History of the Qaraunah Turks in India c9.5

Language: English

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The project of foreign conquest is mentioned by Barani among these measures of the Sultan’s reign which diminished his treasury and brought distress upon the country. Later writers have condemned the scheme in no uncertain terms and have charged the Sultan with madness. It should be borne in mind that the Sultan had built up a large empire in India, and during the first three years of his reign, he had fully reasserted the authority of Dihli over the distant provinces both in the north and the south. There was nothing inherently absurd in the design which is in keeping with his great genius. A tried general who had bravely grappled with foes of stern stuff in the field of battle, and who had subdued the numerous chiefs and princes all over Hindustan and the Deccan, was not the man to shrink from an enterprise that would have, if materialised, greatly redounded to his glory, and enabled him to rank among the mighty conquerors of the Islamic world. Other rulers before him had cherished similar dreams. ‘Ala-al-Din had wished to play the role of a world-conqueror, but he was asked to desist from such a course by his advisers who brought home to him his limitations.³ But the circumstances in which Muhammad was placed were different. For ‘Ala-al-Din there was sufficient scope in India itself, and he acted wisely in abandoning his scheme of a world conquest. But Muhammad who possessed a vast empire desired a fresh outlet for his ambition and energy.

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The remarkable success which attended the expeditions undertaken within the country itself filled him with pride, and lent encouragement to his seemingly impossible projects. The condition of Persia during the fourteenth century was far from satisfactory. Ghāzān had been followed by a series of weak rulers, who by their insensate policy had greatly undermined the foundations of the power which he had so strenuously laboured to build up. The contemporary ruler of Persia, Abu Sa‘id, a debauched and profligate monarch, was only a minor when he assumed the sceptre, and soon after his accession he was confronted with baronial jealousy and the subterranean attempts of his guardian Amir Chauban to usurp authority. Prince Yassaur, to whom the present Il-Khan’s father Uljaitū had entrusted an important province, was foiled in his attempts to increase his power, and was murdered by his relative Kepak Khan Chaghtai, who cherished feelings of hostility towards him. Amir Chauban’s tutelage galled Abu Sa‘id, and he longed to rid himself of a powerful subordinate who had become the *major domo* of the palace. His victory over the Khan of the Golden Horde in 1325 A.D. only served to heighten his insolence, and the dominant position which he had acquired in the state not only tied the hands of Abu Sa‘id but also kindled feelings of jealousy and resentment among the nobility.

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In the same year the Chaghtai chief Tarmāshirīn who invaded Khorasan was driven beyond the Oxus by Chauban’s son Amir Hasan who encountered him near Ghazni and inflicted a sharp defeat upon him. All this aggravated Chauban’s arrogance, and so great was the resentment felt in the royal seraglio that one day one of his father’s widows Duniyā Khātūn addressed Abu Sa‘id in these words: ‘If I were a man, I would not have allowed Chauban and his son to behave as they are doing.’ When pressed by Abu Sa‘id to be more explicit, the lady complained of the conduct of Chauban’s son Damishq Khwajah who made free with the widows of Uljaitū. Abu Sa‘id was struck with shame and began to devise means to get hold of the culprit in the manner suggested by Duniyā Khātūn. The young man was arrested and put to death by a Mongol nobleman, Misr Khwajah, and a slave Lulu by name, and his house was plundered.⁴ When Chauban resisted Abu Sa‘id’s wish to marry his daughter Baghdad Khātūn, of whom he had become enamoured, he resolved upon his destruction. Knowing the king’s intentions, Chauban consulted his son Hasan and others as to the course which should be adopted. They decided to have recourse to arms in order to save themselves and Chauban put to death Wazir Rukn-al-Din Sa‘in and collected a force of 70,000 men with whom he advanced upon ‘Iraq. At first he marched towards Mashed and then towards Simān, from where he sent the great Shaikh ‘Alai-ad-dowlat to intercede with the Sultan.

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The Shaikh tried in vain to appease the wrath of Abu Sa‘id and his officers who clamoured for his life. Chauban continued his march and reached Kuhar or Kurhā, called Sari Kemash by Abul Fedā and Ibrahimabad by Hamdullah, which was only a day’s journey from the Sultan’s camp. But most of Chauban’s men deserted him and went over to the side of Abu Sa‘id. In despair, he fled to Khorasan and then to Herat, where he sought refuge with Malik Ghiyas-al-Din, but the latter betrayed him, and strangled him to death by the orders of his suzerain.