Jalal-ud-din Khalji –The founder of the Khalji dynasty
The 13th century CE can be marked as the century that gave rise to some of the greatest kings of India. Some of the great kings and leaders of India like Iltutmish, Razia Sultan, Balban, Jalal-ud-din Khalji, and Alauddin Khalji saw their rise in this century.
The political imbalance in India and in the Delhi Sultanate that rose after the death of Balban was seen as an opportunity for Firuz-Al-Din Khalji to rise to power and Khalji dynasty’s foot in the door. He started as an officer under Balban of the Mamluk dynasty and rose to heights during the reign of Sultan Muizzuddin Qaiqabad. He was viewed as a very powerful noble and was highlighted among the other nobles in such a manner that after the paralysis of Sultan Muizzuddin Qaiqabad, when his infant son Shamsuddin Kayumars was on the throne, all the nobles led the conspiracy to kill Jalal-ud-din.
The fact that he managed to dodge the attack and instead had his rivals killed, can be viewed as the ability and power of Jalal-ud-din, who then became the regent to the young king. After some time, Jalal-ud-din ascended the throne by the name of Jalal-ud-din Khalji due to the death of Kayumars.
He ascended the throne of Delhi in June 1290, at the age of 70 years. He gave up the policy of aggression and followed the policy of peace toward all. He was very successful in retaliating to the Mongol invasion of 1293. Though his span of kingship was short, it is said that he ruled over his subjects as a father in a family. He had declared himself incapable of tyranny and was a simple and kind-hearted king. It is believed that these qualities ultimately became the reason for his death.
Who was Jalal-ud-din Khalji?
Jalal-ud-din Khalji joined the service of the Delhi Sultanate under King Balban and probably gained the prominence in service of the son of Balban – Bughra Khan. This may have been during the governorship of Bughra khan in Samana. Under him, Jalal-ud-din rose as the commander of North-western India keeping Samana as the headquarters. Then, he was called by the name “Malik Firuz”.
He rose to the position of sar-i-jandar (chief of the royal bodyguards), and later was further appointed as governor of Samana. There he showed his military and strategic capability by combating the Mongol invasions. This was the period when the name of Jalal was reaching the ears of all the higher authorities, nobles, and even neighbouring kingdoms.
Balban died in 1287, and his grandson Muiz ud din Qaiqabad was put to the throne of the Delhi Sultanate by Fakhruddin. Qaiqabad was still a teenager and was considered a weak ruler, therefore the entire administration and all the important offices were managed by his officer Malik Nizamuddin. Soon Nizamuddin was poisoned, likely by the other rival officers or nobles. As Nizamuddin died, Jalal-ud-din was soon called from Samana and appointed as ariz-i-mumalik and made the governor of Baran. Soon after, the health of Qaiqabad deteriorated and he was paralysed, allowing the rivals to rise. This time Jalal-ud-din was among those who supported the royal family on the throne.
The conspiracy and backfire
Qaiqabad’s health deteriorated, and he was paralyzed. Two of the nobles of the Delhi Sultanate - 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.
Jalal-ud-din at this time was not in Delhi, he was in Bhugal Pahari to inspect the royal army. His nephew Malik Ahmad Chap, who was also holding an office of honour in the Delhi Sultanate informed him about the conspiracy and warned him to be cautious. Soon after getting the news, Jalal-ud-din moved his quarters to Ghiyaspur and called all of his relatives along with those officers and nobles against whom the conspiracy was being raised. This entire summon was given as the reason for the preparation for the upcoming Mongol invasion.
As a part of the conspiracy, Jalal-ud-din was summoned to Delhi royal court on an urgent basis. This was clearly a part of the plot to kill him. He declined the order on the excuse of inspecting the army at Kannauj. Kachhan, the associate himself reached Kannauj asking Jala-ud-din that his presence was required in Delhi immediately. Pretending not knowing anything about the conspiracy, Jalal-ud-din welcomed Kachhan with honour and requested him to rest for some time while he completed the inspection. Giving an official raise to the war between the two sections, Jala-ud-din got Kachhan executed and threw his body into the river Yamuna.
Jalal-ud-din’s sons marched to Delhi, entered the royal palace, and captured the young Sultan Kayumars. They brought him to the camp of Jalal-ud-din. Malik Surkha, his associate, and many of the other nobles tried to stop them but were captured and killed by the sons of Jalal-ud-din. The people of Delhi too were stopped from retrieving the Sultan by the kotwal Fakhruddin, as his sons were abducted by the men of Jalal-ud-din.
