Page 28 - SST Class 07

consolidator of the Slave dynasty and the Delhi RAZIYA SULTANA (1236-40)
Sultanate. According to them, Aibak was the
ruler for four years only. There was so much
anarchy after his death that the Sultanate of
Delhi seemed slipping and a powerful ruler was
needed to control the situation and Iltutmish rose
equal to the occasion.
When we peruse the history, we find that
Mohammad-bin-Qasim was the first Muslim
invader who came to India, but he conquered
only Sindh and Multan. In the words of Lane-
poole “It was a mere episode in the history of
India”. Mahmud Ghaznavi was the second great
Muslim invader but his seventeen successful
expeditions were primarily meant for plunder. His
invasions did not lead to the establishment of
any Muslim Kingdom in India.
For about 150 years, there was no attempt to
found any Muslim empire in India. Mohammad
Ghori conquered the bulk of Hindustan, but
most of his time was spent in Ghazni — out of
India. He himself did not rule over India, but left
to his viceroy Aibak.
Aibak extended his kingdom and formed an
independent Muslim state in India. Since his rule
was very short-lived, he could not consolidate
the Sultanate. But, the credit of founding the
Sultanate must go to him. Of course, Iltutmish
strengthened the foundation and saved the infant
Muslim empire from collapsing.
Iltutmish Tomb
Social Science-7
Iltutmish was a broad-minded ruler. It is proved
by the fact that though he had sons, he consid-
ered none of them worthy of the throne. He
decided to nominate his daughter Raziya to the
throne. Thus, the nomination of a daughter to
the throne in preference to sons was a very bold
and a novel step.
After becoming the ruler, Raziya refused to be a
puppet. She discarded female dress and started
holding court with the face unveiled. She even
hunted and led the army in war. However, she
faced a lot of opposition from the Turkish nobles
who did not approve of her independent ways.
One important chronicler of that period Minhaj-i-
Siraj reflected this discomfort at having a woman
as a ruler in his accounts. Raziya was finally
murdered in 1240. Thus, ended the short, but
significant reign of Raziya.
Raziya Sultana
NASIR-UD-DIN MAHMUD (1246-1265)
Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud’s accession to the throne
after Razia’s death and as a matter of fact while
she was away from Delhi in connection with
checking revolts, the ‘Corps of Forty’ had made
Bahram Shah, (1240- 1242) the son of Iltutmish
as the Sultan of Delhi.
The ‘Corps of Forty’ pressurised the Sultan to
work according to their dictates.
The Sultan, however, tried to exert himself which
cost him his life.
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