Malik Kafur

Malik Kafur († 1316 ) was a general under Ala ud-Din Khalji (r. 1296-1316) in the army of the Sultanate of Delhi . In the years from 1294 to 1316 he extended the sultan's power to parts of the Deccan and southern India.

biography

Malik Kafur (his real name is unknown) was a native Hindu who was captured in a battle for Khambhat in what is now Gujarat . He was probably already active there as a military leader, because already in 1294 Ala ud-Din Khalji commissioned him with a campaign against the Yadava or Seuna dynasty residing on the Deccan in Devagiri , which was made subject to tribute. In 1305 he victoriously fought a Mongol army at Amroha and in the years from 1309 to 1311 he turned again towards South India; he first defeated the Yadavas at Devagiri again and again, later an army of the Kakatiya dynasty at Warangal and an army of the Hoysalas at Halebidu . He also turned against Madurai , which was part of the Pandya kingdom .

After the death of Ala ud-Din Khalji in January 1316, Malik Kafur tried to usurp power and had his older son Mubarak Shah imprisoned; Instead he put Shihab-ud-din Umar (or Umar Khan ), a five or six year old boy, on the throne and took over the reign himself . A short time later he was killed by his soldiers himself.

meaning

Ala ud-Din Khalji and his military leader Malik Kafur laid the foundation for the later, however costly and often loss-making involvement of the Mughal Empire under Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb in the Deccan.

literature

• Peter Jackson: The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History. Cambridge University Press 1999, ISBN 978-0-521-54329-3 .

Web links

• Malik Kafur - Information (English)