Everything about Ala Ud Din Khilji totally explained
Ala-ud-din Khilji (
Pashto/
Arabic:
علاء الدين الخلجي) (real name
Juna Khan) (b. ? - d.
1316), was the second ruler of the
Khilji dynasty in
India. He reigned from
1296–
1316.
His historic attack on
Chittor in
1303 AD, after hearing of the beauty of queen of
Chittor,
Rani Padmini, the wife of King
Rawal Ratan Singh and the subsequent story has been immortalized in the epic poem
Padmavat, written by
Malik Muhammad Jayasi in the
Awadhi language in the year
1540 .
Biography
Ala-ud-din was the nephew and son in law of
Jalal-ud-din. At first, Jalal-ud-din appointed Ala-ud-Din as the governor of
Kara near Allahabad city. In
1296 Ala-ud-Din killed his uncle. But Malika Jahan, the widow of Jalal-ud-din, put her younger son
Rukn-ud-din Khilji to the throne. Ala-ud-din quickly marched on Delhi from Kara. He entered Delhi with his uncle's head on a pike and on
October 3,
1296, proclaimed himself the
King of Delhi. Arkali Khan, Jalal-ud-din's older son, and Rukun ud din were
blinded. Malika Jahan was imprisoned.
Very soon he went about despoiling the wealth of nobles, frequently blinding, imprisoning or killing them. He followed the same pattern of cruelty enshrined in all Muslim invaders of India. In
1297 Allauddin sent an army to plunder Gujarat, under the generalship of Ulugh Khan and Nusrat Khan. This army looted the temple of
Somnath and
Shivalinga was broken into pieces and was being carried back to Delhi.
Kanhad Dev Songara, ruler of
Jalore attacked and defeated Ulugh Khan and captured the broken Shivalinga which was washed in
Ganges River, and the fragments were established in various temples in
Jalore.
Muhammad Shah a neo-Muslim helped
Kanhad Dev Songara. Muhammad was a general in Khilji's army. Muhammad Shah after this war went and stayed with
Hammir at
Ranthambore. Ulugh Khan went and apprised Allauddin who ordered him and Nusrat Khan to conquer
Ranthambore. In
1299 they started out with 80,000 cavalry and a large infantry to attack Hammir. Hammir's army repulsed the attack and killed Nusrat Khan. Ulugh Khan escaped and reached
Delhi. Khilji was taken aback by this defeat and wanted revenge. He finally came himself in 1301, and there was a long siege. Hammir was very well prepared. When the fort wouldn't fall after repeated bloody skirmishes khilji resorted to diplomacy. Hammir was very suspicious but he heeded to his councillors who told him that the sword isn't always the best recourse. Ratipal and Ranmal, who were close confidants of Hammir, were sent to the Khilji camp. Ranmal's father was hung by Hammir for treachery and his property was confiscated. Ranmal earned the trust of Hammir by being brave in battles that Hammir fought but perfidy was in his blood. Khilji bribed these two generals of Hammir's army and consequently Ranthambore fell. After the annexation of
Gujarat, he took to the practice of making the innocent families of rebels against the government suffer.
Mongol invasions
In
1297, Ala-ud-din's general
Zafar Khan defeated invading Mongols near
Jalandhar to secure his throne. In
1299, a horde of 200,000 Mongols entered India with the intention of conquest. His general Zafar Khan showed desperate valor in battle. The Mongols were defeated, but Khan didn't survive.
Sack of Chittor
In 1303, Khilji wanted to win Chittor because sisodiyas of Chittor never accepted the rule of Sultans. Another reason was
Rani Padmini. He laid a siege but Chittor wouldn't fall. Then he requested Rana Ratan Singh, husband of Rani Padmini, that if he's allowed a glimpse of Rani he'd leave. By this time the situation inside the fort was getting bad. Rana discussed this with his advisers and they agreed that they can show Padmini's face in a mirror to the sultan. The meeting took place and afterwards out of courtesy when Rana was walking Khilji out of the palace, Khilji's men captured Rana Ratan Singh. Khilji sent a message to the fort that Rana can be spared by exchanging Rani Padmini. Padmini discussed this with Gorah, her maternal uncle, who was a
Chauhan rajput.
Gora told her not to worry and that he'd go and bring back Rana Ratan Singh and Sultan isn't brave enough to stop him. Padmini's nephew Badal who was just sixteen also assured her. A message was sent from the fort to Khilji that Padmini would come with 700 of her servants in "palanquins" (paalki in
hindi) and that no soldier should peek inside the paalki to outrage the modesty of the women. Letter also said that before Padmini meets Khilji she'd like to talk to Rana. Khilji agreed. All the paalki's had the best Rajput warriors with two swords each. When Padmini's paalki, which was occupied by Gora, reached Rana's tent he asked Rana to mount the horse and go back to the fort. Then Gora gave a signal and every Rajput came out of the paalki and attacked khilji's soldiers who were cut to pieces. Gora reached Khilji's tent and was about to kill the sultan when Khilji moved his concubine in front of himself. Gora, being a Hindu Rajput couldn't kill an innocent woman and these few seconds were enough for Khilji's guards to kill Gora from behind.
Ala-ud-din Khilji described himself as the
Second Alexander on his own coinage and dreamt of founding a world-wide empire. Though not a man of learning himself, one of the great Persian poets of Indian history,
Amir Khusro, was his poet laureate.
Sack of Madurai
Alauddin is known for the sack of Madurai and the expansion of the Delhi Sultanate into peninsular India - a feat matched only by Mughals 300 years later.
Death
Alauddin died in January
1316, of
edema. It is believed that his lieutenant Malik Naib hastened his death.
Further Information
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