The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India: A History of the Establishment and Progress of the Turkish Sultanate of Delhi, 1206–1290 A.D. c8.5

c8.5

The situation called for quick action and unified command. Muizzuddin left no son; his nephew in possession of Ghor, showed no promise of leadership or of energetic action. With the Khwarizm Shah menacingly advancing to Ghazni and Ghor, political foresight demanded severance of Delhi’s connection with the trans-Indus state. Among Muizzuddin’s officers three held important commands and nourished ambitions of sovereignty. Tajuddin Yalduz, held Karman and Sankuran on the route from Afghanistan to upper Sind, and was widely believed to have been marked out for the viceroyalty of Ghazni proper. Another equally favoured slave was Nasiruddin Qubachah¹, a son-in-law of Yalduz and lately appointed to hold charge of Uch. By far the most capable and devoted of his slaves was Qutbuddin Aibak. Purchased early in life, he was noted for intrepidity and munificence, and had earned his master’s confidence to be placed, as noticed above, after the victory of Tarain, in charge of his Indian conquests. Latterly, as Muizzuddin’s representative, he exercised from Delhi the functions of a viceroy and commander of all the military forces stationed in the realm¹. In 1206 he was formally invested with viceregal powers and promoted to the rank of *malik*².