The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India: A History of the Establishment and Progress of the Turkish Sultanate of Delhi, 1206–1290 A.D. c9.79

c9.79

Rayhan thus tried to fill all the important offices with his own men and the Turkish element in the state administration was sought to be overshadowed. Political realism demanded of Balban a willing association with this non-Turkish administration, for the situation had vastly changed since the days when Iltutmish could effectively insist on keeping out native Muslims. But as in the case of Muhazzabuddin's action a decade earlier, the rule of the "upstart Hindi eunuch" was intolerable. Disgust ripened into opposition and soon, under the leadership of Balban, into armed action. The majority of the Turkish officers, posted in the provinces round the capital, joined their forces and in Ramzan, 652/1254, marched towards the city to impose their will on the king. Mahmud thereupon was persuaded to set out with the royal troops to oppose them and encamped near Samana, facing the insurgent nobles.