Delhi Sultanate - Beyond NCERT

THE DELHI SULTANATE

The Mameluk Sultans of Delhi or the So-called Slave Dynasty

Qutb-ud-din Aibak and Aram Shah
T'HE rulers who ruled over the destinies of Delhi Sultanate between the period 1206-90 A.D.
are popularly known as rulers of one dynasty called the Slave Dynasty. But neither they
belonged to one dynasty nor any one of them was a slave when he or she occupied the throne
of Delhi. In fact, three dynasties ruled over Delhi during this period. Qutb-ud-din was the
founder of the rule of Qutbi dynasty, lltutmish that of Shamsi and Balban that of Balbani. Each
of them had ceased to be a slave before they became Sultans and, except Qutb- ud-din all
others had obtained their formal manumission (freedom from slavery) long before their
accession. Therefore, it is more correct to call them early Turk sultans or the Mameluk sultans
of Delhi.
Qutb-Ud-Din Aibak (1206-1210 A.D.)
Muhammad of Ghur had no son and therefore, his nephew, Ghiyas-ud-din succeeded him at
Ghur while his empire was virtually divided by his powerful and ambitious governors. Taj-ud-
din Yildiz who held the area from Afghanistan to Upper Sindh, Nasir-ud-din Qabacha who held
Uch and Multan and Qutb-ud- din Aibak who was the governor of his Indian provinces, became
virtually independent in their respective territorjes.
Early Career
Qutb-ud-din has been regarded as the real founder of Turkish rule in India. Of course,
Muhammad of Ghur had included the territories of India in his empire but his seat of power
was not India. Primarily he remained the Sultan of Ghur. But Qutb-ud-din severed his
connections with Ghazni and Ghur. He, therefore, is rightly regarded as the first Turkish Sultan
of Delhi. Qutb-ud-din was sold as slave. Soon he drew the attention of his Master and was
given several responsible posts gradually. He served his Master well during his Indian campaign
and therefore, he was assigned the charge of his Indian conquests after the second battle of
Tarain in 1192 A.D. Qutb-ud- din not only helped Muhammad in all his Indian campaigns but
also consolidated and extended his conquests whenever Muhammad happened to be away from
India. In 1206 A.D., Qutb-ud-din was formally invested with viceregal powers and promoted to
the rank of Malik by Sultan Muhammad. When the death of Muhammad became known, the
citizens of Lahore invited Qutb-ud-din to assume sovereign powers. Qutb-ud-din reached
Lahore, assumed sovereign powers though formally ascended the throne after three months of
Muhammads death. Ghiyas-ud-din who had succeeded Sultan Muhammad at Ghur sent him the
royal insignia and standard and also conferred upon him the title of Sultan though his formal
manumission was not granted till 1208 A.D. Qutb-ud-din remained satisfied with the titles of
Malik and Sipahsalar and did not struck coins or read the Khutba in his name but he became
the de facto Sultan of the larger part of the Indian territories of Sultan Muhammad soon after
his death and did not share his power with anybody etse.
His Difficulties
Qutb-ud-din had to face many challenges in order to keep his position intact. He could not
depend on the loyalty of all his Turkish officers among whom many could be jealous of his
powers and position.
More than that, Taj-ud-din Yildiz and Nasir-ud-din Qabacha were strong contenders for the
throne of Delhi. Yildiz, the father-in-law of Qutb-ud-din, had occupied Ghazni and was
claiming to be the ruler of all the empire of Sultan Muhammad including his Indian conquests.
Nasir-ud-din Qabacha was the governor of Uch. One of his wives was the daughter of Yildiz
while another one was the sister of Qutb-ud-din and he too was ambitious enough to contend
against Qutb-ud-din for the throne of Delhi. Professor A.B.M. Habibullah and Dr A.L. Srivastava
have opined that Sultan Muhammad had assigned the title of Malik to Qutb-ud-din and desired
that he should succeed him as far as his Indian conquests were concerned. But Professor K.A.
Nizami has not agreed with them. He says that Sultan Muhammad could not decide anything
about his succession before his death and therefore, each of his governors was left free to
decide his own course of action. Qutb-ud-din, therefore, had no better claim over the throne
of Delhi as compared to Yildiz and Qabacha. Probably, powerful nobles like Baha-ud-din
Tughril Khan and Bakhtiyar Khalji would have also contended against Qutb-ud-din if they would
have been alive at that time because none of them was subordinated to Qutb-ud-din by Sultan
Muhammad. The events which occurred after the death of the Sultan tally with the viewpoint
of Professor Nizami. Qutb-ud-din had no legal claim over the throne of Delhi. He had to win it.
However, more than anything else, the one great danger for Qutb-ud-din was the expanding
power of Khwarizm Shah Ala-ud-din Muhammad, the ruler of Persia who desired to capture
Ghazni and could lay his claim over the kingdom of Delhi as well.
His Efforts and Achievements
Qutb-ud-din faced all these difficulties with determination. He decided to keep himself
independent and keep his kingdom free from the politics of Central Asia. However, he moved
with caution. He first strengthened his position in Delhi and Lahore. He persuaded most of the
Turkish nobles in India to accept his subordination and married his sister to Qabacha and his
daughter to lltutmish. Probably, Qabacha accepted his claim over Delhi but Yildiz did not.
Yildiz was accepted as the independent ruler of Ghazni by Sultan Ghiyas- ud-din. But he was
pressurized by Khwarizm Shah and forced to leave Ghazni. He attacked Panjab. Qutb-ud-din
faced him and forced him to return back. Qutb-ud-din even occupied Ghazni where he was
invited by its citizens. But he was forced to leave it after forty days when Yildiz reached back
there. Thus, Qutb-ud-din failed to occupy Ghazni, but at the same time, he did not permit
Yildiz to occupy any part of his Indian territory.
Qutb-ud-din could not pursue the policy of extension of his kingdom. He could not pay
attention even towards the Rajputs who succeeded in recovering some of their places from the
Turks. Mostly he remained busy in defending his independent position and therefore, the
affairs in the north-west and Bengal in the east remained his primary concerns. That is why
mostly he remained at Lahore instead of Delhi. Besides, Qutb-ud-din got very little time as an
independent ruler. While playing Chaugan (horse-polo) he fell from his horse and shortly died
in 1210 A.D. He was buried at Lahore and a simple monument was raised on his grave.
Aram Shah
The sudden death of Qutb-ud-din Aibak created confusion among his followers. According to
several historians, his officers at Lahore placed his son Aram Shah on the throne immediately.
K..A. Nizami, however, says that Aram Shah was not the son of Aibak. He says that Juwayni
had expressed that Aibak had no son while Minhaj has referred only to his three daughters.
However, his candidature was opposed by the nobles and citizens of Delhi. Therefore the
Sipah- salar, Amir Ali and some other Turkish nobles decided and invited Iltutmish, son-in-law
of Aibak and the then governor of Badaun to come to Delhi and accept the Crown. Iltutmish
reached Delhi and assumed sovereign powers. Aram Shah proceeded towards Delhi but
Iltutmish defeated and killed him. Thus, Aram Shah ruled (if at all he ruled as a sovereign king
because certain historians have expressed doubt about it) only for eight months.