The conspiracy backfired, all the rivals were killed, and the throne of Delhi was now safe with Kayumars being acknowledged as the sultan of Delhi. He became the governor of Bhatinda, Dipalpur, and Multan provinces. However, the place of the regency of the young Sultan was still vacant and for this Jalal-ud-din offered the regency to Balban's nephews Malik Chajju and Fakhruddin but they both rejected the offer leaving Jalal-ud-din no option but to take the regency of the young king himself.
Qaiqabad died on 1st Feb 1290. The cause of death is unclear. He may have died of starvation and neglect, or maybe by the order of Jalal-ud-din. After a few months, Kayumars was also deposed by Jalal-ud-din.
The reign of Jalal-ud-din
Jalal-ud-din ascended the throne in June 1290, but he did not immediately move to the Balban’s Palace in Delhi for the management of administration but instead stayed in Kilokri Palace near Delhi. The reason predicted for this is his unpopularity among the masses. Therefore, he ruled from Kilokri Palace for one year and during that time the construction of the palace was completed and Kilokhri was established as an important region. After becoming the king, he gave up the policy of aggression and followed the policy of peace toward all. He was against making any radical changes in administration and also kept the nobles of the time of Balban in office. Fakhruddin was reappointed as the kotwal of Delhi, Khwaja Khatir was made the wazir, and Balban's nephew Malik Chajju was made the governor of Kara-Manikpur. At the same time, he kept all of his relatives at high administrative positions. He appointed his brother Yaghrash Khan as the head of the army ministry (ariz-i-mamalik) and his nephew Ahmad Chap as naib-i barbek. He also gave his nephews Ali Gurshasp (later Sultan Alauddin) and Almas Beg (Ulugh Khan) important positions that later helped them to the throne themselves.
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 as well. Even when he reached the royal palace of Delhi, he refused to sit on the king’s seat, arguing that the throne was forced upon him.
The two important revolts faced by Jalal-ud-din Khalji
Malik Chajju’s revolt:
The first major revolt that Jalal-ud-din faced was by the side of Balban's nephew Malik Chajju Kashli Khan, who was now the head of the royal family and the governor of Kara. His being as the governor of Kara was seen as a topographic strategy from where he could later gain the support of his cousin, ruler of Bengal Bughra Khan.
Chajju declared himself Sultan Mughisuddin and declared independence. He further issued coins by his name and had the khutba read in his name. Some of the nobles like Awadh supported him along with some of the Hindu rulers of the Gangetic plain. At this time, he was confident enough that he had gathered enough support, more than that of Jalal-ud-din as Jalal-ud-din was till now able to gain the support of the old nobles of Delhi. Hence, Chajju decided to march to Delhi along with his supporters.
Jalal-ud-din appointed his eldest son as the Delhi in-charge and led his army towards Badaun, the then location of Chajju. A vanguard army, led by the other son of Jalal-ud-din, Arkali Khan was moving ahead of the main army and spotted Chajju’s army on the other side of the Ramganga River. As Chajju’s army had seized all the boats, it was decided by Arkali Khan to raid Chajju’s camps at night on rafts and skiffs. The raid led the army to desert the camps and move northwards. Arkali’s army plundered the camps and then moved behind the rival army. He engaged in a great battle with Chajju’s army on the Ramganga river crossing. On the other side of the river Ganga, Jalal-ud-din was engaged in battle with other supporters of Chajju.
Chajju got the information that Jalal-ud-din’s army was about to attack his camp from the rear. So, he along with some followers escaped the camp secretly. The next day, the entire army of Chajju was easily defeated by the army of Arkali Khan. Chajju’s supporters were either killed or captured and taken to Delhi, and the rest of Chajju’s army surrendered. Chajju tried to take refuge in a village, but the village headman handed him over to Jalal-ud-din. Finally, the combined army of Delhi attacked and punished all the chiefs and rebels who supported Chajju. The Hindu rebels were executed, and the Muslim rebels of Indian origin were sold as slaves.
