The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c20.257

v3.c20.257

In 1292 a horde of Mughuls between 100,000 and 150,000 strong, under the command of a grandson of Hulāgū, invaded India and penetrated as far as Sunām, where it was met by Fīrūz. The advanced guard of the invaders suffered a severe defeat and they readily agreed to the king’s terms. Their army was to be permitted to leave India unmolested, but Ulghū, a descendant of Chingīz, and other officers, with their contingents, accepted Islam and entered the service of Fīrūz, who gave to Ulghū a daughter in marriage. The converts settled in the suburbs of Delhi and though many, after a few years’ experience of the Indian climate, returned to their homes, a large number remained and become known, like their predecessors, as the New Muslims. The recapture of Mandāwar from the Hindus and a raid into the Jhāīn district completed the tale of Fīrūz Shāh’s activities in 1292, but in the same year his nephew ‘Alā-ud-dīn, having received permission to invade Mālwa, captured the town of Bhīlsa, whence he brought much plunder to Delhi, and received as a reward the great fief of Oudh, in addition to that of Kara. Nor was this all that he gained by his enterprise, for he had heard at Bhīlsa of the wealth of the great southern kingdom of Deogīr, which extended over the western Deccan, and his imagination had been fired by dreams of southern conquest. Without mentioning these designs to his uncle he took advantage of his indulgent mood to obtain from him permission to raise additional troops for the purpose of annexing Chanderī and other fertile districts of Mālwa.