SULTAN ILTUTMISH (1211-1236 A.D.)
Iltutmish was the first real Turkish Sultan of Delhi. He was recognised "as such not by any
Sultan of Ghur but by the Khalifa. Besides, he succeeded in killing both Yildiz and Qabacha,
the claimants of suzerain power of Delhi, consolidated the Turkish power in north India, saved
Delhi Sultanate from the invasion of the Mongols, tried to break up the power of the Rajput
chiefs, made his family rule hereditary, issued coins in his name and made Delhi beautiful and
respectable as a fit capital of Turkish dominions in India.
Organisation of the group of forty slaves, viz. Turkan-i-Chihalgani
When Iltutmish ascended the throne, he was opposed by certain Qutbi (nobles of Qutb-ud-din
Aibak) and Muiizi (nobles of Muhammad of Ghur) nobles. He suppressed their revolt. But, he
always remained doubtful of their loyalty. Therefore, he created his own group of nobles from
among his loyal and capable slaves which was called Turkan-i-Chihalgani. All those nobles were
purchased by him as slaves. They were given respectable assignments and, thus, their
cooperation was sought in administration.
Defeat of Yildiz
Iltutmish behaved most diplomatically with Yildiz. When he ascended the throne. Yildiz sent
him a chatra (canopy) and a durbash (baton). Iltutmish accepted them and, thus, pretended to
recognize his suzerainty. In fact, he bided his time, avoided conflict with him and consolidated
his position as far as Banaras. Besides, he occupied Sursuti, Kuhram and Bhatinda in the west.
In 1215 A.D., Yildiz was driven out of Ghazni by Khwarizm Shah. He came to Lahore and
occupied the territories of Panjab upto Thaneswar. While Yildiz still claimed overlordship over
Iltutmish and asked him to send military help, Iltutmish marched against him to settle his score
finally with him. Between 1215-16 A.D. Iltutmish defeated Yildiz in an open battle at Tarain
and imprisoned him. He was first sent to Badaun and afterwards killed. Iltutmishs gain was
two-fold. One was that he had killed the most dangerous rival to his power and, the other,
that it led to the final break with Ghazni. Hence onwards, the Sultanate of Delhi became an
independent state in fact if not legally so far.
The Impending Mongol Invasion
Iltutmish had hardly consolidated his position in Panjab when his infant kingdom was
threatened by a possible invasion of the Mongols. Issuing from the uplands of Tartary, the
Mongols, under their great leader Temujin popularly known as Genghiz Khan, occupied the
Khwarizm empire, forced the Emperor to flee for safety to the Caspian coast and his heir-
apparent Jalal-ud-din Mangbami to Panjab. Jalal-ud-din married the daughter of Rai Khokhar
Sankin, the Khokhar chief and occupied the upper Sindh Sagar, the territory of the Ravi and
the Chenab regions, the fort of Pasraur in the Sialkot district and then advanced up to Lahore.
The Mongols were hotly pursuing the fleeing prince but stopped at the banks of the river Indus
to watch his activities. Jalal-ud-din asked for shelter from Iltutmish. So far the career of
Genghiz Khan had been of undisrupted success. No country could save itself from his attack.
Iltutmish had neither the desire nor the power to face such a powerful foe. He refused to
provide shelter to Jalal-ud-din much against the rules of hospitality. But, it was wise on his
part. It saved him from the wrath of Genghiz Khan who returned after leaving the task of
capturing Jalal-ud-din to his officers. Iltutmish was determined to check Jalal-ud-din from
proceeding further and got ready for military action when he tried further aggression in
Panjab. Jalal-ud-din too realised the futility of fighting against Iltutmish and, therefore,
withdrew towards lower Sindh. Thereafter, he concentrated his power against Qabacha and
the Mongols. He defeated Qabacha near Uch and weakened his power. But, ultimately, he
returned to Persia in 1224 A.D. Iltutmish watched with satisfaction the departure of Jalal-ud-
din. He had saved his kingdom from the Mongol invasion and also from ill-effects of the politics
of Central Asia
The Defeat of Qabacha
Jalal-ud-dins activities had weakened the power of Qabacha who was now left only with
Multan and Sindh. Iltutmish took advantage of it and easily occupied Bhatinda. Kuhram, Sarsuti
and then Lahore.
He now decided to finish the power of Qabacha for once and all and simultaneously planned
attacks on Multan and Sindh. Qabacha fled to the fort of Bhakkar on the lower Indus and
offered to negotiate. Iltutmish asked for an unconditional surrender and when refused
attacked the fort. Qabacha felt desperate, threw himself into the river Indus and was
drowned. Both Multan and Uch were occupied by Iltutmish. Thus, another strong enemy of the
Delhi Sultanate was finished by Iltutmish.
Investiture from the Caliph
Iltutmish requested the Khalifa (Caliph) of Baghdad to grant him the title of Sultan. The
request was accepted and emissaries from the Khalifa reached Delhi with a deed of investiture
for Iltutmish in 1229 A.D. This gave Iltutmish legal claim over the Delhi Sultanate. It also
