The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India: A History of the Establishment and Progress of the Turkish Sultanate of Delhi, 1206–1290 A.D. c8.88

c8.88

As soon as the Mongol threat was lifted, Iltutmish started operations against Iwaz. As a preliminary measure and by a process not recorded in the chronicles, the district of Bihar south of the Ganges was wrested and placed under his own governor². In 622/1225 he finally advanced along the Ganges. Iwaz brought his forces up the river and planned to intercept him in Bihar. No battle however seems to have taken place for an agreement was eventually concluded under the terms of which Iwaz accepted Iltutmish's suzerainty and offered to pay an indemnity³. He also relinquished his claim on Bihar which Iltutmish now placed under Malik Jani⁴. Immediately on the king's return however, Iwaz, who obviously did not mean to keep the agreement, drove out Jani and reasserted independence. Iltutmish thereupon instructed his son, prince Nasiruddin Mahmud, then the governor of Awadh, to watch for an opportunity to dispossess the Khalji king. It came in 624/1226 when taking advantage of his absence on a campaign in the east, Mahmud suddenly appeared before Lakhnauti and seized the city. Iwaz hurriedly returned, gave battle but was defeated and slain⁵. Lakhnauti thus finally passed under Delhi.