History of the Khaljis, A.D. 1290–1320 c6.36

c6.36

The city and the court wore a happy aspect but the condition of the country at large gave a cause for anxiety. India was then passing through a crisis. In the north-west the Mughals were sending out harassing expeditions every year. Another restive element were the Gakkhars in the Punjab. Multan and Sindh were held by Arkali Khan, who ruled virtually as an independent king. Towards the south-west of Sindh lay the prosperous kingdom of Gujarat ruled by the Baghela Rajputs. Adjacent to Gujarat were situated the various kingdoms of Rajputana, all independent of one another and of the Sultanate of Delhi. No Muslim ruler had been successful in completely defeating or subjugating any of them. On the other hand the existence of states like Chittor and Ranthambhor was an open challenge to the prowess of Delhi Sultanate. In Central India Malwa, Dhār, Ujjain and the vast tract of Bundelkhand was still out of the pale of Muslim domination and enjoyed perfect independence. The whole tract now comprising Bihar, Bengal and Orrisa was in the hands of Hindu Rajas or independent Muslim kings. In Bengal Nasiruddīn Mahmūd, a son of Balban, and after him his successors, had been ruling independently. In the Doab, the most fertile part of the country, the entire strip of territory from Meerut to Pilibhit together with the sub-montane region of Kamaon in the north, was in the hands of intractable feudal barons, Hindu and Musalman. In the territories of Avadh, Benares and Gorakhpur, the suzerainty of Delhi was not yet fully established. South of the Vindhya mountains, again, Muslim armies had not yet conquered any kingdom. 'Alāūddīn had marched into Devagiri but as soon as he had returned to the north, the Yadavas had by and by recovered their lost prestige and power. The other mighty kingdoms of Warangal, Dvarsamudra, and those ruled by the Cholas, the Cheras and the Pandyas had never heard of a Muslim invader.