History of the Qaraunah Turks in India c6.81

c6.81

'Ala-al-Din's sway had been confined to the principal towns from Jalor and Patan in the north to Broach and Surat in the south, Gujarat. and at times owing to the determined opposition of the Hindu chiefs, the Musalmans "possessed little more than the encamping ground of their armies." After the fall of the Baghela Rajputs, Gujarat continued to be a fief of the empire of Dihli for a little more than a century and Patan and Anhilwad became the seat of the imperial government. Far away from the headquarters, the imperial governors did what they pleased and made a discretionary use of the civil and military authority entrusted to them. They seized the property of Hindu and Jain temples, destroyed their shrines, and built mosques in their places.³⁷ Muslim domination galled the pride of the Rajputs who carried on a desperate struggle for their liberation. The descendants of Khengar in Surashtra, the Rathors of Idar, and the Gohils of Champanir in the East kept up a heroic struggle for their independence, and in the central region a large tract of land was occupied by the descendants of Karan, the last of the Baghelas. During the reign of Qutb-al-Din Mubarak Shah, Zafar Khan, who was an able and experienced man, brought about the complete subjugation of the country; the revenue was properly realised and the rais and muqaddams were made to yield obedience. But Mubarak, whimsical as he was, determined to take the life of Zafar Khan, ‘who had committed no offence’ and this wanton murder caused disturbances in the whole province.³⁸ The governorship of Gujarat was, after his death, conferred upon Hisām-al-Din, Khusrau's half-brother, but he was soon removed owing to his unpopularity, and his place was taken by Malik Wahīd-al-din Quraishi. When Mubarak met his death at the hands of Khusrau, Gujarat was in a neglected condition. Naturally, the Dihli politics absorbed the attention of the distinguished generals and statesmen of the realm, and Khusrau was too busy with measures to buttress up his tottering power to turn his attention to the affairs of Gujarat. The usual laxity of administration prevailed, and the governors and the people of Gujarat seem to have been left pretty much to themselves.