Ala ud-Din Khalji
Ala ud-Din Khalji or Ala ud-Din Khilji (* around 1266/67 as Ali Gurshasp ; † 1316 ); was Sultan of Delhi from 1297 to 1316 .
history
After the murder of his uncle and father-in-law Jalal ud din Firoz Khalji (1296/97), Ala ud-Din made himself Sultan . His rule was characterized by the overlapping feudalism of the slave dynasty and their Central Asian ancestors, i.e. the forcible collection of taxpayers' money from the local population with the help of mounted soldiers. The cavalry warriors were able to cover great distances in a very short time, which allowed the Sultan to undertake raids from a very central position and to collect taxes from the local population.
The siege and later conquest of the fortress of Chittorgarh in 1303 has real and legendary features. Allegedly because he wanted the beautiful Princess Padmini as his wife, he besieged the city for months. In the end, the besieged dared a suicidal failure and the women committed mass suicide ( jauhar ) . Such events have not been recorded during the conquest of the Hindu principalities of Ranthambhor (1301), Malwa (1305), Devagiri (1308), Warangal (1310), Hoysala and Pandya (1311). From 1298 to 1304 his army subjugated Gujarat on several campaigns .
Due to the military superiority of the cavalry warriors, there was no interest in incorporating the population of a conquered area, as happened in the later Mughal Empire . The Sultan was the first commander of the army, followed by the Minister of War (Ariz-i-Mamalik) . Ala ud-Din's army introduced the huliya , documenting a detailed description of each soldier and branding the cavalry horses with the royal insignia. These methods became standard for medieval Indian armies.
Driven by a chronic lack of money to maintain the expensive horses, Ala ud-Din undertook a number of raids into the Deccan to replenish the empty state coffers. The Hindu and army commander Malik Kafur , who had converted to Islam, knew how to use the enormous range of intervention of the cavalry for such raids. Large parts of the rich Devagiri Kingdom were conquered and sacked (1308) because it refused to pay tribute. From then on, it served as the basis for further military operations on the Deccan and southern India.
After the Mongolian commander Abachi tried to murder Malik Kafur , the Sultan had him executed. Ala ud-Din believed that the Delhi-based Mongols might conspire against him; therefore he ordered her arrest. It is reported that 20,000 of them were executed. Altogether, Ala ud-Din had to face four times in open field battles with the invincible Mongols.
buildings
The last extension of the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque in the Qutb complex (Delhi), which also includes the unfinished tower of the Alai Minar , can be traced back to Ala ud-Din Khalji . The gateway of the Alai Darwaza is considered a masterpiece of Indo-Islamic architecture , which about 250 years before the Humayun mausoleum already plays with the colors of the stone material (red sandstone and white marble ) to a much greater extent than this . Ala ud-Din had a Koran school ( madrasa ) and a domed mausoleum built southwest of the mosque , in which he was also buried after his death (January 4, 1316), brought about by Malik Kafur (?).
Alai Darwaza and Qutub Minar
Alai Minar (Qutub Minar in the background)
Madrasa Ala ud-Dins in the Qutb complex
Mausoleum of Ala ud-Dins
Coins
Under the rule of Ala ud-Din, trade and economy experienced an economic boom in northern India, as evidenced by various types of coinage. As was common in the Islamic world for a long time (see ban on images in Islam ), the coins show neither portraits of rulers nor symbolic animals (eagles, lions, etc.).
Half gani ( copper coin )
Gani ( billon coin )
Tanka ( silver coin )
See also
literature
- Peter Jackson: The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History. Cambridge University Press 1999, ISBN 978-0-521-54329-3 .
- Hermann Kulke , Dietmar Rothermund : History of India. From the Indus culture to today. CH Beck, Munich 2006, ISBN = 3-406-54997-7, p. 217ff.
Web links
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Rukn ad-Din Ibrahim Shah |
Sultan of Delhi ( Khilji Dynasty ) 1296-1316 |
Shihab ad-Din Umar |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Ala ud-Din Khalji |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Sultan of Delhi |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 13th Century |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1316 |