The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India: A History of the Establishment and Progress of the Turkish Sultanate of Delhi, 1206–1290 A.D. c11.23

c11.23

Balban's despotism was of the extreme kind in which the right of the military aristocracy even to a share, not to speak of domination, in the government, could find no place. This absolutism he worked out with singular success, for during his twenty years' deputyship, most of the leaders of the aristocracy—the 'forty'—had either died or been reduced to impotence. With the death of his cousin, Sher Khan¹, of whose ambition and ability Balban was reported to have been highly apprehensive, he was left with no potential opponent to the execution of his policy. This development of the monarch's absolutism is the central event of his reign; success of his security measures followed as a direct consequence. The chronicler is markedly sparing in giving details of his fairly long reign of twenty years, but his achievements, so far as they have been recorded can be listed under the single heading of 'consolidation.' This included provisions for internal security, involving reforms in the army organisation and also a re-orientation of policy towards the unconquered Hindu powers. His foreign policy and defence measures, equally co-ordinated with his consolidation plans, we, however, propose to deal with fully in a separate chapter.