Jalal-ud-Din Khalji, also known as Firuz al-Din Khalji, Jalaluddin Khilji or Firuz II (; – 19 July 1296) was the Sultan of Delhi from 1290 until his death in 1296. He was the founder and first Sultan of the Khalji dynasty that ruled the Delhi Sultanate of India from 1290 to 1320.
Originally named Firuz, Jalal-ud-Din started his career as an officer of the Mamluk dynasty, and rose to an important position under Sultan Muizzuddin Qaiqabad. After Qaiqabad was paralyzed, a group of nobles appointed his infant son Shamsuddin Kayumars as the new Sultan, and subsequently tried to kill Jalal-ud-Din. Instead, Jalal-ud-Din had the group of nobles killed and became regent. A few months later, he deposed Kayumars, and became the new Sultan.
As a Sultan, he repulsed a Mongol invasion, and allowed many Mongols to settle in India after their conversion to Islam. He captured Mandawar and Jhain from the Chahamana king Hammira, although he was unable to capture the Chahamana capital Ranthambore. During his reign, his nephew Ali Gurshasp raided Bhilsa in 1293 and Devagiri in 1296.
Jalal-ud-Din, who was around 70 years old at the time of his ascension, was known as a mild-mannered, humble and kind monarch to the general public. During the first year of his reign, he ruled from Kilokhri to avoid confrontations with the old Turkic nobles of the imperial capital Delhi. Several nobles considered him as a weak ruler, and unsuccessfully attempted to overthrow him at different times. He meted out lenient punishments to the rebels, except in case of a dervish Sidi Maula, who was executed for allegedly conspiring to dethrone him. Jalal-ud-Din was ultimately assassinated by his nephew Ali Gurshasp, who subsequently ascended the throne as Alauddin Khalji.
Early life
Jalal-ud-din was a member of the Khalaj tribe, a tribe of originally Turkic origin that after migration from Turkistan had settled in Afghanistan for over 200 years, adopting many Afghan customs. The result was the birth of a Turco-Afghan culture, and the Ghilji tribe. "The Khaljis were a Turkish tribe but having been long domiciled in Afghanistan, had adopted some Afghan habits and customs. They were treated as Afghans in Delhi Court. They were regarded as barbarians. The Turkish nobles had opposed the ascent of Jalal-ud-din to the throne of Delhi."the Khiljī tribe had long been settled in what is now Afghanistan ... Khalji Dynasty. Encyclopædia Britannica. 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica. 23 August 2010.
The contemporary chronicles of the Delhi Sultanate do not provide much information about Jalaluddin's background. According to the 15th-century text Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi, Jalaluddin was a son of "Bughrush", which seems to be a mistake for Yughrush. According to Tabaqat-i Nasiri (1260), the son of Amir Yughrush - probably Jalaluddin - visited Delhi with a Mongol embassy in 1260. According to the Ilkhanate chronicler Wassaf, Jalaluddin served the Mongols as the commander (shahna) of Binban, located just west of the Indus River. According to Amir Khusrau's Miftah al-Futuh, Jalaluddin fought against the refractory Mongol and Afghan tribes in the Salt Range: it is possible that this refers to his exploits in the Mongol service.
Jalaluddin probably entered the Delhi Sultanate service sometime during the reign of Balban. According to Isami, he was in the service of Balban's son Bughra Khan. This likely happened sometime before 1280, during Bughra Khan's tenure as the governor of Samana. Jalaluddin gradually rose to prominence as a commander in north-western India, with Samana as his headquarters.
Before his ascension to the throne, Jalal-ud-din was known as Malik Firuz. He and his brother Shihabuddin (father of Alauddin Khalji) served Balban for several years. He rose to the position of sar-i-jandar (chief of the royal bodyguards), and was later appointed as the governor of the frontier province of Samana. As the governor, he distinguished himself in the Sultanate's conflicts with the Mongol invaders.
After Balban's death in 1287, Delhi's kotwal Malik al-Umara Fakhruddin enthroned Balban's teenage grandson Muiz ud din Qaiqabad (or Kayqubad) with the title Muizzuddin. Qaiqabad was a weak ruler, and the administration was actually run by his officer Malik Nizamuddin. After Nizamuddin was poisoned by some rival officers, Qaiqabad summoned Jalal-ud-din from Samana to Delhi, gave him the title "Shaista Khan", appointed him as the ariz-i-mumalik, and made him the governor of Baran.
By this time, Qaiqabad's health had deteriorated, and two rival factions of nobles vied for the power in Delhi. One faction, led by Malik Aytemur Surkha, sought to maintain the power of the old Turkic nobility, and wanted to retain Balban's family on the throne. The other faction, led by Jalal-ud-din, supported the rise of the new nobility.
As a regent of Kayumars
When Qaiqabad was incurably paralyzed, Malik Surkha and his associate Malik Kachhan appointed his infant son Kayumars (or Kayumarth) on the throne with the title Shamsuddin II. The two nobles then conspired to kill their rival nobles, including Jalal-ud-din (then Malik Firuz). At this time, Jalal-ud-din was conducting an inspection of the royal army at Bhugal Pahari (Baharpur according to Ziauddin Barani). His nephew Malik Ahmad Chap, who held the office of naib-i amir-i hajib, informed him about the conspiracy. Jalal-ud-din then moved his quarters to Ghiyaspur, and summoned his relatives from Baran on the pretext of preparing for an impending Mongol invasion. Other officers on Surkha's hit list also joined the Khaljis.