helped him in making his rule hereditary which secured the succession of his children on the
throne.
Death of Iltutmish. In 1236 A.D., Iltutmish marched towards Baniyan which was ruled by
Saifuddin Hasan Qarligh, an officer of Jalal-ud-din Mangbami. Saifuddin had occupied the
territories between Ghazni and the river Indus. Iltutmish fell ill during the campaign and
returned to Delhi. There he died on 30 April 1236 A.D.
An Estimate
Iltutmish was a cultured and religious minded individual. He was a brave soldier, an
experienced commander and a capable administrator. He was also a shrewd, cautious and
farsighted statesman. He was the slave of a slave. Yet, by his own merit and efforts he became
the Sultan of Delhi.
Iltutmish introduced Persian customs and rules in his court. He patronized cultured people and
scholars. All scholars, members of ruling families and capable persons who fled from Central
Asia and other Islamic states because of the attacks of the Mongols were provided shelter at
the court of Iltutmish. The contemporary scholars Minhaj-us-Siraj and Taj-ud-din were at his
court and so were Nizamul-mulk-Muhammad Junaidi, Malik Qutb-ud-din, Hasan Ghuri and
Fakhrul-Mulk Isami each of whom distinguished himself in his respective field. The court of
Iltutmish had become as respectable as that of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni because of these
capable persons. Iltutmish made Delhi his capital and beautified it accordingly. Many minarets,
mosques, madarsas, Khanqas and tanks were built by him. The famous Qutb Minar was also
constructed or completed by him
Iltutmish was a religious minded person. Minhaj-us-Siraj, the author of Tabakata-i-Nasiri,
wrote about litutmish that there had been no ruler by then who had been so religious, kind
and respectful towards saints and scholars as Iltutmish had been. Iltutmish strictly observed all
rites of his religion and spent considerable time at night in prayer and contemplation. He
showed profound respect to sufi saints like Shaikh Qutb-ud-din Baktiyar Kaki (in whose honour,
according to Dr Iswari Prasad, he constructed Qutb Minar), Qazi Hamid-ud-din Nagauri, Shaikh
Jalaluddinin Tabrizi,Shaikh Baha-ud-din Zakariya and Shaikh Najib-ud-din Nakhshabi.
The Struggle for Power between Sultans and the Group of Forty Slaves (Turkan-i-
Chihalgani)
1236-1265 A.D.
Within ten years after the death of Sultan Iltutmish, four sultans of his dynasty were murdered
as goats of sacrifice and the fifth one ruled as a puppet in the hands of one of his slaves,
Balban who finally finished the rule of the dynasty of Iltutmish and himself occupied the
throne. Of course, the one cause of this dynastic change was certainly the incompetence of
the successors of Iltutmish among whom none except Raziyya deserved to be the Sultan of
Delhi. But, another primary cause of this change and the events which followed after the
death of Iltutmish was the growing ambition of the Turkish slaves of Iltutmish who tried to
take advantage of the weakness of Sultans and capture the sovereign power for themselves.
The power of Iltutmish primarily depended on the support of foreign Muslim nobles who were
divided into two groups, viz., the Turkish slaves (Turkan-i- Pak-Asla) and Taziqs (Tazkan-i-
Guzida- Vasla). The first ones were Turks while the other ones were not Turks but belonged to
respectable Muslim families who had risen to positions by their merit. The Turkish slave nobles
regarded themselves Khwaja Tash ,slaves of one master. They formed a brotherhood amongst
themselves and claimed equality with each other. They wielded good influence in
administration and shared amongst themselves the power of the state. They served Iltutmish
well but under his weak successors their ambition grew out of proportion. They became
makers and unmakers of the Sultan and, thereby, called themselves Sultani , nobles of that
Sultan whom they themselves had put on the throne. After the death of Iltutmish. they first
eliminated the Taziqs who could be their contenders for power and, then, tried to capture the
power of the Sultan as well. As each of them claimed equality with the other and, thus, each
was a rival to the other, none could succeed the throne till all were eliminated from the
contest except one. But, by then, they, as a group, tried to capture the power of the throne.
This resulted in the contest for sovereignty between the Sultan and his Turkish slave nobles.
The number of those nobles was not stable. It changed frequently. But, more or less, it
remained nearly forty. Therefore, their group was called Turkan-i-Chihalgani.
The history of thirty years of the Delhi Sultanate after the death of Iltutmish remained
primarily the history of conflict between the Sultan and this group of forty slave-nobles for the
sovereign power of the state. The success was gained by the nobles. Finally, one of them,
Balban succeeded in eliminating not only the dynasty of Iltutmish but also the rest of the
nobles and in capturing the throne for himself thereby establishing the rule of a new dynasty.

