Slavery was implemented all over the world since ancient times. Slavery means that the conquerors used to convert the prisoners or captives who were defeated in the war into slaves and recruited the talented and capable people among them into the army and handed over the responsibility of governance to them. Apart from the prisoners of war, there were also slave markets and rich people used to buy slaves from these markets and make them their servants. Those slaves were very loyal and efficient and often belonged to noble families. Some slaves were so devoted to their masters that their masters loved them more than their own sons, this has been seen many times in history.
One of the biggest examples of this is the arrival of the slave dynasty in the Delhi Sultanate. You can also say that Qutbuddin Aibak, the founder of Delhi Sultanate, was a slave and his devotion towards his master was so much that even after sitting on the Sultanate, he did not keep the title of Sultan, he only kept the title of Malik. And it was kept by the soldier only.
Who were the slave dynasty from 1206 AD to 1290 AD?
Although the Who were the slave dynasty is considered the founder of the Delhi Sultanate, the question is who is the Ghulam dynasty and why are they called the Ghulam dynasty. All the powerful rulers in the Ghulam dynasty were slaves like Qutubuddin Aibak, Iltutmish Balban, that is why it is called the Ghulam dynasty. Some historians do not consider it appropriate to call the rulers of Delhi Sultanate a slave dynasty because these three Turkish rulers were born to free parents.
Therefore, it is more appropriate to call them early Turkish rulers and Mamluk rulers. Historian Aziz Ahmed has named these rulers as the early Turkish rulers of Delhi. The word Mamluk means a slave born from free parents. The name Mamluk has been given by historian Habibullah. Among Qutubuddin Aibak, Iltutmish and Balban, Iltutmish and Balban were ‘Ilvari Turks’. Now it is necessary to know in detail about these three slave dynasties.
Who were the slave dynasty? Qutubuddin Aibak was the first king from 1206 AD to 1210 AD.
Qutubuddin belonged to a Turkic tribe named Aibak. Aibak is a Turkish word which means ‘God of the Moon’ in Hindi. Qutubuddin Aibak was born in Turkistan. In his early childhood he was estranged from his family and was taken by a merchant to the market of Nishapur, where Qazi Fakhruddin Abdul Aziz Kufi (who was a descendant of Imam Abu Hanifa) bought it. Qazi Fakhruddin nurtured Aibak like his own son since childhood and also provided him the services of archery and horse riding.
Qutubuddin Aibak was talented since childhood, as if he was born with such talent. Very soon he became expert in archery and horse riding and he gained proficiency in these arts. Qutubuddin Aibak had learned to read the Quran in a melodious voice in his childhood, hence he became famous by the name of Quran Khan (the one who recites the Quran). Qutubuddin Aibak was very happy in his life, because he had everything he wanted. But fate had something else in store, after some time Qazi Fakhruddin died, after his death his son sold Qutubuddin Aibak to a businessman.
Aibak was a slave of Qazi Fakhruddin, and he gave everything to Qutbuddin, just like he gave to his sons, that is why his sons were jealous of him, that is why they went to the slave market after the death of their father. Qutubuddin was sold to a businessman in the market. From here onwards Qutubuddin Aibak’s second life begins and in this life Qutubuddin Aibak reaches the position of a Sultan.
The merchant who bought Qutubuddin took him to the slave market of Ghazni to sell him. Coincidentally, on the same day, Mohammad Ghori had come to the market to buy slaves, and he bought Qutubuddin Aibak as soon as he saw him. And now the path to the throne of Delhi began from here for Qutubuddin Aibak.
Qutubuddin Aibak gained the trust of Mohammad Ghori within a few days on the basis of his honesty, intelligence, and unwavering devotion to his master. Mohammad Ghori was also impressed by his overall administrative qualities and appointed him to the post of Amir-e-Akhoor, which was an important post for him at that time.
While holding this post, Aibak served Sultan Mohammad Ghori well in the battles of Ghori, Baniyan and Ghazni. After this, Aibak had done even more wonders by taking Mohammad Ghori to India after his crushing defeat against Prithviraj Chauhan in the first battle of Tarain in 1191 AD. 1192 AD In the second battle of Tarain, Qutubuddin’s advice came so short that Prithviraj Chauhan was involved in the battle, which turned the tide of the war.
