Alauddin Khilji - Victories [History Notes for UPSC]

Alauddin Khalji was one of the most powerful rulers from the Khalji dynasty and became the Sultan of Delhi. He murdered his father-in-law and consolidated his power in Delhi. During his reign, Alauddin defended his kingdom against the Mongol invasions, at Jaran-Manjur, Sivistan, Kili, Delhi, and Amroha.

Later, he also raided and annexed Hindu kingdoms such as Gujarat, Ranthambore, Chittor, Malwa, Siwana, and Jalore. During the last years of his life, Alauddin suffered from an illness and handed over the charges of administration to Malik Kafur.

This is an important topic for UPSC and other government exams.

Reign of Alaudin Khilji (1296 – 1316)

Alaudin Khilji became the Sultanate of Delhi and started annexing various kingdoms in India.

This list of his annexed kingdoms are covered below:

Gujarat (1299) :

• This was his first army attack after becoming the ruler
• He was aware of the weak economic status of Gujarat even before sitting on the throne, hence he found it very convenient to attack Gujarat
• The King of Gujarat at this time was ‘Karna’
• Karna rescued himself and his family to Devagiri in Maharashtra due to fear of this attack
• However, on the way itself, his daughter Deval Devi was caught and Alauddin got her married to his son Khijr Khan
• Here, Malik Kafur, who was a slave met Alauddin and he played a very major role in the expansion of Alauddin’s kingdom

  Ranthambhore (1301) :

• It was ruled by the Chauhan dynasty
• The ruler then was Hamir Dev
• Hammir Dev gave refuge to the ‘new Muslims’. This was not appreciated by Alauddin,  and thus he attacked Ranthambore.
• Hammir Dev Chauhan was defeated by Alauddin in this battle
• One of his main sardars ‘Nusrat Khan’ got killed in this battle

  Chittor (1303) :

• The reason why Chittor was attacked was that it was in the way of trade route to Gujarat
• The famous Sufi poet and scholar Amir Khusrow also accompanied Alauddin in this battle
• The fort was renamed as Khijrabad after this victory
• It was named after Alauddin’s son Khijr Khan

    Apart from the above, his major victories also included Malwa, Jalore and Marwar.   Post this, he started the expansion towards South India.

South India

  Devgiri (1306-07) :

• The Yadav dynasty ruled it during this time under the king Ramdev
• The kingdom of Devgiri was attacked when Ramdev refused to pay the yearly tax to Alauddin
• Ramdev was brought to Delhi, where he later surrendered

  Warangal/ Telangana (1308) :

• The Kakatiya dynasty was ruling here under the ruler Pratap Rudra Dev
• His kingdom was immensely rich, which eventually became a reason for Alauddin’s attack
• He accepted Alauddin’s rule and gifted him the Kohinoor diamond

  Dwar Samudra (1310) :

• It was geographically located on the west coast of the state of Karnataka
• It was ruled by Hoysala dynasty under Ballal III

  Madura (1311) :

• The Pandya dynasty ruled it under Vir and Sundar Pandya
• Vir Pandya and Sundar Pandya developed a conflict
• During this course, Sundar Pandya asked help from Alauddin
• Sundar Pandya and Alauddin together defeated Vir Pandya
• Sundar Pandya, in turn, accepted Alauddin’s rule

  The commander of all South Indian Victories was Malik Kafur.

Related Links: