What are the early difficulties of Iltutmish?

Answer 1

Difficulties of Iltutamish

When Iltutmish

became the ruler in 1211, he had a large number of difficulties to face. Instead of being disheartened by them, he faced them boldly and overcame them all. He took prompt action against Qutbi

and Muizzi

Maliks

and gave them a crushing defeat in the neighbourhood of Delhi. He consolidated his position in the area around Delhi. He also secured a letter of manumission from Yildoz.

Yildoz

Taj-ud-Din

Yildoz

was a formidable foe of Iltutmish.

He considered himself to be the successor of Muhammad Ghori

and was not prepared to allow the Muslim Empire in India to be independent. In 1214, Yildoz

came to Lahore and occupied the same. This was too much for Iltutmish.

He marched against Yildoz

and defeated him in the Battle of Tarain

near Thanesar.

Yildoz

was made a prisoner and sent to the fortress of Badaun

where he was later on put to death. It was in this way that Iltutmish

was successful in disposing of one of his enemies.

Qabacha

Iltutmish

was also successful against Nasir-ud-din

Qabacha

who ruled over Uch

and Multan. After the death of Qutb-ud-Din,

Qabacha

had occupied even a portion of the Punjab. As Qabacha

refused to recognize Iltutmish

as overlord, lltutmish

declared war against him in 1217 and he was successful in driving him out of the Punjab. As the power of Qabacha

was not completely crushed,' he managed to remain independent for another decade.

In 1227, Iltutmish

once again marched against him and was successful in capturing Uch

without much resistance. Qabacha

escaped from Uch

and took shelter in Bhakkar.

When Bhakkar

also was besieged by Iltutmish,

Qabacha

lost heart and asked for peace. He sent his son Masud

Bahram

to negotiate the terms but he was impirisoned.

Qabacha

was so much upset that he tried to escape from Bhakkar

but was drowned in the River Indus. One view is that he was killed in an accident. Still another view is that he committed suicide. Whatever the truth, Iltutmish

captured Bhakkar

and appointed Vizir

Muhammad Junaidi

to complete the conquest for Lower Sindh.

Bengal

After the death of Qutb-ud-Din

Aibak,

Ali Mardan

declared himself independent in Bengal and took up the title of Ala-ud-Din.

However, he died after two years. He was succeeded by his son Hisam-ud-Din

Iwaz.

The latter took up the title of Ghias-ud-Din

and struck coins in his own name. Even the Khutba

was read in his name. This was too much for Iltutmish

to put up with such defiance. No wonder, he sent an expedition against him in 1225 and he followed the same.

Ghias-ud-Din

heard the approach of Iltutmish,

he at once submitted and agreed to lay a huge sum as tribute. The submission of Ghias-ud-Din

was not a lasting one and after some he once again raised the standard of revolt. Another expedition was sent against him.

Ghias-ud-Din

was defeated and killed and Bengal was completely brought under the throne of Delhi. When Nasir-ud-Din

who had conquered Bengal died in 1229, the Khalji

Maliks

revolted in lengal

under Balka.

Iltutmish

himself went to Bengal at the head of the army and defeated Balka

id put Ala-ud-Din

Jani

in charge of Bengal.

The Rajputs

After the death of Aibak,

the Rajputs

did their best to drive away theTurks.The

Chandelas

covered Kalinjar

and Ajaigarh.

The Pratiharas

drove away the Muslim Garrisons from Gwalior d reoccupied the city. They also occupied Narwar

and Jhansi.

The Chauhan

Ruler of Ranthambhor

rends out the Turkish troops and brought under his control Jodhpur

and the adjacent areas.

The hauhans

of Jalor

conquered once again Nadol,

Mandor,

Bharmer,

Ratnapur,

Sanchor,

Radhadhara,

hera,

Ramasin

and Bhinamal.

Jadon

Bhattis

established their sovereignty in Northern Alwar,

Bayana

and Thangir

put an end to Turkish supremacy and became independent.

Iltutmish

could not be expected to allow the Rajputs

to remain independent for long. In 1226, he besieged Ranthambhor,

captured it and regarrisoned

it. Mandor,

capital of the Parmara

Rajputs,

was also captured and regarrisoned.

Next he besieged Jalor.

Udai

Singh,

its ruler, offered stiff Resistance.