According to Qutbuddin’s advice, he had formed four different detachments, one of which was led by Qutbuddin Aibak. The job of this detachment was that this group would attack last. The attack by Qutubuddin Aibak’s troop was so dangerous that Prithviraj Singh Chauhan could not bear these attacks and ran away from the battlefield. Prithviraj Singh Chauhan was defeated in this war and being happy with the victory of Mohammad Ghori, Mohammad Ghori appointed Qutubuddin Aibak as the governor of the Indian territories.
Why is Delhi Sultanate famous? Qutubuddin Aibak’s magic
After the second battle of Tarain and the return of Mohammad Ghori, Qutbuddin Aibak got peace.
He was made the governor of Lee. Along with Delhi, he was the Subedar of many Indian states, but he used to do the work of Subedari in Delhi only. Most historians consider the foundation of Delhi Sultanate to be from here. After Mohammad Gauri went back, the Chauhan kings of Ajmer and Meerut declared themselves independent. But he forgot that Qutubuddin Aibak was a high-ranking devotee of Swami. He would not fight to liberate himself but for Ghori only. First of all he successfully suppressed the rebellion of Chauhans of Ajmer and then also the rebellion of Meerut. At the same time the rebellion of Mewatis was also suppressed.
On the other hand, when Mohammad Ghori came to know that many kings were revolting to free themselves in India, he immediately formed a service and left for India, but before his arrival, Qutubuddin Aibak put down all the rebellions. was successfully suppressed.
When Mohammed Ghori came back to Delhi in 1194 AD, he saw that Qutbuddin Aibak had suppressed all the rebellions, so he thought of fighting with Jaichand, the ruler of Kannauj and he sent a samaanta to Jaichand and said in it that he would conquer the Ghori Empire. But Jaichand refused to do so and decided to fight. Ghori had also made complete preparations for the war.
The service of both the kings reached a place called Chandwar on the banks of Yamuna between Kannauj and Etawah and got ready for war. When the war started, Jaichand’s service was in such a bad condition that Mohammad Ghori’s service was in such a bad condition, even the service of Prithviraj Singh Chauhan in 1191 AD was not so bad. Seva fought with Jaichand so bravely that while fighting, Ghori started regretting that he had made a big mistake by fighting with Jaichand. Even in this war, Qutubuddin Aibak’s advice to Mohammad Ghori was of no use. Ghori gave another advice that if Jaichand has to be defeated, he will have to attack his eyes.
One of the main reasons for attacking Jaichand’s eye was that like Raja Dahir, Jaichand wore a heavy iron armor on his entire body, which neither any arrow could pierce nor any sword could cut, hence it was difficult to kill him. For him, aiming at his eyes was the only option. The method used by Mohammed bin Qasim’s army to kill Raja Dahir. In this, once again Ghori’s service was successful.
Muslim historians have considered Raja Jaychandra more powerful than Prithviraj Singh Chauhan even though he was defeated by Ghori’s army. Muhammad Ghori himself considered Raja Jaychandra as his greatest admirer. Mohammad Ghori wrote in his biography that he had never seen any warrior like Raja Jaichand in his life. Even though I had to face defeat in many wars, I did not find anyone like Jaichand.
In the history of India, Jaichand is not given as much importance as Prithviraj Singh Chauhan is given, however, here there is no talk of comparison between the two, here the talk is about who were the Ghulam dynasty in Delhi Sultanate and also in this battle of Kannauj. Qutubuddin Aibak had helped Mohammad Ghori a lot.
Ascension to the throne of Qutubuddin Aibak
Mohammad Ghori was so fond of Qutubuddin Aibak that he wanted to make him his successor in India. This was also the heartfelt wish of Mohammad Gauri. To fulfill this wish, he appointed Qutubuddin Aibak as his representative in India and honored him with the title of ‘Malik’. This happened while Mohammad Ghori was alive. When the news of Mohammad Ghori’s death was received in 1206 AD, the people of Lahore invited Qutubuddin Aibak to take the throne, because they also knew that Qutubuddin Aibak was liked the most by Mohammad Ghori, that is why they invited Qutubuddin Aibak. Was invited only.
