Khilji dynasty
Encyclopedia
The Khilji Sultanate was a dynasty
of Turko
-Afghan Khalaj
origin who ruled large parts of South Asia
from 1290 - 1320. They were the second dynasty to rule the Delhi Sultanate of India
. Led by their powerful ruler, Ala-ud-din Khilji, they are historically notable for repeatedly defending India from Mongols
attacks.
states that "this dynasty, like the previous Slave dynasty
, was of Turkic
origin, though the Khaljī tribe had long been settled in what is now Afghanistan
."
The three sultans of the Khalji dynasty were noted by historians for their faithlessness and ferocity. Originating in upper Central Asia
, they came into contact with the multi-ethnic population of Khorasan
and thus with the native ruling class, the Ghaznavids and later Ghurids, who Islamized them and taught them their culture, language and civilization. During the Ghaznavid period, the Khiljis were ruled for a short time by the Seljuqs
, who expanded their Khorasanian empire until they were driven out by the alliance of Ghurids. Under both the Ghaznavids and Ghurids, the Khiljis had a slave status and played a role in the Ghurids' slave army, Bardagân-e Nezâmi, or "Ghilman
".
Ikhtiar Uddin Muhammad bin Bakhtiar Khilji, one of the servants of Qutb-ud-din Aybak
who was himself an ex-slave of the Ghurids and of Turkic background and an Indo-Ghurid Shah
(king) and founder of the Delhi Sultanate, conquered Bihar
and Bengal
in the late 12th century. From this time, the Khiljis became servants and vassals of the Mamluk dynasty of Delhi. From 1266 to his death in 1290, the Sultan of Delhi was officially Ghiyas ud din Balban
, another servant of Qutab-ud-din Aybak. Balban’s immediate successors, however, were unable to manage either the administration or the factional conflicts between the old Turkic nobility and the new forces, led by the Khaljis. After a struggle between the two factions, Jalal ud din Firuz Khilji
was installed as sultan by a noble faction of Turkic, Persian, Arabic and Indian-Muslim aristocrats on the collapse of the last feeble Mumluk sultan, Kay-Qubadh. Their rise to power was aided by impatient outsiders of the court, some of them Indian-born Muslims, who might expect to enhance their positions if the hold of the followers of Balban and the "Forty" (the members of the royal Loya Jirga
) were broken. Jalal-ud-din was already elderly, and for a time he was so unpopular that he dared not to enter the capital, because his tribe was thought to be close to the nomadic Afghans. During his short reign (1290–96), some of Balban's officers revolted due to this assumption of power but Jalal-ud-din suppressed them, led an unsuccessful expedition against Ranthambhor, and defeated a substantial Mongol force on the banks of the Sind River
in central India.
Ali Gurshap, his nephew and son-in-law, was ordered by his father to lead an expedition of between 4000 and 7000 men into the Hindu Deccan, where many countries had refused to submit, and to capture Ellichpur and its treasure. Upon his return in 1296, having gained status and power, he killed his uncle.
With the title of Ala ud din Khilji
, Ali Gurshap reigned for 20 years, and is considered the greatest member of the dynast. He captured Ranthambhor (1301) and Chittorgarh
(1303), conquered Māndu (1305), and captured and annexed the wealthy Hindu state of Devagiri. He also repelled two Mongol raids. Ala-ud-din’s lieutenant, Malik Kafur
, a native Muslim Indian, was sent on a plundering expedition to the south in 1308, which led to the capture of Warangal
, the overthrow of the Hoysala Empire
south of the Krishna River
, and the occupation of Madura
in the extreme south. Malik Kafur returned to Delhi in 1311, laden with spoils. Thereafter, the empire felt into a deep political and dynastic decadence. The sultan died in early 1316. Malik Kafur’s attempted usurpation ended with his own death. The last Khalji, Qutb ud din Mubarak Shah
, was murdered in 1320 by a former Indian slave who had risen to become his chief minister and friend, Khusraw Khan
. Ultimately power was taken by Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq
, the first ruler of the Turkic Tughluq dynasty. A remnant of the ruling house of the Khaljis ruled in Malwa from 1436 to either 1530 or 1531, until the Sultan of Gujarat cleansed their entire nobility.