Ultimately, he was made to surrender. However, he was allowed to continue as ruler, on the condition of his payment of tribute. Bayana

and Thangir

were also recaptured. Ajmer

was captured after stiff resistance. Nagair

in Jodhpur

was recovered. In 1231, Gwalior was besieged. Malayavarma

Deva, it ruler, fought bravely but ultimately surrendered.

Trilokyavarma,

the ruler of Kalinjar,

abandoned Kalinjar

and the same was plundered. However, the Chandelas

were able to trun

out the Muslims once again. Iltutmish

led the attack on Nagada

in person. However, he was defeated by Ksetra

Singh,

its ruler and Iltutmish

suffered heavy losses. Iltutmish

tried to subdue jthe

Chalukyas

of Gujarat but he was unsuccessful.

In 1234-35, Iltutmish

led an expedition to Malwa.

He plundered Bhilsa

and Ujjain.

He also destroyed the temple of Mahakal

at Ujjain.

The contention of Sir Wolseley

Haig

is that Iltutmish

conquered and annexed Malwa

but it appears that it was merely a raid and not a war of conquest.

The Doab

Badaun

Kanauj,

Banaras

and Katehar

(Rohilkhand)

etc., asserted their independence in the time of Iltutmish.

However, as soon as Iltutmish

was able to re-establish

his authority, he took
action against them. One by one, Badaun,

Kanauj

and Banaras

were recaptured.

The same was the case with Katehar.

An expedition was sent to Bahraich

and the same was captured. Avadh

was also brought under Delhi after stiff resistance. It was found difficult to defeat a local tribe which was fighting under their chief named Bartu

or Pirthu.

The Turks were defeated by them on many occasions and more than a lakh

of the troops were destroyed by them. It was only after the death of Prithu

that the local tribes were subdued. Expeditions were also sent against Chandwara

and Tirhut.

The Mongols

In the year 1221, the Mongols appeared for the first time on the banks of the river Indus under their famous leader Changiz

Khan who had overrun the countries of Central and Western Asia with lightning rapidity.' When he attacked Jalal-ud-Din

Mangabami,

the last Shah crKhwarizm

of Khiva,

the latter fled to the Punjab. He asked Iltutmish

to give him shelter.

Iltutmish

felt that by helping Jalal-ud-Din

he would be inviting trouble from Changiz

Khan. Consequently he wrote back saying that although he had no objection to giving him shelter, he was afraid that the climate of the Punjab would not suit him.

This was a very polite way of refusing the request. The result was that Jalal-ud-Din

entered into an alliance with the Khokhars.

He defeated Nasir-ud-Din

Qabacha

of Multan and plundered Sindh

and Northern Gujarat. After that he went away to Persia.

The Mongols also retired. Thus, the infant Muslim Empire in India was saved. The last expedition of Iltutmish

was directed against Banian.

According to Raverty,

this was situated in hill tracts of the Sindh

Sagar

Doab

or in the country immediately West of the Salt Range. Iltutmish

was attacked on the way by such a severe illness that he had to be carried back to Delhi in a litter. The disease proved fatal and he died on 29 April, 1236.

The famous Qutb

Minar

near Mehrauli

in Delhi was got completed by Iltutmish

in the year 1231 -1232. It stands as a testimony to the greatness of Iltutmish.

The Qutb

Minar

was not named after Qutb-ud-Din

Aibak

but after Khwaja

Qutb-ud-Din-a

native of Uch

near Baghdad who had come to live in Hindustan and was held in great esteem by Iltutmish

and others. Out of gratitude, Iltutmish

got the names of his patrons, Qutb-ub-Din

Aibak

and Sultan Muiz-ud-Din,

inscribed on it. A magnificent mosque was also built by the orders of the Sultan.

The reign of Iltutmish

saw the decline of Lahore and the rise of Delhi. Delhi gradually became the greatest centre of learning and culture in the East. Great scholars like Nur-ud-Din,

Mohammad Aufi,

Minhaj-us-Siraj

and Hasan

Nizami

were assembled in his court. Likewise, many saints, artists and artisans also flocked to Delhi. The result was that Delhi became "Second Baghdad."

Minhajus

Siraj

tells us that Changiz

Khan was a tall, well built man, with a robust frame. He had eat-like

eyes. He was extremely brave, wise, far-sighted,

clever and just, excellent in administration and in over-throwing

his enemies.

