Identify the measure that was not adopted by Iltutmish to strengthen his empire.
a. He organised the nobility into a select group of forty called ‘Chalisa’.
b. He divided the sultanate into iqtas for proper administration.
c. He strengthened the north-western frontier to protect his empire from Mongol attacks.
d. He attempted to suppress the internal revolts in Punjab, Sind, Bengal and Bihar.
Answers
Answer:
Ghiyas ud Din was the regent of the last Shamsi sultan, Nasiruddin Mahmud. He reduced the power of the treacherous nobility and heightened the stature of the sultan. Despite having only few military achievements, he was the most powerful ruler of the sultanate between Shamsuddin Iltutmish and Alauddin Khalji.
His original name was Baha Ud Din. He was an Ilbari Turk. When he was young he was captured by the Mongols, taken to Ghazni and sold to Khawaja Jamal ud-din of Basra, a Sufi. The latter then brought him to Delhi in 1232 along with other slaves, and all of them were purchased by Iltutmish.
Balban belonged to the famous group of 40 Turkic slaves of Iltutmish.[1]
Ghiyas made several conquests, some of them as vizier. He routed the Mewats that harassed Delhi and reconquered Bengal, all while successfully facing the Mongol threat, a struggle that cost his son and heir's life. So it came to pass that upon his death in 1287, his grandson Qaiqubad was nominated sultan, undermining the achievements of his grandfather.
In spite of having only a few military achievements, Ghiyas ud-din made civil and military reforms that earned him the position of the strongest ruler between Shams ud-din Iltutmish and the later Alauddin Khalji, whose military achievements rest on the order established within the sultanate by Ghiyas ud din Balban.