The Sultanate of Delhi, 711–1526 A.D. c15.s2.t5: His estimate

c15.s2.t5.1

Qutub-ud-din Aibak was a great military leader. He was a gifted soldier who had risen from obscurity and poverty to power and fame. He possessed a high degree of courage and intrepidity. He was one of those able and powerful slaves to whom Muhammad of Ghur’s success in India was largely due. As has been mentioned, he conquered for his master many important towns and principalities in Hindustan. He could, however, make no conquests during his career as a ruler. This was due to his pre-occupations. Besides being a military leader of ability, he was also interested in literature. He possessed a refined taste and patronised men of learning, such as Hasan Nizami and Fakhre Mudir, who dedicated their books to him. He was also interested in architecture. He built two mosques out of the materials of Hindu temples which he destroyed, one at Delhi, known as *Quwat-ul-Islam*, and the other at Ajmer, known as *Dhai Din ka Jhonpara*. Muslim writers praise his generosity. According to them he was known as *Lakha Buksha*, that is, giver of lakhs; but at the same time, he was also notorious for his killing which, too, was by lakhs. He does not seem to have followed the enlightened policy of religious toleration, though he is said to have twice interceded with Muhammad for the vanquished Hindu princes. He was not a constructive genius. He built no civil institutions and carried out no administrative reform. His greatest achievement was to sever India’s connection with Ghazni and thus to put an end to Ghazni’s sovereignty over Hindustan.