7 Important Causes of Alauddin Khilji’s Expedition to South India

Alauddin was motivated by the following considerations for making invasion of the South Indian states:

1. Alauddin was an ambitious and imperialist Sultan. He intended to conquer the entire India. Hence after conquering Northern India, he paid attention to South India. In fact, the expansionist policy of Alauddin was the most obvious reason for invading the South.

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2. The states of the South were very prosperous and rich sand Sultan Alauddin Khalji was in need of money for the completion of his schemes and for disbursing the salaries of the soldiers. He knew well about the prosperity of the South after his first successful ex­pedition to Deogiri in 1296 a.d. So he made a plan to conquer the South in order to get the required money.

3. As the states of the Deccan were at daggers drawn with one another, Alauddin Khalji thought this an appropriate time for invasion.

4. Alauddin had sent two expeditions in 1302 a.d. against Bengal- and Warangal but neither of the two was successful. It affected the reputation and prestige of the Sultan adversely. He wanted to wash out this blot of defeat by conquering the South.

5. The Yadava ruler, Ram Chandra Deva, of Deogiri had not been sending annual tribute to Delhi Sultanate for the last few years, and as Alauddin was in need of money, he invaded South to realize the pending revenue and to get further booty.

6. Alauddin had organized a vast, powerful and well-equipped army in order to check the Mongol invasion and to attain victory in Northern India. By now, the fear of Mongol invasion had vanished and the victory of Northern India was completed. Hence it was necessary to engage the army in some expedition to avoid every possibility of revolt, hence he sent the army to the South.

7. Kamla Devi, Malika-i-Jahan of Alauddin and the former queen of Karan Baghela of Gujarat, expressed her wish to get back her daughter, Dewal Rani from her ex-husband, so Alauddin sent an expedition against Deogiri to fulfil the wish of his beloved queen.

But there was a sharp difference of motives between the expedi­tion to the North and the campaigns in the South. He conquered northern countries and incorporated them into Delhi Sultanate but he extracted only money from the Deccan states and forced them only to accept his supremacy and pay annual tribute. Prof. Ayangar writes, “Alauddin’s object in invading the Deccan kingdoms was to make them the milch cow for the gold that he was often much in need of for proper maintenance of army to keep Hindustan free from internal disturbances and invasions by the Mongols from outside.” Dr. S. Roy has also remarked, “What he aspired to in the South was not the annexation of new territory, but huge tribute from the Hindu kings with a mere acknowledgement of his overlordship.”

Throwing light on the motives of Alauddin’s southern cam­paigns, Dr. U. N. Dey has observed, “Alauddin was following a calculated policy of reducing the kingdoms of the Deccan and the South as tributary states which would accept his suzerainty, pay annual tribute and act in all manners as his subordinates.”

The above-mentioned comments of various historians prove that he wanted to extract money from the South regularly so that he could meet his needs properly and well; hence he made several inva­sions in the South and forced the rulers there to accept his supremacy, one by one. Malik Kafur, who was brought from Gujarat, served him well to attain success in achieving this goal. He commanded all the expeditions to the South and brought immense booty for his master.