Khalji Dynasty of Delhi Sultanate
The second and among the most prominent dynasties of the Delhi sultanate and that of India was the Khalji Dynasty. The development of the Indian subcontinent during the late 13th and early 14th centuries contributed to this dynasty. Growth of this dynasty is often referred to as the Khalji Revolution, which meant the overthrow of the Slave dynasty/Mamluk dynasty, and the establishment of the Khalji Dynasty. Further, the revolution was also referred to as the transfer of power from the pure Turk nobility to the Indo-Muslim nobility.
The Khalji dynasty is marked by some important rulers like Jalal-ud-din Khalji and Alauddin Khalji along with the market reforms introduced especially by Alauddin Khalji. The period also depicts several Mongol invasions and several of the important wars that were fought for the expansion of the Delhi Sultanate. This was the dynasty that assumes the credit for the expansion of the Delhi Sultanate to the Deccan region.
The origin of this dynasty can be seen as a combination of opportunity as well as the conspiracy that is said to have been formulated against the last successors of Balban.
The origin of the Khalji Dynasty
The Khaljis were in the position of minister or vassal under the Mumluk dynasty, who probably came to India during the Balban period and rose to an important position under the later Sultans. The founder of the Khalji dynasty was Jalal-ud-din Khalji. Jalal-ud-din was in service of Balban’s son – Bughra Khan. Under him, Jalal-ud-din rose as the commander of North-western India keeping Samana as the headquarters. Soon after the coronation of King Qaiqabad, Jalal-ud-din was called from Samana and appointed as ariz-i-mumalik and made the governor of Baran.
As Qaiqabad was paralysed, Malik Surkha and his associate Malik Kachhan decided to appoint the infant son of Qaiqabad, Kayumars as the Sultan. These two nobles even conspired against all the other rival nobles and planned their murder, including that of the Jalal-ud-din Khalji. But their conspiracy backfired, the rival ministers were killed, and Jalal-ud-din was made the regent of young sultan Kayumars. As Qaiqabad died, Kayumars was deposed by Alauddin and the throne was acquired.
Jalal-ud-din Khalji
Jalal-ud-din Khalji, the founder of the Khalji dynasty, was earlier the minister under the son of Balban, Bughra Khan in Samana. While he was gaining his name and fame in the Indian subcontinent, his presence started to worry the nobles of the state. He was well known for his military and leadership skills against the Mongols. As the coronation of King Qaiqabad occurred, Jalal-ud-din was called from Samana and appointed as ariz-i-mumalik and made the governor of Baran.
The conspiracy was set up by the nobles Malik Surkha and his associate Malik Kachhan and its information reached Jalal-ud-din through his nephew, Malik Ahmed Chap. Due to this information received in advance, he was able to backfire on the conspiracy and got all of his rivals killed with the help of his sons. Jalal-ud-din later declared himself as the regent to the young sultan Kayumars. But soon overthrew the throne after the death of Qaiqabad.
Jalal-ud-din ascended the throne in June 1290 and carried on the administration for about one year in Kilokri Palace near Delhi instead of moving to Balban’s palace, as he was not very popular at that time. After ascending the throne, he gave up on the policy of violence. He had declared himself incapable of tyranny and was a simple and kind-hearted king. In complete contrast to Balban he was a kind and warm-hearted king to the people too. Even during his Ranthambore campaign, he ordered the siege to be abandoned as he realised that this conquest may result in the loss of many Muslim lives.
He was an anti-Hindu ruler and is said to have tilted all the policies for the benefit of Muslims. He had appointed his relatives and associates to important offices. It was in his time and maybe because of his efforts that a new sect naming “New Muslims” emerged in India. In reality, these were the people that adopted Islam after being defeated by Jalal-ud-din in the Mongol invasion of around 1293-1294. The kindness of Jalauddin was often considered his weakness and that’s why conspiracies were built against him, but most of the time he peacefully handled them. The only exception was that of Sidi Maula, who was given brutal punishments.
In the end, he was murdered under a conspiracy plan by his nephew and son-in-law Alauddin Khalji. This is named as one of the most crucial murders in history.
Alauddin Khalji
The second and most powerful ruler of the Khalji Dynasty was Alauddin Khalji. He was an ambitious ruler and is often determined by his dream to conquer and subdue the whole world, like Alexander. Alauddin Khalji acquired the throne in 1296 by the murder of his uncle Jalal-ud-din Khalji and within 20 years of his reign, the Delhi Sultanate touched great heights. These were due to the developments like that expansionist policy of Alauddin that led to almost the entire Indian Subcontinent being subdued and further the administrative procedures reformed by him that led to market and trade development in the Delhi Sultanate. Though his image was enlarged as the highly immodest, anti-Hindu ruler at the same time, he is also appreciated by historians for his farsightedness and administrative, economic, and land reforms which were ahead of his time.
During his reign, initiating in 1296, he had made the plans for the acquisition of the entire subcontinent and his execution started with the Conquest of Gujarat in 1299, the Conquest of Ranthambore of 1301, and the Conquest of Mewar in 1303. Due to all of these conquests, he made Delhi Sultanate even more powerful and indestructible. During the Gujarat Conquest, Alauddin got a eunuch slave Malik Kafur who played a very important role in the later conquests. He gradually became the most important and influential person in the state. All of the Deccan and South Indian conquests of Alauddin were led by Malik Kafur and he is given credit for the success of the following acquisitions:
- Conquest of Devagiri, 1307
- Conquest of Warangal, 1310
- Conquest of Pandya Kingdom, 1311
- Conquest of Dwarasamudra, 1311
Further, regular Mongol invasions were also faced by Alauddin Khalji from the Northwestern side of the sub-continent. He proved to be successful by suppressing all the invasions with the help of his able ministers.
