History of the Khaljis, A.D. 1290–1320 c10.s2.5

c10.s2.5

Nainsī descibes two sieges of Jalor by 'Alāūddīn. The first occured at the time of the royal army's return from Gujarat in 1299 and the second in 1311. As the sultan himself did not lead the forces to Gujarat, the details given by Nainsī about the siege of 1299 may not be quite accepted, as he always refers to the king's presence there; but Ferishtah also mentions two expeditions to Jalor. While describing the events of the year 704 H. (1304 A.D.) Ferishtah writes that as the imperial generals Alaf Khan (Alp Khan) and Nusrat Khan were returning from the conquest of Malwa they arrived at Jalor and Nahar Deo (Kanhar Deva) taking lesson from the fate of Kōkā offered his submission to the sultan without even a show of resistance. The other invasion according to Ferishtah came off in 1308 and was the outcome of a very curious incident. One day while Kanhar was present in the court he heard 'Alāūddīn say that there was no one among the Hindu Rajas who could dare challenge the might of his arms. The remark pricked Kanhar's sense of pride and he picked up the guantlet retorting "If I wage a war and do not come out successful, I may be killed."\∗18 This effrontry enraged the sultan and he ordered an invasion of Jalor, while Kanhar had already slipped to Jalor to make preparations for war. Haji uddabir almost repeats the same story.¹⁹ The behaviour of Kanhar Deva, however seems very striking. It is really strange that at one time he flies to Delhi to pay homage to the king of his own accord, professes unflinching obedience for four years and then suddenly adopts such an insolent attitude that he puts himself and his subjects in extreme jeopardy. Neither the reasons given by Nainsi²⁰ nor by Ferishtah and Hajiuddabir are convincing. The real cause of the invasion was in all certainty the determination to put an end to the independence of Jalor as was done with the other states of Rajputana.