A History of Agriculture in India v2.c55.s6.t2: The Sultan Raziya—A.D. 1236-1240

v2.c55.s6.t2.1

Realizing that his sons were worthless, Iltutmish nominated his daughter Raziya as his successor as he discerned in her countenance the signs of power and bravery. In *Tabakat-i-Nasiri* she is described as a great monarch, who was wise, just, generous, the protector of her subjects, and the leader of her armies. Minhaju-s Siraj comments that though she was endowed with all the qualities befitting a king, she was not born of the right sex, and so all these virtues were worthless. The Sultan Raziya discarded the dress and veil of women and put on a coat and a cap, and thus clad rode on an elephant to show herself to her people. She appointed Yakut, an Abyssian, as her personal attendant. This led to jealousies among her Turkish amirs, and in A.D. 1240 they deposed her. Later she married Altuniya, the Governor of Bhatinda. Her husband attempted to occupy the throne, but both husband and wife were killed in October 1240.