Shortly after, Jalal-ud-din received an order summoning him to the royal court in Delhi, and realized that this was part of a plot to kill him. He excused himself on the pretext of conducting an inspection of the army at Kannauj. Kachhan then personally marched from Delhi to Kannauj, and told Jalal-ud-din that his presence was sought in Delhi immediately. Jalal-ud-din pretended not knowing anything about the conspiracy, and requested Kachhan to rest in a tent, while he finished the inspection. In the tent, Jalal-ud-din had Kachhan beheaded, and had his body thrown into the Yamuna River, starting a war between the two rival factions.
Jalal-ud-din's sons marched to Delhi, entered the royal palace, and brought the titular Sultan Kayumars to Jalal-ud-din's camp. Malik Surkha and his associates tried to retrieve Kayumars, but were captured and killed. Jalal-ud-din's men also abducted some sons of Malik al-Umara Fakhruddin, the kotwal of Delhi, and therefore, Fakhruddin dissuaded the people of Delhi from trying to retrieve Kayumars.
After eliminating the officers of the rival faction, Jalal-ud-din continued to acknowledge Kayumars as the Sultan of Delhi. He became the governor of Bhatinda, Dipalpur and Multan provinces. Initially, he offered Kayumars' regency to Balban's nephew Malik Chajju and Fakhruddin. However, Malik Chajju preferred to be the governor of Kara-Manikpur, and Fakhruddin also rejected the offer. Therefore, Jalal-ud-din himself became the regent.
Qaiqabad died on 1 February 1290: according to Yahya Sirhindi he died of starvation after being neglected, but another account states that he was murdered on Jalal-ud-din's orders by an officer whose father had been executed by him. Kayumars' titular reign (1290) lasted for around 3 months, before he was deposed by Jalal-ud-din.
Ascension to the throne
Jalal-ud-din (known as Malik Firuz until this point), ascended the throne of Delhi in June 1290, at the unfinished Kilokhri (also Kilughari or Kailugarhi) Palace near Delhi. At the time of his ascension, Jalal-ud-din was very unpopular. He had little support among the old Turkic nobles, who viewed him as an Afghan (Pashtun), believing him to be of non-Turkic ancestry. In addition, he was an old man of around 70 years, and his mild nature was seen as unsuitable for the position. Because of his unpopularity, he decided not to move to Balban's palace at Delhi, and lived at Kilokhri, an Afghan enclave which served as the de facto capital. He finished the palace, and turned Kilokhri into an important town.
Jalal-ud-din avoided making any radical changes to the administrative set-up, and retained the old Turkic nobles in the offices that they held during Balban's reign. For example, Fakhruddin was retained as the kotwal of Delhi, Khwaja Khatir was retained as the wazir, and Balban's nephew Malik Chajju was retained as the governor of Kara-Manikpur. The surviving members of Balban's royal family moved to Kara under Chajju's governorship.
At the same time, Jalal-ud-din appointed his relatives and associates to the important offices. He appointed his brother Yaghrash Khan as the head of the army ministry (), and his nephew Ahmad Chap as . He gave his eldest son Mahmud the title Khan-i-Khan; the next two sons were given the titles Arkali Khan and Qadr Khan. He also appointed his nephews Ali Gurshasp (later Sultan Alauddin) and Almas Beg as Amir-i-Tuzuk (equivalent to Master of ceremonies) and Akhur-beg (equivalent to Master of the Horse) respectively.
Gradually, Jalal-ud-din overcame the initial hostility that he had faced from the citizens of Delhi. He gained reputation as a humble and kind-hearted monarch, as opposed to the preceding despots like Balban. After entering Delhi, he had the royal entrance to the Red Palace dismounted, and refused to sit on the king's seat in the royal audience-hall, saying that the crown had been forced upon him because of the malicious intents of Surkha and Kachhan.
Malik Chajju's revolt
While the general public admired Jalal-ud-din as a kind-hearted and sincere person, a section of nobles despised him as a weak ruler. In August 1290, Balban's nephew Malik Chajju Kashli Khan, who now headed the former royal family, staged a revolt against Jalal-ud-din at Kara. Chajju seems to have opted for the governorship of the easternmost province of Kara-Manikpur to remain away from imperial control, and possibly, because he hoped to seek support from his cousin Bughra Khan (father of Qaiqabad), who had become an independent ruler of the eastern Bengal region in 1287.
Chajju styled himself as Sultan Mughisuddin, and declared his independence. As a mark of his sovereignty, he issued his own coins, and had the khutba read in his name. Ali Hatim Khan, the governor of Awadh, as well as other older nobles appointed in the eastern region, supported him. Chajju was also supported by a number of Hindu chiefs of the Gangetic plains, who had not paid their tribute for some years, and who swore allegiance to Balban's family. Under these circumstances, Jalal-ud-din's loyal officers in the Ganga-Yamuna Doab region started withdrawing from the region.
Chajju was confident that he enjoyed more support than Jalal-ud-din, who was yet to find favour among the old nobles of Delhi and its neighbouring areas. Therefore, he marched towards Delhi along the left bank of the Ganges River, and then the Ramganga River. He probably planned to enter Delhi from Amroha area. At Badaun, his supporters Malik Bahadur and Alp Ghazi joined him with their troops.