Qutubuddin Aibak
¤ Laid Down The Foundation of Slave Dynasty
In 1206, when Muhammad was assassinated, Aibak crowned himself Sultan
of Delhi thus laying the foundation for the so-called Slave dynasty of
Delhi (the founder having once been a slave) or the Delhi Sultanate.
The Delhi Sultanate had a much longer reign in
Delhi than any other dynasty that had come before it. In fact it
remained in power throughout the period between 1190 and 1526. The
state’s boundaries kept shifting, and at different times included
Afghanistan and the Deccan, but the central dynasty did not budge till
the Mughals arrived. The period saw the settling of the
Qutub
Minar-Mehrauli area and the building of four of the cities of
Delhi: Siri, Tughlaqabad, Jahanpanah and Ferozabad. It would be
interesting here to know what went on before Siri saw the light of the
Delhi sun.
¤ Qutubuddin Aibak came Into Power
With Aibak declaring himself king after Muhammad Ghuri’s death,
the Sultanate came to be regarded as an Indian state and not as an
extension of the Afghan kingdom. This was an important development
and, of course, came with complications. To begin with, the Turks in
India felt threatened by the Rajputs and with reason too. But
strangely enough (or, as some would say, predictably) the threat never
materialized.
However the Turks had no such luck with the other clouds looming over
their horizons. The tricky thing about declaring independence is that
the ruler back home is not quite philosophical about letting go of a
part of his empire, however small. Taj-ud-din Yaldoz, king of Ghazni,
was ready to fight it out if it took all summer. He made his wish to
annex Punjab so apparent that Qutub-ud-din felt compelled to move his
capital from Delhi to Lahore, which was closer to Afghanistan.
What made tackling Ghazni easier for Aibak was that Muhammad Ghuri
had himself invested viceregal powers and the title of Malik upon him
(Aibak). and what made Yaldoz’s job trickier was that the people
of Lahore were overwhelmingly pro-Aibak. Taj-ud-din Yaldoz was
actually the ex-governor of Kirman (in Afghanistan) and a usurper
himself, so in the rise of Aibak he perceived a threat to his own
newly-acquired throne. However, by 1208, Qutub-ud-din was so
successful in neutralizing Yaldoz that he was able to secure from him
the right to rule over not only Hindustan, but also Ghazni. But not
for long. Aibak was soon driven out of Ghazni by Yaldoz and had to
return to Lahore.
¤ New Capital To Lahore Raised More Troublesome
Moving the capital to Lahore and this constant focus on his northwest
frontiers made more trouble for Aibak. Scarcely had he dealt with
Ghazni when trouble erupted in Bengal, Bihar and more importantly
Delhi. In the end though the group that proved strongest was the
strongly clannish Turkish nobility at Delhi. Qutub-ud-din Aibak died
in 1210AD of injuries caused by an accident during a Polo match.
Today, many historians seriously doubt whether Aibak was really an
independent ruler of Delhi. Ibn Batuta, the much travelled Moor of the
14th century, also does not include the name of Aibak in
his list of Muslim sovereigns of India. This view is supported by the
fact that Aibak had no coins struck in his name and no Friday khutba
(prayers to bless the king) was read in his name. What can be said
with much more confidence, however, is that he was a military leader
par excellence. He left behind a kingdom secure enough for his
successors to breathe easy.
¤ Sudden Death of Qutub-ud-din
Following Qutub-ud-din’s sudden death, the Amirs and Maliks (the
Turkish nobles) at Delhi put Aram Shah on the throne as a stopgap
arrangement. Just who this Aram Shah was and why was he selected to
succeed Aibak remains a mystery. He has been variously portrayed as
Aibak’s son, brother, just the convenient man available and many
such things, but the truth is not known. What is better known is that
Aram Shah was a weak and unpopular king and the people of Delhi flatly
refused to accept him as their ruler. Following their excellent
example, powerful governors like Nasir-ud-din Qabacha of Multan and
Ali Mardan of Bengal also rejected his overlordship. Were the nobles
in Delhi attempting to put a puppet king on the throne? Or was this
simply a move to make Altamash’s ascendancy to the throne
unquestioned?
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