- Qutb-ud-din Aybak
Qutb-ud-din Aybak (Persian / Urdu: قطب الدین ایبک) was a of medieval India, the first Sultan of Delhi and founder of the
Slave dynasty (also known as the "Ghulam" dynasty). He served assultan for only four years, from 1206 to 1210.Early years
Qutb-ud-din was born somewhere in
Central Asia ; he was of Turkic descent. [ [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-46903/India India: The early Turkish sultans] ] [ [http://www.thenagain.info/webChron/India/SlaveDelhi.html Slave Dynasty and the Beginning of the Delhi Sultanate] ] While still a child he was captured and sold as a slave ("ghulam"). He was purchased by the chief Qazi ofNishapur , a town in the province ofKhorasan in northeasternIran . The Qazi treated him like one of his own sons, and Aibak received a good education, including fluency in Persian andArabic [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=XrQ9AAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=history+india&as_brr=1 Fluent in Persian and Arabic (page 2)] ] and training in archery and horsemanship. When his master died, his master's sons, who were jealous of Aibak, sold him to a slave merchant. Qutb-ud-din was purchased by SultanMuhammad Ghori , ruler ofGhor in north-westernAfghanistan .Career
Starting with his native Ghor, an
Aimak principality, Muhammad Ghori managed to establish control over most of present-dayAfghanistan ,Pakistan andnorthern India sacking Delhi in 1193. He established the first verifiable Muslim administration through collection of state taxes, establishing the rule of law, equitable distribution of land and revenues to the nobles under his charge and governance based on a mixture of locally elected representation through Mashura courts and nominated administrators.Qutb-ud-din rose through the ranks to become Sultan Ghori's most trusted general. His greatest military successes occurred while he was directly under Sultan Ghori's guidance and leadership. Qutb-ud-din was responsible for executing and consolidating Sultan Ghori's conquests in northern India. He was left in increasingly independent charge of the Indian campaigns and the exaction of levies from the areas in
India that were under Sultan Ghori's conquests, as after 1192 Sultan Ghori concentrated onCentral Asia .Founding of the Delhi Sultanate
Muhammad Ghori established the first real Muslim state in North India. Upon Sultan Ghori's death in 1206, Qutb-ud-din Aybak, after a brief power struggle, succeeded in establishing himself as ruler of the empire in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and
northern India ; Ghori's Central Asian possessions had been captured by none other than theMongol warlord,Genghis Khan .The areas over which Qutb-ud-din established his rule were those over which he already exercised power as Sultan Ghori's local receiver-general of periodic exactions and levies. Therefore, although his formal tenure as ruler was only four years, Qutb-ud-din managed to consolidate the administrative system that was established by his predecessor Sultan Ghori. This was achieved despite his having to quell rebellions by nobles like Taj-ud-din Ildiz and Nasir-ud-din Qubachah. Qutb-ud-din ruled initially fromLahore and later moved the capital toDelhi ; he is hence considered the first Muslim ruler ofSouth Asia .Qutb-ud-din Aybak initiated the construction of
Delhi 's earliestMuslim monuments, the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque and theQutub Minar .Historical records compiled by Muslim historian Maulana Hakim Saiyid Abdul Hai attest to the iconoclasm of Qutb-ud-din Aybak. The first mosque built in Delhi [ [http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routes/1200_1299/index_1200_1299.html Index_1200-1299] ,"Columbia.edu"] .These were completed by his successor,Iltutmish . Aibak,was otherwise known as "Lakh Baksh" or "giver of hundred thousands" because of his generosity. He was thus a piousMuslim , praised by contemporary Muslim clerics. He also patronized Nizami and Fakh-i-Mudabbir, both of whom dedicated their works to Aibak.Death and succession
Qutb-ud-din died accidentally in 1210. While he was playing a game of
polo on horseback (polo aka chougan in India), his horse fell and Qutb-ud-din was impaled on the pommel of his saddle. He was buried near theAnarkali bazaar inLahore . Shams-ud-din Iltutmish, another ex-slave of Turkic ancestry who was married to Qutb-ud-din's daughter, succeeded him as sultan of Delhi.Qutb-ud-din Aibak's tomb is located behind Anarkali bazaar today. In the early 1970's, it was renovated at the orders of the then Prime Minister
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto .A picture of Qutb-ud-din Aibak's tomb may be viewed at Webshots; originally uploaded by 'ajmalbeig' on July 4, 2004 [http://travel.webshots.com/photo/1159532555028039454GfBseo]
See also
*
History of India
*List of mausolea
*Mamluk dynasty of Delhi
*Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque References
External links
* [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-46903/India India: The early Turkish sultans]
* [http://www.thenagain.info/webChron/India/SlaveDelhi.html Slave Dynasty and the beginning of the Delhi Sultanate]
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