He was a terrible killer and a ferocious blood-shedder.

His justice was so severe that no one except the owner had the courage to pick up a whip that had fallen by the road-side

An idea of the havoc brought by Changiz

Khan in his conquests is given by Juwayni

in these words : "Wherever there was a king or a ruler or the Governor of a city that offered him resistance, Changiz

Khan annihilated him together with his family and his followers, kinsmen and strangers, so that where there had been a hundred thousand people, there remained, without exaggeration, not a hundred souls alive, as a proof of which statement may be cited the fate of various cities. "

After capturing the town of Khwarizm

which lay in shambles the Mongols drove the people into the open More than a hundred thousand craftsmen were selected and sent to the countries of the east. The children and the young women were taken away as captives Order was given for the rest to be slaughtered Every Mongol soldier had to execute 24 persons. No inhabitants were left.

After the fall of Nishapur.

All of its inhabitants were brought out and slaughtered even cats and dogs were not spared. The result is that nothing remains now on the site to the great historic city. After the fall of the Fort of Taliqan

all its inhabitants were massacred.

Even cats and dogs were not spared. "The wombs of pregnant women were cut open, the heads of babies were severed, and the ramparts, palaces and houses were levelled with the ground." Prof. Habib

says that the ruthlessness of Changiz

Khan enabled him to unite the Steppeuluses

into a homogeneous unit by the complete annihilation of all rival chiefs.

His high grade intelligence cannot be doubted, nor was his genius for organisation, but his military victory due primarily to his capacity for striking below the belt - to his meanness of character in attacking the civil population on a wholesale scale.

The Delhi Sultanate owes the outlines of its administrative system to Iltutmish.

He organised the Revenue and Finance Departments. This was a task which had not been attempted by any other Muslim Ruler in India before him. An administrative structure could not be built without the support of the Turkish Nobility and that could be done either by fear or through favour.

The first was out of the question as the Muslim State in India was in its infancy and there was also the danger of Mongol invasions and opposition from the Hindus. No wonder, Iltutmish

tackled the problem in a spirit of reconciliation and compromise.

He divided the Empire into several Iqtas

which were assigned to various nobles. Every Iqtadar

had to maintain Law and Order and collect revenue. After deducting his salary and the expenses of the Government, he sent the surplus revenue to the Central Government.

The Iqtadari

system differed from the feudal system of Europe. The Iqtadars

were not the owners of the land allotted to them. They were mere functionaries. They could be transferred from one assignment to another and could even be deprived of their Iqtas

at the sweet will of the Emperor.

It is true that the Iqtadari

system was not an ideal one but it suited the needs of the moment. The system also satisfied the vanity of the nobles and they could be prevented from frittering away their energy in mutual fights or in opposing the Emperor.

In order to check the tendency on the part of the nobles to become too powerful, Iltutmish

set up an official nobility of slaves known as the Chahalgani

or the corps of forty. As the members of the Chahalgani

were the personal slaves of the Emperor, the latter could depend on their loyalty and allegiance and through them could keep a grip over the affairs of the Government.

It cannot be denied that by establishing peace and by curbing the centriftigal

forces, Iltutmish

created a sort of political unity and a centralised government which guaranteed protection to the. People both from foreign invasion and internal disturbances.

Iltutmish

inscribed upon his coins the proud legend "The Mighty Sultan, Sun of the Empire and the Faith, Conquest laden Iltutmish"

and "Aid of the Commander of the Faithful." Before Iltutmish,

the Muslim rulers issued small bullion coins of the native form and inscribed their names sometimes in Nagari

script and sometimes in Arabic. Those coins also bore symbols familiar to the Hindus, such as the bull of Shiva and the horseman. Iltutmish

was the first who introduced a purely Arabic coinage. He adopted as his standard coin the silver tanka,

the ancestor of the rupee, weighing 175 grains. Gold tankas

of the same weight were introduced later on by Balban.

Iltutmish

was a pious Muslim. He was very particular about his five daily prayers. However, he was intolerant towards the Shias.

No wonder, the Ismail-Shias

revolted against him but their revolt was crushed. A large number of them were put to death.

His treatment of the Hindus was also not enlightened. He continued to persecute them. Iltutmish

cannot be described as a constructive statesman. However, through his courage and bravery, he was able to save the infant Muslim empire in India. He continued the work started by Qutb-ud-Din

Aibak.