The Khaljis And The Expansion Of The Sultanate To The South

In March, 1307, ‘Ala-ud-din sent an expedition under Kafur, now entitled Malik Naib (lieutenant) of the kingdom, against Ramchandradeva of Devagiri, who had withheld the payment of the tribute due on account of the province of Ellichpur, for the last three years, and had given refuge to Rai Karnadeva II, the fugitive ruler of Gujarat. Assisted by Khwaja Haji (deputy ariz-i-mamalik), Kafur marched through Malwa, and advanced to Devagiri. He laid waste the whole country, seized much booty and compelled Ramchandradeva to sue for peace. Ramchandradeva was sent to ‘Ala-ud-din at Delhi, where the Sultan treated him kindly and sent him back to his kingdom after six months. Ramchandradeva continued to rule thenceforth as a vassal of the Delhi Sultanate and regularly remitted revenue to Delhi. Rai Karna’s daughter, Devala Devi, was captured by the invader and taken by Alp Khan, governor of Gujarat, to Delhi, where she was married to the Sultan’s eldest son, Khizr Khan. 

An expedition sent by ‘AIa-ud-din against Kakatiya Prataparudradeva in A.D. 1303 had failed. But the humiliation of the Yadavas encouraged him to make a second attempt in 1309 to bring the Kakatiya king under his authority and fleece him of his wealth. The Sultan had no desire to annex the kingdom of Warangal, the administration of which from a great distance would prove to be a difficult task. His real object was to acquire the vast wealth of this kingdom and make Prataparudradeva acknowledge his authority. This is clear from his instruction to Kafur, who commanded the invading army: “If the Rai consented to surrender his treasure and jewels, elephants and horses, and also to send treasure and elephants in the following year, Malik- Naib Kafur was to accept these terms and not to press the Rai too hard”. On reaching Devagiri, the Delhi army was assisted by the now humble Ramchandradeva, who also supplied it with an efficient commissariat, as it marched towards Telingana. Prataparudravdeva tried to resist the invaders by shutting himself up in the strong fort of Warangal. But the fort was besieged with such vigour that, being reduced to extremities, the Kakatiya ruler had to open negotiations for peace in March, 1310. He surrendered to Kafur a hundred elephants, seven thousand horses, and large quantities of jewels and coined money and agreed to send tribute annually to Delhi. Kafur then returned to Delhi through Devagiri, Dhar and Jhain with an immense booty, carried, as Amir Khusrav writes, “on a thousand camels groaning under the ‘weight of treasure”‘.

Ranthambhor, though reduced by Qutb-ud-din and Iltutmish, had been recovered by the Rajputs, and was then held by the brave Rajput chief Hamir Deva. He had given shelter to some of the discontented “New Mussalmans”, which offended ‘Ala-ud-din. In A.D. 1299, the Sultan sent an expedition for the reduction of the fortress, under the command of his brother, Ulugh Khan, and Nusrat Khan, who then held the fiefs of Biyana and Kara respectively. They reduced Jhain and encamped before Ranthambhor, but were soon beaten back by the Rajputs. Nusrat Khan was killed by a stone discharged from a catapult (maghribi) in the fort while he was superintending the construction of a mound (pashib) and a redoubt (gargaj). On hearing of this discomfiture of his troops, ‘Ala-ud-din marched in person towards Ranthambhor.

While enjoying the chase with only a few attendants at Tilpat, on his way to the fortress, he was attacked and wounded in his defenseless condition by his nephew, Akat Khan, acting in concert with some “New Mussalmans”. But the traitor was soon captured and put to death with his associates. Other conspiracies to deprive ‘Ala-ud-din of his throne were also suppressed. He captured the stronghold of Ranthambhor in July, 1301, with considerable difficulty, after one year’s siege. Hamir Deva, and the “New Mussalmans” who had found shelter with him, were put to death. Amir Khusrav, who gives an interesting account of the siege of the fortress, writes: “One night the Rai lit a fire at the top of the hill, and threw his women and family into the flames, and, rushing on the enemy with a few devoted adherents, they sacrificed their lives in despair.”I Hamir’s minster, Ranmal, who had betrayed his master and gone over to the side of the enemy with several other comrades, was paid back in his own coin for his treachery by being done to death by the order of the Sultan. ‘Ala-ud-din started for Delhi after placing Ulugh Khan in charge of Ranthambhor, but the latter died five months after the Sultan’s departure.

‘Ala-ud-din also organised an expedition against Mewar, the land of the brave Guhila Rajputs, which, being provided by Nature with sufficient means of defence, had so long defied external invasions.

 This expedition, as in the case of Ranthambhor, was, in all probability, the outcome of the Sultan’s ambitious desire for territorial expansion. If tradition is to be believed, its immediate cause was his infatuation for Rana Ratan Singh’s queen, Padmini, of exquisite beauty. But this fact is not explicitly mentioned in any contemporary chronicle or inscription. The Rana was carried as a captive to the Sultan’s camp, but was rescued by the Rajputs in a chivalrous manner. A small band of Rajputs under their two brave leaders, Gora and Badal, resisted the invaders at the outer gate of the fort of Chitor, but they could not long withstand the organised strength of the Delhi army. When further resistance seemed impossible, they preferred death to disgrace, and performed, as Tod describes, “that horrible rite, the jauhar, where the females are immolated to preserve them from pollution or captivity. The funeral pyre was lighted within the ‘great subterranean retreat’ , in chambers impervious to the light of day, and the defenders of Chitor beheld in procession the queens, their own wives and daughters, to the number of several thousands. The fair Padmini closed the throng. They were conveyed to the cavern, and the opening closed upon them, leaving them to find security from dishonour in the devouring element”.

Amir Khusrav, who accompanied the Sultan’s army on the Chitor expedition, writes that the fort of Chitor was captured by ‘AIa-ud-din on the 26th August, 1303, and that the latter bestowed the government of Chitor on his eldest son, Khizr Khan, and renamed the city Khizrabad before he returned to Delhi. Owing to the pressure of the Rajputs, Khizr Khan had to leave Chitor about the year 1311, and it was then entrusted by the Sultan to Maldeo, the chief of Jalor. But after several years, Chitor was recovered by the Rajputs under Hamir or his son and became once again the capital of Mewar.