Rukn-Ud-Din Firoz Shah (1236 A.D.)
The eldest and the ablest son of Iltutmish had died in 1229 A.D. His next son, Firoz, was lazy,
pleasure-loving and irresponsible. Iltutmish, therefore, nominated his daughter Raziyya as his
successor and coins were struck on which the name of Raziyya was inscribed along with the
name of the Sultan. But; probably, during his illness before his death, he changed his mind
because of the opposition of certain nobles, brought Firoz to Delhi from Lahore and issued
coins bearing the name of Firoz along with his own name. It meant that before his death,
Iltutmish desired that instead of Raziyya, his son, Firoz should succeed him. However, it is not
quite certain whether Iltutmish desired that his daughter Raziyya should succeed him or his son
Firoz.
After the death of Iltutmish, Firoz succeeded the throne of Delhi. His mother, Shah Turkan,
was a clever and intriguer lady and could enlist the support of Wazir, Nizam-ul-Mulk
Muhammad Junaidi and the provincial governors who had gathered at Delhi after the campaign
in the north-west with Iltutmish. But, the reign of Firoz proved short-lived. The governors of
Multan, Hansi, Lahore and Badaun entered into an understanding against Firoz and marched
with their armies towards Delhi with a view to depose Firoz from the throne. Firoz proceeded
against them with his army. On the way, the larger part of his army revolted, killed non-
Turkish nobles and returned to Delhi. At the capital, Raziyya took advantage of Firozs
absence. She succeeded in getting support of the people of Delhi and also that of the nobles
and the soldiers who had left Firoz and returned to the capital. She declared herself Sultana in
Firozs absence. Shah Turkan was imprisoned and so was Firoz. Both were killed afterwards.
Thus ended the reign of Firoz within seven months after his succession.
The accession and deposition of Firoz brought out one point. He was placed on the throne with
the active support of the provincial governors and he was deposed from the throne because of
the revolt of governors against him and active support of the people and nobles at Delhi to
Raziyya. It meant that both Firoz and Raziyya ascended the throne with the support of the
noblesthe one with the support of provincial governors and the other with the support of the
nobles at Delhi. It further meant that both the nobles at the court and the provincial governors
desired to interfere and, in turn, succeeded in putting their respective candidates on the
throne. However, the provincial governors had not participated directly in raising Raziyya to
the throne which they desired. The real problem was that while the Turkish slaves of Iltutmish
accepted the right of his successors to be the Sultan of Delhi, yet they asserted the right to
choose the ruler.themselves. Raziyya refused to accept it and, therefore, her period of rule
was the period of constant struggle between the Sultana and her noble including provincial
governors.


