Qutb ud-Din Aibak
Qutb ud-Din Aibak founded the Delhi Sultanate and had been a slave. He was born in Turkestan and sold as a boy, passing through several owners — one of whom, a judge at Nishapur, had him educated alongside his own sons in the Quran, archery and horsemanship, which is why he rose rather than remained a soldier. He was bought by Muhammad of Ghor, the Afghan ruler whose campaigns into northern India began in earnest in the 1170s, and became his most trusted commander. Muhammad was beaten at Tarain in 1191 by Prithviraj Chauhan and returned the following year with a larger force and better tactics, winning the second battle of Tarain in 1192 — the engagement that opened the Gangetic plain. Aibak was left as viceroy and spent a decade taking Delhi, Ajmer, Gwalior, Anhilwara and Kalinjar. When Muhammad was assassinated in 1206 without a son, his empire divided among his slave generals. Aibak took the Indian territories and ruled from Lahore, and did not use the title of sultan or strike coins in his own name, since his legal position as a manumitted slave was ambiguous. He began the Qutb Minar at Delhi and built the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque from the material of demolished temples, and is credited with substantial destruction of Hindu and Jain temples in the campaigns. He was called Lakhbaksh, giver of lakhs, for his generosity. He died in 1210 at Lahore, falling from his horse during a game of polo. His son-in-law Iltutmish consolidated what he had taken, and the sultanate ruled northern India for three centuries.
- Lived: 1150 CE – 1210 CE
- Nationality: Indian
- Roles: ruler, general
