"Jalaluddin’s nephew and successor Alauddin Khalji (1296-1316) turned out to be a very strong king. He marched against Devagiri in 1296. On his way through Gondwana and Khandesh he took prisoners a large number of Mahajans and cultivators, and ransomed them for wealth.33 At Devagiri he enslaved a number of the Raja’s relatives, and Brahmans and Mahajans. He put them in shackles and chains and paraded them in front of the fort to pressure the besieged king. After victory, he released many of the captives because of compulsions of the situation. He was only a prince who had marched to the Deccan without the Sultan’s permission. But his taking of slaves in large numbers was in consonance with the policy of Muslim sultans and gave a foretaste of what was to follow during the course of his reign.... In 1299 he despatched a large army for the invasion of Gujarat. There all the major towns and cities like Naharwala, Asaval, Vanmanthali, Surat, Cambay, Somnath etc. were sacked. There the temples were broken, wealth looted and large numbers of captives of both sexes captured, including the famous Malik Kafur and the Vaghela king’s consort Kamala Devi. In the words of Wassaf, the Muslim army in the sack of Somnath “took captive a great number of handsome and elegant maidens, amounting to 20,000, and children of both sexes… the Muhammadan army brought the country to utter ruin, and destroyed the lives of inhabitants, and plundered the cities and captured their offspring…” In 1301 Ranthambhor was attacked and in 1303 Chittor. In the invasion of Chittor, 30,000 people were massacred in cold blood and obviously females and minors of their families were captured.38 Slaves were also taken in large numbers in the expeditions to Malwa, Sevana and Jalor (1305-1311); these will be referred to again in the course of this study. Maybe the number of captives obtained from Rajasthan was not that large knowing the bravery and chivalry of the Rajputs and their prevailing customs of Jauhar and Sati. But the highly successful Deccan campaigns of Malik Kafur must have supplied a large corps of captives. Besides, Alauddin did not confine to obtaining Hindu slaves....“The Mongol invaders were certainly infidels,” says Mahdi Husain."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Wassaf, Mahdi Husain, Quoted from Lal, K. S. (1994). Muslim slave system in medieval India. New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan. Chapter 5
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alauddin_Khalji's_conquest_of_Gujarat
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Alauddin Khalji's conquest of Gujarat
Alauddin Khalji's conquest of Gujarat, or the Muslim Conquest of Gujarat began in 1299, when the Delhi Sultanate ruler Alauddin Khalji sent an army to ransack the Gujarat region of India, which was ruled by the Vaghela king Karna. The Delhi forces plundered several major cities of Gujarat, including Anahilavada (Patan), Khambhat, Surat and Somnath. Karna was able to regain control of at least a part of his kingdom in the later years. However, in 1304, a second invasion by Alauddin's forces perma
26 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Alauddin Khalji's conquest of Gujarat →
Related Quotes
"The Sultan's army burnt down the villages and devastated the country (desu). They completely destroyed several towns,…"
"“In the beginning of AH 697 ‘Alãu’d-Dîn sent Almãs Beg and Nasrat Khãn along with other chiefs of Dehlî and the army …"
"“In the third year after the accession, the Sultãn sent Ulugh Khãn and Nasrat Khãn, with large armies to invade Gujar…"
"Ulugh Khan invaded Gujarat. He sacked the whole country. He pursued the Rai upto Somnath. He destroyed the temple of …"
"Somanath: “They made the temple prostrate itself towards the Kaaba. You may say that the temple first offered its pra…"
"Mahmud demolished Somnath in the year 416 (1122)' and carried its relics to Ghazni. After his death, unbelief returne…"
"At the beginning of the third year of the reign, Ulugh Khan and Nusrat Khan, with their amirs and generals, and a lar…"
"In the third year after the accession, the Sultan sent Ulugh Khan and Nasrat Khan, with large armies to invade Gujara…"
"On Wednesday, the 20th of Jamadi-ul Awwal in AH 698 (23 February, 1299), the Sultan sent an order to the manager of t…"
"Alauddin became Sultan in 1296 AD. In 1298 AD he equipped an expedition to Gujarat under his generals Ulugh Khan and …"