Alauddin Khalji
Alauddin Khalji ruled the Delhi Sultanate from 1296 to 1316, repelled repeated Mongol invasions, and extended Muslim rule into southern India for the first time. Born Ali Gurshasp, he was a nephew and son-in-law of the sultan Jalaluddin Khalji, and served as a provincial governor. In 1296 he raided Devagiri in the Deccan, returning with enormous plunder. He then invited his uncle to meet him on the bank of the Ganges at Kara and had him beheaded, buying the loyalty of the nobility with the treasure and taking the throne. The Mongols of the Chagatai Khanate invaded repeatedly, reaching Delhi itself in 1299 and 1303. He defeated them each time, fortified the frontier, and built a large standing army — the central fact of his reign, since the Delhi Sultanate is the reason the Mongols did not overrun the subcontinent. Funding that army produced his economic reforms, which are the most striking administrative measures of medieval India. He fixed prices for grain, cloth, horses and slaves by decree; established state granaries and a rationing system; appointed a controller of markets with inspectors and informers; and punished short weight severely. He also raised the land tax to half the produce, measured land directly, and stripped the nobility of grants and endowments so that no rival could accumulate resources. He banned alcohol and prohibited the nobility from socialising or intermarrying without permission, after concluding that conspiracies grew at dinner parties. His general Malik Kafur campaigned to the far south, taking tribute from Warangal, Dwarasamudra and Madurai. He built the Alai Darwaza at the Qutb complex, and died in 1316.
- Lived: 1266 CE – 1316 CE
- Nationality: Indian (Delhi Sultanate)
- Roles: sultan
