Alauddin Khalji
Alauddin Khalji
|
Sultan of Delhi in
Khalji Dynasty
Reign – A.D. 1296 to
1316
Father –Shihabuddin Masud
Alauddin Khalji was born
in A.D. 1266. His early name was Ali Gurshap. His father, Shihabuddin Masud,
was the brother of sultan Jalaluddin Firoz Khalji. Alauddin Khalji was brought
up by his uncle Jalaluddin due to untimely and sudden death of Shihabuddin.
Alauddin did not
received proper education. He grew up to be great warrior. He was married to
one of the daughters of sultan Jalaluddin Khalji. The title of Amir-i-Tuzuk,
(Master of Ceremonies) was bestowed on him by the Sultan. He took active part
in suppression of the revolt of Malik Chhajju.
The family life
of Alauddin was unhappy and he was fed up with the ironical remarks of his
wife, the daughter of the Sultan, and his mother-in-law, Malika-i-Jahan. Both
of them wanted to establish their sway over Alauddin.
Alauddin’s
successful campaign against Deogiri made up for this deficiency and a
conspiracy was hatched to get the throne of Delhi. As luck would have it, his
chicken-hearted uncle, the Sultan of Delhi, became an easy prey of his
treacherous design due to his greed for gold. The old Sultan proceeded to Kara
to congratulate his victorious nephew and to collect the huge booty which he
brought from Deogiri. Alauddin Khalji got him killed by a conspiracy on 19th
July A.D. 1296 and declared himself the Sultan of Delhi on 20th
July.
He found the
throne of Delhi a bed of thorns. The nobles, governors and citizens of the
Sultanate hated him as he was enthroned after bloody assassination.
Historians are
not unanimous about the achievements, success, works and policies of Alauddin
Khalji but there is no denying the fact that he was one of the best Sultans of
Delhi Sultanate. Elphinstone remarks, “Alauddin’s reign was glorious and in
spite of many absurd and oppressive measures he was, on the whole, a successful
monarch, and exhibited a just exercise of his power.” Barani has also
commented, “Alauddin Khalji could not read or write a letter, and was
bad-tempered, obstinate and hard-hearted.”
Dr. Ishwari
Prasad has written, “The reign of Alauddin Khalji represents the highest
watermark of Mohammadan despotism.” As a
man he had no love for anybody nor did he observe morality at all. He was
faithless to his wife and cruel to his
children. He assassinated his uncle and benefactor, Sulatn Jalaluddin Khaljiand blinded his sons in order to capture the throne. He killed the Jalali
nobles and Ranmal after the achievement of his target.
He adopted a
cruel and stern manner to establish his authority and awarded severe
punishments to his opponents and rebels in order to created terror among them.
It is accepted by
all the scholars that he was a brave soldier and a successful commander. His
ambition, his firmness and his courage deserve all praise. He was the first
ruler of Delhi who organized a permanent army and extended his foot beyond the
Vindhya region. In the medieval period for the first time in his reign, Political
unity of India was established similar to the reign of Chandra Gupta Maurya,
Ashoka, Samudra Gupta and Chandra Gupta Vikramaditya in ancient India.
Besides being a
successful victor he was also an effective administrator. He uprooted corruption from every department
and removed their defects. He introduced total change in the revenue department
and got the land measured.
Alauddin Khalji
was the first Turk ruler who separated politics from religion and dared reject
the authority of powerful Ulemas and forced them to work on his commands. Dr.
Ishwari Prasad has aptly remarked that he did not want to become a tool in the
hands of the orthodox Muslims.
Sultan Alauddin
Khalji introduced various reforms in the army setup of Delhi sultanate. He
organized a large and powerful army. He
removed all the deficiencies in the army by introducing Dag, Huliya,
distribution of cash salaries and abolishing the Jagirdari system.
He reorganized
the spy system and strengthened it. Police department was also organized by
him. He introduced several social reforms in order to improve morality of the
people. He declared drinking and gambling a crime. He also punished the saints and medicants who
cheated the people. A person found guilty of rape was given capital punishment.
Thus by stern laws, he tried to reform the society.
Besides this the
Sultan crushed the revolts and established law and order in the society. By
crushing the Mongol invasions he saved the infant Muslim empire from external
invasions.
Alauddin Khalji
was an ambitious ruler but he was very intelligent. In the beginning he was
interested in gaining victory over the entire world and he assumed the title of
Sikandar Sani, but later on, when he gave up this idea and realized the real
position, he did not even incorporate the Deccan States into Delhi sultanate
and only contented himself after extracting booty and annual tribute from them.
Really, he was an efficient judge of circumstances.
Alathogh Alauddin
Khalji was an illiterate Sultan, he patronized several artists and men of
letters. He always paid his regards to Sheikh Nazamuddin Auliya and Muhammad
Shamsuddin Turk. Amir Khusrau and Amir Hasan of Delhi were unique gems of his
court. He was a lover of architecture and constructed the fort of Siri and some
other buildings, such as, palace of one thousand pillars, mosques and sarais.
Alai Darwaja was his finest achievement.
Besides the
virtues mentioned above, he had certain faults too, his personal life was
corrupt and his family life was sad. He was selfish and never realized his
responsibility towards his children. His anti-Hindu policies proved fatal for
the Sultanate but in all he was a successful ruler and historians have praised
him. Dr. S. Roy has observed, “Alauddin Khalji was the first Muslim
administrator of India. The history of Muslim empire and Muslim administration
in India really begins with him.”
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