Jalaluddin Firoz Khalji: Founder of Khilji Dynasty

Accession of Jalaluddin Firoz Khalji to the throne of Delhi Sultanate in AD 1290 resulted in the foundation of Khilji Dynasty which ruled till 1320. He became the first Khilji Sultan after murdering Slave Sultan Kaiqubad (grandson of Slave Sultan Balban) and deposing latter’s infant son Kayumars. With the rise of the Khiljis, the Turkish nobility began to lose their influence. 

His coronation was held in Kilokhari (Kilughari), a suburb of Delhi, not in the city, for the dominant Turkish population of Delhi considered him to be an Afghan usurper and consequently resented his accession to the throne.  

Jalaluddin Khilji was in his seventies at the time of his ascension. 

Lenient in his treatment of his opponents and fellow Muslims, Jalaluddin Khilji was averse to punishing even those who sought to overthrow him. When Balban’s nephew Malik Chajju, governor of Kara, unfurled the banner of revolt in the second year of Jalaluddin Khaljis reign, the sultan entertained him with wine and released him from prison where the latter had found himself after being defeated by the Delhi forces.  This behaviour of Jalaluddin Khilji did not go down well with the Khilji nobles. 

Jalaluddin Khilji was killed by his son-in-law and successor Alauddin Khilji in 1296. 

Qiran-us-sadin, Meeting of two Sultans

Qiran-us-sadin is the first historical masnavi of Amir Khusrau, the mediaeval Sufi mystic and poet.

Written in verse in 1289, it describes the much talked about meeting between Bughra Khan, a Bengal Sultan and his son Kaiqubad (Kaiqubad), the last ruler of the Mamluk dynasty of Delhi Sultanate. Bughra Khan, who was appointed governor of Bengal by his father Balban, declined to be the Delhi Sultan and instead became an independent ruler of Bengal after the death of his father in 1287. Balban was succeeded by Kaiqubad on the throne of Delhi Sultanate. 

Qiran-us-sadin was written on the instructions of Kaiqubad. 

Riyaz-us-Salatin of Ghulam Husain Salim

Riyaz-us-Salatin is a historical work by Ghulam Husain Salim. Written in Persian, it traces the history of Bengal from Turkish general Bakhtyar Khalji’s invasion of the province in 1204-05 AD to 1788, the date in which the work was completed.

History MCQs – Set 2 - Modern India

1. First session of the Indian National Congress (INC) was conducted in Bombay from 28 to 31 December 1885. The second session of INC was presided by 

a) Badruddin Tyabji

b) Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee

c) Dadabhai Naoroji

d) William Wedderburn

2. Who among the following had popularized the festivals associated with Ganesh and Shivaji during the national movement?

a) Vinayak Damodar Savarkar

b) Lala Lajpat Rai 

c) Jyotirao Govindrao Phule

d) Bal Gangadhar Tilak

3. Who had launched the Bardoli satyagraha in February 1928?

a) Sardar Vallabhai Patel 

b) Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

c) Vinoba Bhave

d) None of the above

4. Who among the following was a leader of the Indian militant peasant movement Eka (unity) Movement?

a) Madari Pasi

b) Alluri Sitarama Raju

c) Laxman Nayak

d) Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy

5. Who was the most prominent leader of Tamralipta Jatiya Sarkar?

a) Ganesh Ghosh

b) Satish Chandra Samanta

c) Dinesh Chandra Gupta 

d) Bagha Jatin

6. Who was the Nawab of Bengal when the Battle of Buxar took place?

a) Mir Qasim

b) Siraj-ud-Daulah

c) Mir Jafar

d) Shuja ud daula

7. Who among the following has won Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour and Nishan-e-Pakistan, Pakistan’s highest civilian honour?

a) Morarji Desai

b) Lal Bahadur Shastri

c) Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel

d) Jawaharlal Nehru

8. When did Choudhary Rahmat Ali coin the word Pakistan?

a) 1930

b) 1933

c) 1940

d) 1942

9. Gandhiji had launched Champaran Satyagrah in 1917 for

a) Uplift of Depressed Class of India

b) Unifying Hindu Society

c) Protesting against the injustice meted out to Indigo farmers 

d) All of the above

10. Who among the following was an important Muslim leader of the Swadeshi Movement?

i. Abdul Halim Guznavi 

ii. Liakat Hossain

iii. Liakat Ali Khan

a) i

b) ii

c) i and ii

d) i, ii and iii

Answers

1- c

2- d, Before the advent of the Mahatma Gandhi, Bal Gangadhar Tilak (1856-1920) was the tallest Congress leader.

3- a

4- a, Bal Gangadhar Tilak was called the "father of Indian unrest" by Sir Ignatius Valentine Chirol, a British journalist.

