Qutb-ud-din Aybak (
PersianPersian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is widely spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and to some extent in Iraq and Bahrain, and has a status of official language in the first three countries under different names...
/ Urdu:
قطب الدین ایبک) was a Turkic ruler of medieval
IndiaIndia may refer to:In politics:* Contemporary Republic of India * Former Union of India In geography and culture:* The Indian subcontinent...
, the first Sultan of Delhi and founder of the
Slave dynastyThe Mamluk Dynasty or Ghulam Dynasty , directed into India by Qutb-ud-din Aybak, a Turkic general of Central Asian birth, was the first of five unrelated dynasties to rule India's Delhi Sultanate from 1206 to 1290...
(also known as the
GhulamGhilman Ghilman Ghilman (singular ghulam describes either young servants in paradise or slave-soldiers in the Ottoman, Mughal and Persian Empires.-In Islamic paradise:...
dynasty). He served as
sultanSultan is an Islamic title, with several historical meanings. Originally it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", or "rulership", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power"...
for only four years, from 1206 to 1210
Qutb-ud-din was born somewhere in
Central AsiaAsia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south. It is also sometimes known as Middle Asia or Inner Asia, and is within the scope of the wider Eurasian continent.Various definitions of its...
; he was of
TurkicThe Turkic peoples are Eurasian peoples residing in northern, central and western Eurasia. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...
descent. While still a child he was captured and sold as a slave (
ghulam).
Qutb-ud-din Aybak (
PersianPersian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is widely spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and to some extent in Iraq and Bahrain, and has a status of official language in the first three countries under different names...
/ Urdu:
قطب الدین ایبک) was a Turkic ruler of medieval
IndiaIndia may refer to:In politics:* Contemporary Republic of India * Former Union of India In geography and culture:* The Indian subcontinent...
, the first Sultan of Delhi and founder of the
Slave dynastyThe Mamluk Dynasty or Ghulam Dynasty , directed into India by Qutb-ud-din Aybak, a Turkic general of Central Asian birth, was the first of five unrelated dynasties to rule India's Delhi Sultanate from 1206 to 1290...
(also known as the
GhulamGhilman Ghilman Ghilman (singular ghulam describes either young servants in paradise or slave-soldiers in the Ottoman, Mughal and Persian Empires.-In Islamic paradise:...
dynasty). He served as
sultanSultan is an Islamic title, with several historical meanings. Originally it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", or "rulership", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power"...
for only four years, from 1206 to 1210
Early years
Qutb-ud-din was born somewhere in
Central AsiaAsia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south. It is also sometimes known as Middle Asia or Inner Asia, and is within the scope of the wider Eurasian continent.Various definitions of its...
; he was of
TurkicThe Turkic peoples are Eurasian peoples residing in northern, central and western Eurasia. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...
descent. While still a child he was captured and sold as a slave (
ghulam). He was purchased by the chief
QaziQadi is a judge ruling in accordance with the sharia, Islamic religious law. Because Islam makes no distinction between religious and secular domains, qadis traditionally have jurisdiction over all legal matters involving Muslims...
of
NishapurNishapur, or Neyshābūr , is a city in the Razavi Khorasan province in northeastern Iran, situated in a fertile plain at the foot of the Binalud Mountains, near the regional capital of Mashhad....
, a town in the province of
KhorasanGreater Khorasan is a modern term for a historical geographic region spanning north-eastern and east of Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, western and northern Afghanistan and the North Western Areas of Pakistan...
in northeastern
IranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanid period and came into international use from 1935, before which the country was known internationally as Persia...
. The Qazi treated him like one of his own sons, and Aibak received a good education, including fluency in
PersianPersian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is widely spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and to some extent in Iraq and Bahrain, and has a status of official language in the first three countries under different names...
and Arabic 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 General Muhammad Ghori governor of
GhazniFor the Province of Ghazni see Ghazni ProvinceGhazni City is a city in central Afghanistan, with an approximate population of 141,000 people. It is the capital of Ghazni Province, situated on a plateau at 7,280 feet above sea level...
.
Career
Starting with his native Ghor, an
AimakAymāq , also transliterated as Aimak or Aimaq, are a collection of Persian-speaking nomadic or semi-nomadic tribes of mixed Mongolian and Iranian stock. They are found throughout the north and northwest highlands of Afghanistan, immediately to the north of Herat, and in the Khorasan Province of Iran...
principality,
Muhammad GhoriMuḥammad Shahābuddīn Ghorī , originally called Mu'izzuddīn Muḥammad Ibn Sām but famously known as Muḥammad of Ghor and Muḥammad Ghorī, , was a powerful governor and general and ultimately sultan of the Ghorid dynasty, centered in modern day Afghanistan...
managed to establish control over most of present-day
AfghanistanThe Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is a landlocked country in south central Asia. It is variously described as being located within Central Asia, South Asia, or the Middle East...
