared himself the next Sultan of Delhi. But when he arrived in Delhi on October 21, 1296, he was declared the Sultan of Delhi.
- According to the chronicler Ziauddin Barani, the first year of Aladdin’s reign was the happiest year for the people of Delhi.
- During his tenure as Sultan of Delhi, he expanded his territory by attacking neighboring states of Gujarat, Mewar, Jallore, Malwa, Madurai, etc.
- Every time the Mongols tried to attack Delhi, Aladdin defeated them. He defeated them in the Jalandhar (1298), Killi (1299), Amroha (1305) and Ravi (1306) wars. He inflicted cruel punishments on the Mongols, such as killing children in front of their mothers.
- When he conquered Ranthambore, he encountered three rebellions against him, but he suppressed them each time. To prevent any future rebellions, he implemented an intelligence surveillance system and established stricter rules.
- According to some ancient stories, Alauddin invaded Chittor to capture Padmavati, the queen of Rawal Ratan Singh/Ratna Simha (King of Chittoor). However, no such fact has been found in modern history.
- Lacking a prepared army and strategy, Aladdin had to take refuge in the under-construction Sili Fort to avoid another Mongolian invasion of Delhi around August 1303.
- To avoid future attacks by Malika Jahan, he sent more troops, strengthened the security of the Mongols’ routes into his borders, and made some economic reforms to properly maintain his army.
- Aladdin was the first Muslim king to invade southern India with the help of his most loyal servant Malik Kafur.
- He established the best-run government in Delhi by paying generous salaries to officials. In addition, he appointed different officials to different positions to personally run his government.
- Alauddin priced goods based on their actual value, allowing people to survive efficiently with low wages.
- The tax system he instituted proved to be very effective and remained in use well into the nineteenth century.
- According to the chronicler Ziauddin Barani, Alauddin also had the intention of founding a new religion.
- Alauddin was said to be bisexual and in the last years of his life he had a special bond with his most loyal officer Malik Kafur, whom he captured during the Gujarat invasion for slaves.
- In 2017, Ranveer Singh played the role of Alauddin Khalji in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Hindi film Padmavat.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education