Khusrau Khan and the decline of the Khalji dynasty

Who was Khusrau Khan?

Khusrau Khan was originally a slave, who was captured by the Delhi army during the conquest of Malwa in 1305. He was a Hindu and belonged to a Hindu military caste named ‘Baradu’ but was later converted to Islam. Khusrau Khan had a great influence on Mubarak Shah, the son, and successor of Alauddin.

Many of the people were captured and converted to Islam by the Delhi forces after the conquests. Similarly, during the Malwa conquest under the leadership of Multani, two brothers were brought to Delhi and converted by the names of Hasan (Khusrau Khan) and Husamuddin. Later on, during the reign of Mubarak Shah, these two brothers rose to higher positions in the military and administration. They both also acted as homosexual partners of Sultan Mubarak Shah.

Mubarak Shah was in love and felt attracted to Hasan but turned to Husamuddin when Hasan was not available. It was due to his love and attraction towards Hasan that when Mubarak Shah gained the throne, he gave him the title of Khusrau Khan and the office of Wazir. Khusrau Khan became the most favoured person of the Sultan, and several times also took advantage of his position. The relationship between Sultan and Khusrau Khan was open to all, and was never meant to be a secret. Even the brother of Khusrau Khan was favoured and made the governor of Gujarat.

Khusrau Khan’s military career

He acted as one of the most important military leaders at the time of Mubarak Shah and accompanied Mubarak Shah in each of his conquests. Two of the most important wins which had a crucial role in Khusrau Khan’s rise were:

•  The Attack on Devagiri:

After the death of Alauddin, the opportunist Yadavas of Devagiri rose to rebellion and declared independence and the then governor of Devagiri Multani was busy in Gujarat. As a result, it was highlighted in the sight of Mubarak Shah. In the second year of his administration, he decided to march and launch an attack on Devagiri. Khusrau Khan accompanied Mubarak Shah as the chief officer. As the Delhi army reached Devagiri and surrounded it, the main leads of the rebellion, Raghava and Harapaladeva tried to escape through the hills of Devagiri.

The armies led by Khusrau Khan and Malik Qutlugh were set to pursue both of them. Raghava was caught along with his army by the Delhi Army and the army of Khusrau Khan was also successful in pursuing Harpaladeva, who after a little resistance was wounded and caught by the army. Due to the excellent skill presentation by Khusrau Khan in this acquisition, he was given the responsibility to take over the next acquisition, that was of the Warangal Kingdom of Kakatiyas.

• The attack on Warangal:

Warangal was the tributary state of the Delhi Sultanate and had previously agreed to pay regular tributes to Delhi Sultanate. But the intentions of the Kakatiyas of Warangal were seen to be changed after the death of Alauddin as they stopped paying the tributes. Mubarak Shah decided to send an army under the leadership of Khusrau Khan to subjugate the kingdom. The other officers sent to accompany Khusrau Khan were Malik Qutlugh and Khwaja Haji. The army of Khusrau Khan surrounded and besieged the capital of Warangal. Having a check upon the crucial situation, the ruler of Warangal Pratapdurga decided to surrender, promised to pay regular tributes to the Delhi Sultanate, and surrendered a huge amount of wealth.

After Kakatiyas surrendered, Khusrau Khan along with the wealth gained moved towards Delhi and merged his army with that of Mubarak Shah near the river Narmada.

Conspiracy against Mubarak Shah

 The greed of power in history has turned brother against brother, then how could it stop an opportunist person like Khusrau Khan? Hence, the conspiracy for the murder of Mubarak Shah and the accession of the throne by Khusrau Khan started.

There were two men, who after Sultan Mubarak Shah were in a higher position and had the power to raise the rebellion and stand against the Sultan of Delhi Sultanate. These were Khusrau Khan and Ghazi Malik (Tughlaq). Eventually, some arrangements were made to keep Ghazi Malik away from Delhi so that the conspiracy could take place smoothly. As soon as Khusrau rose to power, he reduced the military strength of all of his ministers and governors including that of Ghazi Malik and his son Juna Khan. So, they could take the immediate step of dethroning Khusrau Khan.

So, the conspiracy started by gaining the full confidence and trust of Mubarak Shah. Khusrau Khan took full advantage of his trust and moulded the kingdom in the way he wanted and was suitable for him. Khusrau Khan convinced the Sultan to allow him to raise an army of Baradu Hindus, as all the nobles had their own group of followers. Baradu was the native tribe to which Khusrau Khan belonged. Sultan affirmed his request even after the resistance from some of the ministers like Qazi Ziyauddin.

