Foreign Invasion of Medieval India - Part 10

 

Continued From: The Forgotten Empires Of India: Foreign Invasion of Medieval India - Part 9

 

Allaudin granted the title of Ulugh Khan on his brother Almas Beg and the title of Zafar Khan on his other brother. He conferred upon his general Malik Nusrat Jalesari the title “Nusrat Khan”. Allaudin started for Delhi on his elephant followed by a band of Amirs and Maliks whom he had won over with bribes. When they arrived at Baran in the present day state of Rajasthan, Nusrat Khan recruited the people of Baran into military service. Allaudin deputed Zafar Khan to intercept the Maliks and Amirs of the late Sultan who had been deputed to stop the advance of Allaudin’s march. Zafar Khan was able to buy the allegiance of the late Sultan’s Maliks and Amirs who now joined Allaudin at Baran. Hearing of the defection of the nobles, the late Sultan’s wife sent an urgent message to the Sultan’s son who was at Multan to come to their aid in Delhi, but the Sultan’s son refused to come to her aid. Zia-Ud -Din Barani states that , ‘Alauddin entered into the city with a most wonderful retinue and a countless multitude, and took his seat on the throne of Delhi in the Daulat Khanah, after which he repaired to the Koshak i la’l, (crimson palace) and made that the royal residence.’[ Note: The crimson palace is the Red Fort at Delhi. How many red coloured palaces are there in Delhi? The Red Fort has been the royal residence of Delhi Sultans and features on the biography of these Sultans, Ghazni, Balban and so on; this is proof that the red fort was not constructed by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. The Mughal Emperor may have renovated the red fort , but the fort itself had existed in Delhi even before the time of Prithviraj Chauhan.]

He deputed his brothers to Multan to take care of the late Sultan’s sons. At the end of a seige, the avaricious troops of Multan betrayed their princes and surrendered Multan to the Khilji brothers. At the order of Allaudin Khilji, the two princes were tortured first and then assasinated while the female family members of the late Sultan including his young wife were taken into the harem (zenana) of Allauding Khilji. What can one expect from such a despot who readily tortured and  murdered his kins in cold blood? Alas, everyone turned a blind eye as they were blinded by the glitter from the gold and silver bestowed on them by the vile Sultan!

During this time, the Mughals raided the territories of Multan and Punjab. Taking advantage of the change in the Delhi administration, the Mughals raided Multan and Punjab with a troop of 100,000 soldiers. The Sultan’s brother Zafar Khan was successful in pushing back the Mughals. At the same time, Allaudin deputed Nusrat Khan and Ulugh Khan to raid Gujarat. The Vaghela King Karan Rai was no match for the invading army. He tried to effect an escape to the nearby Yadava Kingdom , but his wife Kamala Devi fell into the hands of the invaders. Karan Rai escaped to Devagiri with his daughter Dewal Devi. Kamala Devi was sent as a gift to Delhi and Allaudin took her into his harem. Nusrat Khan and Ulugh Khan meanwhile ruthlessly sacked Gujarat. They fell upon Somnath Temple in Gujarat and once again the temple was sacked by the foreign army. This was a famous temple and the linga worshipped in the temple was one of the twelve jyotirlingas of India. According to Barani, the sacred linga was taken to Delhi where it was shattered and scattered upon the streets of Delhi to be trampled by the masses. Such was the fanatism displayed by Allaudin’s army! The invaders also fell upon the port city Khambat and it was here that they saw a fetching lad called “Hazar Dinari”. A slave trader had in his charge a fetching young lad. The young man had such fine features that the slave trader had purchased him from Baghdad and had paid one thousand dinars for him; hence the name “Hazar Dinari” given to the lad. This young man too fell into the hands of Nusrat Khan and Ulugh Khan. Hazar Dinari was presented to Allaudin. The young man was so handsome, that Allaudin who by that time was already married to Jallaudin’s daughter, Jhatyapali, Kamala Devi and many more, became infatuated with Hazar Dinari. The Sultan named Hazar Dinari as Malik Kafur who stole the Sultan’s heart. Allaudin was so infatuated with Malik Kafur that the later controlled him to a great extent.

Continued On: The Forgotten Empires Of India: Foreign Invasion of Medieval India - Part 11