Alauddin Khilji (1296 – 1316) – GK

Alauddin Khilji (Ala-ud-din Khilji) was the greatest ruler of the Khilji dynasty. His real name was Ali Gurshasp. He was born in 1266. Alauddin was the nephew and son-in-law of Jalaluddin Khilji. He declared himself the Sultan of Delhi on 20 July 1296 (after killing Jalaluddin). His first coronation was in Kara.

This article provides information (notes) and General Knowledge of Alauddin Khilji, which is very important and useful for any kind of government job examinations, NCERT notes and UPSC prelims.

Jalaluddin’s wife, Malika-i-Jahan declared her youngest son Qadr Khan as the new Sultan with the title of ‘Ruknuddin Ibrahim‘. Alauddin defeated Rukhanuddin in battle at Siri. After that, Alauddin was crowned a second time at the Red Palace of Balban in Delhi on 21 October 1296.

Info: Ideals of patriarchy: Alauddin Khilji believed in the principle of kingly divinity. He advertised himself as ‘Khalifa‘ on coins. He referred to himself as ‘Yasin-ul-Khilafat‘ or the Caliph’s Assistant. He suppressed the elites and ulema of that time.

Early Life & Background

• 1266: Alauddin Khalji was born.
• His birth name was Ali Gurshasp.
• He was the son of Shihabuddin Mas’ud (Sultan Jalaluddin’s elder brother)
• 1291: Suppressed the revolts in Kara (governor of Kara, Malik Chajju started revolts).
• 1291: Alauddin got the governorship of Kara (by Sultan Jalaluddin).
• 1293: He raided Bhilsa to gain wealth.
• 1296: He raided Devagiri and captured all the wealth.
• 1296: Alauddin planned to dethrone Jalaluddin from Kara.
• 1296 November: Alauddin sends Ulugh Khan and Zafar Khan to conquer Multan.

Suppression of Rebellion:

• Haji Maula’s rebellion was suppressed and killed in Delhi.
• When Alauddin’s nephew Akat Khan attempted to assassinate him during the Ranthambore campaign (1299–1301AD), Akat was killed.
• At that time Umar Khan and Mahad Khan revolted in Budaun and Ayodhya and were suppressed.

Supression of Mongol Invasion:

There were sporadic Mongol invasions during Alauddin Khalji’s reign. Alauddin Khalji defeated the Mongols 17 times. A few of them are given in the table below.

Reforms adopted to prevent attacks:

1. Alauddin Khalji shifted his capital to Siri to resist the Mongol invasions.
2. There he resided with his army and fortified the Siri fort.
3. Apart from this, he formed a huge army and deployed it in that region.
4. Commander General Zafar Khan (Hizabruddin) called Alauddin “Rustam of the age” and “the hero of the time“.
5. Alauddin built forts and stationed troops at Dipalpur and Samana to secure the north-west frontier of the empire.
6. He gave charge of the northwest frontier to Ghazi Malik and renovated various old forts.

Victories of Alauddin Khilji

Conquest of North India:

Gujarat, Malab, Chittor, Ranthambore, etc. were among the independent territories mentioned as one of the major resistances in Alauddin Khalji’s North India campaign. Each of these put up stiff resistance against Khilji, but most of the territory was conquered by Alauddin.

Gujarat (1297)

• Karnadeva was the king of this region.
• Nusrat Khan and Ulugh Khan led this campaign.
• In the capital Anhilawada, the Somnath temple was looted.
• Khalji married Karnadeva’s wife Kamaladevi.
• Malik Kafur was brought to Delhi as a slave.
• Alauddin’s vizier Nusrat Khan bought Malik Kafur (Taj-ul-Din-Iz-on-Daula) for 1000 dinars.
• Because of this Malik Kafur came to be known as ‘Hazar Dinari‘.
• When Alauddin’s wife and sons secretly conspired against him, Malik Kafur informed the Sultan.

Ranthambhore (1299 – 1301)

• Hamirdeva was the king of this region.
• This campaign was led by Nusrat Khan, Ulugh Khan and Alauddin Khilji.
• Nusrat was killed.
• Alauddin captured the fort of Ranthambore and Hamirdeva was killed.
• Rajput women observe Jaharvrata.

Chittor (1303)

• Alauddin Khalji himself led the campaign.
• He won the Chittor after a siege of eight months.
• Khizir Khan was appointed ruler of Chittor.

Malwa (1305)

• Habananda was the king of this region.
• Ayn-al-Mulk was the commander of this expedition.
• Malwa was defeated and conquered.