Qutubuddin Aibak also showed his shrewdness and improved his policy before assuming the reign of the state. He married his daughter to Iltutmish’s sister Nasruddin Kubcha and married himself to Tajuddin Aldej’s sister.
After the invitation from Lahore and the death of Mohammad Ghori, Qutubuddin Aibak completed his coronation on 24 June 1206 AD, three months after his coronation. Even on this occasion he did not assume the title of Sultan. Aibak knew that he would have to face a lot of difficulties immediately after this, because there Qubacha and Tajuddin Alladej were also eligible for the deck. Both of them were very ambitious and brave warriors.
Early problems of Qutbuddin Aibak’s reign.
Qutubuddin Aibak had to face many difficulties after becoming the independent Sultan of Delhi Sultanate, which are as follows.
These problems were as follows –
1 Problem of Aldose and Kubcha
The biggest problem Qutubuddin Aibak faced was to face his rivals. Kubcha had established his independent kingdom on Indus and Multan, because of this Kubcha was a problem for Qutubuddin. On the other hand, Althoj had also captured Ghazni. Both Althoj and Kubcha were ambitious people, thus due to the ambitions of Althoj and Kubcha, the very existence of Aibak was in danger.
2, Rajput faces rebellion
The second problem of Qutubuddin Aibak was that the Rajputs whom Mohammad Ghori had captured and made under his control. After the death of Mohammad Ghori, there was a feeling of freedom in the minds of those Rajputs.
Feelings had been awakened, and he was anxious to regain his lost freedom.
The Chandela Rajputs had regained control of their capital Kalinjar and raised their flag of independence, this was a big problem for Qutbuddin Aibak. The same Garhwal Rajputs also re-established their dominance over Farrukhabad and Badaun under the leadership of Harishchandra and they also hoisted the flag of their independence.
Gwalior Pratihar Rajputs, who used to pay annual tribute to Mohammad Gauri, also raised their flag of independence after the death of Mohammad Gauri. In this way, Qutubuddin Aibak had to face heavy Rajput rebellion.
Qutubuddin Aibak had to face this problem when he was suffering from the major problem of Kubcha and Aldoz. Now you can imagine for yourself that the person whose very existence was in danger had to face even bigger problems.
3. Problem of Bengal
Bengal was ruled under Ikhtiyaruddin Khilji. As long as Ikhtiyaruddin was there, the governance of Bengal was fine, as soon as he died, anarchy spread in Bengal also. Thus, as soon as he became the ruler, Aibak also had to face the troubles of Bengal.
4, Fear of Mongol invasion from Central Asia
Qutbuddin Aibak was most afraid of the invasion of Central Asia, because at that time it was ruled by Genghis Khan, the founder of Mars himself. Now you can imagine for yourself that the world started trembling with the name of Genghis Khan, and on top of that, Qutubuddin Aibak was already facing a lot of difficulties. And there was another problem in this that Khuwarizam Shah had his eyes fixed on Ghazni and Delhi, due to which it was natural for Aibak to be afraid.
Problems solved by Qutubuddin Aibak
Qutubuddin Aibak had full potential to solve all his problems and he overcame them with his patience and wisdom. Qutubuddin had also seen the era of slavery and he himself had played the role of a slave for a long time, hence he had the ability to tolerate and was well aware of how to deal with his problems.
Naseeruddin Kubcha and Qutubuddin’s struggle with Aldoz
Qutbuddin Aibak had two chief ministers, one named Nasruddin Qubacha and the other named Tajuddin Al Doz.
Kubcha was Aibak’s son-in-law, hence he did not oppose Aibak nor did he cause any kind of trouble to Aibak. I had already told you that he had played this politics even before his coronation.
