History of the Qaraunah Turks in India c7.99

c7.99

The author of the *Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi* gives a different reason. He attributes the revolt to the indiscretion and folly of a royal messenger, ‘Ali Khatattī, who was deputed by the Sultan to ask Kishlū Khan to send his family to Daulatabad, as other nobles and grandees had done, and his account is reproduced by Badāoni and Firishta. Hajjī-ad-Dabīr, quoting from Husam Khan, writes that the cause of this rebellion was the quarrel between ‘Ali Khatattī, the royal emissary, who was sent by the Sultan to bring Kishlu Khan to the court, and Lūlū the son-in-law of the latter. This finds partial corroboration in Barani, who is as usual, provokingly brief. In describing the Sultan's stay at Dihli after Kishlū Khan's revolt he says that the nobles and officers remained at Dihli, while their wives and families had been removed to Devagiri. We may reasonably conclude from this that Kishlū Khan had not complied with the Sultan's order. All these accounts, read together, point to the conclusion that like other nobles Kishlū Khan was also asked to send his family to Daulatabad. Probably this arrangement was devised to keep the powerful barons in check, and their families were to be kept as hostages at the capital as a guarantee of their loyalty. The practice had been followed in the past as is shown by the instance of Pratap Rudra Deva Kākatīya II in the reign of Tughluq Shah. It was certainly impolitic to ask a veteran general, who had given proof of his loyalty and devotion, to send his wives and children seven hundred miles away from the headquarters. The royal messenger in all probability transgressed his mission and used improper language towards Kishlū Khan, which made him suspicious of the Sultan's intentions. When the viceroy expressed his unwillingness to comply with the royal command, the insolent emissary, overconfident of his master's support, held out threats and went to the length of making the insinuation that he meditated treason against the state. He also used abusive language towards Kishlū Khan's son-in-law Lūlū, who at once flew into a rage, and caused the head of 'Ali to be struck off.⁵⁶