Conquest of South India:

Alauddin Khalji was the first Sultan to conquer South India. Malik Kafur was the commander of Alauddin Khalji’s South India campaign.

Devagiri (1306)

• King was Ramachandra.
• Ramachandra was defeated.
• Alauddin reinstated Ramchandra at Devagiri.
• Karnadeva’s daughter Debala Devi was captured and given in marriage to Alauddin’s son Khizir Khan.

Warangal (1308)

• King was Prataparudradeva.
• Prataparudra made a treaty and was acknowledged to pay an annual tribute to the Sultan.

Hoysala/Dwar Samudra (1310)

• King was Bir Ballala.
• It was a South Indian Kannadiga kingdom.
• In this campaign, the Hoysala king of Dwarasamudra was defeated and surrendered.

Madura (1311)

• After the death of Kulshekhar, there was a succession dispute in the state of Pandya.
• Alauddin defeated the Pandyas.
• A lot of wealth was looted.
• The Temple of Rameswaram was destroyed.

Devagiri (1313)

• King was Shankaradeva at this time.
• Shankaradeva was defeated and killed by Alauddin.
• Devagiri was incorporated into the Sultanate.

Info: Alauddin Khalji was awarded the title ‘Sikander-i-Sani‘ or ‘Alexander the Second‘ for his bravery.

Military Reforms:

1. He was the first of the Delhi Sultans to form a standing army.
2. He arranged to pay the soldiers in cash.
3. Alauddin Introduced the ‘daag‘ (horse-marking) and ‘hulia‘ (recording the physical characteristics of each soldier) systems to prevent corruption in the army.
4. The army was entrusted to the ‘Arz-e-Mamalik’.

Info: Ariz-i-Mumalik was a person responsible for recruiting, paying salaries, providing supplies, and overseeing transportation for the army.

Revenue Policy:

1. All types of Milak, Inam, Idrarat, Waqf lands were confiscated and turned into Khalisa lands.
2. He took disciplinary action against Hindu revenue officials.
3. 50% of the crop produced by land survey is levied as land revenue.
4. Apart from this, he deprived the Khots, Muqaddam and Chaudhri of the right to collect revenue.

Market Price Control:

Reasons for controlling market prices:

1. Despite paying low salaries to large armies so as not to cause hardship to them in their livelihood.
2. Preventing inflation of commodity prices.
3. To provide essential commodities to the public at low cost.

According to Dr. K.S. Lal: “For the maintanance of a large army for preventing permanent Mongol threat, Alauddin need to set up an effective price control policy.”

Accordin to L.P. Sharma (different openion): ‘Alauddin distributed his wealth lavishly among his people. As a result value of the currency in the market had decreased. Therefore, Alauddin necessaryly reduced both the salary of his soldiers and the cost of comodities in the market’

Info: Employees engaged in conveying government news were called ‘Dava‘.

Rationing System:

The rationing system introduced by Khalji to control market prices opened four markets in Delhi, they were

1. Mandi: Rice, dal, barley etc. were available here. Shahna-i-Mandi was the head of this mandi.
2. Sera-e-Adal: Cloth, sugar, fruits, butter, fuel oil, medicine etc. were available. Its sellers had to be registered with the Diwan-e-Riyasat.
3. There were separate shops for buying and selling horses, cattle and slaves.
4. Apart from this there were small shops for daily necessities.
5. He also arranged for severe punishments for improper implementation of this system.

Info: Diwan-e-Riyasat: (Minister of Commerce)The person who supervised the market system to the highest standard.

Info: Alauddin Khalji was the first to introduce the ‘rationing system’ to control market prices.

Patronage of Alauddin

Amir Khusru, Amir Hasan, Sheikh Nizamuddin Auliya, Kabiruddin, Sheikh Ruknuddin and other scholars and saints received his patronage.

Architecture:

Among the architecture built during his period are Siri City (near Delhi), Alai Darwaza, Hazar Sitan, Jamatkhana Masjid, Samsi Tala, Hauz-i-Khas etc.

Later Life of Alauddin Khilji

• When Alauddin Khalji fell ill in 1315, Malik Kafur assumed all power as representative.
• Before Alauddin’s death, Kafur nominated the Sultan’s 6-year-old son Shihab-uddin as his successor.
• Mubarak Khan, another son of Alauddin, was imprisoned.
• The last life of Alauddin was not good.
• Eventually, Alauddin’s bodyguards killed Malik Kafur to protect his family.

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