SULTANA RAZIYYA (1236-1240 A.D.)
In one sense, the reign of Firoz can be accepted as that of struggle for power between the son
and the daughter of Iltutmish. Firoz had succeeded in becoming Sultan because he could
muster the support of provincial governors to his side' and, in turn, Raziyya succeeded in
deposing him because she could get the support of the nobles at the court to her side. But,
with the accession of Raziyya on the throne, the struggle for .power between the Sultana and
her Turkish slave- nobles became quite open. While Raziyya asserted her rights as Sultana and
decided to be the real ruler of her kingdom, the nobles and the provincial' governors desired
the right to choose the ruler and keep her or him dependent on themselves.
After her initial success against the governors, Raziyya tried to concentrate power in her own
hands and succeeded. Her primary aim was to make the Turkish slave-nobles subservient to
the throne. She made fresh appointments of the governors and redistributed the high offices of
the State. Khwaja Muhazzab-ud-din was appointed as vazir, Malik Izzudin Kabir Khan Ayaz was
assigned the lqta (province) of Lahore and after the death of Aibak Bahtu, the army was
placed under the charge of Malik Qutb-ud-din Hassan Ghuri. Two more important appointments
were made. Malik-i-Kabir Ikhtiyar-ud-din Aitigin was appointed as Amir-i-hajib and Ikhtiyar-ud-
din Altunia was appointed governor of Bhatinda. Both of them rose to eminence as loyal
officers of Raziyya but both largely participated in her downfall. One Abbysinian, Malik Jamal-
ud-din Yakut was appointed as amir-i-akhur. Some historians have charged Raziyya to be in
love with this officer but the story has been rejected by the majority of historians. Raziyya
succeeded in bringing about submission of all nobles. The rebel noble Tughan Khan also
accepted her suzerainty and, thus, she became the master of all the territories extending from
Uch in the west to Lakhnauti in the east. However, she failed to conquer Ranthambhor and
Gwalior.
Raziyya changed her personal behaviour in order to raise the power and prestige of throne. She
started dressing herself in male attire when attending the court, left purdah, went for hunting
and horse-riding and met the public without veil. Surely, she must have annoyed the orthodox
Muslim opinion by these actions but it was not the primary cause of dissatisfaction of the
people against her.
Raziyya also saved her kingdom from the invasion of the Mongols in the same diplomatic way as
was done by her father. In 1238 A.D., Malik Hasan Karlugh, the Kwazirizm subedar of Ghazni
and Banyana sought her help against the Mongols. Raziyya sympathised with him, offered him
the income of the territory of Baran but politely refused to give him military help which would
have created problems for her from the side of the Mongols.
However, from the third year of her reign, her problems arose seriously. The Turkish slave-
nobles could not tolerate her policy of concentration of power in her own hands. They started
conspiring against her with a view to depose her from the throne. The conspirators were led by
Amir-i-hajib, Ikhtiyar-ud-din, Malik Altunia, governor of Bhatinda and Kabir Khan, governor of
Lahore. But Raziyya was safe in Delhi as she commanded the loyalty of her subjects in Delhi
and therefore, a direct attack on Delhi could probably fail. Therefore, the conspirators
planned to take her away from Delhi. For that purpose, Kabir Khan revolted in Lahore in 1240
A.D. Raziyya marched against him so quickly that the supporters of Kabir Khan could not reach
to help him in time. Kabir Khan was defeated and he fled away. Raziyya pursued him and
forced him to surrender himself near the bank of the river Chenab because he could not dare
to cross the river due to the fear of the Mongols on the other side. But hardly ten days had
passed after her return to the capital when Raziyya received the message that Malik Altunia
had revolted at Bhatinda. Raziyya immediately marched against him and besieged the fort of
Bhatinda. There she was deceived by her Turkish nobles. They murdered Jamal-ud-din Yakut
and imprisoned Raziyya by surprise. Immediately, Bahrain, the third son of Iltutmish was raised
to the throne at Delhi. The leader of the conspirators, Aitigin, was appointed naib-i-mamlakat
and was expected to control the whole administration by virtue of his newly-created office.
But, Bahram became so much dissatisfied with his behaviour that he got him murdered within
a month or two.
Malik Altunia was dissatisfied with the distribution of high offices of the state. He got nothing
from the new Sultan and hoped for none after the murder of Aitigin. He married Raziyya which
seemed to be of advantage to both. While Raziyya expected to win back her freedom and the
throne, Malik Altunia saw in it an opportunity to enhance his status. Certain dissatisfied nobles
like Malik Qaraqash and Malik Salari also joined them. Altunia raised an army consisting of the
Khokhars, the Jats and the Rajputs. They proceeded towards Delhi but were defeated by the
organised army of Delhi and fled away. Raziyya and Altunia were deserted by their soldiers and
they were murdered by robbers near Kaithal on 13 October 1240 A.D.

