Question

what was the achievement of Iltutmish

Answer 1

1.
When Iltutmish ascended the throne, he was opposed by certain Qutbi (nobles of Qutb-ud-din Aibak) and Muizzi (nobles of Muhammad of Ghur) nobles. He suppressed their revolt. But, he always remained doubtful of their loyalty. Therefore, he created his own group of nobles from among his loyal and capable slaves which was called Turkan-i-Chihalgani.
All those nobles were purchased by him as slaves. They were given respectable assignments and, thus, their cooperation was sought in administration. All these nobles depended on Iltutmish because they were there because of him only. Those nobles always remained loyal to him. Thus, Iltutmish no more remained dependent on Qutbi and Muizzi nobles.
2.
Iltutmish behaved most diplomatically with Yildiz. When he ascended the throne, Yildiz sent him a chatra (canopy) and a durbash (baton). Iltutmish accepted them and, thus, pretended to recognize his suzerainty. In fact, he bided his time, avoided conflict with him and consolidated his position as far as Banaras.

Besides, he occupied Sursuti, Kuhram and Bhatinda in the west. In 1215 A.D., Yildiz was driven out of Ghazni by Khwarizm Shah. He came to Lahore and occupied the territories of Punjab upto Thaneswar. While Yildiz still claimed overlordship over Iltutmish and asked him to send military help, Iltutmish marched against him to settle his score finally with him.

Between 1215-16 A.D. Iltutmish defeated Yildiz in an open battle at Tarain and imprisoned him. He was first sent to Badaun and afterwards killed. Iltutmish’s gain was two-fold. One was that he had killed the most dangerous rival to his power and, the other, that it led to the final break with Ghazni. Hence onwards, the Sultanate of Delhi became an independent state in fact if not legally so far.

3.
Iltutmish had hardly consolidated his position in Punjab when his infant kingdom was threatened by a possible invasion of the Mongols. Issuing from the uplands of Tartary, the Mongols, under their great leader Temujin popularly known as Cenghiz Khan, occupied the Khwarizm empire, forced the Emperor to flee for safety to the Caspian coast and his heir-apparent Jalal-ud-din Mangbarni to Panjab.

Jalal-ud-din married the daughter of Rai Khokhar Sankin, the Khokhar chief and occupied the upper Sindh Sagar, the territory of the Ravi and the Chenab regions, the fort of Pasraur in the Sialkot district and then advanced up to Lahore.
The Mongols were hotly pursuing the fleeing prince but stopped at the banks of the river Indus to watch his activities. Jalal-ud-din asked for shelter from Iltutmish. So far the career of Cenghiz Khan had been of undisrupted success. No country could save itself from his attack. Iltutmish had neither the desire nor the power to face such a powerful foe.

He refused to provide shelter to Jalal-ud-din much against the rules of hospitality. But, it was wise on his part. It saved him from the wrath of Cenghiz Khan who returned after leaving the task of capturing Jalal-ud-din to his officers. Iltutmish was determined to check Jalal-ud-din from proceeding further and got ready for military action when he tried further aggression in Punjab.

Jalal-ud-din too realised the futility of fighting against Iltutmish and, therefore, withdrew towards lower Sindh. Thereafter, he concentrated his power against Qabacha and the Mongols. He defeated Qabacha near Uch and weakened his power. But, ultimately, he returned to Persia in 1224 A.D. Iltutmish watched with satisfaction the departure of Jalal-ud-din. He had saved his kingdom from the Mongol invasion and also from ill-effects of the politics of Central Asia.



4.
Jalal-ud-din’s activities had weakened the power of Qabacha who was now left only with Multan and Sindh. Iltutmish took advantage of it and easily occupied Bhatinda, Kuhram, Sarsuti and then Lahore.
He now decided to finish the power of Qabacha for once and all and simultaneously planned attacks on Multan and Sindh Qabacha fled to the fort of Bhakkar on the lower Indus and offered to negotiate. Iltutmish asked for an unconditional surrender and when refused attacked the fort. Qabacha felt desperate, threw himself into the river Indus and was drowned. Both Multan and Uch were occupied by Iltutmish. Thus, another strong enemy of the Delhi Sultanate was finished by Iltutmish.