,
PakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located at the crossroads of South Asia, the Middle East, and Central Asia...
and northern India. Under his command, Qutb-ud-din Aybak sacked Delhi in 1193. As governor of northern India Qutb-ud-din Aybak 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 GhoriMuḥammad Shahābuddīn Ghorī , originally called Mu'izzuddīn Muḥammad Ibn Sām but famously known as Muḥammad of Ghor and Muḥammad Ghorī, , was a powerful governor and general and ultimately sultan of the Ghorid dynasty, centered in modern day Afghanistan...
'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
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
that were under Sultan Ghori's conquests, as after 1192 Sultan Ghori concentrated on
Central AsiaAsia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south. It is also sometimes known as Middle Asia or Inner Asia, and is within the scope of the wider Eurasian continent.Various definitions of its...
.
Founding of the Delhi Sultanate
Muhammad GhoriMuḥammad Shahābuddīn Ghorī , originally called Mu'izzuddīn Muḥammad Ibn Sām but famously known as Muḥammad of Ghor and Muḥammad Ghorī, , was a powerful governor and general and ultimately sultan of the Ghorid dynasty, centered in modern day Afghanistan...
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
AfghanistanThe Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is a landlocked country in south central Asia. It is variously described as being located within Central Asia, South Asia, or the Middle East...
,
PakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located at the crossroads of South Asia, the Middle East, and Central Asia...
, and northern India; Ghori's Central Asian possessions had been captured by none other than the Mongol warlord,
Genghis KhanGenghis Khan , ; 1162–1227), born , was the founder, Khan and Khagan of the Mongol Empire, the largest contiguous empire in history....
.
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 from
LahoreLahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in Pakistan after Karachi. Historically the main city of the undivided Punjab, it is often called the Garden of Mughals because of its rich Mughal heritage...
and later moved the capital to
DelhiDelhi, known locally as Dilli , and also by the official name National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest metropolis by population in India...
; he is hence considered the first Muslim ruler of
South AsiaSouth 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 on the west and the east...
.
Qutb-ud-din Aybak initiated the construction of
DelhiDelhi, known locally as Dilli , and also by the official name National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest metropolis by population in India...
's earliest
Muslim:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits ". Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islam is the infinitive. Muslims believe that there is only one God, translated in Arabic as Allah...
monuments, the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque and the
Qutub MinarThe Qutab Minar , a tower in Delhi, India, is at 72.5 meters the world's tallest brick minaret. It is situated in the Qutb complex, amidst the ruins of ancient Hindu temples which were destroyed and their stones used to build the Qutb complex and 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.These were completed by his successor,
IltutmishShams-ud-din Iltutmish, or Altamash was the third Muslim Turkic sultan of the Sultanate of Delhi and the third ruler of the Mamluk dynasty . He was a slave of Qutub-ud-din-Aybak and later became his son-in-law and close lieutenant...
. Aibak,was otherwise known as "Lakh Baksh" or "giver of hundred thousands" because of his generosity. He was thus a pious
Muslim:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits ". Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islam is the infinitive. Muslims believe that there is only one God, translated in Arabic as Allah...
, praised by contemporary Muslim clerics. He also patronized Nizami and Fakh-i-Mudabbir, both of whom dedicated their works to Aibak. Tazul Maasir is a work primarily dealing with Aybak.
Death and succession
Qutb-ud-din died accidentally in 1210. While he was playing a game of
poloPolo is a team sport played on horseback in which the objective is to score goals against an opposing team. Players score by driving a small white plastic or wooden ball into the opposing team's goal using a long-handled mallet...
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 the
Anarkali bazaarAnarkali bazaar is a famous bazār in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It is one of the oldest surviving markets in South Asia, dating back at least 200 years...
in
LahoreLahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in Pakistan after Karachi. Historically the main city of the undivided Punjab, it is often called the Garden of Mughals because of its rich Mughal heritage...
. Qutb-ud-din Aybak's son Aram, died in 1211 CE , so
Shams-ud-din IltutmishShams-ud-din Iltutmish, or Altamash was the third Muslim Turkic sultan of the Sultanate of Delhi and the third ruler of the Mamluk dynasty . He was a slave of Qutub-ud-din-Aybak and later became his son-in-law and close lieutenant...
, another ex-slave of
TurkicThe Turkic peoples are Eurasian peoples residing in northern, central and western Eurasia. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...
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 BazaarAnarkali bazaar is a famous bazār in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It is one of the oldest surviving markets in South Asia, dating back at least 200 years...
,
LahoreLahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in Pakistan after Karachi. Historically the main city of the undivided Punjab, it is often called the Garden of Mughals because of its rich Mughal heritage...
today. In the early 1970's, it was renovated at the orders of the then Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.
See also
- History of India
The known history of India - the name in this context includes the areas now known as India, Pakistan and Bangladesh - begins with the Indus Valley Civilization, which spread and flourished in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent, from c. 3300 to 1300 BCE. Its Mature Harappan period...
- List of mausolea
- Mamluk dynasty of Delhi
- Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque
External links