History of the Khaljis, A.D. 1290–1320 c13.28

c13.28

In that message Aljaitu also suggested, in very sweet words, that a daughter of the sultan of India may be given in marriage to the ruling Ilkhan of Persia. 'Alāuddīn, who by now possessed vast treasures and who had made unprecedented conquests in north and south, considered the marriage proposal of Aljaitu as a deliberate insult to his dignity and imprisoned all the eighten persons that comprised the embassy. His temper was not soothed simply by imprisoning these people; he later on ordered them to be crushed under the feet of the elephants. By such flagrantly undiplomatic act, says Vaṣṣāf, he threw "the pearl of his good name into the river of Nile."¹⁸