Muizzudin Bahram Shah (1240-1242 A.D.)

Bahram Shah was raised to the throne by the nobles on the condition that he would hand over
all the powers of the state in the hands of his naib-i-mamlakat. First Aitigin was given this
post. But would the Sultan agree to this situation? Bahram Shah accepted the power of the
nobles but refused to compromise with his respect and privileges and therefore, he too was
deposed from the throne and the nobles succeeded in enhancing further their position in the
state.
Aitigin married one of the sisters of the Sultan, kept a naubat at the gate of his palace and
also an elephant which were the special prerogatives of the Sultan. Therefore, Bahram
felt,offended and got him murdered in his office itself.
The Turkish nobles were dissatisfied with the murder of Aitigin but the murders of Sunqar and
Taj-ud-din alarmed them. The Ulema were also dissatisfied with the Sultan. The vazir,
Muhazab-ud-din now decided to make use of their dissatisfaction in his own favour. In 1241
A.D., he got the right opportunity when the Mongols besieged Lahore. He himself went with
the army which was sent for the rescue of Lahore. In the way, he instigated the Turkish nobles
by convincing them that the Sultan had given secret orders to kill them all. This infuriated the
nobles who took an oath to depose the Sultan and returned to Delhi. Bahram Shah was
captured and killed in May 1242 A.D. One of the Turkish nobles, Malik Izz-ud-din Balban Kishlu
Khan, who had entered Delhi first, tried to make himself Sultan but as other nobles did not
agree to it, he gave up his claim. Ultimately, Ala-ud-din Masud, son of Firoz Shah was placed
on the throne..