To some extent then, the Khilji usurpation was a move toward the recognition of a shifting balance of power, attributable both to the developments outside the territory of the Delhi Sultanate, in Central Asia and Iran, and to the changes that followed the establishment of Turkic rule in northern India.
In large measure, the dislocation in the regions beyond the northwest assured the establishment of an independent Delhi Sultanate and its subsequent consolidation. The eastern steppe tribes’ movements to the west not only ended the threat to Delhi from the rival Turks and Iranians in Ghazna and Ghur but also forced a number of the Central Asian Muslims to migrate to northern India. Almost all the high nobles, including the famous Forty in the 13th century, were of Central Asian origin (mostly Tajiks and Turks). Many of them were slaves purchased from the Central Asian bazaars. The same phenomenon also led to the destabilization of the core of the Turkic Mamluk
s. During the Mongol plunder of Central Asia and eastern Iran
(now modern Afghanistan
, Samarkand
, Bukhara
, Gorgan
, Khwarezm
, Merv
, Peshawar
, Swat, Quetta
and borderlands), many more members of the political and religious elite of these regions were thrown into north India, where they were admitted into various levels of the military and administrative cadre by the early Delhi sultans.
) and Arab Bedouin origin, and their customs and manners were seen as very different from those of other Turks. Although they had played a conspicuous role in the success of the Turkic armies in India, they had always been looked down upon by the leading Turks, the dominant group during the Slave dynasty. This tension between the Khiljis and other Turks, kept in check by Balban, came to the surface in the succeeding reign, and ended in the displacement of the Ilbari Turks.
. In the writings of Al-Biruni
, Ibn-Batuta, Ibn-Khaldun, Al-Khwarezmi, Masudi, Varahamihira
, and in Juzjani's Hudud ul-'alam min al-mashriq ila al-maghrib
, they are presented as a group of Turkic origin which formed one of the older members of the Hephthalite
confederation, and included many nomads near Bactria
, in Turfan (Turkestan
) and eastward of modern Ghazni
. Many migrated to Iran, and possibly also to Armenia, Iraq, Anatolia, Turkmenistan, the Punjab
and what are now modern Pakistan and Afghanistan, especially around the Sulaiman Mountains
, then under the control of the Ghaznavids (see also the article on the Ghalzais). In Iran, they migrated mainly to Pars
, where they settled an isolated region which is called today as Khaljistan - Land of Khaljis. However, Persian-speakers in Iran also use the term Khalji to describe any nomads of Turkic background in their country.The Khilji people of Iran and Afghanistan, the Ghilzai
, and the Khaldji people of Bengal and Sindh claim to be descendants of medieval Khilji clans, though they have intermarried greatly with other groups and many share few physical similarities with the original Khiljis . Most modern Khilji people and tribes have very few cultural links with the original Turkic tribe, except for the Khiljis of Iran and Afghanistan, who speak a Khalaj dialect of the Khalaj language
group. Modern Khalji people are not more comparable to the past Khalji tribes who were of pure Turkic stock. For example in the case of India, modern Khalji people became ethnic Indians and lost their east-Asian features and their Turkic identity. In Iran, Afghanistan and Iraq, they are either of hybrid origin or in the case of Turkmen Khalji tribe they kept Turks but became cultural Iranians and Indians. Because of this fact, most of modern Khalji people and tribes have no more ties or any kind of an identity that trace them intentional to the Turks, except for the Khaljis of Iran and Afghanistan.
, followed by Arabic, their own native Turkoman language and some north-Indian dialects. Even though it was not their native language, the Khilji Sultans promoted the Persian language to a high degree. Such a co-existence of different languages gave birth to an early form of Urdu
.
by making it a custom to have the convert presented to the Sultan who would place a robe on the convert and award him with bracelets of gold. During Ikhtiyar Uddin Bakhtiyar Khilji's control of the Bengal
, Muslim missionaries
in India achieved their greatest success, in terms of number of converts to Islam.
Dynasty
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers considered members of the same family. Historians traditionally consider many sovereign states' history within a framework of successive dynasties, e.g., China, Ancient Egypt and the Persian Empire...
of Turko
Turkic peoples
The Turkic peoples are peoples residing in northern, central and western Asia, southern Siberia and northwestern China and parts of eastern Europe. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...
