The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India: A History of the Establishment and Progress of the Turkish Sultanate of Delhi, 1206–1290 A.D. c6.s1.18

c6.s1.18

This advance into Khurasan brought the Ghoridas into open rivalry with the Khwarizm Shah. Il-Arslan's death was followed by a civil war between his two sons, Takash and Sultan Shah, in which the former, by agreeing to pay an annual tribute, obtained help from the Qara-Khitai in expelling his brother. Sultan Shah took refuge with Muayyid who soon lost his life fighting for him with Takash. Sultan then fled to Dihistan and eventually to Ghor². His ambition thus introduced a new factor into the complex political situation of Khurasan. Takash soon quarrelled with his Qara-Khitai suzerains with whom Sultan now found it expedient to enter into alliance³. With their help he succeeded in wresting Merv, Sarakhs and Tus from the Ghuzz chieftain, Malik Dinar, and also in dislodging Tughan Shah, Muayyid's successor, from Neshapur. The latter then accepted vassalage under Takash who allowed him to hold Nessa till his death⁴. Following Takash's capture of Neshapur in 583/1187, the two brothers entered into an agreement by which Sultan was permitted to retain sovereignty over Merv, Sarakhs and a few other towns⁵. His ambition however, gave him no rest and led him to open conflict even with his erstwhile Ghoride friends. Allying himself with Tughril, an adventurer who siezed and for a brief period, held sway over Herat, Sultan now “invested Fushanj and made raids upon the territories of Ghor and created tumult and disorder”¹.