The Baradu army of Khusrau Khan included about 10,000 Baradu horsemen, who were headed by several Hindu chiefs and amirs. To be extended, Khusrau Khan included several of the rivals and competitors of Mubarak Shah in this conspiracy. These were the people who were against Mubarak Shah Such as Bahauddin, Yusuf Sahi, and Shaista. Khusrau Khan also acquired the permission of the Sultan for the entry of some Baradus inside the royal palace. Hence about 300-400 Badarus entered the royal palace and gathered in the former room of Malik Kafur, the place assigned to Khusrau Khan. Mubarak Shah was again warned by his teacher Qazi Ziyauddin to keep a check on the Badaru army, but he was highly convinced by the loyalty of Khusrau Khan.

Within a few months, in July 1320 the final phase of the conspiracy came. The first person to identify this rebellion and get murdered was Qazi Ziyauddin himself. At night, a huge number of Baradus entered the palace hiding the daggers along with the maternal uncle of Khusrau Khan ‘Randhol’. After the killing of Qazi Ziyauddin, they pursued the upper floor where Mubarak Shah was present along with Khusrau Khan. Badarus killed the keepers and guards of Mubarak Shah, and this was the time that Sultan came to know that a rebellion had taken place. He tried to escape towards the Harem, but all of his trials were in vain. Khusrau Khan held the Sultan by his hair and Jaharya stabbed Sultan in the chest with an axe. He then beheaded the Sultan. Badarus then entered the harem, blinded, and killed all the sons of Alauddin and all those who could assert their authority on the throne through power or blood. The entire lineage of the Khalji dynasty was murdered by the Badaru army and then Khusrau Shah was put on the throne.

Accession and rule

Khusrau Khan was successful in his conspiracy and killed Mubarak Shah along with all of his brothers and destroyed the lineage of the Khalji dynasty. Initially, during the time of accession, Khusrau Khan had thought of making any of the infant sons of Alauddin Khalji a puppet ruler and himself acting as the de-facto ruler. But this idea was not praised by his advisors and followers as they said that there was a high chance that the prince could kill Khusrau Khan to claim the power.

All the nobles of the court of Delhi Sultanate were called at midnight and a conference took place between them all at night about Khusrau Khan being the new Sultan. By sunrise, Khusrau Khan was declared the new ruler of the Delhi Sultanate and his accession took place by the name of Sultan Nasiruddin.

Khusrau Khan too to maintain a stable administration that followed in the footsteps of Alauddin Khalji. He appointed all those ministers that were loyal to Alauddin and who according to Alauddin were experts in their fields. Quraishi, Multani, sons of Malik Qarabag, Juna Khan, Yusuf Sahi, Shaista Khan, etc. were the nobles that gained higher positions. Further, Baradus who were the important hand in the conspiracy were again side-lined and kept away from the important posts as they were mostly illiterate. Still, several were given respect, position, and rewards by Khusrau Khan. These included the brother of Khusrau Khan ‘Husamuddin’, uncle of Khusrau Khan ‘Randhol’, and the murderer of Mubarak Shah ‘Jaharya’.

Sometimes, it is claimed by historians that the murder of Mubarak Shah by his Hindu general might have been part of the Hindu-Muslim rivalry. But the sources to prove this claim right are relatively limited.

The rise of Tughlaqs

Ghazi Malik (Tughlaq) was not happy and satisfied by the accession of Khusrau Khan to the throne, but initially couldn’t do anything as even after being a minister he was relatively less powerful. The same was the situation with Ghazi’s son Juna Khan, who was holding the position of akhur-bek under Khusrau Khan. He held a meeting in Delhi under the nose of Khusrau Khan about getting the support of his father for dethroning Khusrau Khan.

After getting the information about the rebellion, Khurau khan sent his force led by Shaista Khan, but even the royal army was unable to catch the rebels. Tughlaq was continuously demanding support from the other surrounding nations and rivals of Khusrau Khan. These included governors from Multan, Singh, Jalore, Smana, etc. The request was also sent to the wazir of Khusrau Khan, Multani, who initially informed the Sultan about this because the Sultan had an eye on him. However, after the second letter, Multani presented sympathy while declining to support directly.

Gradually Tughlaq developed a more enormous army than that of Khusrau Khan and was ready to march towards Delhi. While in Delhi, Khusrau Khan had the information about this conspiracy and attack and prepared himself against anything. Finally, after two wars, Khusrau’s army was defeated by the army of Tughlaq, and Khusrau Khan had to escape the battlefield. The two battles that were fought between the two factions of Delhi Sultanate were ‘The battle of Saraswati’ and ‘The battle of Lahrawat’. Khusrau Khan was found by the army after a few days and killed.

In this manner, the 2-3 months of administration of Khusrau Khan came to an end giving the rise to another powerful dynasty – Tughlaq Dynasty.