-Afghan Khalaj
Khalaj people
The Khalaj people are a Turkic people that speak the Khalaj language which is thought to be one of the closest languages to old Turkic language.- External links :* * *...
origin who ruled large parts of South Asia
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
from 1290 - 1320. They were the second dynasty to rule the Delhi Sultanate of India
Delhi Sultanate
The Delhi Sultanate is a term used to cover five short-lived, Delhi based kingdoms or sultanates, of Turkic origin in medieval India. The sultanates ruled from Delhi between 1206 and 1526, when the last was replaced by the Mughal dynasty...
. Led by their powerful ruler, Ala-ud-din Khilji, they are historically notable for repeatedly defending India from Mongols
Mongol Empire
The Mongol Empire , initially named as Greater Mongol State was a great empire during the 13th and 14th centuries...
attacks.
Origin of the dynasty
The Encyclopædia BritannicaEncyclopædia Britannica
The Encyclopædia Britannica , published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia that is available in print, as a DVD, and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert...
states that "this dynasty, like the previous Slave dynasty
Slave dynasty
The Slave Dynasty or Mamluk Dynasty or Ghulam Dynasty , was directed into India by Qutb-ud-din Aybak, a Turkic general of Central Asian birth. It was the first of five unrelated dynasties to rule India's Delhi Sultanate from 1206 to 1290...
, was of Turkic
Turkic peoples
The Turkic peoples are peoples residing in northern, central and western Asia, southern Siberia and northwestern China and parts of eastern Europe. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...
origin, though the Khaljī tribe had long been settled in what is now Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
."
The three sultans of the Khalji dynasty were noted by historians for their faithlessness and ferocity. Originating in upper Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
, they came into contact with the multi-ethnic population of Khorasan
Greater Khorasan
Greater Khorasan or Ancient Khorasan is a historical region of Greater Iran mentioned in sources from Sassanid and Islamic eras which "frequently" had a denotation wider than current three provinces of Khorasan in Iran...
and thus with the native ruling class, the Ghaznavids and later Ghurids, who Islamized them and taught them their culture, language and civilization. During the Ghaznavid period, the Khiljis were ruled for a short time by the Seljuqs
Great Seljuq Empire
The Great Seljuq Empire was a medieval Persianate, Turko-Persian Sunni Muslim empire, originating from the Qynyq branch of Oghuz Turks. The Seljuq Empire controlled a vast area stretching from the Hindu Kush to eastern Anatolia and from Central Asia to the Persian Gulf...
, who expanded their Khorasanian empire until they were driven out by the alliance of Ghurids. Under both the Ghaznavids and Ghurids, the Khiljis had a slave status and played a role in the Ghurids' slave army, Bardagân-e Nezâmi, or "Ghilman
Ghilman
Ghilman Ghilman Ghilman (singular ghulam describes either young servants in paradise or slave-soldiers in the Ottoman, Mughal and Persian Empires.-Islamic Theology:...
".
Ikhtiar Uddin Muhammad bin Bakhtiar Khilji, one of the servants of Qutb-ud-din Aybak
Qutb-ud-din Aybak
Qutb-ud-din Aibak was a Turkic king of Northwest India who ruled from his capital in Delhi where he built the Qutub Minar and the Quwwat Al Islam mosque. He was of Turkic descent from central Asia, the first Sultan of Delhi and founder of the Slave dynasty of India. He ruled for only four years,...
who was himself an ex-slave of the Ghurids and of Turkic background and an Indo-Ghurid Shah
Shah
Shāh is the title of the ruler of certain Southwest Asian and Central Asian countries, especially Persia , and derives from the Persian word shah, meaning "king".-History:...
(king) and founder of the Delhi Sultanate, conquered Bihar
Bihar
Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....
and Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
in the late 12th century. From this time, the Khiljis became servants and vassals of the Mamluk dynasty of Delhi. From 1266 to his death in 1290, the Sultan of Delhi was officially Ghiyas ud din Balban
Ghiyas ud din Balban
Ghiyasuddin Balban was ninth sultan of the Mamluk dynasty who ruled from 1266 to 1287.-Biography:He was son of a Central Asian Turkic noble of the Ilbari tribe, but as a child he was captured by Mongols and sold as a slave at Ghazni...
