Alauddin Khalji’s Conquest of Gujarat
The period is 1299. It has been three years since Alauddin Khalji ascended the throne and this period of three years was not a period of peace in the Delhi Sultanate. The Mongol invasion started at the end of 1296 AD.
The first Mongol invasion took place in 1296 and the second one in 1297. Victory was sought in both battles impressively and complete credit for these achievements was given to “Zafar khan”. Despite all this ruckus, Allauddin, after the first Mongol invasion, was preparing for the conquest of Gujarat. Two of the ablest generals and friends of Allauddin were preparing and were ready by 1299 for the attack on Gujarat. These were – Ulugh Khan and Nusrat Khan. The Gujarat conquest was considered the second and among the most important steps toward Allauddin’s ambition.
Why Gujarat
The first question that may come to mind is WHY GUJARAT? Why were the eyes of the ruler of the Delhi sultanate on the kingdom of Gujarat? There are different views regarding this.
Allauddin was strongly an anti-Hindu ruler and Gujarat was among the most important places of Hindu worship. In this reference, a Persian historian Wassaf mentions that Alauddin invaded Gujarat because “the vein of the zeal of religion beat high for the subjection of infidelity and destruction of idols.”
Further, other factors may include the geographic location of Gujarat. Gujarat’s geographical location helped it in becoming one of the wealthiest regions of India. The fertility in the soil and the connectivity to the Indian Ocean provided immense growth for Gujarat through great trade opportunities. Also, a large number of Muslim merchants were residing in the port cities of Gujarat. So, the acquisition of Gujarat could provide both wealth and connectivity to the Allauddin Khalji’s Delhi Sultanate.
Gujarat was at that time ruled by the Vaghela king Karnadeva. Many of the historical records talk about the minister of Karna Deva – Madhava, who betrayed him and urged Allauddin Khalji to invade Gujarat as revenge for injustice against Madhava. This may explain the why Allauddin could easily invade Gujarat.
Historically, Gujarat was occasionally conquered but always remained unsubdued due to one or the other reason.
The invasion
The invasion of Gujarat was carried out by Ulugh Khan and Nusrat Khan in a highly strategic manner. The army was divided into two sections. One section of the army started the march directly from Delhi, led by Nusrat khan, while the other section led by Ulugh khan marched from Sindh, capturing the region of Jaisalmer on the way. Both of these sections met near Chittor and marched together towards Gujarat from Mewar.
The sudden invasion from Delhi was a huge surprise to king Karnadeva. Allauddin’s army captured the entirety of Gujarat in a short period. This is an indication of the incapable military and administrative system. The army of Ulugh Khan defeated the entire army of Karandev at Asapalli (present-day Ahmedabad). The beautiful queen of Karandev was captured by the army and taken to Delhi, where she became the favourite queen to Allauddin. Karandeva along with his daughter, Deval Devi sought refuge with King Chandra deva of Devagiri, even though this was not considered a very good step from both sides – refuge and refugee.
Plunder and destruction
On the third day of the invasion, the army reached the capital and the most prosperous city, Anahilavada,. The city was full of valuable commodities, precious metals, and treasures which were looted in the invasion along with the seizure of seven elephants. This was the time when an immense amount of destruction was done by the army under the leadership of Ulugh Khan and Nusrat Khan. Hundreds of towns were looted and destroyed along with several temples, monasteries, and palaces. Barani’s record tells us that the soldiers even dug out the treasures hidden by people underground.
Along with capturing all the wives of the king and obtaining a large amount of wealth, a eunuch slave Malik Kafur was also captured. Malik Kafur has a great significance in the life of Alauddin Khalji and the Khalji Empire. He later became the general in all the Deccan acquisitions of the Sultan.
The destruction of the Somnath temple was also seen by a section of the army. This temple was the same one that had earlier been destroyed by Mahmud of Ghazni but had been rebuilt. After the suppression of defenders, the temple was demolished and was tilted towards the direction of Kabba. The temple was also looted, and the main idol was carried to Delhi. The idol was a fine piece of art embedded with a golden crown and jewels, but after looting the jewels, the Muslim soldiers decided to destroy the idol. It is said that Hindus offered thousands of gold coins in return for the idol, but their demand was rejected by the soldiers who broke the idol into fragments. The entrance of the Jama Masjid is said to be paved out of those fragments.
The face of the unexpected
This successful conquest of Gujarat ended with an unexpected twist which brought a question to Allauddin’s justice system. After the plunder, when the army paused near Jalore on its way to Delhi, the generals ordered the soldiers to pay “Khums” i.e., one-fifth of a share of their loot. The reason was that many soldiers had managed to get their own loot. Some of the soldiers tried to hide the true amount of wealth looted by them, but were harshly punished by the generals.
As a result of this harsh punishment, a section of soldiers rose to rebellion against the generals. The mutiny began with the murder of Malik Aizuddin, the brother of Nusrat Khan and the secretary of Ulugh Khan. Ulugh Khan was attacked the next day by about 2000-3000 rebels, who managed to escape to Nusrat Khan’s tent. But attackers murdered the son of Alauddin's sister, after mistaking him for Ulugh Khan. In Nusrat Khan’s tent drums were beaten for assembling the soldiers. The loyal soldiers reached there and forced the rebels to retreat. The mutiny was suppressed within four days.
When Allauddin came to know about the mutiny and loss, he ordered the arrest of the wives and children of the mutineers in Delhi. Nusrat Khan, burning in the fire of revenge for his brother, punished the families of mutineers as brutally as he could. The children were cut into pieces in front of their mothers, who were raped, humiliated, and forced into prostitution.
It is on this point that the chronicle Barani in his book mentions that “no religion allowed such acts.”
The most important seizure – of Malik Kafur
Malik Kafur, the eunuch slave captured by Nusrat Khan during the invasion and plunder, later became a prominent general of Alauddin Khalji. Being the commander of the Sultan and acting out of loyalty to the Sultan, he defeated the Mongol invasion in 1306 and led a series of attacks in the Deccan. He led forces against the Yadavas (1308), the Kakatiyas (1310), the Hoysalas (1311), and the Pandyas (1311). He was also the person responsible for the re-conquest of Devagiri and was later made governor of Devagiri.
1304 invasion:
Allauddin captured the Ranthambore fort in 1301 and handed over its administration to Shahin Khan. Much to Allauddin’s shock, after some time Shahin Khan fled the fort out of fear of Karnadeva, who had regained power at least in some parts of Gujarat. This time Karnadeva had the support of neo-Muslims (converted Mongols).
A large Delhi army led by Malik Ahmad Jhitam and Panchami had been sent to conquer Gujarat. Karnadeva, this time tried to seek refuge in the Yadava kingdom but failed to get it. He then moved on to the Kakatiya kingdom, where he got asylum. Malik Jhitam, after this successful conquest, returned to Delhi with the daughter of Karnadeva- Devala Devi. Now, Gujarat was given in the form of iqta to Allauddin’s brother-in-law Alp Khan, who came from Multan and became the governor of Gujarat.
In 1304, a second invasion by Alauddin's forces permanently ended the Vaghela dynasty and resulted in the annexation of Gujarat to the Delhi Sultanate.
