The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c20.217

v3.c20.217

Balban’s intention of founding a dynasty and his attitude towards the Forty were no secret, and his own cousin, Sher Khān Sunqar, the most distinguished servant of the kingdom, who now held the fiefs of Bhātinda, Bhatnair, Sāmāna, and Sunām, had avoided Delhi since his accession. Sunqar’s courage and abilities, no less than his mistrust, rendered him an object of suspicion to his cousin, now about sixty-five years of age, and his sudden death at this time is attributed to poison which Balban caused to be administered to him. His fiefs of Sāmāna and Sunām were bestowed upon Tātār Khān of Bengal, one of the Forty, but less formidable than Sunqar, and Tughril was appointed to Bengal in his place.