The immense success of Alauddin Khalji was attributed by himself to four of his Friends—Ulugh Khan, Zafar Khan, Nusrat Khan, and Alap Khan. Later Malik Kafur also entered the list.
Alauddin made many reforms in the field of land revenue. He became the first Sultan of Delhi to order the measurement of land, and then the share of the state was fixed. Strict and crucial steps were taken for safeguarding the peasants from corrupt revenue officials. Alauddin abolished the role of intermediaries or zamindars.
The reign of Alauddin ended in 1316, with poor health conditions. Soon after his death, within four years the Khalji dynasty saw a decline.
Alauddin’s Successors
After the death of Alauddin Khalji, all of his successors were not noted to be able rulers. Within four years, three accessions to the throne took place. This represented the political instability in the Delhi Sultanate leading to the rise of the new Dynasty.
- Shiabuddin Umar was named as the successor of the Sultan, by Malik Kafur. He accessed the throne with the name “Mubarak Shah Khalji”, but was a weak and incapable ruler, due to which rebellions broke out from all sides. His brother, Qutb ud din Mubarak Shah was appointed as his regent.
- Qutb ud din Mubarak Shah killed his brother and ascended the throne, winning over the loyalty of the Malik clan. He gave Ghazi Malik the position of army commander in Punjab. He was able to rule Delhi for about three years and then was assassinated by one of his nobles Khusrau Khan.
- Khusrau Khan was not able to rule Delhi for more than three months and was killed by Ghazi Malik. Upon becoming sultan, Ghazi Malik renamed himself Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq, becoming the first ruler of the Tughlaq dynasty.
In this way, Ghazi Malik became the person who benefitted from the political imbalance in the Delhi Sultanate, giving rise to the Tughlaq dynasty
Reasons for the decline of the Khalji dynasty
Alauddin Khalji established a very powerful and vast empire based on his military power but with his death and within four years the powerful Khalji Empire collapsed like a house of cards. This emerged as one of the most powerful dynasties of the Delhi dynasty, but there are some crucial reasons which led to the decline of the Khalji Dynasty despite having a strong administration. Some of the reasons are as follows:
- Unpopularity of the rulers: Khalji rulers were unpopular rulers among the masses. Along with being unpopular, Jalal-ud-din Khalji was not liked due to his partial policies, and warm-hearted governing skills. On the other side, Alauddin could not incur people’s favour due to his cruelty, oppressive nature, despotism, and anti-Hindu policy.
- Tyranny of Alauddin: Alauddin was a powerful ruler who established proper law and order in the country. He won many of the battles and expanded the Delhi Sultanate to a vast area. His introduced reforms were exceptional. The entire highly centralised administration and ignoring the Ulamas gave good results immediately but were not worth it in the long run. People of all classes were dissatisfied with the reforms of Alauddin. This dissatisfaction and opposition led to the end Khalji dynasty.
- Continuous invasion and plunders: The regular Mongol invasions and plunder in India were there even after they were defeated several times. The management of all these revolts was making the kingdom financially weak. As finance was the most important base of the Khaljis, instability led to the fall of the dynasty.
- Weak Successors: It was due to the weak successors that the Khalji dynasty declined within four years of the death of Alauddin Khalji. Within this time the Delhi Sultanate witnessed the rise of Malik Kafur to power, Mubarak Shah to power, and Khusrau Shah, from whom the empire was snatched by Ghazi Malik of the Tughlaq dynasty.
- Decline of Military: Alauddin had built a strong military, removed the defects of the old army, and established outstanding leadership. But such a powerful army could not be well maintained by his successors. The permanent army was abolished by these rulers, and they had to depend on the forces of the provincial governors.
- Opposition of Hindus: Alauddin adopted an anti-Hindu policy. He confiscated their property and wealth, enhanced taxation, and took away their privileges. Thus, the Sultan crippled the Hindus from economic, political, social, and religious points of view. The opposition of Hindus weakened the Khalji Empire, and it was ultimately swept away.
- Internal revolts: The Khalji dynasty begins and ends with murders itself. Jalal-ud-din Khalji founded the Khalji dynasty with the murder of Kaiqubad and was later murdered by his nephew and son-in-law, Alauddin Khalji. Mubarak Shah killed his brother to secure the throne but was ultimately murdered by his favourite, Khusrau Shah. The foundation of the Khalji dynasty itself was led by murders and conspiracies.
New Economic Policies
The new economic policies of Alauddin Khalji are some of the most important contributions of the empire as they were too advanced for that period. This is a point to be noted by the readers.
For proper management of the army, filling the treasures, and funding the wars of expansion, Alauddin Khalji increased the taxes by 30-40 %. But this was payable in either cash or kind. He eliminated the zamindari system and raised the income of the revenue officers to reduce corruption in the Sultanate. Alauddin Khalji enforced four taxes on non-Muslims in the Sultanate - jizya (poll tax), kharaj (land tax), Kari (house tax), and chari (pasture tax).
Alauddin Khalji's taxation methods and increased taxes reduced agricultural output and the Sultanate witnessed massive inflation. Keeping in notice all these, the new market regulations were also set up by Alauddin and several rules and regulations for the mandis were established along with the special officers to govern them.
