The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India: A History of the Establishment and Progress of the Turkish Sultanate of Delhi, 1206–1290 A.D. c9.3

c9.3

In 625/1228, Firoz had been given his first appointment in Budaun. For the next few years Iltutmish experimented and kept his counsel. While he watched Firoz's conduct of public affairs, he began to associate Raziah with the administration. A bolder step was to leave her in charge of the capital when, in 629/1231, he set out on the Gwalior expedition¹. The result must have been encouraging, for it decided the question for him. Firoz had not yet shown his worth, and further postponement of the matter was injudicious. Immediately on his return he, therefore, ordered a proclamation to be drafted appointing Raziah as his successor; and in so doing, he gave his courtiers an opportunity to voice their opinion. Objection was raised as he expected, not on legalistic grounds, but for the practical unwisdom of pitting a daughter against a grown-up son and his ambitious mother². Their doubt as to her capacity to hold her own, was, however easily removed, for her talents were widely recognised. A wider publicity was given to her nomination by including her name in a series of the silver tankah³.