Alauddin Khalji

Towards the close of Feroz's reign in 694/1294 his nephew and son-in-law,
Muhammad, set out from Kara, at the head of 8,000 horse, crossed the Vindhyas
and after a march of two months through difficult terrain, appeared before
Devagiri and captured it. A huge booty of gold, silver, pearls, jewels and silk fell
into his hands. When he returned, he was summoned to court, but he pretended
that he was afraid of punishment, having undertaken the expedition without royal
permission. Feroz was persuaded to go to Kara and reassure Muhammad. He was
also motivated by the hope of obtaining some of the wealth that Muhammad had
brought with him. He was, however, assassinated and Muhammad proclaimed
himself sultan as 'Ala' al-DIn Muhammad Khaljl in 695/1296.
Despite the circumstances in which Alauddin came to the throne, ‘Alauddin made
a great impact upon the history of India. He was efficient, imaginative and strong.
His expedition against Devagiri is in itself one of the boldest military ventures in
history. His murder of Feroz is no doubt a blot on his character, but he was
motivated in this as much by the desire to maintain the authority of the Khaljis as
by self-interest.
Alauddin was soon able to make a correct assessment of the political situation.
He undertook the task of securing his dominions from Mongol inroads and to
extend his sovereignty further afield. This needed considerable organization and
great resources. He therefore tightened his control over his officers as well as over
Hindu chiefs, raised large sums of money through additional taxation, and built
up a large army through rigid economy and establishing successfully a system of
price-control. He introduced great austerity and frowned upon any laxity in
morals or indulgence in loose talk and intrigue. He further improved the
intelligence services and made them so efficient that the possibility of treasonable
talk and association was eliminated. To stop the officials from organizing
themselves into groups, he prohibited intermarriage without royal permission. He
stopped convivial and drinking parties, so that the officers would not become too
familiar with one another and establish relationships injurious to the state. He
raised the state levy of agricultural produce from twenty per cent to fifty per cent
in many areas and, to reduce any ensuing hardship, he eliminated the perquisites
which Hindu chiefs used to extract from the peasantry. He also stopped the
commission which the state paid them on the realization of the revenue. He
examined the titles of rent-free grants of land given in previous reigns for pious
purposes and resumed them wherever they were no longer justified. In the same
way, he abolished all grants in money which were no longer deserved. For the
purpose of increasing his army and equipping it properly, he fixed salaries at a
level lower than previously. His grants to poets and scholars also were not lavish.
For the purpose of removing any difficulty which smaller salaries might
entail to public servants and others, he fixed prices at a reasonably low level, and
was able to maintain them successfully throughout his reign. The system adopted
was scientific and sensible. By lowering salaries, he reduced the circulation of
money, which had been artificially stimulated by the treasure that poured into
Delhi as a result of the conquest of rich Hindu kingdoms. By raising the state levy
on agricultural produce, he induced the peasant to cultivate more land, to enable
him to make up for the lost margin in his net income. He ensured a continuous
supply of food by the purchase of all surplus grain from the peasants and bringing
it to the town to ensure a constant supply. The cultivator was encouraged to pay
the state in grain, which was stored at numerous places,
and if, through a natural disaster or some unforeseen circumstance, the normal
supply failed, the state granaries were able to make up the deficiency. Storage
seems to have been managed skilfully, because as late as Ibn Battuta's visit to
Delhi (1354-42), when the city was in the grip of a famine, rice stored in the reign
of 'Ala' al-DIn Khalji was given to the public. The prices of other articles were
also fixed, and they could be sold only in the Sara-yi 'adl where royal officials
supervised the transactions. The measures succeeded extremely well, and there is
complete unanimity amongst the authorities of the period that throughout the
reign prices were maintained at the low level fixed by the sultan.
He fixed the salaries of his troopers at levels where they would not face
any difficulty. The horses were regularly examined and branded so that a horse
could not pass muster twice, nor could horses be changed for fraudulent purposes.
The reforms introduced by him in his agrarian administration were also effective.
He eliminated middlemen and insisted that the area cultivated should be properly
assessed through a system of measurement.
The sultan succeeded in creating sufficient resources to secure his
dominions from Mongol invasions. The need had indeed become pressing. As
early as 702/1303, the Mongols reached Delhi itself, and a large army laid siege
to the city. However, they raised the siege after two months. The sultan was quick
to see that it was necessary to take proper steps to deal with the menace. The
fortifications built by Balban were repaired, new forts were built and the frontier
province of Dipalpur was put under the charge of Tughluq. Ultimately the
Mongols developed a wholesome respect for the sultan's army.
In the south he was equally successful. His general, Malik Kafur, a slave
of Hindu origin, defeated Raja Ramadeva of Devagiri who had withheld tribute.
The raja had to come to Delhi to renew his allegiance. The sultan wisely treated
him with marks of favour, bestowed upon him the title of ra'i rayan (raja of rajas)
and sent him back to his capital. In 709/1308 Malik Kafur conquered Warangal.
In this expedition Raja Ramadeva rendered much help, which showed that 'Ala'
al-DIn's policy of reconciliation had borne fruit. In 710/1310 Malik Kafur
conquered Madura and Dvarasamudra, and thus extended the boundaries of the
sultanate to the seacoast in the extreme south. 'Ala' al-Din's treatment of the rulers
of southern India was conciliatory: he permitted them to retain their former
kingdoms as vassals. Bengal, Sind, Malwa and Gujarat also were brought under
control.
The sultan’s rule made a good impression upon the people. His crime of
assassinating his uncle seems to have been forgotten, and, after his death, the
people remembered him with gratitude and affection. His tomb was visited by
large numbers like the tomb of a saint. Alauddin died in the year 716/ 1316 as the
result of illness. A great name of the period is that of the Chishti mystic Shaykh
Nizam al-Din, whose influence was responsible for a great upsurge in religious
and moral fervour among the people. It is said that 'Ala' al-DIn's achievements
would have been impossible but for the moral stamina among the Muslims
engendered by Nizam al-DIn. The prayers of Nizam al-DIn were popularly
believed to have brought about the raising of the Mongol siege of Delhi in
702/1303.
On 'Ala' al-DIn's death, Malik Kafur, whose relations with the heir-
apparent, Khizr Khan, and his mother, the queen, had been unfriendly, caused the
prince and his brother to be blinded and his mother to be imprisoned. He then sent
some soldiers to blind the third son, Mubarak Khan, as well. This prince,
however, persuaded the soldiers, who were by now probably tired of Malik
Kafur's excesses, to return and avenge the wrongs perpetrated on the family.
Kafur was killed, and Mubarak Khan ascended the throne with the title of Qutb
al-DIn Mubarak Shah in 716/1316. He showed some firmness in dealing with
disorders in Gujarat and Devagiri. However, he soon surpassed the limit in
severity, and had some high officials wantonly executed. He also indulged in
gross licentiousness. One of his favourites was Khusraw Khan, a low-born slave,
who at last murdered the sultan and assumed the royal title himself in 720/1320.
Under him, a large number of his Hindu kinsmen gained ascendancy, and openly
insulted and vilified Islam. At last Ghazi Malik Tughluq, who was a veteran
general and warden of the marches in the Panjab, could tolerate such a state of
affairs no longer and set out for Delhi to punish the usurper. The battle which was
fought in the suburbs of Delhi in 720/1320 ended in a victory for Tughluq.