Twilight of the Sultanate c13.s1.20

c13.s1.20

With his accession the Sultanate of Delhi ceased to be the little kingdom extending from "Delhi to Palam". All the districts west of the capital—Panipat, Sarhind, Deopalpur, Lahore, and their outlying regions—had automatically returned to the Sultanate. The strong chiefs around Delhi—many of whom were Afghans—were supporters of Bahlūl.¹⁵ Even so the elements pitted against him were so varied and so bitterly hostile that he had to fight them all through his life. It was not easy to remove the anti-Afghan sentiments from the breasts of men. The Turkish sultans had considered the Afghans to be good soldiers, and nothing more; they were devoid of "culture" and, therefore, the very idea of their becoming rulers was deemed to be outrageous. A similar wave of resentment had swept over Delhi when the Khaljīs had succeeded the Ilbarīs.¹⁶ Bahlūl had also to face problems posed by the demerits of his own Afghan followers. Their sentimental attachment to their queer ideas of unbridled freedom, and their traditional devotion to their tribal leaders, were not conducive to discipline and harmony. Besides this, there were the sympathisers of the Saiyyad ruler living at Badaon. His son-in-law, the King of Jaunpur, could not brook the idea of an alien occupying the throne which he thought belonged to him as a matter of right. Other problems were no less important. Hindustan which had been broken up was to be reclaimed and consolidated. The authority of the crown, so badly shaken during the last years, had to be re-established.