, another servant of Qutab-ud-din Aybak. Balban’s immediate successors, however, were unable to manage either the administration or the factional conflicts between the old Turkic nobility and the new forces, led by the Khaljis. After a struggle between the two factions, Jalal ud din Firuz Khilji
Jalal ud din Firuz Khilji
Jalaluddin Firuz Khilji was the first sultan of the Khilji dynasty, who reigned from 1290 to 1296. He built his capital at Kilughari, a few miles from the city of Delhi and completed the unfinished palace and gardens of Sultan Qaiqabad.) He ruled from there for six years.-Early life and...
was installed as sultan by a noble faction of Turkic, Persian, Arabic and Indian-Muslim aristocrats on the collapse of the last feeble Mumluk sultan, Kay-Qubadh. Their rise to power was aided by impatient outsiders of the court, some of them Indian-born Muslims, who might expect to enhance their positions if the hold of the followers of Balban and the "Forty" (the members of the royal Loya Jirga
Loya jirga
A loya jirga is a type of jirga regarded as "grand assembly," a phrase in the Pashto language meaning "grand council." A loya jirga is a mass meeting usually prepared for major events such as choosing a new king, adopting a constitution, or discussing important national political or emergency...
) were broken. Jalal-ud-din was already elderly, and for a time he was so unpopular that he dared not to enter the capital, because his tribe was thought to be close to the nomadic Afghans. During his short reign (1290–96), some of Balban's officers revolted due to this assumption of power but Jalal-ud-din suppressed them, led an unsuccessful expedition against Ranthambhor, and defeated a substantial Mongol force on the banks of the Sind River
Sindh River
The Sindh River, a tributary of the Yamuna River, flows through the Indian states of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.-Course:The Sindh originates on the Malwa Plateau in Vidisha district, and flows north-northeast through the districts of Guna, Ashoknagar, Shivpuri, Datia, Gwalior and Bhind in...
in central India.
Ali Gurshap, his nephew and son-in-law, was ordered by his father to lead an expedition of between 4000 and 7000 men into the Hindu Deccan, where many countries had refused to submit, and to capture Ellichpur and its treasure. Upon his return in 1296, having gained status and power, he killed his uncle.
With the title of Ala ud din Khilji
Alauddin Khilji
Ali Gurshap Khan better known by his titular name as Sultan Ala-ud-din Khilji was the second ruler of the Turko-Afghan Khilji dynasty in India.He was a well and capable ruler. He belonged to the Afghanized Turkic tribe of the Khiljis...
, Ali Gurshap reigned for 20 years, and is considered the greatest member of the dynast. He captured Ranthambhor (1301) and Chittorgarh
Chittorgarh
Chittorgarh is a city and a municipality in Rajasthan state of western India. It lies on the Berach River, a tributary of the Banas, and is the administrative headquarters of Chittorgharh District and a former capital of the Sisodia clans of Rajputs of Mewar...
(1303), conquered Māndu (1305), and captured and annexed the wealthy Hindu state of Devagiri. He also repelled two Mongol raids. Ala-ud-din’s lieutenant, Malik Kafur
Malik Kafur
Malik Kafur, General , or Chand Ram as his name was originally, was a slave who became a head general in the army of Alauddin Khilji, ruler of the Delhi sultanate from 1296 to 1316 AD. He was originally seized by Alauddin's army after the army conquered the city of Khambhat...
, a native Muslim Indian, was sent on a plundering expedition to the south in 1308, which led to the capture of Warangal
Warangal
Warangal is a city and a municipal corporation in Warangal district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Warangal is located northeast of the state capital of Hyderabad and is the administrative headquarters of Warangal District. This district is a combination of three cities: Warangal,...
, the overthrow of the Hoysala Empire
Hoysala Empire
The Hoysala Empire was a prominent South Indian Kannadiga empire that ruled most of the modern day state of Karnataka between the 10th and the 14th centuries. The capital of the Hoysalas was initially located at Belur but was later moved to Halebidu....
south of the Krishna River
Krishna River
The Krishna River , is one of the longest rivers in central-southern India, about . It is also referred to as Krishnaveni in its original nomenclature...
