Khalji Dynasty (1290–1320 AD) – Jalal-ud-din Khalji and Alauddin Khalji’s Conquests and Market Control Reforms

At a Glance

• Period 1290 to 1320
• Founder Jalaluddin Khalji, who took power in 1290
• Greatest ruler Alauddin Khalji (1296 to 1316)
• Conquests Gujarat 1299, Ranthambhor 1301, Chittor 1303, Deccan 1306 to 1311
• Reform Market control and cash land revenue
• Exam link UPSC Prelims, Medieval History: The Delhi Sultanate

Where Does It Fit?

This is the second topic of the category on the Delhi Sultanate. The previous topic covered the Slave dynasty, whose narrow Turkish base the Khaljis overturned, and this topic covers the rulers who expanded the empire. The next topic covers the Tughlaqs. Previous topic: Slave (Mamluk) Dynasty (Qutb-ud-din Aibak, Iltutmish, Razia Sultan, Balban).

How Did the Khaljis Come to Power?

In short: the Khalji dynasty rose in 1290 when non-Turkish nobles led by Jalaluddin Khalji overthrew Balban’s weak successors and opened high office to non-Turks.

After Balban’s death in 1286 his heir, Prince Mahmud, was already dead, and another son, Bughra Khan, preferred to rule Bengal. A young grandson of Balban was installed in Delhi. The Khaljis, of mixed Turkish-Afghan origin, and Indian Muslims had been denied high offices. Jalaluddin, who had served as warden of the northwest marches and had fought the Mongols, led the revolt in 1290. The Khalji rise ended the Turkish monopoly of high offices.

Jalaluddin ruled for only six years and tried to soften Balban’s harshness. He was the first sultan to put forward clearly that the state should rest on the willing support of the governed and that, since most people were Hindus, a state in India could not be a truly Islamic state. His mild policy of avoiding harsh punishment was seen by many as weak.

How Did Alauddin Khalji Become Sultan and Control the Nobles?

Alauddin Khalji (1296 to 1316) came to the throne by murdering his uncle and father-in-law Jalaluddin. As governor of Awadh he had collected a vast treasure by invading Devagiri in the Deccan, and Jalaluddin went to Kara hoping to seize it. After the murder, Alauddin won most nobles with gold, then killed or dismissed those who had defected for it. He ordered a mass killing of the Mongol converts settled in Delhi who rebelled over the share of loot from Gujarat, and he punished even the wives and children of rebels.

He forbade nobles to hold banquets, to marry without his leave or to use wine, and he set up a spy service. No further rebellion occurred in his lifetime, but the old nobility was destroyed, and the new nobility learned to accept whoever could ascend the throne. This showed after his death in 1316, when Malik Kafur raised a minor son to the throne and blinded or imprisoned the others.

What Did Alauddin Conquer?

Malik Kafur was made malik-naib, or vice-regent, but the southern campaigns had limited political results. The rulers promised tribute, though an annual campaign would be needed to collect it, and Mabar gave no formal agreement. Within about fifteen years of Alauddin’s death the southern kingdoms had been wiped out and brought under direct rule from Delhi.

How Did Market Control Work?

Alauddin fixed the prices of everything from grain, sugar and oil to a needle, costly cloth, horses, cattle and slaves. He set up three markets in Delhi for foodgrains, for costly cloth and for horses, slaves and cattle, each under an officer called the shahna who kept a register of merchants. The Mongol threat required a large army, and a large army could be paid only if prices and salaries were kept low. To ensure cheap grain, land revenue in the doab, from Meerut to Kara, went directly to the state and was raised to half the produce, paid in cash. Peasants had to sell grain cheap to banjaras, who were registered and held collectively responsible, and the state kept warehouses for famine. Prices stayed fixed even in famine, and Barani called the stability a wonder of the age.

Prices included wheat at 7.5 jitals a man, barley at 4 and good rice at 5. A first-grade horse cost 100 to 120 tankas. A cavalryman was paid 238 tankas a year in cash, and Alauddin was the first sultan to pay soldiers in cash. Merchants who cheated faced harsh punishment, and Multani traders received advances to bring fine cloth to Delhi.

What Were Alauddin’s Agrarian Reforms?

Alauddin was the first sultan to insist that revenue in the doab be assessed by measuring the cultivated land. This meant that the powerful khuts and muqaddams paid the same as others, and they lost their right to illegal cesses and had to pay taxes on cattle and houses. He insisted on strict audit of the accounts of revenue officials. Barani thought the aim was to punish Hindus, but Muslim merchants of Khurasan and Multan were affected too, and the reforms were directed mainly against the privileged in the countryside. The market regulations ended with his death, but they enabled a large cavalry that defeated the Mongols, and his land revenue measures later influenced Sher Shah and Akbar.

Why Is This Topic Important?

• Expansion Brought Gujarat, Rajasthan and the Deccan into the Sultanate’s reach
• Economic experiment Market control is among the most asked Sultanate topics
• Kingship Alauddin’s control of the nobles shaped later rulers

What Came Next?

The next topic covers the Tughlaq dynasty and the experiments of Muhammad bin Tughlaq. Next topic: Tughlaq Dynasty (1320–1414 AD) – Muhammad bin Tughlaq’s Experiments and Firoz Shah Tughlaq’s Reforms.

Key People and Terms

• Shahna Officer in charge of a market
• Malik Kafur Alauddin’s general and malik-naib
• Jauhar Rajput women’s self-sacrifice
• Khuts and muqaddams Rural landed chiefs
• Banjaras Grain carriers registered by the state
• Tanka Silver coin

Exam Corner

Mains Angle

Questions on Alauddin ask about motives of market control or the conquests. These points add depth.

• Motive Pay a big army cheaply to face the Mongols
• Method Shahna, registered banjaras, cash revenue
• Limit Ended at his death