Twilight of the Sultanate c12.s2.38

c12.s2.38

'Alāuddīn 'Ālam Shāh continued to live at Badaon. Such a peaceful transfer of power was unique in the annals of Medieval India. Sir Wolseley Haig treats 'Alāuddīn harshly by saying : "The contemptible 'Ālam Shāh remained contentedly at Badaon, where the revenue of the small territory which he had been permitted to retain sufficed to defray the cost of his pleasures".⁸⁴ Dr. Ishwari Prasad is equally uncharitable when he writes : "The imbecile 'Alāuddīn lived out the remnant of his life, perhaps without any pangs of regret or sense of humiliation, in undisturbed repose at Badaon".⁸⁵ In 'Alāuddīn one should not try to find an imbecile or a contemptible monarch, but a true Saiyyad not only in calling but also in temperament. Badaonī faithfully expresses the sentiments of 'Ālam Shāh in one of his letters to Bahlūl. It reads : "There is neither fruit nor profit for me in sovereignty ; living in solitary contentment at Badaon, I resign the empire of Delhi to you".⁸⁶