, and the occupation of Madura
Madura
Madura is an Indonesian island off the northeastern coast of Java. The island comprises an area of approximately 4,250 km². Madura is administered as part of the East Java province. It is separated from Java by the narrow Strait of Madura.-History:...
in the extreme south. Malik Kafur returned to Delhi in 1311, laden with spoils. Thereafter, the empire felt into a deep political and dynastic decadence. The sultan died in early 1316. Malik Kafur’s attempted usurpation ended with his own death. The last Khalji, Qutb ud din Mubarak Shah
Qutb ud din Mubarak Shah
Qutb-ud-din Mubarak Shah Khilji was the third and last ruler of the Khilji dynasty in Sultanate of Delhi, India. Qutb-ud-din Khilji was the son and successor of Alauddin Khilji....
, was murdered in 1320 by a former Indian slave who had risen to become his chief minister and friend, Khusraw Khan
Khusro Khan
Khusro Khan was a medieval Indian military leader, and ruler of Delhi, as Sultan Nasir-ud-din, for a short period of time. He was a native of the Bawariya region of Saurashtra in Gujarat.-Capture and enslavement:...
. Ultimately power was taken by Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq
Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq
Ghiyas ud-Din Tughluq , real name Ghazi Malik was the founder and first ruler of the Turkic Muslim Tughluq dynasty in India, who reigned over Sultanate of Delhi . He has been the founder of the third city of Delhi called Tughluqabad.Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq was in origin a poor Qarauna who took...
, the first ruler of the Turkic Tughluq dynasty. A remnant of the ruling house of the Khaljis ruled in Malwa from 1436 to either 1530 or 1531, until the Sultan of Gujarat cleansed their entire nobility.
To some extent then, the Khilji usurpation was a move toward the recognition of a shifting balance of power, attributable both to the developments outside the territory of the Delhi Sultanate, in Central Asia and Iran, and to the changes that followed the establishment of Turkic rule in northern India.
In large measure, the dislocation in the regions beyond the northwest assured the establishment of an independent Delhi Sultanate and its subsequent consolidation. The eastern steppe tribes’ movements to the west not only ended the threat to Delhi from the rival Turks and Iranians in Ghazna and Ghur but also forced a number of the Central Asian Muslims to migrate to northern India. Almost all the high nobles, including the famous Forty in the 13th century, were of Central Asian origin (mostly Tajiks and Turks). Many of them were slaves purchased from the Central Asian bazaars. The same phenomenon also led to the destabilization of the core of the Turkic Mamluk
Mamluk
A Mamluk was a soldier of slave origin, who were predominantly Cumans/Kipchaks The "mamluk phenomenon", as David Ayalon dubbed the creation of the specific warrior...
s. During the Mongol plunder of Central Asia and eastern Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
(now modern Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, Samarkand
Samarkand
Although a Persian-speaking region, it was not united politically with Iran most of the times between the disintegration of the Seleucid Empire and the Arab conquest . In the 6th century it was within the domain of the Turkic kingdom of the Göktürks.At the start of the 8th century Samarkand came...
, Bukhara
Bukhara
Bukhara , from the Soghdian βuxārak , is the capital of the Bukhara Province of Uzbekistan. The nation's fifth-largest city, it has a population of 263,400 . The region around Bukhara has been inhabited for at least five millennia, and the city has existed for half that time...
, Gorgan
Gorgan
Gorgan Some east of Gorgan is the Golestan National Park. The city has a regional airport and several universities. Gorgan Airport was opened in September 2005.-Etymology:...
, Khwarezm
Khwarezm
Khwarezm, or Chorasmia, is a large oasis region on the Amu Darya river delta in western Central Asia, which borders to the north the Aral Sea, to the east the Kyzylkum desert, to the south the Karakum desert and to the west the Ustyurt Plateau...
, Merv
Merv
Merv , formerly Achaemenid Satrapy of Margiana, and later Alexandria and Antiochia in Margiana , was a major oasis-city in Central Asia, on the historical Silk Road, located near today's Mary in Turkmenistan. Several cities have existed on this site, which is significant for the interchange of...
, Peshawar
Peshawar
Peshawar is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan....
, Swat, Quetta
Quetta
is the largest city and the provincial capital of the Balochistan Province of Pakistan. Known as the "Fruit Garden of Pakistan" due to the diversity of its plant and animal wildlife, Quetta is home to the Hazarganji Chiltan National Park, which contains some of the rarest species of wildlife in the...
and borderlands), many more members of the political and religious elite of these regions were thrown into north India, where they were admitted into various levels of the military and administrative cadre by the early Delhi sultans.
