Muslim Slave System in Medieval India c14.23

c14.23

Similarly, Iltutmish purchased Qamaruddin Timur Khan for 50,000 *jitals* or 1000 *tankahs*.⁴⁵ And the transaction was concluded after great haggling and bargaining. In this context the sale of Iltutmish to Qutbuddin Aibak makes an interesting and instructive reading. As seen earlier, a slave merchant Jamaluddin Muhammad had brought Iltutmish to Ghazni to sell him to Sultan Muizzuddin. At that period, no Turk superior to him in comeliness, commendable qualities intelligence and sagacity, had they brought to that capital. The Sultan inquired about his price. The merchants or their brokers mentioned the price of two slaves together - one Iltutmish and another Ibak, as the sum of a thousand *dinars* of pure Rukni gold for each. But the merchant Jamaluddin Muhammad declined to sell Shamsuddin for that amount. An angry Sultan then commanded that no one should purchase him, and that the sale should be prohibited. Jamaluddin Muhammad took Iltutmish back to Bukhara, which was a renowned centre of slave trade in the Middle Ages.⁴⁶ When he returned to Ghazni after four or five years, Qutbuddin Aibak showed an inclination to buy Iltutmish and requested Muizuddin for permission to do so. The Sultan replied: Since a command has been issued that he should not be purchased at Ghaznin, let them take him to the city of Delhi and there he can be purchased. The merchant accordingly brought him to Delhi and Iltutmish and the other slave were bought by Qutbuddin Aibak for the sum of one hundred thousand *jitals*.⁴⁷