Ala-Ud-Din Masud Shah (1242-1246 A.D.)

The accession of Masud Shah was a complete victory for the nobles. It was now clear that only
a puppet of the nobles could remain Sultan of Delhi. But, one more thing was clear that not a
single noble among the forty was powerful enough to raise himself to the throne. Their
mutual jealousy had restrained them to place anyone of them on the throne and therefore,
once more the throne was offered to one of the descendents of Iltutmish though, of course,
without power.
Masud Shah was offered the throne on the condition that he would delegate all the powers to
the forty' and remain the Sultan only in name. Primarily the period of Masud Shah marked the
rise of Balban as power behind the throne. The conflict between the Taziks and the Turkish
slave-nobles. on the one hand and the mutual jealousies of the slave-nobles on the other, gave
him the opportunity to build up his position. After building up his position, he conspired to
depose Masud Shah from the throne. In June, 1246 A.D., Masud Shah was deposed and Nasir-
ud-din Mahmud, a grandson of Iltutmish was placed on the throne. It could be done peacefully
which proved that the Sultan had totally lost his power and was not in a position to exhibit
even a show of resistance against the Turkish nobility.

Nasir-Ud-Din Mahmud Shah (1246-1265 A.D.)

Nasir-ud-din sat on the throne on 10 June 1246 A.D. and his accession marked the end of the
conflict between the Sultan and the Turkish slave-nobles. Nasir- ud-din never ruled. He
remained Sultan only in name and handed over power of the state to Turkish nobles and their
leader Balban.

Raihan as Vakildar (1253-1254 A.D.)
The growing prestige and power of Balban provoked the jealousy of certain other Turkish
nobles. They organised a group of their own including some Indian Muslim nobles under Raihan.
The Sultan felt that the Turkish nobles were in a much powerful position and, therefore, acted
on their advice. Raihan was first sent to Badaun and then to Bahraich where he died
afterwards. Balban was again appointed the Naib of the state. Thus, the first attempt of the
Indian Muslim nobles to capture the power of the state failed after a short period.

Balban again Naib (1254-1265 A.D.)

After the fall of Raihan Balban enjoyed undisputed power in the state till the end of the reign
of Nasir-ud-din. He further strengthened his position by assigning all important posts to his own
relatives or to nobles loyal to him. Thus, as naib, Balban succeeded only partially in
strengthening the Delhi Sultanate. But, he succeeded completely in making his position
supreme against other Turkish nobles. In 1265 A.D., Sultan Nasir-ud-din died suddenly.
Historian Isami has expressed the view that Balban murdered the Sultan by poisoning him.