In this article we will discuss about the successors of Balban.
Balban had nominated Kai Khusrav, son of prince Muhammad as his heir to the throne. But Fakhr-ud-din, Kotwal of Delhi plotted against him and forced him either to flee to Multan or arranged a governorship for him. He, with the consent of other nobles, placed Kaiqubad, son of Bughra Khan of Bengal, on the throne.
Kaiqubad was a young man of either seventeen or eighteen years of age at the time of his accession to the throne. He was a handsome, educated and cultured young man but he was inexperienced in the ways of life and soon became a prey to luxuries of life. Nizam-ud-din, son-in-law of kotwal Fakhr-ud-din took advantage of it. He encouraged the youthful Sultan to enjoy material pleasures of life.
Kaiqubad who had never touched wine and seen the face of a woman so far was easily tempted and indulged himself in wine and women. His courtiers, who had become disgusted with restraints imposed by Balban on them, followed his example.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
Quite naturally, the administration was neglected and Nizam-ud-din who was simply the Dad Beg (city officer) virtually became the naib and grabbed the power of the state. But he did not remain satisfied with the position of being power behind the throne.
He desired to become Sultan himself and neglected even the advice of his father-in-law. Kai Khusrav was murdered after six months. Vazir Khawaji Khatir was deposed from his post and publicly humiliated and many Turkish nobles were killed. It created resentment among the nobility and many of them became firmly opposed to Nizam-ud-din.
Bughra Khan, father of Kaiqubad came to know about the happenings at the royal court and advised his son through letters to improve himself. But when it brought about no result, he decided to meet his son personally and marched towards Delhi with his army. Kaiqubad also marched against him and they faced each other near Ayodhya.
Nizam-ud-din advised Kaiqubad to fight but because of advice of certain loyal nobles, the meeting between father and the son could be arranged. The father and the son remained together for three days and Bughra Khan advised Kaiqubad to leave the life of luxury and make himself free from Nizam-ud-din.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
Kaiqubad could not follow the advice of his father regarding his personal life and again engaged in physical pleasures but he became determined to dispense with Nizam-ud-din and therefore, got him poisoned. Kaiqubad soon lost his health and left the administration in the hands of two Turkish nobles. Malik Kachhan and Malik Aitwar Surkha.
Another noble, Jalal-ud-din Khalji also rose into prominence who was appointed commander of the army of the Sultan and was assigned the jagir of Bulandshahr. Khaljis were regarded as non-Turks and, therefore, the appointment of Jalal-ud- din as commander of the army was resented by Turkish nobles who decided to murder him.
By that time Kaiqubad was struck down with paralysis and Turkish nobles had raised his three-year old son Kayumars to the throne as the Sultan. The inability of the Sultan raised the ambitions of the nobles again and the power-game started.
While Malik Surkha tried to murder Jalal-ud-din, Jalal-ud- din, in turn tried to finish him. Ultimately, Jalal-ud-din succeeded, captured Delhi, became the guardian of Sultan Kayumars but got him murdered only after three months. Thus, ended the slave-dynasty and with it ended the period of supremacy of the Turks in India.