The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c20.237

v3.c20.237

In the midst of his debauchery Kaiqubād bore in mind his father’s warning and one day summoned up courage to inform Nizām-ud-dīn abruptly that he was transferred to Multān and must leave Delhi at once. He so delayed his departure on various pretexts that the king concluded that he intended to defy his authority, and, caused him to be poisoned. Baranī, who condemns the minister’s unscrupulous ambition, praises him for his judicious selection of subordinates, and justly observes that but for his unremitting attention to public business the authority of Kaiqubād could not have been maintained for a day. His sudden removal dislocated the machinery of the administration and the king, incapable of personal attention to business, summoned to Delhi the most powerful and capable noble in the kingdom, Malik Jalāl-ud-dīn Fīrūz Khaljī, who, since the transfer of Chhajjū to Kara, had held the important fief of Sāmāna, transferred him to Baran, and appointed him to the command of the army. His advancement gave great offence to the Turkish nobles and to the people of the capital, who affected to despise his tribe and feared both his power and his ambition. Almost immediately after he had taken possession of his new fief incontinence and intemperance did their work on Kaiqubād, who was struck down with paralysis and lay, a helpless wreck, in the palace which he had built at Kīlokhrī, while Fīrūz marched with a large force from Baran to the suburbs of Delhi.