Early Career and Accession:
Alauddin was born in 1266 A.D. His early name was Ali Gurshap. His father, Shihabuddin Masud, was the brother of Sultan Jalauddin Firoz Khalji. Alauddin Khalji was brought up by his uncle Jalaluddin due to untimely and sudden death of Shihabuddin.
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Out of his four sons of Shihabuddin, Ali Gurshap and Almas Beg have found place in history. Though Alauddin did not receive proper education, he grew up to be a great warrior. He was married to one of the daughter of Sultan Jalaluddin Khalji.
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The title of Amir-i-Tuzuk, (Master of Ceremonies), was bestowed on him by the Sultan. He took active part in suppression of the revolt of Malik Chhajju. When Chhajju was sent to Multan, he was appointed Governor of Kara in 1291 A.D. In 1292 A.D.
In 1292 A.D. he led an expedition against Bhilsa and achieved victory. As he handed over all the booty his uncle, the Sultan of Delhi, he was very much pleased with him and awarded him to provience of Avdadh besides Kara. But ambitious Alauddin was not satisfied with his present position. He was always on the lookout for some better opportunity so that he could improve his lot.
The family life of Alauddin was unhappy and he was fed up with ironical remarks of his wife, the daughter of the Sultan, and his mother-in-law, Malika-i-Jahan. Both of them wanted to establish their sway over Alauddin.
Once, conflict took place between the wife of Alauddin and his beloved. It created a wide gulf between Alauddin and the royal ladies. Kara had already been a centre of intrigues and conspiracies; the family conflict added fuel to the fire and inflamed the struggle.
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Various supports of Malik Chhajju were in the services of Alauddin; they all flocked round Alauddin and incited him for revolt. They made Alauddin realize that he would definitely succeed, in case, he tried to achieve success.
Malik Chhajju failed in his mission because he did not have money and he could raise his head against the Sultan only after making proper financial arrangements. Alauddin’s successful campaign against Deogiri made up this deficiency and a conspiracy was hatched to get the throne of Delhi.
As luck would have it, his chicken-hearted uncle, the Sultan of Delhi, became an easy prey of his treacherous design due to his greed for gold. The old Sultan proceeded to Kara to congratulate his victorious nnephew and to collect the huge booty which he brought from Deogiri. Alauddin Khalji got him killed by a conspiracy on 19th July 1296 A.D. and declared himself the Sultan of Delhi on 23th July.
Early Difficulties and Their Solution:
Alauddin captured the throne of Delhi after the bloody murder of his uncle. His reign began in treachery, throve in bounty and ended in terror; so he had to face adverse circumstances in the beginning of his reign. He found the throne of Delhi a bed of thorns.
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The nobles, governors and citizens of the Sultanate hated his as he was enthroned after bloody assassination. Besides, the faithful followers of Jalauddin Khalji were angry with him due to his treachery and they were conspiring to avenge the death of the old Sultan.
Many mighty and influential descendants of Jalaluddin Khalji were still alive and they were challenging the existence of Alauddin. Malik Ahmad Chap was one of the powerful and fearless commanders of the decreased Sultan.
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After the murder of the Sultan, he rushed back to the capital and consulted the Jalali nobles and Malika-i-Jahan, the window of the late Sultan Jalaluddin Khalji for the future course of action. Arkali Khan, the heir apparent to the throne of Delhi, was in Multan and the eldest son Khan-i-Khana had already breathed his last in 1290 A.D. therefore Malika-i-Jahan declared his youngest son, Qadra Khan as the Sultan of Delhi which annoyed Arkali Khan immensely as his mother had byepassed his claim on the throne of Delhi. He stayed in Multan even after knowing the face that Alauddin was preceding to Delhi and the lives of the members of his family were in danger.
Alauddin lavishly distributed gold and silver among the Jalali nobles in order to win their favour. Barani remarks, “Maliks and Amirs who were sent from Delhi to oppose the advancing forces (of Alauddin), came to Baran and joined Alauddin, for which they received twenty, thirty and fifty maunds of gold. All the soldiers who were under these noblemen received each three hundred tankas, and the whole following of the late Jalaluddin was broken up.”
Barani further writes in his book Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi about the distribution of money, “(Alauddin) scattered so much gold about that the faithless people easily forgot the murder of the late Sultan, and rejoiced over his accession… he had committed a deed it politic to deceive the people, and to cover his crime by scattering honours and gifts upon all classes of people.”
Alauddin proceeded to Delhi in a leisurely manner and took three months to reach Delhi. He gathered a great army and showered gold and silver coins to win the favour of the opponents. He entered the capital on 26th October 1296 A.D. The member of the royal family and a few faithful Jalali nobles had already gone to Multan, so he was enthroned without any opposition. He let some of the Jalali Amirs work of their old posts and distributed titles to his faithful nobles and the members of his family. Khwaja Khatir continued on the post of Prime Minister. Titles of Ulugh Khan, Alp Khan and Zafar Khan were awarded to Almas Khan, Malik Sanjar and Malik Habaruddin respectively.
The post of Kotwal of Delhi was given to Nusrat Khan and Ala-ul-Mulk was awarded the governorship of Kara. All the soldiers were granted six months’ salary as bonus and liberal gifts were given to Shaikhs and Ulemas. Barani writes about his accession to the throne, “The people were so deluded by the gold which they received that no one ever mentioned the horrible crime which the Sultan had committed and the hope of gain did not let them care for anything else.”
Destruction of Jalali Family:
Just after his enthronement, he first of all sent Ulugh Khan and Zafar Khan to Multan to settle his scores with the family of Jalal- uddin. They laid the siege to the fort of Multan and compelled the members of Jalali family to surrender. After two months of strenuous efforts, Malik Ahmad Chap, Arkali Khan, Qadra Khan were made captive and blinded.
Malika-i-Jahan, the widow of the old Sultan, was cast into prison and nothing was heard of her afterwards. The Iqta of Multan and Sind was given to Ulugh Khan as a reward of his success against the Jalali nobles and members of the family.
He arrested all those Jalali nobles who had opposed him or could put hindrance in his way and assassinated them. He also punished those Jalali nobles who had joined hands with him for the greed of gold because he knew that they could never be faithful to him.
Thus Alauddin became the undisputed Sultan of Delhi Sultanate. He assumed the title of Sikandar-i-Sani. He wanted to conquer the entire world like Alexander the Great but he had to give up this idea on the advice of Ala-ul-Mulk, his bosom friend. He determined to establish a strong Muslim empire in India.