History of the Khaljis, A.D. 1290–1320 c18.21

c18.21

The malady of the king was getting more and more serious. He was suffering from dropsy and other physical disorders.¹² On account of his disease and other mental infirmities that follow in the train of advancing years, he had become weak and peevish. When Malik Naib returned from the Deccan the sultan related to him the tale of his woes,—how he had been neglected by Malka-i-Jahān and Khizr Khān. Māhrū, complained the ailing king, was ever busy with marriages and other ceremonies in the *haram*, while Khizr Khān, having obtained his most cherished Deval was ever immersed in music and mirth and cared little about the king or the court. Here was a golden opportunity for Malik Kāfūr, who was as mean as he was talented, to poison the ears of the Sultan against all those whom he considered his arch enemies. One day when Kāfūr was in a private audience with ‘Alāuddīn he bitterly complained against his alleged enemies and said that they wanted to put an end to his life simply because he was favoured by the king. They only waited for the sultan’s death when they would assassinate him. As ‘Alāuddīn gave Kāfūr a patient hearing, the latter continued his plaintive rhetoric and accused Alp Khān of being the source of all the trouble. He said that Alp Khān had influence with the queen and the royal princes and that was the reason why he was reluctant to go back to his iqtā‘ in *Gujarāt*. He was simply waiting to usurp all power as soon as the sultan's eyes were closed for ever. If Alp Khān could be killed, concluded Kāfūr, there would be no fear for him from the princes.¹³ Despite ‘Alāuddīn’s kindness to Kāfūr, says ‘Iṣāmī, he refused to listen to the false accusations levelled against the faithful governor, and said that he did not suspect anything from him.¹⁴ But Malik Kāfūr knew how to do away with Alp Khān since the king was bedridden and was unable even to move. One day when Alp Khān was entering the royal apartments Malik Naib and Malik Kamāluddīn seized him and murdered him in cold blood.¹⁵