The position of the Khiljis within the Turkic society of India
The Khilji Turks were not recognized by the older nobility as coming from a pure Turkic stock even in Singam and Kuselan, since they had intermarried greatly with non-Turks, mostly by Muslims of Indian, Afghan (PashtunPashtun people
Pashtuns or Pathans , also known as ethnic Afghans , are an Eastern Iranic ethnic group with populations primarily between the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and the Indus River in Pakistan...
) and Arab Bedouin origin, and their customs and manners were seen as very different from those of other Turks. Although they had played a conspicuous role in the success of the Turkic armies in India, they had always been looked down upon by the leading Turks, the dominant group during the Slave dynasty. This tension between the Khiljis and other Turks, kept in check by Balban, came to the surface in the succeeding reign, and ended in the displacement of the Ilbari Turks.
The
Before expansion into India, the Khaljis were mainly concentrated in TurkestanTurkestan
Turkestan, spelled also as Turkistan, literally means "Land of the Turks".The term Turkestan is of Persian origin and has never been in use to denote a single nation. It was first used by Persian geographers to describe the place of Turkish peoples...
. In the writings of Al-Biruni
Al-Biruni
Abū al-Rayḥān Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-BīrūnīArabic spelling. . The intermediate form Abū Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī is often used in academic literature...
, Ibn-Batuta, Ibn-Khaldun, Al-Khwarezmi, Masudi, Varahamihira
Varahamihira
Varāhamihira , also called Varaha or Mihira, was an Indian astronomer, mathematician, and astrologer who lived in Ujjain...
, and in Juzjani's Hudud ul-'alam min al-mashriq ila al-maghrib
Hudud ul-'alam min al-mashriq ila al-maghrib
Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam , meaning The Limits of The World, is a tenth century geography book written in Persian by an unknown author from Jōzjān.- Contents :...
, they are presented as a group of Turkic origin which formed one of the older members of the Hephthalite
Hephthalite
The Hephthalites or Hephthalite is a pre-Islamic Greek term for local Abdali Afghans, who's famous ruler was Nazak Abdali . Hephthalites were a Central Asian nomadic confederation of the AD 5th-6th centuries whose precise origins and composition remain obscure...
confederation, and included many nomads near Bactria
Bactria
Bactria and also appears in the Zend Avesta as Bukhdi. It is the ancient name of a historical region located between south of the Amu Darya and west of the Indus River...
, in Turfan (Turkestan
Turkestan
Turkestan, spelled also as Turkistan, literally means "Land of the Turks".The term Turkestan is of Persian origin and has never been in use to denote a single nation. It was first used by Persian geographers to describe the place of Turkish peoples...
) and eastward of modern Ghazni
Ghazni
For the Province of Ghazni see Ghazni ProvinceGhazni is a city in central-east Afghanistan with a population of about 141,000 people...
. Many migrated to Iran, and possibly also to Armenia, Iraq, Anatolia, Turkmenistan, the Punjab
Punjab region
The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...
and what are now modern Pakistan and Afghanistan, especially around the Sulaiman Mountains
Sulaiman Mountains
The Sulaiman Mountains are a major geological feature of southeastern Afghanistan and northern Balochistan province of Pakistan. In Pakistan, it forms the eastern edge of the Iranian plateau where the Indus River separates it from the Asian Subcontient...
, then under the control of the Ghaznavids (see also the article on the Ghalzais). In Iran, they migrated mainly to Pars
Pars
Pars may refer to:* Fārs Province, modern Persian language name for Pars Province, central Iranian kingdom of the ancient Persian empire* Pars News Agency and Pars Agency, names of the national Iranian news agency prior to the Iranian Revolution in 1979...
, where they settled an isolated region which is called today as Khaljistan - Land of Khaljis. However, Persian-speakers in Iran also use the term Khalji to describe any nomads of Turkic background in their country.The Khilji people of Iran and Afghanistan, the Ghilzai
Ghilzai
Ghilzai are the largest Pashtun tribal confederacy found in Afghanistan and Pakistan. They are also known historically as Ghilji, Khilji, Ghalji, Ghilzye, and possibly Gharzai...
