The Sultanate of Delhi, 711–1526 A.D. c16.s2.2

c16.s2.2

Raziah’s triumph brought her great prestige and stabilised her position. She redistributed the high offices of the state and appointed Khwaja Muhazab-ud-din her wazir. She made fresh appointments to the posts of governors of the provinces. The entire Hindustan from Lakhanauti to Debal submitted to her. Bangal also came back under Delhi. But Raziah’s very success proved to be the chief cause of her downfall. She had taken steps to make the power of the crown absolute. The Turkish nobles, who had formed themselves into a military brotherhood and monopolised all power in the State since the time of Qutub-ud-din Aibak, would not tolerate a very powerful and despotic monarch who was pursuing the policy of making her will supreme. They considered themselves to be indispensable and would not allow the sovereign to occupy a higher place than that of the chief among the peers. Moreover, Raziah seems to have given offence to the orthodox Muslim opinion by casting off female attire and the seclusion of the harem. She dressed herself as a man, rode in public and transacted business in the open court. She took steps to emphasise the firmness and vigour of her rule. She commanded armies and took part in battles. Such conduct in a woman, though a queen, appeared scandalous to the hoary Turkish warriors. She is also said to have shown an undue preference for an Abyssinian officer, Jamal-ud-din Yaqut, who held the office of her master of the horse. Probably, this was the result of her deliberate policy of breaking the Turkish nobles’ monopoly of all important posts in the kingdom.