Twilight of the Sultanate c8.s4.8

c8.s4.8

The kingdom of Malwa lay south-west of Delhi. It was conquered by 'Alāuddīn Khaljī in 1305 and continued to remain a province of the Delhi Sultanate till 1401, when its governor Dilāwar Khan Ghorī, a descendant of Muhammad Ghorī, declared his independence taking advantage of the confusion created by Tīmūr's invasion. But when the fugitive Sultan, Mahmūd Tughlaq, after his cold reception in Gujarat, came to Malwa, he was received by Dilāwar with all marks of respect. Dilāwar's subservient attitude so much infuriated his son Alp Khan that he retired to Mandu. After Sultan Mahmūd's departure to Delhi (1401), Dilāwar once again became completely independent. He died in 1405. His son and successor Hoshang Shāh (1405-35) shifted his capital from Dhar to Mandu and adorned it with many beautiful buildings. He was involved in many wars against the neighbouring kingdoms of Gujarat, Mewar, Delhi and Jaunpur which will be referred to in their proper sequence. Suffice it here to say that having failed against the ruler of Gujarat, his western neighbour, Hoshang tried his luck against the Sultan of Delhi, but he was beaten back by Mubārak Shāh Saiyyad to whom he had to pay a handsome tribute.¹⁰⁰ However, in 1431, he was successful in wresting Kalpi from the king of Jaunpur. Hoshang Shāh was succeeded by his son Ghaznī Khan, a worthless debauchee, who was murdered by his minister Mahmūd Khan, a Khaljī Turk. Thus came into power the dynasty of the Khaljī sultans of Malwa.