Alauddin Khalji's raid on Bhilsa
The establishment of the Khalji dynasty in the Delhi Sultanate took place in 1290. It was when Jalal-ud-din Khalji, the regent to prince Kayumars who took over the authority of the kingdom, deposing Kayumars after the death of his father Sultan Qaiqabad. He ascended the throne in June 1290, in an under-construction palace of Kilokhari.
After the accession, he was not popular and continuously had the fear of losing the throne to the Old Turkic nobles that were prominent in the time of the Mumluk dynasty. Keeping all these factors in mind, he decided not to make any big and prominent changes in the administrative system and to retain Turkic nobles in the offices they previously held, so that no rebel tendency developed. One step he took for establishing and safeguarding his authority to the throne was to allot all of the important posts and departments to either his relatives or to people he trusted.
His brother Yaghrash Khan (Alauddin’s father) was appointed as the head of the army. He gave several titles to his sons i.e., Khan-i-khan to the eldest one and Arkali Khan and Qadr Khan to the other ones. He also appointed his nephews Ali Gurshasp (Alauddin Khalji) as Amir-i-Tuzuk (Master of ceremonies) and Almas Beg (Ulugh Khan) as the Akhur-beg (master of horses).
Ali Gurshasp (Alauddin Khalji) was among the most trusted and capable generals of Jalal-ud-din Khalji and also married his daughter. Alauddin proved his capability while crushing the revolt led by Malik Chajju, the governor of Kara. Eventually, Alauddin was appointed as the Governor of Kara, from where he decided on the expedition of Bhilsa.
Reasons behind the expedition
Alauddin Khalji was a very far-sighted person and had plans of being the Sultan of the Delhi Sultanate. Further, he was influenced by the view of the followers of Malik Chajju who considered Jalal-ud-din a weak and incompetent ruler and prompted Alauddin to dethrone him. The supporters of Malik Chajju further emphasised that they needed to be financially strong along with a lot of resources if they needed to dethrone the Sultan.
So, if Alauddin needed to acquire the throne, finances were required. To gain financial stability and to dethrone the Sultan, Alauddin made the plan for attacking the powerful Hindu kingdoms which included the raid on Bhilsa and the raid on Devagiri.
He raided Bhilsa in 1292 CE and gathered large amounts of wealth, loot, and plunder.
Attack on Bhilsa
Bhilsa was one of the most prosperous cities in India and the Parmara kingdom of Malwa. This was located in the region around modern-day Bhopal. Alauddin got the clear opportunity to attack Bhilsa as the Paramara kingdom was losing its grip on its territory due to continuous attacks from the side of Chahamana, Vaghela, and Yadava. The fact to be noted here is that all of these competitors to the Paraman kingdom were to be eventually attacked by Alauddin Khalji. In this invasion particularly, he took the permission of the Sultan and marched towards Bhilsa in 1292-93.
This sudden march on Bhilsa was a big surprise and shock to the people of Bhilsa and the Parmara kingdom. The town was very prosperous and had several Hindu temples that were there with a large amount of wealth in the form of gold and precious stones. From there, all that Alauddin obtained were gold, precious stones, and cattle. Alauddin and his army plundered the city, temples, and people. The masses and residents of Bhilsa, to save their idols of the temples from Alauddin hid them in the riverbed of the river Betwa, but were not able to stop Alauddin from getting them out and destroying them.
Several temples were damaged and plundered by him and resulted in him amassing an immense amount of wealth. It is said that Alauddin also brought some of the large Hindu idols and placed them at the Badaun gate, to be crushed by the masses.
The new fact Alauddin came to know at Bhilsa was about the prosperity of Yadavas of Devagiri and the routes to Devagiri. The Kingdom of Devagiri was said to be about ten times more prosperous than that of Bhilsa. All this information gave Alauddin a plan and a better strategy for his step of dethroning his uncle and becoming the new Sultan. He decided to surrender all the loot that he gathered from Bhilsa to Jalal-ud-din Khalji to gain his confidence and started planning for another attack on Devagiri.
Alauddin was successful in getting enough confidence from Jalal-ud-din that the latter could rely upon the former. Impressed Jalal-ud-din also granted the fief of Awadh to Alauddin, making him the Governor due to his actions. Alauddin also got his request sanctioned for getting the revenue surplus for hiring additional troops.
This raid on the Hindu city of Bhilsa led to an important contribution to the annexation of the throne by Alauddin. As it was only after this, that Alauddin gained Sultan's confidence and planned a raid on Devagiri for the dethroning of the Sultan.
Aftermath
Due to the raid on Bhilsa and the new governorship of Awadh, Alauddin was in a very powerful position. Taking advantage of his powerful position, he planned to wage an attack on the Yadava kingdom Devagiri. The Sultan was not informed of the attack on Devagiri, and to Yadavas of Devagiri the attack seemed to be a shock. They were not in a position to war with the powerful army of Alauddin. Seeking a solution, the miserable Ramachandra pleaded with Alauddin for the treaty and as Alauddin wanted to return to Kara quickly, he agreed to the treaty. Alauddin in return demanded a huge war indemnity. The wealth obtained by Alauddin included:
- 600 Mann of gold
- 1,000 Mann of silver
- 7 Mann of pearls
- 2 Mann of precious stones including rubies, sapphires, diamonds, and emeralds
- 4,000 pieces of silk and other items
Using all these resources, Alauddin made his plan of accession to the throne successful.
