Mamluk (Slave) dynasty

Timeline

1. 1206 Aibak becomes ruler, with Lahore as capital
2. 1210 Aibak dies after a fall while playing chaugan
3. 1211 Iltutmish deposes Aram Shah and takes the throne
4. 1221 Iltutmish refuses shelter to Jalaluddin Mangbarni; Chengiz Khan turns back from the Indus
5. 1229 Iltutmish receives the Manshur (letter of investiture) from the Abbasid Caliph
6. 1236 Iltutmish dies; Raziya becomes Sultan after Ruknuddin Firoz’s brief reign
7. 1240 Raziya overthrown and killed with Malik Altunia
8. 1246–66 Nasiruddin Mahmud rules, with Balban (Ulugh Khan) as his deputy
9. 1266 Balban becomes Sultan
10. 1287 Balban dies
11. 1290 Jalaluddin Khalji ousts the child Sultan Kayumars

Names for the dynasty

• Called the Slave or Mamluk dynasty (“mamluk” means an owned slave). Strictly there were three lines: the Qutbi (Aibak), Shamsi (Iltutmish) and Ghiyasi (Balban) houses.
• Iltutmish and Balban were Ilbari Turks, so it is also called the Ilbari dynasty.

Qutbuddin Aibak (1206–10)

• A Turkish slave of Ghori. Under Ghori he was Amir-i-Akhur (in charge of the royal stables).
• Capital at Lahore.
• Called Lakh Bakhsh (“giver of lakhs”) for his generosity, and Quran-khwan for reciting the Quran in a melodious voice.
• Never formally took the title Sultan — he ruled as Malik and Sipahsalar and issued no coins in his own name.
• Built:
• Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque in Delhi
• Adhai Din ka Jhonpra at Ajmer
• began the Qutb Minar (c. 1199), dedicated to the Sufi saint Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki; it was completed by Iltutmish and repaired by Firoz Shah Tughlaq after lightning damage
• Died in 1210 after falling from his horse while playing chaugan (a form of polo); buried in Lahore.
• His short reign is described as a “holding operation” — consolidating Ghori’s conquests rather than expanding them.

Iltutmish (1211–36)

• Son-in-law and slave of Aibak, of the Ilbari tribe; governor of Badaun before becoming Sultan.
• Deposed Aibak’s successor Aram Shah.
• Regarded as the real consolidator of the Delhi Sultanate.
• Shifted the capital from Lahore to Delhi.
• Defeated rivals:
• Yaldiz (Yiltiz), the Ghurid claimant — at Tarain, 1215–16
• Qabacha of Multan (1228)
• the Khalji chiefs of Bengal and Bihar — Ali Mardan and later Hisamuddin Iwaz; after the Bihar campaign he appointed Malik Jani as governor (subedar) of Bihar
• Managed the Mongol threat (1221): he refused asylum to Jalaluddin Mangbarni, the fleeing Khwarizm Shah prince, so Chengiz Khan did not follow him into India.
• Received the title Sultan-i-Azam and the Manshur (letter of investiture) from the Abbasid Khalifa in 1229 — making him the first legally recognised Sultan of Delhi.
• Organised a group of loyal nobles — the Chalisa, or Turkan-i-Chahalgani (“the Forty”): elite Turkish slave-officers to counter the older Qutbi and Muizzi amirs.
• Introduced the iqta system: land whose revenue was assigned to military officers (iqtadars or muqtis) in place of salary; they maintained troops and kept order.
• Introduced a uniform currency: the silver tanka (about 175 grains) and the copper jital.
• Completed the Qutb Minar.
• Nominated his daughter Raziya as successor, over his sons.

Raziya Sultan (1236–40)

• The first and only woman to rule the Delhi Sultanate.
• Gave up the veil, wore a cloak (qaba) and cap (kulah), held open court and rode elephants.
• Tried to break the stranglehold of the Chalisa by promoting non-Turks — notably the Abyssinian Jamaluddin Yaqut as Amir-i-Akhur.
• 1240: overthrown in a revolt led by Malik Altunia, governor of Bhatinda. She married Altunia to regain the throne, but both were killed near Kaithal.
• Minhaj-us-Siraj’s verdict: “She was indeed excellent, but in the end she was born a woman.”

The years of the Forty (1240–66)

• Weak Sultans — Bahram Shah, Masud Shah and Nasiruddin Mahmud (1246–66) — while real power lay with the Forty.
• Under Nasiruddin Mahmud, Balban (his father-in-law) was naib (deputy) and the real ruler. Minhaj-us-Siraj dedicated Tabaqat-i-Nasiri to this Sultan.

Balban (1266–87)

• Also known as Ulugh Khan — a title from Nasiruddin Mahmud. He was himself one of the Forty.
• Established an “absolute monarchy” and followed a “blood and iron” policy against rebels.
• Took away the power of the Chalisa.
• Divine kingship: the Sultan as God’s deputy on earth. He claimed descent from the Turanian hero Afrasiyab.
• Titles:
• Niyabat-i-Khudai — deputy (vicegerent) of God
• Zil-i-Ilahi — shadow of God on earth
• Nasir-amir-ul-momin — the Khalifa’s right-hand man
• Court etiquette borrowed from Persia:
• Sijda — prostration
• Paibos — kissing the Sultan’s feet
• Introduced the Persian festival Navroz.
• Barani notes that Balban refused to laugh and joke in court, to keep royal dignity.
• Created the Diwan-i-Arz (military department, under the Ariz-i-Mumalik) to combat the Mongols.
• Kept a network of spies (barids) to watch nobles and officials.
• Cleared the forests of Mewat and suppressed the Meos, who raided the outskirts of Delhi.
• Quelled the rebellion of Tughril Khan, governor of Bengal, and then made his own son Bughra Khan governor there.
• His eldest son Prince Muhammad died fighting the Mongols (1285); the poet Amir Khusrau had served him at Multan.

End of the dynasty

• Balban’s grandson Kaiqubad (1287–90) was followed by Kayumars — the last slave ruler, a minor.
• Kayumars was ousted by Jalaluddin Khalji in 1290 — the “Khalji revolution”.

Memory hook

Source check

• Where the mindmap differs from standard textbooks. Use the standard version in the exam.