Muslim rebels were treated kindly, and no mistreatment was allowed to the rebel nobles. Malik Chajju too was treated kindly and was sent to honourable detention at Multan instead of being executed; his associates were released. Such leniency of the Sultan was objected to by Ahmad Chhap, but the sultan declared that he was not habitual of killing Muslims and released nobles who would be loyal to him.
Siege on Ranthambore:
The expansionist policy of Chahamanas of Ranthambore had threatened the Delhi Sultanate borders, especially that of the Rewari and Ajmer regions. Such a policy of Chahamanas led to the influence of Jalal-ud-din for the invasion of the kingdom of Ranthambore.
The siege of Ranthambore began with the siege of Mandawar, which was once the part of Delhi Sultanate but was lost to Chahamanas a few years back. In 1292, Jalal-ud-din recaptured Mandawar. Unfortunately, on the eve of the Mandawar campaign, Jalal-ud-din’s eldest son Khan-i Khana died.
Another step in the siege of Ranthambore was the siege of Jhain. This was the war in which heavy bloodshed by the Chahamana army took place. The Delhi army had besieged the Jhain fort. A Chahamana army led by Gardan Saini came out of the fort and engaged in the war, ending with the death of Gardan Saini and the victory of Delhi.
Now, Jalal-ud-din ordered his army to besiege the Ranthambore Fort and ordered the construction of the siege engines. However, in the middle of construction he ordered the siege to be abandoned. He realised that this conquest may result in the loss of a lot of Muslim lives. Jalal-ud-din declared he would not risk the hair of a single Muslim for "ten such forts".
Conspiracies against Jalal-ud-din
Conspiracy of Tajuddin Kuchi
Due to the polite and warm-hearted nature of Jalal-ud-din, many of his nobles and chiefs believed he was a weak and incapable ruler. During his siege to Ranthambore, some of his closest associates met at the house of Malik Tajuddin Kuchi. They all discussed dethroning the Sultan.
When Jalal-ud-din came to know about this, he called everyone to a private conference. And instead of punishing them, he shamed them. They all asked for forgiveness from the Sultan.
Conspiracy of Sidi Maula
Sidi Maula was a Muslim religious leader, who belonged to a sect of unorthodox Muslim dervishes. His followers also included Jalal-ud-din's nobles, including the now-deceased crown prince Khan-i Khanan.
Sidi Maula had tried several times to kill the Sultan to become the Ulema. Once Sidi Maula asked Hathya Paik and Niranjan Kotwal to assassinate Jalal-ud-din on a Friday. This information was shared with Arkali Khan by a soldier. Arkali Khan accepted the allegations as true and arrested the alleged conspirators.
This was among the rarest times that Sultan Jalal-ud-din had asked for severe punishment for someone. When conspirators were presented before him and proven guilty, he ordered Hathya and Niranjan to be executed, and also banished the Sidi Maula’s following. Jalal-ud-din asked a group of qalandars to knife Sidi Maula. Arkali Khan later had the wounded Sidi Maula crushed under the feet of an elephant.
Alauddin Khalji’s Conspiracy and Assassination of Jalal-ud-din
Alauddin Khalji was Jalal’s nephew and was brought up by him as a father. Alauddin was made governor of Awadh and was also given the fief of Kara, in the district of Allahabad by Jalal-ud-din, but his aspirations were way higher than all of these. He wanted the throne of the Delhi Sultanate and hence made a plan to assassinate Jalal-ud-din Tughlaq. Alauddin was supported by his brother ‘Ulugh khan’, who gave his absolute loyalty and support to Alauddin. Ulugh Khan convinced the Sultan to visit Kara after Alauddin’s conquest of Devagiri was successful. He persuaded the Sultan to fall into the trap and further convinced him to meet Alauddin alone, without an army, and with just a few unarmed attendants. Jalal embraced Alauddin but later gave the signal to ‘Muhammad Salim’ who gave two sword blows to the Sultan. Then another follower of Alauddin cut the head of Sultan which was then put on a spear and paraded in all the provinces. All the followers of the Sultan were killed.
This murder has been referred to as one of the basest murders in History. In this way, Alauddin got the throne on which he never had the shadow of claim, in any way, and Sultan was murdered by someone he loved very much. It has been noted by historians that Jalal was notified by his advisers many times about Alauddin but never believed them due to his affection towards Alauddin.
Now Alauddin marched towards Delhi and on the 3rd of October 1296, he was proclaimed the Sultan of Delhi.
