The Sultanate of Delhi, 711–1526 A.D. c16.s3.2

c16.s3.2

The *naib-i-mamlikat*, Aeitigin, usurped much of the power formerly wielded by the sultan. He even appropriated some of the royal prerogatives, such as playing *naubat* at his gate and keeping an elephant. He married a sister of Bahram and easily became more important and powerful than the king himself. Bahram could not put up with the encroachment on his prerogatives. He, therefore, had the naib murdered in his office. But the king's triumph was short-lived. Although no new naib was appointed, yet the lord chamberlain (*amir-i-hajib*) Badr-ud-din Sunqar, who was an influential member of the Turkish aristocracy, known as 'the Forty' appropriated all the power formerly wielded by the naib. The sultan became jealous of him. The wazir was already against Sunqar. The two made a common cause against the *amir-i-hajib* who, on his part, plotted for the deposition and death of the king. The wazir divulged the plot to the sultan who dismissed Sunqar and banished him to Badaun. As Sunqar returned to the court without permission, he was arrested and put to death. The Turkish nobles, who were alienated against the sultan as a result of Aeitigin's murder, got thoroughly alarmed. The Turkish *ulema* (ecclesiasticals), too, were hostile, as one of them was put to death by the king's orders. The wazir, Muhazab-ud-din, had his own score to settle with his sovereign. An all-pervading conspiracy was hatched. At this time the Mongols invaded the Panjab and besieged the city of Lahore in 1241. An army was sent for the relief of the city. The wazir, who had accompanied it, revealed to the officers that the sultan had sent secret orders for their arrest and execution. The army was filled with rage and, vowing vengeance on the sultan, returned from the way to depose him. The citizens of Delhi fought desperately but they were no match for regular troops. The city fell the next day. Bahram was seized and put to death in May 1242.