Madari Pasi belonged to the ‘untouchable’ Pasi caste that had been classified by the British administration as a “criminal” caste. He was born in the village of Mohanjganj in Uttar Pradesh’s Hardoi district in 1860. 

5- b

6- a

7- a

8- b, In 1933, Choudhary Rahmat Ali published a pamphlet, "Now or Never: Are We to Live or Perish for Ever?" coining the word Pakistan for the first time.

9- c

10- c

Muizuddin Bahram, Sultan of the Mamluk Dynasty

Muiz-ud-din Bahram, Iltutmish’s third son, was raised to the throne of Delhi Sultanate in 1240 by the aristocratic Turkish nobles who put the then reigning ruler Raziya Sultana into prison in the Bhatinda fort, north-western India. Razia tried to retrieve the situation by marrying her captor Altuniya, the governor of Bhatinda. However, both were defeated by the Delhi forces.   

Muizuddin Bahram was a savage and bloodthirsty ruler. He was, according to medieval historian  Minhaj-us-Siraj, ‘a fearless, intrepid and sanguinary man’. 

During his reign in 1241 the Mongols reached the gates of Lahore and sacked the city. 

As part of the agreement under which Muizuddin Bahram was raised to the throne by the nobles, he designated Aitigin as Naib-i-Mamlikat, regent of the kingdom and assigned the highest executive power of the state to him. Naib-i-Mamlikat was intended to be the de facto ruler., the Sultan merely a figurehead.  

However, if the nobles expected Muizuddin Bahram to be a puppet in their hands, they were living in fool’s paradise. He executed  Aitigin who had offended him by marrying one of his sisters. The nobles became terrified and got him killed in May 1242 A.D. Ala-ud-din Masud Shah, son of Rukn ud-Din Firuz, was raised to the throne by the nobles.

Sultan Ghari: Delhi’s Oldest Tomb

                                            Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Located in the Malakpur Kohli village near Vasant Kunj in Delhi, Sultan Ghari (Sultan of the Cave) is the tomb of Prince Nasiruddin Mahmud, eldest son of Slave Sultan Iltutmish and brother of Razia Sultan. During the reign of Iltutmish, Nasiruddin Mahmud was in charge of Awadh and Bengal where Hasmuddin Iwaz Khilji was trying to establish an independent Sultanate. 

Though Nasiruddin Mahmud suppressed the rebellion of Hasmuddin Iwaz Khilji and killed him, he himself died in 1229. Iltutmish founded the Nasiriyya college of Delhi in memory of his son. The celebrated contemporary historian Minhaj-us-Siraj was appointed to the principalship of the college. 

Iltutmish also built a mausoleum for Nasiruddin Mahmud. Built in 1231-32, the cenotaph is in an underground chamber. Hence the name Sultan Ghari (Sultan of the Cave).

The roof of the mausoleum is an octagonal platform. The materials were taken from Hindu monuments. 

Kapilavastu: Ancient City where the Buddha spent the first 29 years of his life

About 29km west of Lumbini  (the birthplace of Lord Buddha) and 30km from the border with India, Tilaurakot in the Terai region of Nepal is the site of the Shakya capital of Kapilavastu where the Buddha spent the first 29 years of his life before setting out on the path of enlightenment. The Buddha, known as Siddharth Gautam before he got enlightenment, was the son of Shakya king Suddhodana. 

One school of archaeologists has identified Kapilavastu with modern day Piprahwa, a village in the Siddharthnagar district of India’s Uttar Pradesh. 

Distance between Piprahwa and Tilaurakot is just 30 km.

The Buddha had paid a visit to Kapilavastu in the first year after his attainment of enlightenment and converted his father, wife Yashodhra and son Rahula. He continued to visit the place in his later years. Once he came to his native city to convert a war between the Shakyas and the Koliyas over the question of their sharing water of the Rohini. 

The excavations at Tilaurakot have unearthed remains of fortified city. Kapilavastu was visited by both the famous Chinese travelers Fa-Hien and Hiuen Tsang who came here in the 5th and 7th centuries AD respectively.

Located on the banks of the Banganga River, Tilaurakot is home to Tilaurakot museum which contains the artefacts found at the site of Kapilavastu.

How to Reach Kapilavastu

Air: the nearest airport to Kapilavastu is Gautam Buddha International Airport at Bhairahawa which is 40 km east of Tilaurakot. Gautam Buddha Airport is connected by flights to Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. 

Rail: The nearest station to Tilaurakot is at Nautanwa in India. However, Gorakhpur is the major railway station nearest to Tilaurakot. From Delhi you can board several trains including the Mahaparinirvan Express which will take you to Gorakhpur.

Road: Tilaurakot is connected by daily bus services with Gorakhpur. 

Best time to visit Kapilavastu 

In Kapilavastu temperatures in winters and summers are extreme. October to March is the best time to visit Kapilavastu.