Everything about Qutb-ud-din Aybak totally explained
Qutb-ud-din Aybak (
Persian /
Urdu:
قطب الدین ایبک) was a of medieval
India, the first
Sultan of Delhi and founder of the
Slave dynasty (also known as the
Ghulam dynasty). He served as
sultan for only four years, from
1206 to
1210.
The link to image file: Tomb of Sultan Qutb-ud-Din Aibak
Early years
Qutb-ud-din was born somewhere in
Central Asia; he was of
Turkic descent. While still a child he was captured and sold as a slave (
ghulam). He was purchased by the chief Qazi of
Nishapur, a town in the province of
Khorasan in northeastern
Iran. The Qazi treated him like one of his own sons, and Aibak received a good education, including fluency in Farsi and Arabic and training in archery and horsemanship. When his master died, his master's sons, who were jealous of Aibak, sold him to a slave merchant. Qutb-ud-din was purchased by Sultan
Muhammad Ghori, ruler of
Ghor in north-western
Afghanistan.
Career
Starting with his native Ghor, an
Aimak principality,
Muhammad Ghori managed to establish control over most of present-day
Afghanistan,
Pakistan and
northern India sacking Delhi in 1193. He established the first verifiable Muslim administration through collection of state taxes, establishing the rule of law, equitable distribution of land and revenues to the nobles under his charge and governance based on a mixture of locally elected representation through Mashura courts and nominated administrators.
Qutb-ud-din rose through the ranks to become
Sultan Ghori's most trusted general. His greatest military successes occurred while he was directly under Sultan Ghori's guidance and leadership. Qutb-ud-din was responsible for executing and consolidating Sultan Ghori's conquests in northern India. He was left in increasingly independent charge of the Indian campaigns and the exaction of levies from the areas in
India that were under Sultan Ghori's conquests, as after
1192 Sultan Ghori concentrated on
Central Asia.
Founding of the Delhi Sultanate
Muhammad Ghori established the first real Muslim state in North India. Upon Sultan Ghori's death in
1206, Qutb-ud-din Aybak, after a brief power struggle, succeeded in establishing himself as ruler of the empire in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and
northern India; Ghori's Central Asian possessions had been captured by none other than the
Mongol warlord,
Genghis Khan.
The areas over which Qutb-ud-din established his rule were those over which he already exercised power as Sultan Ghori's local receiver-general of periodic exactions and levies. Therefore, although his formal tenure as ruler was only four years, Qutb-ud-din managed to consolidate the administrative system that was established by his predecessor Sultan Ghori. This was achieved despite his having to quell rebellions by nobles like Taj-ud-din Ildiz and Nasir-ud-din Qubachah. Qutb-ud-din ruled initially from
Lahore and later moved the capital to
Delhi; he's hence considered the first Muslim ruler of
South Asia.
Qutb-ud-din Aybak initiated the construction of
Delhi's earliest
Muslim monuments, the
Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque and the
Qutub Minar.
Historical records compiled by Muslim historian Maulana Hakim Saiyid Abdul Hai attest to the iconoclasm of Qutb-ud-din Aybak. The first mosque built in Delhi, the "Qubbat al-Islam" was built after demolishing the
Hindu temple built previously by Prithvi Raj and leaving certain parts of the temple outside the mosque proper . This pattern of iconoclasm was common during his reign, although an argument goes that such iconoclasm was motivated more by politics than by religion.These were completed by his successor,
Iltutmish. Aibak,was otherwise known as "Lakh Baksh" or "giver of hundred thousands" because of his generosity. He was thus a pious
Muslim, praised by contemporary Muslim clerics. He also patronized Nizami and Fakh-i-Mudabbir, both of whom dedicated their works to Aibak.
Death and succession
Qutb-ud-din died accidentally in
1210. While he was playing a game of
polo on horseback (polo aka chougan in India), his horse fell and Qutb-ud-din was impaled on the pommel of his saddle. He was buried near the
Anarkali bazaar in
Lahore.
Shams-ud-din Iltutmish, another ex-slave of
Turkic ancestry who was married to Qutb-ud-din's daughter, succeeded him as sultan of Delhi.
Qutb-ud-din Aibak's tomb is located behind Anarkali bazaar today. In the early
1970's, it was renovated at the orders of the then Prime Minister
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.
Further Information
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