The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India: A History of the Establishment and Progress of the Turkish Sultanate of Delhi, 1206–1290 A.D. c12.26

c12.26

This display of military power may only have been a precautionary measure but Nizamuddin, instinctively, foresaw the probable effect on the young king of a meeting with his long-separated father, and tried his best to bring about an armed conflict. It was only through the earnest endeavours of some of the loyal adherents of Balban’s family that this was averted. Nizamuddin persuaded the king to impose rigid and humiliating ceremonials on Bughra; he was required to cross over and do obeisance to his son, the successor to Balban’s throne and the Lord Paramount of India. Following a protracted exchange of arguments and threats, during which the peace-makers were hard put to avert a rupture, paternal affection got the better of Bughra’s sense of dignity and he agreed to pay homage to the Sultan of Delhi². The meeting that followed is one of the tenderest episodes in medieval history and has furnished the theme of one of the celebrated poems of Amir Khusrau. Kaiqubad affected a stony dignity and with kingly unconcern looked on as his father, bowing and kissing the ground, approached the throne and prostrated himself at his feet; but at the end he broke down and threw himself at Bughra’s feet and in tears, which melted the heart of all the spectators, conducted him to the throne. They remained together for some days, during which Bughra advised his son to mend his ways, to live up to his family traditions and to save himself from the destruction which his conduct was bringing upon him. At the last meeting, in the style of Balban, he instructed him as to the art of administration and, while parting, whispered an advice to get rid of evil counsellers like Nizamuddin¹. After a final exchange of presents, the two parted, the father convinced that he had seen the last of his son, and Kaiqubad, impulsively determined to carry out his father’s advice.