True History: Iltutmish

True History: Sultan Iltutmish

Shams-ud-din Iltutmish was a very handsome young boy. His father loved him very much. His brothers were jealous of him. So they sold him as a slave. He went in one hand or the another till he was taken to Ghazni by Jamal-ud-din, his master. Sultan Muhammad Ghori was very much mesmerized by his handsomeness and wanted to buy him. But His master demanded so much money that Ghori refused to sell Iltutmish in Ghazni. He did not want to spend money on a petty slave. So he was taken to Delhi where Qutb-ud-din bought him. He was a daring soldier. Once fighting against Khokhars he impressed Muhammad Ghori so much that he advised Qutb-ud-din to free him from slavery which was subsequently done. He rose to high offices and soon was appointed governor of Baran. After serving there sometime he was given governorship of Badaun. There he married Qutbuddin's daughter. He was a capable man and a very good soldier so Sipahsalar Amir Ali of Delhi called him to march against Aram Shah and capture the throne. He marched against Aram Shah, killed him and got the throne. He hid the fact that he was a free man from the nobles. When he showed his khat-e-azadi the nobles got shocked. The now conspired to throw him from the throne but he was an able man and killed many rebellious nobles. He formed Turkan-I Chihalgan, which was a group of 40 nobles who were his personal slaves. He wanted their support in administration. He commanded their loyalty. Yildiz sent him Chantra and Durbhash as suzerainty of Ghazni which he accepted due to his weak position but in 1216 he succeeded in killing yildiz and after that he marched against Qubacha who taking advantage of battle between Yildiz and Iltutmish captured territories upto Lahore. He marched against Qubacha. Qubacha offered for peace but Iltutmish just asked him to surrender. He was disheartened and drowned himself in lower Indus. After that there was no looking back for Iltutmish. He proved to be the greatest slave sultan of Delhi Sultanate. He marched against Hindu rulers and defeated them at many fronts. He sent his son Nasir-ud-din Mahmud, governor of oudh and his ablest son to march against Ghiyasuddin, governor of Bengal to declared his independence, Nasir marched against him, killed him and also conquered Lakhnauti but he died soon. After that Iltutmish himself marched against Ghiyasuddin and conquered Bengal and Bihar in his territories Permanently. He died during a campaign against an officer of Jalal-ud-din Mangabarani. He was very shrewd, handsome and able ruler with good sense of people. He was benevolent for Muslims and ruthless to Hindus. He was an intolerant king but his abilities can't be questioned. He indeed was an intelligent man who deserved to be successor of Ghori rule in Delhi.