, and the Khaldji people of Bengal and Sindh claim to be descendants of medieval Khilji clans, though they have intermarried greatly with other groups and many share few physical similarities with the original Khiljis . Most modern Khilji people and tribes have very few cultural links with the original Turkic tribe, except for the Khiljis of Iran and Afghanistan, who speak a Khalaj dialect of the Khalaj language
Khalaj language
Khalaj is a Turkic language spoken in Iran.It is a member of the Azerbaijani subgroup of the Oghuz languages.There were approximately 42,000 speakers of this language as of 2000...
group. Modern Khalji people are not more comparable to the past Khalji tribes who were of pure Turkic stock. For example in the case of India, modern Khalji people became ethnic Indians and lost their east-Asian features and their Turkic identity. In Iran, Afghanistan and Iraq, they are either of hybrid origin or in the case of Turkmen Khalji tribe they kept Turks but became cultural Iranians and Indians. Because of this fact, most of modern Khalji people and tribes have no more ties or any kind of an identity that trace them intentional to the Turks, except for the Khaljis of Iran and Afghanistan.
Language
The court languages of the Khiljis were PersianPersian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
, followed by Arabic, their own native Turkoman language and some north-Indian dialects. Even though it was not their native language, the Khilji Sultans promoted the Persian language to a high degree. Such a co-existence of different languages gave birth to an early form of Urdu
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
.
Propagation of Islam
According to Ibn Batuta, the Khiljis encouraged conversion to IslamIslam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
by making it a custom to have the convert presented to the Sultan who would place a robe on the convert and award him with bracelets of gold. During Ikhtiyar Uddin Bakhtiyar Khilji's control of the Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
, Muslim missionaries
Spread of Islam
The Spread of Islam started shortly after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad in 632 AD. During his lifetime, the community of Muhammad, the ummah, was established in the Arabian Peninsula by means of conversion to Islam and conquering of territory, and oftentimes the conquered had to either...
in India achieved their greatest success, in terms of number of converts to Islam.
List of Khalji rulers of Delhi (1290-1320)
| Name | Picture | Reign started | Reign ended |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jalal ud din Firuz Khilji Jalal ud din Firuz Khilji Jalaluddin Firuz Khilji was the first sultan of the Khilji dynasty, who reigned from 1290 to 1296. He built his capital at Kilughari, a few miles from the city of Delhi and completed the unfinished palace and gardens of Sultan Qaiqabad.) He ruled from there for six years.-Early life and... Sultan Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who... |
1290 | 1296 | |
| Alauddin Khilji Alauddin Khilji Ali Gurshap Khan better known by his titular name as Sultan Ala-ud-din Khilji was the second ruler of the Turko-Afghan Khilji dynasty in India.He was a well and capable ruler. He belonged to the Afghanized Turkic tribe of the Khiljis... |
1296 | 1316 | |
| Qutb ud din Mubarak Shah Qutb ud din Mubarak Shah Qutb-ud-din Mubarak Shah Khilji was the third and last ruler of the Khilji dynasty in Sultanate of Delhi, India. Qutb-ud-din Khilji was the son and successor of Alauddin Khilji.... |
1316 | 1320 |
Khalji Sultans of Malwa (1436-1531)
- Mahmud Khilji (1436–1469)
- Ghiyas ud din Khilji (1469–1500)
See also
- KilijKilijA kilij is a type of saber used by the Turks throughout history starting from late Hsiung-nu period to Avar Empire and Göktürk Khaganate, Uyghur Khaganate, Seljuk Empire, Timurid Empire, Mamluk Empire, Ottoman Empire, and later Turkic Khanates of Central Asia...
- GhilzaiGhilzaiGhilzai are the largest Pashtun tribal confederacy found in Afghanistan and Pakistan. They are also known historically as Ghilji, Khilji, Ghalji, Ghilzye, and possibly Gharzai...
- KhalajKhalajKhalaj may refer to:* Khalaj language* Khalaj people* Khalaj, Afghanistan, in Helmand Province* Khalaj, Armenia* Khalaj, Iran...
- Hepthalites
- Turkic people
- History of IndiaHistory of IndiaThe history of India begins with evidence of human activity of Homo sapiens as long as 75,000 years ago, or with earlier hominids including Homo erectus from about 500,000 years ago. The Indus Valley Civilization, which spread and flourished in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent from...
- Ikhtiyar Uddin Muhammad Bin Bakhtiyar Khalji
- List of Sunni Muslim dynasties