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Jalal al-Din Firuz Khalji was the commander in chief of the army under Sultan Kaiqubad and took advantage of the chaos in the sultanate and the sultan's complete
incompetence to seize power and establish the Khalji dynasty. The Khaljis were of Turkic origin and got their name from having lived in the area of Khalj in what is now
Afghanistan. Firuz Shah was already 70 years old when he ascended the throne and he was soon deposed and murdered by his ambitious and capable nephew, Alauddin.
Alauddin had just returned from an expedition to plunder the wealthy kingdom of the Yadavas of Devagiri, where he had acquired a massive amount of wealth. He used this
to buy sufficient support from the nobles to ensure that none of Firuz's sons could come to power. Nevertheless, he spent all of his 20 year reign expanding his kingdom, putting
down rebellions and defending the sultanate from a series of Mongol invasions. Goron and Goenka call him "the first Muslim imperialist and the first great Muslim administartor of
India."
After Alauddin died, his army commander Malik Kafur, attempted to install a child of 5 or 6, Shihab al-Din Umar, as sultan with himself as the child's step-father and regent.
However, Alauddin's third son, Mubarak Khan, managed to have Malik Khafur murdered, deposed Umar, and installed himself as Sultan Qutb al-Din Mubarak. Mubarak, however,
was not an able ruler. He reigned for four short years, the sultanate was left in disarray, and a few short-lived sultans later, it was ripe for takeover by Ghazi Tughluq.
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Jalal al-din Firuz (1290-1296) |
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Jalal al-din Firuz (1290-1296), Silver tanka, Dehli ?
Weight: 10.78 gm., Diameter: 27 mm., Die axis: 2 o'clock
Legend with the name of the sultan and his titles /
Legend with the name of Caliph al-Must'asim, dated AH 69x |
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Jalal al-din Firuz (1290-1296), Copper paika, Dehli ?
Weight: 4.57 gm., Diameter: 14-16 mm., Die axis: 7 o'clock
Legend: al-sultan al-azam /
Legend: jalal al-dunya wa'l din |
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Jalal al-din Firuz (1290-1296), Copper paika, Dehli ?
Weight: 4.49 gm., Diameter: 14-16 mm., Die axis: 9 o'clock
Legend: al-sultan al-azam /
Legend: jalal al-dunya wa'l din |
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'Ala' al-din Muhammad Khalji (1296-1316) |
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'Ala' al-din Muhammad Khalji (1296-1316) Silver tanka, Hadrat Dehli
Weight: 11.05 gm., Diameter: 27 mm., Die axis: 9 o'clock
Legend /
Legend, naming the king as sikandar al-thani (the second Alexander) |
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'Ala' al-din Muhammad Khalji (1296-1316) Billon 6-gani
Weight: 3.36 gm., Diameter: 14-15 mm., Die axis: 4 o'clock
Legend: al-sultan al-azam ala' al-dunya wa'l din /
Legend: abu'l muzaffar muhammad shah al-sultan, AH date 703 (= 1303-04 CE) |
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'Ala' al-din Muhammad Khalji (1296-1316) Billon 2-gani
Weight: 3.54 gm., Diameter: 15 mm., Die axis: 6 o'clock
Legend: al-sultan al-azam ala' al-dunya wa'l din /
Legend, within circle: shah muhammad, around, in Nagari: sri sultan alavadin |
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On this coin, the reverse is slightly off-center, but this delivers a very nice bonus ... we see the Nagari name
Alavadin very clearly in the circular legend (see detail at left). |
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Qutb al-din Mubarak (1316-20) |
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Qutb al-din Mubarak (1316-20) Gold tanka
Weight: 11.00 gm., Dimensions: 22 x 22 mm, Die axis: 12 o'clock
Legend: al-imam al-azam / khalifa rabb al-alamin / qutb al-dunya wa'l din / abul muzaffar mubarakshah /
Legend: within square: al-sultan ibn / al-sultan al-wathiq / billah amir al-muminim,
in margins: AH date 718 (= 1318-19 CE) and mint Hadrat Dar al-Khalifa
Reference: Goron-Goenka D247 |
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Qutb al-din Mubarak (1316-20) Billon 4-gani
Weight: 3.41 gm., Diameter: 15 mm., Die axis: 7 o'clock
Legend: al-sultan al-azam qutb al-dunya wa'l din /
Legend: mubarak shah al-sultan bin al-sultan, AH date 717 (= 1317-18 CE) |
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Qutb al-din Mubarak (1316-20) Billon 4-gani
Weight: 2.96 gm., Diameter: 14-15 mm., Die axis: 9 o'clock
Legend: al-imam al-a'zam qutb al-dunya wa'l din /
Legend: abu'l muzaffar mubarak shah al-sultan ibn al-sultan |
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Qutb al-din Mubarak (1316-20) Billon 4-gani
Weight: 3.32 gm., Diameter: 17 mm., Die axis: 5 o'clock
Legend: khalifa rabb al-alamin qutb al-dunya wa'l din abu'l muzaffar /
Legend: abu'l muzaffar mubarak shah al-sultan bin al-sultan al-wathiq billah |
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Nasir al-Din Khusru (1320) |
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Nasir al-Din Khusru (1320), Billon 2-gani
Weight: 3.53 gm., Diameter: 17 mm., Die axis: 11 o'clock
Legend: al-sultan al-azam nasir al-dunya wa'l din, dated 720 (= 1320 CE) /
Legend, within circle: shah khusru, around: al-sultan wali amir al-muminin |
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Nasir al-Din Khusru was a court official of Mubarak Khalji, who murdered his master and usurped the throne. His reign
lasted less than a year, however, as Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq, the governor of Dipalpur, saw his opportunity for power. He defeated Khusru and estblished the Tughluq dynasty.
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