Cause of the Downfall of Raziya Sultana

Cause of the Downfall of Raziya Sultana

Raziya Sultana

Raziya Sultana was a successful ruler endowed with many qualities of head and heart. Under the contemporary circumstances her nomination to the office of Sultan was quite just and appropriate. Dr. R.P. Tripathi remarks. “Considering the time, in the general outlook of Muslim people, chiefly of the military and religious classes, the selection of Raziya was unique and most daring.”

But, unfortunately, she could not face her problems successfully. She failed in suppressing her opponents nor could she perform the work of administration very capably. The following reasons and circumstances contributed to her downfall.

Opposition of Turkish Nobles

The chief reason of the downfall of the Raziya was the opposition of the Turkish slaves of Iltutmish. He had organized this group in order to strengthen the kingdom but after his death its members became king-maker and they enthroned Ruknuddin in place of Raziya violating the will of their master as they were not prepared to bow down before a woman. When Raziya ascended the throne they wished her to dance to their tune but she was not prepared to be a puppet in the hands of slave officers. She rather started to oppress them. The slave officers could not tolerate her behavior and began to hatch conspiracy against her which ultimately resulted in her downfall.

Her Sex

The greatest weakness of Raziya was her sex. Lanepoole writes, “Sultan Raziya was a great monarch, wise, just, generous, benefactor to her realm, a dispenser of equity, the protector of her people, leader of her army. She had all kingly qualities except sex.”

Raziya was a woman of progressive ideas. She cast off her female attire and gave up Pardah. It was not approved by the staunch Muslims. They began to condemn and criticize her for it and she being a woman could not face their criticism. It ultimately led to her downfall.

Her Favour to Jamaluddin Yakut

Rumours were set afloat, casting aspersions on her character. One such rumour was about her romance with her Amir-i-Akhur, Jamuluddin Yakut. In fact, Raziya Sultan had great regard for Jamaluddin Yakut who was an Abyssinian slave. Ibn Batuta writes that her state policy by which she wanted to crush the monopoly of the Turkish nobles but some of her critics remarked that she had actually fallen in love with Yakut. Minhaj-us-Siraj states that considerable familiarity existed between them so much so that when she rode, he always lifted her on the horse by raising her up under the arms. Thus the only weakness that made her downfall inevitable was her sex and even the best of her talents and virtues were insufficient to protect her from the single weakness.

Family Discord

The brother of Raziya and other members of her family were not cooperative. First of all, Rukunddin Firoz violating the will of his father and the claim of her sister was enthroned by the powerful forty slaves. Later, when Raziya began to show signs of power, they plotted against her and made her another brother Bahram Shah sit on the throne. Thus on both the occasion, his brothers proved her enemies. Thus the family discord proved helpful in her downfall.

Other Reasons

Besides the above reasons, the arbitrary tendency of high officers, the weakness of the central government and non-cooperation of the public, especially of religious class, also contributed to the downfall of Raziya. Although it was blamed on her that she failed because of her sex but it is also not true, as she never showed any sign of feminine weakness, rather she was a symbol of power, courage and confidence. Dr. A.L. Srivastava has remarked about her, “Raziya was the first and last ruler of Iltutmish’s dynasty to dominate the politics of the Sultanate of Delhi by the sheer force of her ability and character.”

Professor K.A. Nizami writes, “That she was the ablest of the successors of Iltutmish can hardly be denied.” Dr. A.L. Srivastava has praised her in these world, “other members of the dynasty of Iltutmish, both before and after her, were much weaker in personality and character.” She was nominated the successor of her worthy father because of her qualities of head and heart. She got the support of the people of Delhi due to her ability and capability.  Had she got the opportunity of ruling peacefully, she would have proved to be a very illustrious ruler like her father Iltutmish.

Her sex was the greatest hindrance in her way of success. Being a woman, she could not keep close contacts with the conspirators nor could she punish the rumour mongers. Had she not been born as a woman, she would have proved a very powerful and successful ruler.

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Milan Tomic

Hi. I’m Designer of Blog Magic. I’m CEO/Founder of ThemeXpose. I’m Creative Art Director, Web Designer, UI/UX Designer, Interaction Designer, Industrial Designer, Web Developer, Business Enthusiast, StartUp Enthusiast, Speaker, Writer and Photographer. Inspired to make things looks better.

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