The same Aldaz had forcefully taken control of Ghazni after the death of Mohammad Ghori and he wanted to join Delhi in Ghazni and for this he also attacked Punjab and wanted to conquer Delhi also while going ahead from here. Qutubuddin Aibak also made a list of attacking Ghazni to annex it to the Indian state so that Aldoze would not be allowed to capture Delhi.
In Punjab, both of them faced each other and Qutubuddin Aibak got victory. Moving forward with this victory, Qutubuddin Aibak reached Ghazni and took control over Ghazni. But after 40 days of rule he had to flee from there. The reason for this was that after capturing Ghazni, Aibak behaved harshly with the people of Ghazni. And he himself became engrossed in pleasures and enjoyments. Thus the people of Ghazni became dissatisfied with Aibak and they again invited Aldoz and rebelled against Qutubuddin Aibak.
Aibak had to leave Ghazni and return to Lahore. Even though Aibak had failed to capture Ghazni, he had suppressed the ambitions of Aldoz. After that Aldoz never had the courage to attack the Delhi Sultanate again. It was here that Qutubuddin Aibak also ended the problems of his rivals.
Isolation from the politics of Central Asia
A very wise act of Qutubuddin Aibak was that he kept Shivam completely away from the politics of Central Asia, hence Qutubuddin Aibak was protected from possible objections coming from him, which other Sultans of Delhi Sultanate could not escape.
According to Dr. A. L. Srivastava-
Qutbuddin Aibak successfully resisted attempts to establish supremacy over the Aldozas and he never allowed the Delhi Sultanate to get entangled in the politics of Central Asia.
Bengal scabies suppression
On one hand, while the slave dynasty was flourishing in Delhi, the same dynasty of Khujiyas was also flourishing in Bengal. After the death of Bakhtiyar Khilji, a chieftain named Ali Mardan Khan became the ruler of Bengal. Bakhtiyar Kichli was the ruler of Bengal, but Kichli was not liked by Sardar Ali Mardan Khan. The fellow Khijali chieftains imprisoned Ali Mardan Khan, and in his place placed Mohammad Shera on the throne of Bengal. Ali Mardan somehow escaped from captivity and went straight to Qutubuddin Aibak in Delhi Sultanate. After reaching Delhi, he requested Qutubuddin Aibak to interfere in the affairs of Bengal.
Qutubuddin Aibak took full advantage of this opportunity and participated in the politics of Bengal. Qutubuddin Aibak provided assistance to Ali Mardan Khan, and in return Ali Mardan Khan accepted the subordination of Qutubuddin Aibak, and also accepted to pay him annual tribute. With this the problem of itching in Bengal also ended. This is one of the reasons why Delhi Sultanate is famous, this is one of the reasons for this, Wisdom of Qutubuddin Aibak
Policy towards Rajput Maratha states
Mohammad Ghori had conquered many provinces of Rajputs and included them in the Delhi Sultanate of Ghori, which included the states of Rajputs like Chauhan of Ajmer, Rajput of Kannauj, Anhilwad (Gujarat), Meerut, Farrukhabad, etc.
After the death of Mohammad Ghori, all these Rajput states became independent. It was now the responsibility of the Ghulam dynasty to protect the dominance of the Delhi Sultanate. The world also came to know who the slave dynasty was. Qutubuddin Aibak first solved the problem of Althoz and Kubacha, along with that he also solved the problem of politics of Central Asia.
After ending the dominance of Khujiyas in the politics of Bengal, now it was the turn of Rajputs. Qutubuddin Aibak first put pressure on the kings of Doab and regained control of Badaun. Qutubuddin Aibak had made his most trusted and trustworthy slave the governor of this place.
Qutubuddin Aibak then captured Ajmer, Anhilwad, Kalinjar and Kannauj one by one. And this authority remained till his death
Death of Qutubuddin Aibak
Qutubuddin Aibak did not get the opportunity to rule for long. He could rule Delhi only for four years. In 1210 AD, he fell from a horse while playing Chaugan (Pole) in Lahore, due to which he suffered a head injury and died. Was received. Thus, Qutubuddin Aibak got very little time to serve as the ruler of the Delhi Sultanate.
